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How to Read Stocks and Actually Understand Them

If you're just starting out learning how the stock market works, reading the stock tables in the paper can be confusing. Though it might be intimidating, it's important to learn how to read stocks. Don't worry, it won't take much time.

There are twelve columns in the table, and you'll notice that each stock has its own line in this table. To find out how the stock has been performing over the past year, look at the first two columns-- these will be labeled something to the effect of "52W High" and "52W Low." You'll see the highest point the stock has achieved in the last 52 weeks in the "52W High" column. Its lowest value will be in the "52W Low" column.

The column after that you will discover the name of the stock and then the ticker symbol for that stock. You will probably recognize some of these from the tickers that run across the bottom of the screen sometimes on the cable news networks.

By the way, watching some of the financial shows could be a good idea. It will further your knowledge even more on how to read stocks and understand the way the market works.

"Div" is the column that comes after the ticker column. From this column, you see how much in annual dividends the stock pays out for every share. You'll know the stock doesn't pay out dividends if this particular column is blank. The percentage return on the dividend shows up in the "Yield %" column, though it too will be blank if the stock doesn't pay out dividends.

The earnings ratio is indicated by P/E. You get this number by dividing the current stock price by the earnings per share for the last four quarters.

The next two columns are "High" and "Low." In the day's trading, you'll be able to see the highest and lowest points that the stock has reached. "Close" is the point at which the stock closed that day, and "Net Change" shows the change from the day before.

With a basic understanding of how to read stocks, you can now move on and start learning more about the market itself.

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