On Tuesday, we covered the left-hand side of a stock quote in Make Sense of Stock Quotes, Part One. In Part Two, we’re tackling the right-hand side — where the good stuff is kept. The statistics listed on this side of a stock quote give a solid indicator of how the stock has performed recently and whether it’s a good purchase (or a good sale).

Day’s Range: Over the course of a day, a stock’s price can rise and drop significantly. The day’s range shows just volatile a stock has been over the course of the day, helping an investor judge whether it’s moving around too much to be a solid investment.

52wk Range: The 52 week range provides the same information as the day’s range — but for the last year. It’s not unusual for the range to be wide over the course of a year (especially with a stock market as problematic as we have today), but it’s worth checking to why a stock reached the extremes.

Volume: This number describes the total number of shares of a particular stock traded throughout one day.

Avg Vol (3m): The average volume is the average number of shares traded daily over the past three months. If today’s volume differs significantly from the average volume, it’s worth looking into why before buying or selling a stock.

Market Cap: Market capitalization is the total dollar value of the company, as determined by multiplying the cost of a share as of the last trade by the total number of shares.

P/E: The price/earnings ratio is a projection of a stock’s earning potential. The ratio is calculated by dividing the cost of a share as of the last trade by the amount the stock’s price has increased by over the past year. If a stock has a P/E ratio over 25, it’s expected to perform very well in the future.

EPS: EPS stands for earnings per share. This number is calculated by determining how much money you would have earned if you purchased a share of a particular stock last quarter and sold it today.

Div & Yield: The dividend is the payment made to shareholders based on the company’s profits. The yield is the dividend expressed as a percentage of the price per share. Extremely high yields often indicate companies on the verge of financial distress.

With the statistics listed on the right-hand side of a stock quote, you can tell not only how well a stock has done for investors but also learn how heavily it’s being traded and get an indicator of how a company will do in the future. There are plenty of reasons to research a stock further before purchasing it — after all, if you are going to risk your money, you want to do so in a good investment — but a stock quote provides the absolute basics you need to know before trading a particular stock. They’re easy to find, as well. Even Yahoo! provides up-to-date stock quotes.

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