Vocabulary of the Stock Market (from Stocks Rock!)
A stock is a part of a company that may be purchased by the public. You own the stock like
you own a bike or anything else.
A share represents the portion you own in a company. For example, you could own 100 shares
of Nike’s stock or 20 shares in McDonald’s stock.
The stock market is where people buy and sell stock. The stock markets are in actual
buildings, such as the New York Stock Exchange, or they are electronic networks, such as the
NASDAQ stock market.
The first time a company offers its stock for the public to buy is called an initial public offering
(IPO).
Revenue is the amount of money a company receives for selling its products and services.
Once a company pays its expenses and taxes, the money the company has left over is called
profit or earnings.
When a company has profits, stockholders may receive dividends, which are a portion of the
company’s profits. Not all companies pay dividends.
A bull market describes the stock market when stock prices generally are increasing.
A bear market describes the stock market when stock prices generally are decreasing.
A bond is another way of investing money. When you buy a bond, you are lending your
money to the bond issuer. The issuer promises to pay you back your money after a certain
amount of time plus a part of the loan’s value (interest).
A mutual fund is a way to own shares in many investments without having to invest a lot of
money in one place and at one time.
A portfolio is a collection of investments (such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds).
A financial advisor helps people buy and sell their stocks and other investments. It is his or
her job to help stockholders decide which stocks to buy and sell and when to buy and sell
them.
From www.moneyinvestor.com
The stock market table gives you basic information and price history for stocks. You can
use it to see how stocks you own or are interested in owning are performing, how their
prices are changing, and how they have performed in the past. Reading a stock market
table is simple once you understand how to do it.
Here is a sample line from a stock market table for the stock of General Electric:
<1>
<2>
Ticker
GE
Company Name
General Electric Co
<3>
Sales
100s
6567
<4>
<5>
<6>
<7>
Hi
26.86
Low
24.64
Last
25.73
Change
-2.40
<1>
Stock ticker symbol
This is the company stock symbol, and it represents the
company's stock. Often, the stock symbol is similar to the
company's name.
<2>
Company Name
This is the name of the stock.
<3>
Sales 100s
The number of shares that traded the last day this stock
traded. The number is given in hundreds, so you need to
add 2 zeros to the number to get the actual number of
shares traded.
<4>
Hi
The stock's highest price the last day this stock traded.
<5>
Low
The stock's lowest price the last day this stock traded.
<6>
Last
The stock's last traded price. Also sometimes called
closing price.
<7>
Change
The amount of change of the stock's closing price and the
prior trading day's closing price (2 trading days ago). A "" represents a negative change.
You may find stock market tables in many different places. One place to look in the
financial section or your local newspaper, or in a financial publication such as the Wall
Street Journal.