Stock tables, like the one reporting activity on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that's shown here, provide a daily summary of what has happened in the market they track. The phrase composite transactions means the chart includes trading on the regional exchanges in addition to New York trading.



The year-to-date percentage change and highest and lowest prices of each stock for the last 52 weeks appear first. Stocks reaching a new high or low for the year are marked with an arrow in the lefthand margin. The range between the prices is a measure of the stock's volatility. The more volatile a stock is, the more you can make or lose within a relatively short investment period. The percentage of change is more significant than the dollar amount: A $5 change from $5 to $10, a 100% change, shows more volatility than a $5 change from $30 to $35, a 17% change.
Company names are abbreviated, listed alphabetically, and followed by their trading symbol. Most symbols are closely related to the name of the company, like BDK for Black and Decker. Separate classes of stock are indicated by a letter, such as A or B, following the stock name and warrants are indicated by a wt.
Percent yield tells you the percentage of a stock's price paid as a dividend. Here, the yield on Black and Decker is 1.5%, which means the annual dividend payments are equal to 1.5% of the price on the day the dividend was declared. Yield provides only a partial picture. Sometime the yield can look very attractive — say 10% — because price of the stock has fallen but management hasn't adjusted the dividend downward. And some companies choose not to pay a dividend, preferring to reinvest profits in new products or factories, which may result in higher profits later. If there is no dividend, or if yield cannot be calculated, the column is marked with an ellipsis (...).
Price/Earnings ratio (P/E) shows the relationship between a stock's price and the company's earnings — in this case for the past four quarters. It's figured by dividing the current price per share by the earnings per share. There is no ideal P/E ratio. A stock with a low P/E ratio — say 10 — may seem like a bargain. But the company could have problems that will hurt future earnings. Meanwhile, a stock with a high P/E — say 30 or more—seems overpriced. But it could be growing so fast that its future earnings will be much higher, justifying the price. While P/E ratios can help an investor evaluate a stock, P/E is not the only factor to consider.
An S following the stock symbol shows the company stock has split within the last year—as Ceridian has.
Cash dividend per share is an estimate of the anticipated yearly dividend per share in dollars and cents. The Central Vermont Public Service (CV) dividend is estimated at 88 cents a share. If you owned 100 shares, you'd receive $88 in dividend payments, probably in quarterly payments of $22. If the column is blank, no dividend was paid.
Sales in hundreds refers to the volume of shares traded the previous day. Unless a Z appears before the number in this column, multiply by 100 to get the number of shares. (A Z indicates the actual number traded.) An unusually large volume, indicated by underlining, usually means buyers and sellers are reacting to some new information.
Last is the final trading price of the day. Comparing it to the 52-week high and low prices and the year-to-date percentage gain or loss helps you put the current price in perspective by revealing whether the stock seems to be gaining or losing value.
Net change compares the closing price given here with the closing price of the trading day before. A minus (-) indicates a lower price, and a plus (+) means it's higher. Here, Certegy closed at $29.89, up $1.38 from the day before. Stocks that show a price change of 5% or more are in boldface, as Ceridian is.

LOOK AT THE COMPANIES, TOO
 You can get other information about companies that issue stock from financial advisers or brokers, the media, and prospectuses and annual reports.

Earnings per share is one measure of the company's health. Investors see improved earnings per share as a sign of increasing profitability.

The book value of a company is like your own net worth statement — the difference between assets and liabilities. If a company has more assets than it thinks or says it has, the book value may be unrealistically low and the stock may be a bargain. But if the book value is low because the company has too much debt, its profitability may suffer.

Return on equity is computed by dividing the earnings per share by the company's book value. Returns over 10% are generally considered healthy, and over 15% outstanding.		 The payout ratio shows the percentage of net earnings being paid as dividends. It can range from zero at companies that pay no dividends to more than 100%, but any payout over 70% is generally regarded with suspicion.

CALCULATING VOLATILITY — THE BETA FACTOR
Some analysts measure the volatility of a given stock's price by comparing its price changes to the average price changes of a control group of stocks. The relationship is called the stock's beta. If the average is 1, a stock with a beta of 1.8 is more volatile than the market as a whole, and a stock with a beta of .8 is less volatile. On that basis, analysts predict the first stock would rise 18% if the market went up 10%, for example, and fall 18% if the market fell 10%.


 

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