Yahoo Finance Blog

      Detailed finance is a topic of which many people do not have much knowledge. There are some who make finance their main priority while others care less about it. When I talk about finance, I am talking about more than just counting money and saving it, I am talking about the financial process known as investing it. Investing takes place through the purchase of stocks from the stock market. Stock investment means to buy a share in a company, which over time helps to build wealth. However, there are some key factors that should be acquired before a person decides to purchase a stock; these factors include how the company makes money, market capitalization, what price the company is sold for, and the ticker symbol. It is also important to know specific statistics such as price to earnings ratio, Beta, Dividend, and charts. In the end you should be able to determine if the company that you are thinking about investing in is a good or bad investment.  

The company that I chose to do this blog on is Walmart. The first thing that should be known before investing in a company such as Walmart is its background. It is important to understand that buying a stock means that you are taking part ownership in that company so you should know what it does and how it makes money. Walmart is a company that makes its money by selling a variety of consumer goods through its stores and online sites. It also now offers many benefits from its company such as subscriber membership plans.  

The next thing that should be known about a potential investment company is its market capitalization. Market capitalization means the value of a company that is sold on the stock market. It is also referred to as the total dollar market value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock. Market capitalization is determined by multiplying the total number of a company’s shares by its total share price. The market capitalization of Walmart is 406.506B.  

What price the company is sold for, and its ticker symbol are also things that a potential investor should familiarize themselves with while thinking about investing in a company. The price of a stock lets you know a company’s current value or market value. The price represents how much the stock can be traded at or how much the buyer and seller have agreed upon. It is important to be aware that if there are more buyers and sellers, then the stock’s price will increase. The price that Walmart is being sold for is 150.80. Investors should also pay close attention to ticker symbols. Ticker symbols are a unique series of letters that are abbreviated and are used during stock trading. The ticker symbol that is used to represent Walmart is WMT.  

Other important stock statistics that investors should be aware of are price to earnings ratio, Beta, Dividend, and the stock charts that are presented. Price to earnings ratio or P/E shows a company value by comparing the price of a stock to its earnings. The price to earnings ratio equals the price of a share of stock divided by the company’s earnings per share. This also tells you how much you are paying for each dollar of earnings. The P/E for the Walmart company is 35.32. The Beta of a stock measures how a stock is expected to move in relation to movements in the overall market. A stock that has a beta greater than 1.0 shows that the stock is more volatile than the broader market. A stock that has a beta of less than 1.0 shows that the stock has a lower volatility. The Beta for the Walmart company is 0.49. Dividends are when a company’s earnings are distributed, and this is usually done by the company’s board of directors. Dividends are usually distributed quarterly and may be paid out in either cash or reinvestment of additional stock. The dividend for the Walmart company is 2.28 (1.51%). The charts on a company’s stock page may be something that most people pass over and do not pay attention to, but these charts are very valuable. Stock charts are important because they are a main indictor of a stock’s current strength or weakness. Each bar on the chart represents a day of trading activity. Charts should be used to identify precise buy points and to create short-term trading strategies. According to the charts on the Walmart stock page the pattern is bearish. When a pattern is bearish it means that the pattern is a relatively reliable reversal pattern. This is an indicator that lower prices are coming.  

After considering each factor of a stock company, the last thing that is left to be decided is if it is a good investment to make. The key to knowing if a company is a good investment is doing the research and putting in the time to know as much about the company as possible. If you do not have enough time to look at every detail of a company, you can use the main indicators in this blog to make a safer decision. In my opinion the research should be thorough because there is hard-earned money at risk. In conclusion, I feel that the Walmart company would be a good investment because it seems to be a steady and growing company.