THE ECONOMICS OF MONEY,BANKING, AND FINANCIAL MARKETS 188

156

PA R T I I

Financial Markets

FINANCIAL NEWS

Stock Prices
Stock prices are available online from the Globe
and Mail. The site provides quotations for companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
and the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada as
well as for companies listed on the New York,
NASDAQ, and other American stock exchanges.
To access the information go to the Globe and
Mail website at www.theglobeandmail.com

and click on Report on Business, then Globe
Investor, and then Stock Quotes. Enter a company name or its stock symbol to view the latest
quote and related information.
Stock prices are quoted in the following format (a company listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange is used as an example):

Change
Company
Nexen Inc.

Latest
Symbol Price
NXY-T

18.370

Net

%

0.040 0.22

52 Weeks
Time

High

Low

13:39

18.570 17.900

Volume

High

Low

1 112 122 43.450 13.330

Source: Globeinvestor.com, Quotes, www.globeinvestor.com/v5/content/quotes.html, accessed January 29, 2009.

The following information is included in each

column. Nexen common stock is used as an
example.
Company: Company name: Nexen Inc.
Symbol: Symbol that identifies company: NXY-T
Latest Price: Last price that time: 18.370
Net Change: Change in the price from the previous day: 0.040
% Change: Percentage change in the price from
the previous day: 0.22%

Time: Time of quote: 13:39 (on January 29,
2009)
High: Highest price of a share that day: 18.570
Low: Lowest price of a share that day: 17.900
Volume: Number of shares traded that day:
1 112 122
52-week high: Highest price of a share in the
past 52 weeks: 43.450 for Nexen stock
52-week low: Lowest price of a share in the past
52 weeks: 13.330 for Nexen stock

What is the lesson of the story? Even if no forecaster is an accurate predictor
of the market, there will always be a group of consistent winners. A person who
has done well regularly in the past cannot guarantee that he or she will do well in
the future. Note that there will also be a group of persistent losers, but you rarely
hear about them because no one brags about a poor forecasting record.
Suppose your broker phones you with a hot tip to buy stock in the Happy Feet
Should You Be
Skeptical of Hot Corporation (HFC) because it has just developed a product that is completely
effective in curing athlete s foot. The stock price is sure to go up. Should you folTips?
low this advice and buy HFC stock?

The efficient market hypothesis indicates that you should be skeptical of such
news. If the stock market is efficient, it has already priced HFC stock so that its