Name ______________________________________________ Per ____ Date______________
Navigating the Stock Market
PART I: Reading a Stock Table
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Directions – Go to www.google.com and click on the word “more” at the top of the page and
select Finance. In the search bar, type the stock symbol DIS and select the Walt Disney
Company. Use the information to answer the following questions.
(1) What is the current stock price of Disney? Stock Price __________ Time ___________
(2) What is today’s highest selling price? ___________
(3) What is today’s lowest selling price? ____________
(4) Does the stock pay a dividend? Yes / No
o If you own 100 shares of Disney, how much would you make in dividends? __________
(5) What was the stock’s 52 week high? _________
(6) What was the stock’s 52 week low? _________
(7) What is the company’s P/E ratio? __________
o How does that compare to Disney’s top rivals – Viacom and Time Warner?
(8) If you had bought the stock at its lowest price this last year and sold it at its highest how
much money would you have gained per share?
(9) Looking at the graph, describe the history of Disney’s stock price over the last 5 years (in
what years did it peak, in what years did it drop to a low, has it been consistent or volatile?).
o To see the stock chart/graph company for this time period, look at the zoom options
and click on 5y.
PART II: Finding Stock Symbols
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Directions – To return to the Google Finance homepage, click on the Google Finance
heading in the top left corner of the page. In the search bar, enter the names of each of the
following companies (one at time) to find the company’s stock symbol. You will find the
symbol to the left of the companies name in the search bar. Double click on the company’s
name to find it’s stock price.
Company Name
Stock Symbol
Stock Price
The Coca Cola Company
Microsoft Corporation
Starbucks Corporation
Nordstrom
Best Buy Company, Inc.
Target Corporation
PART III: Finding Parent Companies
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Directions – Often, when you want to research a specific brand or company, that company’s
name will not appear when you use a “symbol lookup” tool on the Internet. This is because
sometimes a company is owned by larger corporation, also known as the parent company.
To find information about a company’s parent company, go to the Google homepage. In the
search box, type the company’s name and the words parent company. (for example: Taco
Bell, Parent Company). Search/read through the sites that come up for any information
regarding the parent of your company. Once you have found the name of the parent
company, repeat the steps in PART II on Google Finance to find its stock information.
Subsidiary
Old Navy
Herbal Essences
MTV
(Music Video Television)
Taco Bell
Gillette
Parent Company
Symbol
Price
PART IV: Research What You Know
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Directions – Think of 3 products/brands that you use on a regular basis. Use your research
skills to find the following information:
Product/Brand
Parent Company
Symbol
Price
PART V: Research by Industry
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Directions – One way to select stocks is to choose an industry in which you are interested or
believe will be successful in the future. Again, you will be using the Google Finance
homepage. On Google Finance, scroll down the page to the Sector Summary section on the
right hand side of the page. Look at the list of industries provided. What industry is the most
interesting to you? What kinds of products would you like to invest in…technology,
healthcare, etc.? Click on one of the industries you are interested in and scroll down the
page. You will see articles about different companies associated with that industry on the
right hand side of the page, a list of top gainers and losers on the left and a general list of
companies at the bottom. Choose a company that sounds interesting and complete the
following information:
INDUSTRY: _________________________
Company
Symbol
Price
*Types of Products Sold
*You can find the types of products sold by
scrolling down the company’s page and
reading the summary.
PART VI: Research By News
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Directions – Use any online news website to get ideas about potential investments. New
York Times, CNN, Washington Post, and MSN are good places to start. You will complete
the following questions one interesting article you find on an appropriate news website.
Name of Article ______________________________________________________
Website/News Organization ____________________
Article Summary:
What industry does this product/company belong to?
How might this news affect the stock of the company? Explain
What other (related) companies might be affected positively by this news?
What other (related) companies might be affected negatively by this news?