How to Get Stock Market Data
- 1). Pick up a copy of several investment newspapers, like The Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Investor's Business Daily. It's a good idea to subscribe to one or more of these publications so you can read them on a daily basis.
- 2). Review the stories in the investing section of these financial publications. These stories will help you become familiar with national and world events and how those events can affect the market.
- 3). Turn to the stock tables and look up the stocks of companies you are familiar with. These can include household names like Disney, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Ford. Become familiar with the layout of the stock tables, including the closing price of the stock, the previous closing price, the 52-week high and low and the amount of any cash dividend.
- 4). Use online resources like CNN Money and Yahoo! Finance to research stocks in which you have an interest (see Resources). At the top of these websites where it says "Get Quote," enter the ticker symbol of the stock. (Or use the look-up tool to enter the name of the company to get the ticker symbol.) The "Get Quote" page will show the stock's current trading price, along with its 52-week high and low and other valuable data. Any current news pertaining to the stock will be listed below the financial information.
- 5). Visit your local library and ask for the investment section. Many libraries provide a full range of financial tools, including subscriptions to publications that most individual investors would not be able to afford. These research tools include Morningstar investment services and Dow Jones research. Use these tools to research stocks you are interested in and get further information, including earnings history, earnings growth and relevant news events.
