Financial news is readily accessible through newspapers, magazines, television and the Internet, but to understand basic stock information, you will have to know a company's stock, or ticker, symbol. If you have a few minutes and a computer with Internet access, you can quickly find a company's ticker symbol by visiting either the company website or a reputable financial news or investment website.
Visit Company Website
Step 1
Go to the official website of the company whose stocks you are interested in purchasing.
Step 2
Click on the tab titled "Investors" or "Investor Relations," or type the words into the company's search engine.
Step 3
Look for a box or area of the Investor page with the stock information, which will include the company name, stock market — such as NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) — on which the stock is traded, stock symbol or ticker symbol, stock price and stock volume.
Visit Financial News or Investment Website
Step 1
Go to the home page of a financial news website such as MoneyCentral.MSN.com or a financial investment website such as NYSE.com.
Step 2
Find the "Symbol Lookup" tab. The tab is usually located on the home page of the investment website. However, for financial news websites, you may first have to navigate to the page on investing.
Step 3
Enter the company name. Many of the searches also allow for partial entries, such as the beginning of the company name or a word in the company name. For best results, enter as much of the company name as possible.
References
Resources
Tips
- If you want more detailed information about a company's financial status, visit the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and search for the company (see Resources). The search will return a list of related company names. Click on the desired business, and a list of all of the financial information required by the SEC — including the latest investor news, quarterly reports and annual reports —will appear.
Writer Bio
Michele Jensen started writing professionally for businesses in 1999. Her writings include articles for eHow, Answerbag and COD, marketing materials and project-related documentation. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Houston and a Master of Science degree in international relations from Troy State University.