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When you’re first learning about the stock market, the stock tables in the paper can be quite confusing. Learning how to read stocks won’t take much time, though, and it’s very important. There are twelve columns in the table, and you’ll notice that each stock has its own line in this table. To find out how the stock has been performing over the past year, look at the first two columns– these will be labeled something to the effect of “52W High” and “52W Low.” You’ll see the highest point the stock has achieved in the last 52 weeks in the “52W High” column. Its lowest value will be in the “52W Low” column. In the following column you’ll see the actual name of the stock. This will be followed by another column that shows the stock’s ticker symbol. There’s a unique combination of letters for each stock. In fact, you might be able to recognize some of them. Maybe you’ve seen the tickers running across the bottom of the screen when you watch the news. By the way, watching some of the financial shows could be a good idea. It will further your knowledge even more on how to read stocks and understand the way the market works. Next to the ticker column is a column labeled “Div.” This indicates the stock’s annual dividend paid out per share. Many rows will have this column blank, which means they don’t currently pay out dividends. The same goes for the next column - “Yield %” - the percentage return on the dividend. The earnings ratio is indicated by P/E. You get this number by dividing the current stock price by the earnings per share for the last four quarters. “High” and “Low” are the next two columns. You’ll be able to see the lowest and highest point the stock has reached in the day’s trading. “Net Change” shows the change from the day before; “Close” tells you the point when the stock closed for the day. You’ll be able to move on and learn even more about the stock market once you have a basic understanding of how to read stocks.