Almost all web sites that provide pertinent information have a stock quote tool in them, financial sites most especially. Even toolbars provide surfers with their very own stock quotes. These quotes are essentially basic necessities for investors.
A stock quote refers to the price of a stock at which a broker agrees to buy or sell a certain number of shares. A stock quote is classified into portfolios. To get a stock quote, a quote on a mutual fund, or other security, you only need to key in a ticker symbol into the input box and click the Go button. If you do not know the ticker symbol of the particular security you want to search a stock quote for, you can use the Symbol Lookup tool to find it.
After hitting the Go button, core data for the stock quote you are searching for will appear in a few seconds. The first line of the stock quote will show the name of the stock or security. It is then followed by the ticker symbol, which you will find is placed in parentheses. The second line of the retrieved stock quote will display four important pieces of information. These are:
1) Last Price. This stock quote data refers to the last price at which the stock you searched for was traded. This also refers to the price at which you might buy or sell the said stock. In a stock quote, the last price is usually delayed, meaning the data being currently put on display is 15 or 20 minutes old. Latest data can be acquired from financial advisors and brokers.
2) Up, Down or Unchanged. Next to Last Price, you will find an arrow. A usually-red arrow directed downwards signifies that the security for the stock quote you are searching for is trading lower on that day you made a search, as compared to the prior market session. A green arrow on the stock quote data means that the stock is trading higher on that day than the prior market session. If there is no arrow displayed, the stock is unchanged and is trading at the similar price as it was in the preceding market session.
3) Net Change. The third crucial information found on the stock quote, this denotes the difference between the price at which the stock is presently trading and the last price at which it last traded in the preceding market session. If the net change on the stock quote is positive, the data will be shown in green. If it is negative, the number will be in red. If the stock is unchanged, the net change will be in plain or black text.
4) Percentage Change. This stock quote data, which is usually placed in parenthesis, refers to the percentage by which the price of a security has changed from the earlier market session. This stock quote data is showed in colors corresponding to the up/down indicator.
For more information on everything from money market to money merge accounts, visit the Personal Finances Blog.
Source: www.articlesbase.com
