Stock Market Basics · 6 min read
Start here: read a stock page before you buy
Four steps we suggest before a first stock purchase: understand a share, read one quote line by line, open a real SEC filing, and check costs and protections.
Independent · Beginner first · Every number sourced
Learn to read a stock page, line by line.
What market cap, EPS, P/E, dividend yield and analyst targets really mean, explained from primary sources and real company filings. No tips, no ratings, no hype.
- 40explainers
- 8company snapshots from SEC filings
- 24glossary terms
Rates and the dollar today
Yield curve and full table| Instrument | Last | Change | As of | Source | Last 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading the latest official data... | |||||
Official daily data, not live prices, and not a signal to buy or sell. Why rates matter for stock prices: what moves stock prices.
Latest explainers
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Editor's pick
Reading a Stock Page8 min read
How to read a stock quote, line by line
Last price, change, bid and ask, day's range, 52-week range, volume, market cap, P/E and yield, explained one line at a time with a worked example.
Read the explainer
Company Fundamentals7 min read
The P/E ratio explained, with real filings
How to calculate a P/E ratio from the EPS in a company's 10-K, why the same price can give very different P/E ratios, and what P/E cannot tell you.
Stock Charts7 min read
Technical indicators and "Strong Buy" summaries, explained
A "Strong Buy" technical summary is a vote count from moving averages and oscillators. How it is built, why it changes with the time frame, and what it is not.
Earnings & Analyst Ratings7 min read
Analyst ratings and price targets explained
What analyst ratings and price targets are, why the people who set them can be conflicted, and the disclosures that help you judge them.
Company snapshots from SEC filings
All snapshots| Company | Ticker | Sector | Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Diluted EPS | Dividends per share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | AAPL | Smartphones, computers and services | FY2025 | $416.16B | $112.01B | $7.46 | $1.02 |
| Costco | COST | Membership warehouse retail | FY2025 | $275.24B | $8.10B | $18.21 | $4.92 |
| Chevron | CVX | Integrated energy and chemicals | FY2025 | $189.03B | $12.30B | $6.63 | $6.84 |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | Pharmaceuticals and medical devices | FY2025 | $94.19B | $26.80B | $11.03 | $5.14 |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | Banking and financial services | FY2025 | $182.45B | $57.05B | $20.02 | $5.80 |
| Coca-Cola | KO | Beverages | FY2025 | $47.94B | $13.11B | $3.04 | $2.04 |
| Microsoft | MSFT | Software and cloud services | FY2026 | $331.84B | $133.75B | $17.95 | $3.64 |
| Tradeweb | TW | Electronic trading marketplaces | FY2025 | $2.05B | $812.79M | $3.78 | $0.48 |
Figures as reported in each company's latest annual report (Form 10-K) and read from the SEC's XBRL data. Fiscal years end on different dates for each company. No share prices, ratings or recommendations.
Dividends & Income6 min read
Dividend yield explained, and its traps
The dividend yield formula, a worked example, why yield rises as the price falls, and how a high yield can be a warning rather than a bargain.
Funds, ETFs & Indexes8 min read
Index funds explained
What an index fund is, how it copies an index, why it usually trails that index by a little, and a worked example of how a fee gap compounds over 30 years.
Eight topics, in reading order
All topics
01Stock Market BasicsWhat a share is, how exchanges and orders work, and what moves prices.5 explainers
02Reading a Stock PagePrice, change, day range, market cap and volume, one line at a time.5 explainers
03Company FundamentalsIncome statements, EPS, P/E, book value and margins, from real filings.5 explainers
04Stock ChartsCandles, timeframes, moving averages and what technical ratings can and cannot tell you.5 explainers
05Dividends & IncomeHow dividends are paid, yield, payout ratio and the dates that decide who gets paid.5 explainers
06Funds, ETFs & IndexesWhat an index is, index funds, ETFs, fees and diversification.5 explainers
07Earnings & Analyst RatingsEarnings reports, SEC filings, insider forms and what a price target really is.5 explainers
08Risk, Costs & ProtectionVolatility, fees, SIPC, margin rules and the scams that target new investors.5 explainers
Risk, Costs & Protection8 min read
The pattern day trader rule and margin accounts
What the pattern day trader rule said, what FINRA's 2026 intraday margin standard changes, and why margin can still cost you more than you put in.
Reading a Stock Page7 min read
Market cap explained: what a company is worth on paper
The formula, a worked example, where the share count comes from, what large-cap and microcap mean, and why index providers use float-adjusted market cap.
Stock Charts6 min read
Candlestick charts for stocks, explained
How to read the body and wicks of a candlestick, what green, red, white and black mean, how time frames work and what named patterns can and cannot tell you.
Calculators
Check the maths on any stock page
6 free calculators. Each one runs in your browser, shows its formula and includes a worked example you can redo by hand.
All calculators- Compound growth calculatorStarting amount plus monthly additions, grown at a steady assumed return, with the formula and a worked example.
- Dividend yield calculatorTurn a dividend per payment into a yearly yield, income and payout ratio, with the formula shown.
- Fund fee calculatorTurn the gap between two expense ratios into dollars, with the formula shown.
- P/E ratio calculatorTurn a share price and EPS into a P/E ratio and earnings yield, with the formula shown and a worked example.
- Percentage change calculatorTurn two prices into a percentage change, the gain needed to recover, and a yearly rate, with the formula shown.
- Position size calculatorTurn the loss you can accept into a number of shares, with the formula and a worked example you can check.
Risk, Costs & Protection6 min read
SIPC protection explained
What the Securities Investor Protection Corporation covers, its $500,000 and $250,000 limits, how it differs from FDIC insurance, and what it never covers.
Stock Market Basics8 min read
What moves stock prices up and down?
Supply and demand, company news, interest rates, economic data and surprises versus expectations: the main forces behind stock price moves, with Federal Reserve research and a worked example.
How every page is checked
Editorial policyOur research library holds 244 source notes from 51 publishers, mostly regulators, exchanges, official statistics and company filings.
- 01Source
Every number, date and rule comes from a research note that records the original document, often an SEC, FINRA or company filing.
- 02Write
Plain English for people who have never read a stock page. Worked examples are calculated with code, not by hand.
- 03Check
A second reviewer reopens the sources and signs the page off. Pages without that sign-off are not published.
- 04Publish
Each page lists its sources, shows that it was fact-checked and when it was last updated.