Background+information+on+share+prices

Every public company has its shares listed, ranging from small engineering firms to multi-national oil companies. The list of prices is carefully studied by investors, helping them to decide what to buy and what to sell. Huge increases in prices are an indication that the company is doing very well, or perhaps, that another company is buying its shares in order to make a takeover bid.
 * • || Stock refers to the stock of capital (money) belonging to a company; shareholders are people with a share in this stock. ||
 * • || Thin trading is when there is little activity in the market and few shares are bought and sold; heavy trading is when the market is very busy. ||
 * • || Share prices are determined by the balance between supply and demand; if the supply of shares exceeds the demand for those shares, their price drops, but if the demand exceeds the supply, their price rises. ||
 * • || Earnings per share (eps) is the net profit of a company divided by the number of its shares, a good indicator of a company's financial health. ||
 * • || A dividend is the part of a company's earnings which is paid to the shareholders. ||
 * • || Equity is the amount of a company owned by shareholders; equities are therefore the shares of a company. ||
 * • || Ex-dividend means that the shares do not entitle the buyer to any dividend recently declared. Shares are listed as ex-dividend from the date when that entitlement lapses. ||
 * • || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Shares are grouped according to industries, helping investors make comparisons between similar companies. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Companies marked in bold type make up the FTSE 100 index (Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100 Index) of top British companies. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">High and low are the highest and lowest prices shares have reached during the current year. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The price listed for each share is the middle price, which is halfway between the price the share is offered at by the sellers and the price bid by the buyer. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Change, yield and price-earnings ratio figures are all based on middle prices. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Share prices are quoted in pence and fractions of pence, unless otherwise stated. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">+/- are changes up or down in price from the close of trading the previous day. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Yield is the rate of return to shareholders paid in the form of dividends; the higher the yield, the more money a shareholder earns. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">• || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">P/E is the price/earnings ratio, which is calculated by dividing the share price by the earnings per share; p/e shows roughly how many years it would take the company to earn an amount equal to its market value. ||   ||