Reading a Stock Listing

Well, now that you have learned a bit about the registration and legal issues regarding stocks/bonds, you "should know how to read a stock listing. Stock listings can be found in the business sections of all major newspapers, and are analyzed in-depth in business journals and newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily.

Boldfaced quotations highlight those issues which changed 5% or more from their previous closing price.

Underlined quotations are those with large changes in volume compared with the issue’s average trading volume. The 40 largest volume percentage leaders on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASD’s National Market System are underlined. The top 20 are listed for the American Exchange (AMEX).

The 52-week high and low show the outer bonds for the issue over the preceding 52 weeks, including the current week but excluding the last trading day.

Here is an example:

Chart from The Wall Street Journal