How to Cash an Old Stock Certificate (6 Steps)

Examine the stock certificate. It contains the information you need to find the company that issued it. You need the full company name plus the “CUSIP” number. The number is a unique identifier your broker can use to help track down the company, even if it now does business under another name. Also make a note of the owner of record and of the incorporation location (the state that issued the charter of incorporation).
Check financial websites such as Yahoo! Finance (which has business listings free to examine) or Dun & Bradstreet (which charges a fee), or even in your public library. If you find the company name listed as an active business concern, you’re well on your way.
Call or write the state agency in the incorporation state (usually the secretary of state) as a last resort. They will have records of the original articles of incorporation and can tell you if the company changed its name, moved out of state or is defunct.
Contact the company’s transfer agent if the business still exists. Transfer agents are firms that handle the stock certificates and transactions on behalf of publicly traded companies. Find out what their requirements are for you to transfer ownership of the stock to yourself and what documents are needed to verify you are entitled to the shares.
Follow the transfer agent’s instructions. For example, you may be asked for a copy of a probated will that names you as beneficiary. Once everything is in place, fill out the transfer of ownership form located on the back of the stock certificate and sign it in the presence of a notary public.
Send the stock certificate and required documentation to the transfer agent via certified mail. Once the agent credits the shares to you as a registered stockholder, call your broker or transfer agent and place a sell order for the shares to cash in that old stock certificate.

How to Check the Stock Market

Compile a list of the stocks that you currently own and those that you have interest in purchasing. It is almost impossible to monitor and track all of the stocks available, therefore developing a list of those that you have direct interest in is important.
Create a portfolio of your current holdings including share amounts and purchase prices. This can be done simply with a spreadsheet or with an on-line portfolio tracking program. This will help you keep your information well organized.
Sign up for alerts by ticker symbol for stocks that you have the highest interest in. This can be done through various on-line sites including Yahoo Finance and Google Finance. This type of alert system should also be available to you should you have an on-line trading account. In addition, periodically review market overview information at the home page of finance web sites.yahoo.comgoogle.com
Read all information on company websites and general news sites. A fast way to find information on a company that you are interested in is to search the web based on the trading symbol of the company.
Download and install financial trading and monitoring applications to your personal computer, laptop and smart phone to make sure that you have the ability to check the stock market whenever you need to. The benefit of technology is that investors have the ability to check the stock market as they need to and no longer check only the closing price printed in newspapers.
Develop and maintain a schedule to track and monitor the stock market so that you become accustomed to doing so on a regular and routine basis. Stock market investors learn through experience, knowledge and consistency. Letting your knowledge base lapse is a fast way to fall out of favor with the market as it changes so often and so fast.

How to Buy, Sell or Hold Southwest Airlines Stock

Open a stock brokerage account and fund it with the amount of money you want to invest in Southwest Airline stock. You can do this in an existing account if you already have one.
Look up the current share price for Southwest Airlines. The stock symbol for the company is 'LUV'. You can find stock quotes at websites like Yahoo or Google Finance or your online stock broker account will have a place to look up stock quotes.
Determine how many shares of LUV you would like to buy and place the order with your stock broker, by phone or online. The broker will hold the shares until you are ready to sell.
Set a target price where you would like to sell the stock for a profit. It could take several weeks to a few years to hit the price, depending on how much you want to make and the performance of LUV stock.
Monitor the news from Southwest Airlines. Place an order with your broker to sell the stock if it reaches your target price or company developments change your opinion of Southwest Airline's future prospects.

How to Get Real Time Stock Data

Launch an Internet browser and navigate to Yahoo! Finance or Money Central.
Enter the selected website and look for the 'get quote' field.
Enter the name or stock symbol of the desired company and press the 'Get Quote' button.
Look for the real-time quote. This is found directly below the name of the company on both of the above Websites.
Take note of the data for later use.