Stock education
Understand more of what you’re looking at.
Practical articles and guides to company research, share structure and reading the market. Start with a question, follow the examples and keep the original sources close.
FIND YOUR STARTING POINT
What would you like to understand?
Get oriented.
Learn what a low share price does—and does not—tell you about a company.
Start with penny stocks ↗02 / COMPANY RESEARCHFollow a headline.
Find the filings and source documents behind a company announcement.
Start with SEC filings ↗03 / READING THE MARKETUnderstand the quote.
Make sense of bids, asks, liquidity and the instructions in an order.
Start with bids and asks ↗THE LEARNING LIBRARY
Explore the library.
Each guide includes a practical explanation, questions to consider and links to its sources.
12 of 12 articles and guides
A low share price doesn’t tell the whole story.
Price, company size and trading liquidity answer different questions. Here’s where to start.
Read the guideGo beyond the headline. Open the filing.
A practical starting point for navigating annual reports, quarterly updates and company events.
Read the guideSame shares. A smaller slice of the company?
Understand how new shares and convertible securities can change what you own.
Read the guideWhat does the share price leave out?
Connect the share price to the share count—and see why a $1 stock is not automatically cheaper than a $10 stock.
Read the guideThe price on the screen is only part of the trade.
Learn how bids, asks, spreads and order types fit together.
Read the guideFewer shares. A higher price. What changed?
Understand the mechanics of a reverse split and the details to find in the company announcement.
Read the guideA profit is one thing. Cash in the bank is another.
Revenue, profit and cash flow describe different parts of a business. Read them together to understand where the money is coming from.
Read the guideAn insider filing needs more than a headline.
A change in an executive’s share count can have several explanations. Start with the transaction details before deciding what it means.
Read the guideWhen trading pauses, check the reason first.
An exchange halt and an SEC trading suspension are different events. Neither one tells you the direction of the next price move.
Read the guideA warrant is not the same as a common share.
Before comparing prices or counting potential shares, read what the security actually gives its holder the right to do.
Read the guideFive questions to ask after a company announcement.
A headline gets your attention. These questions help you decide which details to read next.
Read the guideWho receives the money in a stock offering?
An offering document can cover shares sold by a company, shares sold by existing holders, or both. The distinction matters.
Read the guideQUICK REFERENCE
A few terms worth knowing.
- Market capitalization
- Share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. A measure of a company’s equity market value.Read the related guide ↗
- Shares outstanding
- The company’s outstanding shares used in ownership and market-capitalization calculations. Check the date attached to a reported share count.Read the related guide ↗
- Bid and ask
- The bid is a buyer’s quoted price; the ask is a seller’s quoted price. The difference is the spread.Read the related guide ↗
- Liquidity
- How easily a security can be bought or sold when you want to. Limited liquidity can make execution more difficult.Read the related guide ↗
- Limit order
- An instruction to buy at a specified price or lower, or sell at a specified price or higher. Execution is not guaranteed.Read the related guide ↗
- Dilution
- A reduction in an existing shareholder’s proportional ownership when more shares are issued and that shareholder does not participate proportionately.Read the related guide ↗
- Reverse split
- A consolidation of existing shares into fewer shares. Read the ratio, effective date and treatment of fractional shares.Read the related guide ↗
- Form 8-K
- A current report used by domestic reporting companies to disclose certain events between regular reports.Read the related guide ↗
Definitions are abbreviated for quick reference. Open the related guide for context and primary sources.