InfoPeople Core2: Business Resources: Investment and Finance

I took an online class about stocks and bonds, so I'm pretty familiar with the main resources, although the reminders are always helpful. The notes start of with definitions of important finance terms, quoting Barron's Finance & Investment Handbook. My class listed Investopedia.com as the free online source for definitions. The difference being that Barron's is a known creator of finance information. Investopedia's articles are written by a community. Granted that community of writers has to show their expertise, including submitting a resume, but it's not their primary job. However, Investopedia does have other features, such as the Simulator, which allows you to play with pretend money before you invest your real money.

Things I apparently should at least know:

• American Stock Exchange AMEX was acquired by NYSE Euronext in 2008 and had its name changed to NYSE MKT LLC. According to the notes, this exchange is the primary place for US company trades, bonds, etc. The website however says the exchange is "the leading capital market for small cap companies within NYSE Euronext." I have no idea what that means.
• Mutual Fund
• NASDAQ Stock Market - according to Wikipedia, the name originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations," which would make sense as this is an electronic exchange.
• Ticker symbol - the code given to identify a stock. 

For a list of exchanges, see the Rutgers University Libraries' Stock and Commodity Exchanges page. This is a super sophisticated site! Not just a list of American exchanges, it has listings for countries around the world. InfoPeople notes that their general business page (http://libguides.rutgers.edu/business) is also valuable. I would say their entire Lib Guides section is worth checking out. They have them sorted alphabetically and by Discipline.

If you cannot find a stock in the major exchanges, it could be that the stock is in a regional exchange (
See the lib guide referenced above.), or on a "pink sheet" exchange.

One of the questions a public librarian may get regarding stock is a historic price.  Resources to find historic prices include:

• Historical Stock Quotes and Charts - according to the website you have the "ability to retrieve exact and split-adjusted stock price information and split adjustment factors as far back as January 1985."
• Search old newspapers on microfilm (also check to see if the papers have their own archive or check the database to see if there is an indexed listing)
• Try Standard and Poor's printed Daily Stock Price Record for the AMEX, NYSE and NASDAQ.

Information to be sure to include when quoting stock prices is company name, exchange where traded, common or preferred status, and date. Give the High, Low and Close figures or the Bid/Asked price for over the counter stock.

Of course, don't forget the databases when doing research. See what your local library offers, such as ValueLine, or Morningstar. For beginning investors (think about the one kid who kept wanting stock info) try steering them toward Investment FAQ and Yahoo!Finance pages.