Stock Market Investing 10 Minute Guide

Miscellaneous Information

In addition to the information discussed here and the keys to understanding the notations used, the stock pages of newspapers provide a vast array of other types of information regarding stocks and their markets. This type of miscellaneous information includes lists of

• Stocks that have reached new highs and lows.

• Stocks that are trading in odd lots.

• Stocks that are being offered for the first time (IPOs).

• Exchange rates of the U.S. dollar around the world, which could affect U.S. investments.

The stock pages will also contain expert analyses of stock performances , recommendations for stock picks and duds, and even articles discussing news events and their impact on stocks and the markets.

The amount and type of information varies from day to day as well as from newspaper to newspaper. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with these areas and of course to also look up your own stock's performance. By doing so, you will be in a better position to discover information you might otherwise have missed that could affect your current holdings or affect your decisions regarding future investments. Eventually you will become increasingly familiar with the markets, their behavior, and your subsequent reactions to that behavior.

Plain English

Miscellaneous information is a general term for any information contained in the financial pages in addition to the information contained in the stock tables. This information can include topics such as currency exchange rates, IPO offerings, and analyst predictions .

Even as you have overcome your initial discomfort with the stock tables by learning to interpret the information contained in the stock listings, you will do the same with the financial pages after repeated exposure. As a child, you probably read little more than the comic pages in the newspaper. By expanding your reading as you grew up to include the headlines, job listings, personals, and weekend magazine, you grew increasingly comfortable with the kind of information available there, even if you didn't necessarily need to know it all on a day-to-day basis. The true is same with the financial pages. Find out what it all means by reading everything a couple of times. After a while, you will learn which columnists or listings provide helpful information and you will always check them out.

Let's use what we have learned. Using our sample stock table, look up Alamo's stock. We would find it alphabetically under the name the Alamo Group or AlamoGp on the table. We know that the stock symbol for the Alamo Group stock we bought is ALG, which we can double-check on the table to ensure we are looking at the right listing. We know that the Alamo Group's stock closed at 12 3/8, up from yesterday 's closing price of 12 ¼. We can determine that the price of the stock rose from 12 ¼ to 12 ½ and dropped to a low of $12 even before finally settling at the price of 12 3/8. Finally, we can see that the current price is a new high for the Alamo Group over the last year. We can also see that Alamo expects to pay out 24 cents in dividends over the next year and that represents a very low yield compared to the stock price. This gives the stock a low yield for its price, 1.9 percent. We can also see that the stock is trading at 97 times earnings. We then apply this information to the standards and expectations that we have already determined are appropriate for our own investments to see whether this is a stock in which we might like to invest.

The 30-Second Recap

• Reevaluate your portfolio periodically to ensure that your original investment decision is still a good one in light of changes that may have since occurred in the market or in your financial objectives or circumstances.

• Stock names and corresponding stock symbols are listed in the daily stock tables of the newspaper.

• The highest and lowest prices a stock has attained over the last year are listed under 52 Weeks high-low, while the previous day's trading day is listed under high-low . The price at which the stock closed the previous day is listed under the Close column.

• Statistical information is available in the stock tables including the stock's price to earning ratio and the current yield, both of which are noted under headings of the same name.