Ever wonder how to make sense of TV stock tickers, where you might see something like "PEP10.000s35 3/8"?
The "10.000s" means 10,000 shares of PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) have traded. For trades of 10,000 or more, the comma is changed to a period. If fewer than 10,000 shares are traded, the number is rounded to the nearest hundred and the last two zeros are removed. So PEP 9s35 3/8 means 900 shares traded at a price of $35 3/8 per share. If no number of shares is indicated, it means that it's a "round lot" of 100 shares or an "odd lot" rounded to 100. (Please remember that I didn't make up this logic -- I'm just trying to explain it.)
Knowing what companies are tied to each ticker symbol is another matter. You'll likely just grow more familiar with various firms' ticker symbols over time as you read about them. Many are somewhat intuitive, such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), IBM (NYSE:IBM), and Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), while others will take a little getting used to, like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT).
You can look up the ticker symbols for companies that interest you right here in Fooldom and you can research those firms in our Quotes and Data area.
To learn more about investing Foolishly, visit our Fool School and our Investing Basics area. Or check out some of our inexpensive and well-regarded online how-to guides (which feature money-back guarantees). You can also learn all about brokerages and find one that's right for you in our Broker Center. (Did you know that some well-regarded brokerages are offering commissions as low as $5?)
