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 Prices (6 Steps)

Look up the symbol of the company you are interested in on sites like Yahoo's Finance page, eTrade and MSN Money. Use this symbol to locate the stock price for that company on a finance website.
Find the number labeled 'Last Trade.' This number indicates the last price at which shares of the stock were bought or sold, and it will give you a good idea of the price at which experts value the stock.
Locate the time labeled 'Trade Time.' This indicates the time the last trade occurred.
Locate the number labeled 'Change.' This number measures, in dollars, a stock price's change for that day.
Compare the number labeled 'Volume' to the number under 'Average Volume.' This shows how many stocks have changed hands that day compared to the average over an indicated period.
Look at the current price. This is the current established value of a share; the current price multiplied by the total number of shares is equal to the current judged value of an organization.

How to Chart Stock Movements with Candlestick Charts

Choose a stock to chart. For this exercise, we're just going to make one candlestick, so you only need the closing information for one day's trading for one stock. The chart shows the historical price data for Satyam Computers for May 18, 2009. You'll need the opening price, closing price, high and low for the day.
On a piece of graph paper, label the vertical axis with numbers from the lowest price of the day to the highest price of the day.Ex. The stock we're charting hit a high of 2.20 and a low of 2.00, so the vertical is labeled along the vertical from 2.00 to 2.20.
Determine whether the stock closed higher or lower than it opened. If the opening price is higher than the closing price, you'll use a red marker. If the opening price is lower than the closing price, you'll use a blue marker. If the stock opened and closed at the same price, you'll use a black marker. Using the right color marker, place a dot at the low price for the day.
Place a second blue dot at the high price for the day. Connect the two dots with a thin line. This is the 'wick' of the candle.
Find the opening price for the day and mark a horizontal line across the wick at that point. Do the same with the closing price.
Draw a thick blue line between the two horizontal marks to create the candle body. That's the complete candlestick.
Take some time to get familiar with the anatomy of the candlestick you just drew. There's a lot more information in that little symbol than you think. The color tells you whether the stock traded up or down over the course of the day. The length of the entire candle from wick top to wick bottom tells you the entire range of trading for the day. The length of the body tells you how much the stock moved from the starting bell to the closing bell. The length of the wick on either end can suggest the tenor of the market trading. For instance, a long top wick on a short candle body suggests a bullish push that was rejected by traders, while a long top wick on a long candle body suggests that the market pushed back against a bullish rise but couldn't force prices back down to the opening price.