How do you know if your stock is doing well?

One place to find information is in the newspaper. A stock page in the financial section of a newspaper is something that frightens many adults because it looks so complicated. Actually, it's easy to read when you know what it means. The row in which your stock is listed, tells you the following about your stock:

• the highest and lowest share price for your stock during the past year
• the symbol for your stock that you enter into the computer to get information
• the high and low share prices of your stock during the previous day
• the share price of your stock when the market closed yesterday
• the change in the price of your stock yesterday from the previous day
• the number of board lots (or 1 share chunks) of your stock that traded yesterday
• the dividend that your stock paid in the most recent past year
• the yield, i.e., the dividend as a percent of the share price at yesterday's close
• the P/E ratio, i.e., the share price of your stock divided by the earnings per share.

Investigation #1

Bank of Calgary Stock, May 30,2001:
Use the newspaper display below to answer the following questions:

1. What was the price of one share of the Bank of Calgary stock at the close of the market yesterday?
2. The share price of the Bank of Calgary stock went up and down all day. What was the lowest share price it reached yesterday What was its highest share price?
3. Was the share price of the Bank of Calgary stock at the close of the market yesterday up or down from the previous day? By how much did it increase or decrease?
4. How many board lots of the bank of Calgary stock were traded yesterday? How many shares were traded?
5. How much dividend did the Bank of Calgary pay per share during the previous year?
6. What is the current percentage yield on the Bank of Calgary stock?

Investigation #2

Lazerlink.com Inc. Stock, September 20, 2001

A newspaper displays the following trading information for September 20, 2001 on the stock of Lazerlink.com Inc. but the last part was torn off.

Use the display above to answer the following questions.

1. What was the price of one share of the Lazerlink.com stock at the close of the market on September 20, 2001?
2. What was the lowest share price that Lazerlink.com stock reached on September 20?
   What was its highest share price?
3. Was the share price of Lazerlink.com at the close of the market on September 20 up or down from the share price on September 19? By how much did it increase or decrease?
4. How many shares were traded?
5. What was the highest share price enjoyed by Lazerlink during the previous year? What was its lowest share price the previous year?
6. How much dividend did Lazerlink pay per share during the previous year?
7. What was the percentage yield on the Lazerlink stock?
8. If you had purchased 100 shares of Lazerlink when it was at its lowest share price for the year and then sold it on September 20, 2001, how much money would you have made on the stock?
9. If you had purchased 100 shares of Lazerlink when it was at its highest share price for the year and then sold it on September 20, 2001, how much money would you have lost on the stock?

Investigation #3

Newspaper Investigation

Get the financial section of a newspaper from your teacher. Select a stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Write a report that names the stock and tells:

• the share price of the stock at the closing of the market
• the highest and lowest share prices in the previous year
• the dividend and the yield

Browse through the stocks and pick one that you think is a good investment. Explain why you chose it.