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 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: 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 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