How to Read the Wall Street Journal Stock Report

Check the indexes. The beginning of the market report tells the movement of the major indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrials or NASDAQ.
Understand why the indexes are important. When checking out your stock you should know what size the company is, and what market it is sold in. The DOW is primarily larger companies compared to the Russell that is smaller companies. You can tell whether your stock is going up and down with market movement or whether it is moving due to a change specific to the company by knowing what index to follow.
Find the symbol for the stock. Beside it will be the opening price for the day. There is also a listing for the high of the day, sometimes the high was held for only one purchase and can be deceptive; the low, and finally the close of the day price.
Check for the change in cost for the day, followed by the per cent change. If your stock was $1a share when the market opened and it was $1.06 when the market closed; then it went up 6 cents. The percentage growth would be 6 oer cent.
Find the volume of trading. This number tells how active the stock is. The larger the number, the more actively traded. If a stock is seldom traded, and you own it and want to sell, it may be harder to sell it for the market price. Next to the volume is 52 week high and low. This is the highest reported price for the stock and the lowest in a 52 week period.
Realize that the next two columns are important in understanding what return you're actually getting. The first shows any dividends that are received from the stock and the second shows the per cent of return that it is. The dividend is a distribution of profit from the company and should be considered in the return besides using the capital gain or loss.
Understand that the PE is a ratio of the price of the stock to its earnings. The final column shows what per cent the stock has gained over the last year.

How to Read Stock Market Reports (7 Steps)

Create a list of acronyms for stocks in your portfolio to help you read stock market reports. You should update this list every time you make a trade and keep it handy when you review reports online or in the paper.
Start your stock market report by reviewing the closing price of each stock of interest. Most reports place this number immediately after the stock symbol, and it helps you determine the strength of that stock compared with others.
Review the amount of change in stocks as you read through various market reports. Some publications utilize a percentage change figure after the closing number, while others use the difference between starting and closing prices. All publications use an up or down arrow as an indicator of growth or decline for investors.
Check the change in different indexes and industrial sectors to assess overall economic strength. Your use of the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 in the American market can help you determine overall trends in the stock market.
Investigate the 52-week range of prices for a particular stock to determine where the stock started and where it has ended. This range is given on financial-services websites and business TV shows because it is meant for serious investors.
Supplement your need for immediate news on financial TV by bookmarking several financial websites. Your online-trading platform will provide instant updates of each stock in your portfolio. Financial-television tickers move too fast for uninitiated investors to make sense of the blur of symbols and numbers.
Read analysis and company profiles on a daily basis in stock market reports. Most reports have a financial analyst take a look at high- and low-performing stocks along with company news relevant to the overall market.