Online Investing Hacks

Obtain Price Quotes

You must know the going price for an investment so that you can make an informed decision to buy, sell, or hold.

Stock price is an essential ingredient in a sound investment. Finding a company with terrific growth and impeccable quality isn’t enough—an exorbitant stock price puts your potential return into the financial toilet. Before you buy a stock, you should check the current price to see if it’s a good value. When you give a stock the green light, you must also know the current price to calculate how many shares you can afford to buy. If you’re selling an investment because you need a specific amount of money, you must know the current price, so that you sell only as many shares as necessary. To make investing more fun, there’s more than one current price from which to choose. No matter whether you’re a day trader who wants real-time quotes or a buy-and-hold investor who can handle delayed prices, you can find the type of price quote you want online without paying a dime.

Current price is a matter of perspective. Depending on your investment timeframe, current could mean right now, a few minutes ago, or at market close yesterday. Your choice of price quote is based on the trade you plan to make [Hack #54] :

Ask price

The price that owners are asking for their shares. It doesn’t mean that a potential buyer will pay that price.

Bid price

The price that buyers are bidding to purchase shares. It doesn’t mean that a seller will accept that price.

Tip

When you ...