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Stock Information Resources

Beta | Print Resources | Current Quotes | Historic Stock Quotes | Stock Indexes | International Exchanges

Beta Stock Measure
What is Beta?

Beta is a measure of the volatility of a stock's price compared to the volatility of the market as a whole. For example, a stock with a beta of 1.1 is considered 10 percent more volatile than the market average.

Where Can I Find Beta?

School of Business Network (HOH, ACC, BRI, JKP). Access is restricted to USC network connections.

  • S&P NetAdvantage
  • ValueLine (click on the 'My Valueline' tab to activate; hard copies available at Crocker Business Library front desk)
  • Factiva (look under 'Companies/Markets')

Print Resources in Crocker Library

  • ValueLine (current issues at the Reference Desk)
  • Handbook of World Stock, Derivative & Commodity Exchanges  (Reference HG4551 H319 2008)
  • International Encyclopedia of the Stock Market (Reference HG4551 .I57 1999)
  • Mergent's Dividend Achievers (Reference HG4661 .D68 1998)
  • Mergent's Handbook of Common Stocks (Reference HG4905 .M815)
  • Mergent Equity Research Reports (Reference Desk HG4028 .V3M47)
  • Daily Stock Price Record: American Stock Exchange (Reference HG4915 .S66)
  • Daily Stock Price Record: New York Stock Exchange (Reference HG4915 .S664
  • Daily Stock Price Record: NASDAQ (Reference HG4915 .S665)
  • O'Neil Database (Reference Oversize HG4916 .O54)
  • Ibbotson Yearbooks/SBBI: stocks, bonds, bills and inflation (Reference HG4501 .S7949)
  • Handbook of Commodity Investing (Reference HG6046 .F33 2008)
  • The Dow Jones Averages, 1885-1995 (Reference HG4915 .D6434 1996)
  • Walker's Manual of Unlisted Stocks (Reference HG4501 .W26)
  • Directory of Obsolete Securities (Reference HG4961 .D56)
  • 101 Years on Wall Street: an investor's almanac (Reference HG4572 .B74 1991)
  • NASDAQ: a guide to information sources (Reference HG4574.2 H43 2001x)
  • Handbook of Internet Stocks (Reference HG4501.95 H37 1999)
  • CyberStocks (Reference HG4057 .A17)
  • Japan Company Handbook: Sections 1 and 2 (Reference HC461 .J35) 

Internet Sources

Current Quotes

Note: Quotes that are available free online are generally delayed by about 20 minutes. Further resources for current online quotes:

Subscription Services

School of Business Network (HOH, ACC, BRI, JKP). Access is restricted to USC network connections.

Historic Stock Quotes

Free Internet Sites

QuoteMedia.com

Coverage: 1975 to present
Versatility: Enter company name or ticker symbol, then choose 'Historical' from the drop-down menu bar.
Result: Open, High, Low, Close, Volume, Change and Change %.

BigCharts

Path: select 'Historical Quotes'
Coverage: January 1988 to date.
Versatility: Look up one date at a time for one stock.
Result: Closing price, split-adjusted price, adjustment factor.

Yahoo Finance

Path: Look up current quote, select 'Charts,' then 'Historical Quotes.'
Coverage: Varies by company, some extend back to the 1960s.
Versatility: Data are displayed 200 dates at a time. All dates can be exported to one spreadsheet.
Result: Closing price, split-adjusted price, dividends.

Historical Data for S&P 500 Stocks

Coverage: One year
Versatility: Look up an S&P stock by name or industry sector. Downloads results into a comma-separate text file for individual stocks (composite data not available). Links to other sites for historical data. Site is aimed at the technically oriented.
Result: Date, ticker, open, high, low, close, volume

EconoMagic Stock Price Indices

Coverage: Daily and monthly numbers, some going back to 1950 for Dow Jones, S&P, Nasdaq, and Russell indices.
Results: Available in Excel or PDF formats.

Subscription Sites (available through School of Business Network)

Factiva

Path: Go to 'Companies/Markets.'
Coverage: Daily, weekly, or monthly with outputs up to five years.
Versatility: Option to display as text, formatted table or chart.
Result: Close, open, high, low and volume

Hoover's

Path: Search by ticker or company name
Coverage: Daily, weekly or monthly with outputs up to five years
Versatility: Interactive charting
Result: Close, open, high, low, volume plus other variables

Global Financial Data

Path: Select any of the major markets or indices
Coverage: Daily outputs available back to 1979
Results: Open, high, low, close, volume

Wharton Research Data Service

Historical data extending back much further than anywhere else. Wharton is designed for power users and requires that you establish an account to access to the databases. Contact the Crocker Library for more information.

Path: CRSP
Coverage: Monthly or daily
Versatility: Option to display as text or in HTML table (the latter is recommended)
Result: High, low, volume and close and a variety of other variables

Bloomberg (specialized terminal available only in Marshall Trading Room BRI 203)

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Stock Indexes

American Stock Exchange

Path: Search 'Symbol Lookup' for quotes
Coverage: Five years
Result: Date, High, Low, Net Change, Volume

Dow Jones Indexes

Path: Search for Blue Chips, DJ Wilshire, and Benchmark indices in the left-hand menu
Coverage: Some index coverage starting from 1895

NASDAQ

Coverage: Five years
Versatility: Look up one stock for several date ranges. Can save data as a text file and import into a spreadsheet. Historic data available only for NASDAQ stocks. Not available for stocks that trade on other exchanges. Click on the charts to see the underlying data.
Result: Date, Close, Volume

New York Stock Exchange Index

Path: Go to 'Market Information' and select 'Data Library.'
Coverage: 1966 to date
Versatility: Provides data in ten year, daily format.
Result: Lists composite, industrial, transportation, utility and finance in a file that can be saved to disk

International Exchanges

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Beta | Print Resources | Current Quotes | Historic Stock Quotes | Stock Indexes | International Exchanges