How to Find Stock Symbols

Go to an established, reliable stock Web site, such as nasdaq.com or etrade.com.
Click on 'Symbol Look Up.'
Type in the name of the company you want to research. The results will display the company symbol, the type of stock (common or preferred) and the exchange it trades on. Amazon, for example, trades on the Nasdaq as common stock. Its symbol is AMZN.

How to Track Institutional Stock Trades (5 Steps)

Select a stock you want to pursue and search for it in the stock quote window of almost any search engine or to any brokerage firm website. Enter the stock symbol and when the quote appears, look for and click the 'research' tab. Some sites, like Yahoo Finance, will display the research options automatically on the same page.
Click on 'ownership' or 'holdings.' Under this tab, you'll see the various entities that own the stock. There will be several choices such as 'Insiders' and a few others. One of the headings will be 'Institutions' or 'Institutional.' Here you will find a list of Institutions that own the stock. You'll see how many shares they own and what percentage they hold of the shares outstanding.
Check to see if you're in good company. What are some of the institutions and are they institutions whose judgment you trust? If what you see piques your interest, then take it a step further.
Track institutional activity in the stock. Since institutions don't typically broadcast their trades so as not to tip their hands to the competition, tracking real-time institutional trades is difficult; however, if you check back a couple of times a day, you'll see trades not long after they've taken place. If there's a change, note if it's an increase or decrease in the institution's holdings. Especially important are any instances of institutions selling all their stock, or a new institution investing in it.
Use the information wisely. If after a few weeks or months you notice institutions are increasing their holdings, you know interest is up on the stock. If the number of shares is dropping from institutions, then momentum is slowing and you should try to find out why before investing. Here's hoping you make a bundle!

How to Get Stock Quotes in Excel

Open Microsoft Excel. First, select 'Start' from the main operating system menu. Next, choose 'Programs.' Then, click on 'Microsoft Office' in the programs menu. Finally, select 'Microsoft Excel' from the Microsoft Office menu.
Click on the 'Data' menu from the Microsoft Excel main menu screen. Then, choose 'Get External Data' from the data menu. A dialog box will appear with a list of established data sources. Finally, choose the data source labeled 'Investor Stock Quotes.'
Select the cell in the spreadsheet for the stock quote information input or choose the 'Create New Worksheet' option to place the stock quote in a new worksheet. After selecting either option, select 'OK' from the dialog box.
Type the stock ticker symbol into the next Microsoft Excel dialog box. If the user wants to update the stock quote in the future, choose 'Use this value/reference for future refreshes.' Also check the second check box if you would like the information to refresh on its own.
Save the Microsoft Excel file for future use. Select 'Save' from the main file menu, name the file and choose the appropriate place on the computer hard drive to save it.

How to Read Stock Quotes Online From Yahoo! Finance

Go to the Yahoo! Finance Web site (see Resources section).
Find the 'Get Quotes' box at the top left of the home page.
Type in your stock's ticker symbol into the box.
Click the 'Get Quotes' button.
Look at the gray bar across the top of the page with the name of your stock appearing in large black letters. The current price quote for that stock will be in large black numbers directly across from the stock name.
Spot the arrow next to the current price of the stock. If the arrow is green and pointing upward, the stock price is trading up by the amount shown next to the green arrow. However, if the arrow is red and pointing down, the stock price is trading down by the amount show next to the red arrow.