Lesson 1 of 5 · 4 min read
Reading a ticker
AAPL +1.2% — what does all that info on your screen actually mean?
Symbol & price
AAPL is the ticker symbol for Apple — a short code the exchange uses to identify a stock. The price is the cost per share; the percentage next to it is the change relative to yesterday's closing price. Green = up, red = down.
Volume and market cap
Volume = the number of shares traded today; high volume means a lot of interest. Market cap = the total value of the company (price × number of shares outstanding). That number tells you how big a company really is — not the price.
In practice
Apple ~€200 price × ~15 billion shares ≈ €3,000 billion market cap. A small company with a €5 price × 20 million shares is worth only €100 million — so the price alone says nothing about size.
The 52-week range
Almost every ticker shows the highest and lowest price over the past year (52-week high/low). This lets you see at a glance where the current price stands: close to the top, or close to the bottom? It's not a buy signal, but it is useful context.
A €5 stock is not 'cheaper'
Beginners often think a €5 stock is cheaper than a €500 one. Nonsense: what matters is what you get for that price (profit, growth, assets). A €5 stock can be dirt expensive and a €500 one a bargain. The price says nothing without context.
Stocky says
Never look at the price alone. Two stocks with the same price can be completely different companies — one 100× bigger than the other.
Remember this
- A ticker is the short exchange code; the price is the cost per share, the % the daily change.
- Market cap (price × number of shares) shows a company's true size, not the price.
- The 52-week range gives context: is the price high or low relative to the past year?
- A low price does not mean 'cheap' — what matters is what you get for that price.
There is a quiz for this lesson
3 questions that check whether it stuck. They live in the app, because a quiz nobody grades teaches nothing.
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