How to Buy Sprint Stock

Find a broker. These are companies like E*trade, Ameritrade, and others that allow you to buy and sell stock. There are two major types of brokers. Full service brokers provide many investor support services, such as research on companies and advice on stocks. Discount brokers charge less of a commission for trades, and some offer online research services, but will not have as many investor services as full service firms.
Decide how much money you want to invest in Sprint stock.
Find the current price of Sprint stock. The full company name is 'Sprint Nextel Corporation', and the stock symbol is: NYSE:S. Online brokers will have a search function on their websites, but you can also find stock prices without a broker through Google Finance or similar personal finance websites. (See Resource 1.)
Divide the amount of money you want to invest by the current price of Sprint stock to determine how many shares you should buy.
Place the order with your broker. Online brokers will have account management options that allow you to buy stock through their websites. Some online brokers will also have you register a bank account or debit card to cover payments for stock; payment will either be taken out automatically as you buy stock, or you will need to send a payment through their websites after purchasing. Other online brokers, such as Charles Schwab, allow you to deposit money into a brokerage account and use those funds to purchase stock.

How to Become a Stock Investor

Contact your employer and review the stock market investments you have at work. If you work for a for profit company, you might have access to a 401k plan that can be invested in the stock market. Employees of public institutions can invest in a 403b plan. In addition, some companies sponsor employee stock purchase plans that allow workers to purchase company stock through payroll deductions.
Contact several online brokerage firms if you want to invest in individual stocks. The price of trades at online brokers like E*Trade, TD Ameritrade and Scottrade can be less than $10 each.
Review the requirements for an online brokerage account and make sure you meet them. Each broker will have different minimum balance requirements, and if you do not meet the minimum requirements you might be subject to maintenance charges and other fees.
Contact several mutual fund companies and request a prospectus for their managed and index funds. A study of mutual funds reported in Money Magazine found that most managed funds fail to outperform the index over the long-term, so choosing an index fund can be a good move.
Complete the application for the online brokerage firm or mutual fund you wish to use, then submit the completed form and your initial deposit to the address listed on the form. Keep in mind that some firms use a separate address for regular and overnight mail, so be sure to send the application to the right address.

How to Calculate Stock Prices From a Balance Sheet

Identify the firm's total stockholder's equity holdings from the balance sheet. This includes the firm's preferred stock, common stock, additional paid-in-capital, and any retained earnings. For example if the firm's balance sheet showed $1 million of preferred stock, $5 million of common stock, $800,000 of additional paid-in-capital, and $500,000 in retained earnings, the firm's total equity holdings value would be 7.3 million. The equation would be 1,000,000 + 5,000,000 + 800,000 + 500,000 = 7,300,000. If the firms total assets are $10 million, this would leave $2.7 million in liabilities. The equation would be 10,000,000 - 7,300,000 = 2,700,000.
Determine the firm's total common stockholder's equity from the balance sheet. Calculate the firm's total common stockholder's equity by subtracting the total preferred stock value from the firm's total stockholder's equity holdings. For example, if the firm's total stock holder's equity is $7.3 million and its preferred stock holdings are $1 million, then the firm's total common stock holder's equity would be $6.3 million. The equation would be 7,300,000 - 1,000,000 = 6,300,000. The $6.3 million represents the total value of the common equity shareholders portion of the firm's total equity capital structure.
Calculate the firm's stock price book value from the balance sheet. Divide the firm's total common stockholder's equity by the average number of common shares outstanding. For example, if the firm's total common stockholder's equity is $6.3 million and the average number of common shares outstanding is $100,000, then the stock price's book value for the firm would be $63. The equation would be 6,300,000 / 100,000 = 63. This would be based on the information obtained from the firm's balance sheet.