| If you are new to stock trading, welcome! It is a | | | | the size and shape of the pie. Also, when you buy a |
| wild, exciting and dangerous world you are stepping | | | | share, you are buying a little tiny bit of that company. |
| into, so it's best to have a strong grasp of the basics. | | | | So this would explain why it's called a share...it's a |
| Let's start with the stock symbol. What exactly is | | | | share of the company. You are SHARING the |
| this? For example, let's look at HOG. This is the | | | | company with others! |
| symbol/ticker symbol/stock symbol for Harley | | | | Market price. This is the price that a stock is |
| Davidson. (Perhaps you've heard of them...) The | | | | currently going for...whether you are buying or selling. |
| symbol HOG represents Harley Davidson in the stock | | | | This would be similar if you were to go to...say...Red |
| market. MCD is the symbol that represents | | | | Lobster and want to order their fresh fish of the |
| McDonald's. Symbols are used because it would be | | | | day. You'd ask them for the market price of that |
| very confusing if the entire names of companies | | | | fish....what that fish is selling for at markets right now. |
| were used. This just makes it short and sweet. | | | | For a stock, the market price is what you can quickly |
| Shares. What is a share? Let's imagine a pie cut up | | | | buy or sell a stock for. |
| into slices. A share of a stock is similar to a slice of | | | | Ask Price or Ask. The ask price is most often higher |
| pie in that a share is like a slice of a company. The | | | | than the market price. This is the price that others |
| amount of shares available for a specific stock | | | | are trying to sell their stock for...they are ASKING |
| depends on many factors of the company, but to | | | | that much for their shares. |
| put it simply, the number of slices in a pie vary on | | | | |