A stock quote can provide key information for investors, such as the bid and ask price, trading volume, and last traded price. Stock quotes generally provide several data points that are the same for various exchange traded securities, including stock and ETFs.
Stock quotes can help people make informed investment decisions, making it important that investors are comfortable reading and analyzing them.
Stock quotes can be available in real time or delayed. Scotia iTRADE provides free real-time quotes for brokerage customers who agree with the terms and conditions required by the stock exchanges.
Real-time quotes may be advantageous for investors as the price of some stocks can fluctuate multiple times every second.
Learn How to Read a Stock Quote
In general, most stock quotes usually include the security name, ticker symbol, listing exchange and market where the security is bought and sold, the stock’s price, and the net change in price. This snapshot provides crucial information about the security in question.
Security name: This may be a company name (for stocks) or the name of an ETF.
Ticker symbol: Also known as a stock symbol, a ticker symbol is a unique combination of letters or numbers used to identify a security.
Listing exchange: The marketplace where the stock can be bought and sold.
Market: The country where the stock trades.
Price: The last traded price of one share of the security.
Net change in price: The difference between the stock’s current price and the previous day’s closing price.
Additionally, depending on the platform on which they are viewing the stock quote, investors may be able to access more detailed information about the security. This may include:
Bid: The highest price a buyer is currently willing to pay to purchase a stock.
Ask: The lowest price at which a seller is currently willing to sell their shares.
Volume: The total number of shares traded for the day.
Open: The first price at which a stock traded after the opening bell that day.
Previous close: The price of a stock at the closing bell the previous day.
52-week high-low price range: The highest and lowest price a stock traded in the last year (52 weeks).
Market capitalization: the total current value of a company’s shares on the open market.
Price-earnings ratio (P/E): Calculated by dividing the current stock price by earnings per share from the last four quarters.
See more: How to Analyze Total Cost of Ownership of an ETF
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