Make A Financial Plan

Figuring Out Your Finances

Sit down and take an honest look at your entire financial situation. You can never take a journey without knowing where you’re starting from, and a journey to financial security is no different.

You’ll need to figure out on paper your current situation— what you own and what you owe. You’ll be creating a “net worth statement.” On one side of the page, list what you own. These are your “assets.” And on the other side list what you owe other people, your “liabilities” or debts.

Your Net Worth Statement

 

 

Assets	Current Value	Liabilities	Amount
cash	_______	mortgage balance	_______
checking account	_______	credit cards	_______
savings	_______	bank loans	_______
cash value of life		car loans	_______
insurance	_______	personal loans	_______
retirement accounts	_______	real estate	_______
real estate	_______		_______
home	_______		_______
other	_______		_______
investments	_______		_______
personal property	_______		_______
total	_______	total	_______

Subtract your liabilities from your assets. If your assets are larger than your liabilities, you have a “positive” net worth. If your liabilities are greater than your assets, you have a “negative” net worth. You’ll want to update your “net worth statement” every year to keep track of how you are doing. Don’t be discouraged if you have a negative net worth. If you follow a plan to get into a positive position, you’re doing the right thing.

 

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KNOW YOUR INCOME AND EXPENSES The next step is to keep track of your income and your expenses for every month. Write down what you and others in your family earn, and then your monthly expenses. Include a category for savings and investing. What are you paying yourself every month? Many people get into the habit of saving and investing by following this advice: always pay yourself or your family first. Many people find it easier to pay themselves first if they allow their bank to automatically remove money from their paycheck and deposit it into a savings or investment account. Likely even better, for tax purposes, is to participate in an employer sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b). These plans will typically not only automatically deduct money from your paycheck, but will immediately reduce the taxes you are paying. Additionally, in many plans the employer matches some or all of your contribution. When your employer does that, it’s offering “free money.” Any time you have automatic deductions made from your paycheck or bank account, you’ll increase the chances of being able to stick to your plan and to realize your goals. “But I Spend Everything I Make.” If you are spending all your income, and never have money to save or invest, you’ll need to look for ways to cut back on your expenses. When you watch where you spend your money, you will be surprised how small everyday expenses that you can do without add up over a year.

Monthly Income and Expenses Income: _____   Expenses:   Savings _____ Investments _____ Housing:      rent or      mortgage _____    electricity _____    gas/oil _____    telephone _____    water/sewer _____    property tax _____    furniture _____ Food _____ Transportation _____ Loans _____ Insurance _____ Education _____ Recreation _____ Health care _____ Gifts _____ Other _____     Total _____

 

Small Savings Add Up to Big Money

How much does a cup of coffee cost you?

Would you believe $465.84?  Or more?

If you buy a cup of coffee every day for $1.00 (an awfully good price for a decent cup of coffee, nowadays), that adds up to $365.00 a year. If you saved that $365.00 for just one year, and put it into a savings account or investment that earns 5% a year, it would grow to $465.84 by the end of 5 years, and by the end of 30 years, to $1,577.50.

That’s the power of “compounding.” With compound interest, you earn interest on the money you save and on the interest that money earns. Over time, even a small amount saved can add up to big money.

If you are willing to watch what you spend and look for little ways to save on a regular schedule, you can make money grow. You just did it with one cup of coffee.

If a small cup of coffee can make such a huge difference, start looking at how you could make your money grow if you decided to spend less on other things and save those extra dollars.

If you buy on impulse, make a rule that you’ll always wait 24 hours to buy anything. You may lose your desire to buy it after a day. And try emptying your pockets and wallet of spare change at the end of each day. You’ll be surprised how quickly those nickels and dimes add up!

 

Pay Off Credit Card or Other High Interest Debt

Speaking of things adding up, there is no investment strategy anywhere that pays off as well as, or with less risk than, merely paying off all high interest debt you may have. Many people have wallets filled with credit cards, some of which they’ve “maxed out” (meaning they’ve spent up to their credit limit). Credit cards can make it seem easy to buy expensive things when you don’t have the cash in your pocket—or in the bank. But credit cards aren’t free money.

Most credit cards charge high interest rates—as much as 18 percent or more—if you don’t pay off your balance in full each month. If you owe money on your credit cards, the wisest thing you can do is pay off the balance in full as quickly as possible. Virtually no investment will give you the high returns you’ll need to keep pace with an 18 percent interest charge. That’s why you’re better off eliminating all credit card debt before investing savings. Once you’ve paid off your credit cards, you can budget your money and begin to save and invest. Here are some tips for avoiding credit card debt:

• Put Away the Plastic

Don’t use a credit card unless your debt is at a manageable level and you know you’ll have the money to pay the bill when it arrives.

• Know What You Owe

It’s easy to forget how much you’ve charged on your credit card. Every time you use a credit card, write down how much you have spent and figure out how much you’ll have to pay that month. If you know you won’t be able to pay your balance in full, try to figure out how much you can pay each month and how long it’ll take to pay the balance in full.

• Pay Off the Card with the Highest Rate

If you’ve got unpaid balances on several credit cards, you should first pay down the card that charges the highest rate. Pay as much as you can toward that debt each month until your balance is once again zero, while still paying the minimum on your other cards.

The same advice goes for any other high interest debt (about 8% or above) which does not offer the tax advantages of, for example, a mortgage.

Once you have paid off those credit cards and begun to set aside some money to save and invest, you’re in the savings habit! Now that you are freeing up some money to save and invest, it’s time to get the latest stock market report an start your journey.

Define Your Goals

To end up where you want to be, you’ll need a roadmap, a financial plan. To get started on your plan, you’ll need to ask yourself what are the things you want to save and invest for. Here are some possibilities:

• A home
• A car
• An education
• A comfortable retirement
• Your children
• Medical or other emergencies
• Periods of unemployment
• Caring for parents

Make your own list and then think about which goals are the most important to you. List your most important goals first.

 

What do you want to save or invest for?			By when?
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3.
4.
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Decide how many years you have to meet each specific goal, because when you save or invest you’ll need to find a savings or investment option that fits your time frame for meeting each goal.

Many tools exist to help you decide how much you’ll need to save for various needs. For example, the Ballpark Estimate, a single-page worksheet created by the American Savings Education Council, can help you calculate what you’ll need to save each year for retirement and the Social Security Administration has a benefits calculator to estimate your potential benefit amounts.

To save more, you’ll need to figure out your current finances and where you can achieve real savings. You’re ready for the next leg of your trip, stay tune to Best Growth Stock Blog!

The Roadmap to Saving and Investing

Welcome to this week roadmap to saving and investing!

Knowing how to secure your financial well-being is one of the most important things you’ll ever need in life. You don’t have to be a genius to do it. You just need to know a few basics, form a plan, and be ready to stick to it. No matter how much or little money you have, the important thing is to educate yourself about your opportunities.

There is no guarantee that you’ll make money from investments you make. But if you get the facts about saving and investing and follow through with an intelligent plan, you should be able to gain financial security over the years and enjoy the benefits of managing your money.

No one is born knowing how to save or to invest. Every successful investor starts with the basics—the information you’re about to read. A few people may stumble into financial security—a wealthy relative may die, or a business may take off. But for most people, the only way to attain financial security is to save and invest over a long period of time. Time after time, people of even modest means who begin the journey reach financial security and all that it promises: buying a home, educational opportunities for their children, and a comfortable retirement. If they can do it, so can you. Stay tune for this week road map to savings and investing from the Best Growth Stock Market Report.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are investment companies that are legally classified as open-end companies or Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), but that differ from traditional open-end growth stock companies and UITs in the following respects:

• ETFs do not sell individual shares directly to investors and only issue their shares in large blocks (blocks of 50,000 shares, for example) that are known as “Creation Units.”
   
• Investors generally do not purchase Creation Units with cash. Instead, they buy Creation Units with a basket of securities that generally mirrors the ETF’s portfolio. Those who purchase Creation Units are frequently institutions.
   
• After purchasing a Creation Unit, an investor often splits it up and sells the individual shares on a secondary market. This permits other investors to purchase individual shares (instead of Creation Units).
   
• Investors who want to sell their ETF shares have two options: (1) they can sell individual shares to other investors on the secondary market, or (2) they can sell the Creation Units back to the ETF. In addition, ETFs generally redeem Creation Units by giving investors the securities that comprise the portfolio instead of cash. So, for example, an ETF invested in the stocks contained in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) would give a redeeming shareholder the actual securities that constitute the DJIA instead of cash. Because of the limited redeemability of ETF shares, ETFs are not considered to be—and may not call themselves—mutual funds.
   

An ETF, like any other type of investment company, will have a prospectus. All investors that purchase Creation Units receive a prospectus. Some ETFs also deliver a prospectus to secondary market purchasers. ETFs that do not deliver a prospectus are required to give investors a document known as a Product Description, which summarizes key information about the ETF and explains how to obtain a prospectus. All ETFs will deliver a prospectus upon request. Before purchasing ETF shares, you should carefully read all of an ETF’s available information, including its prospectus.

The websites of the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ provide more information about different types of ETFs and how they work.  An ETF will have annual operating expenses and may also impose certain shareholders fees that are disclosed in the prospectus.

Currently, all ETFs seek to achieve the same return as a particular stock market indexes. Such an ETF is similar to an index fund in that it will primarily invest in the securities of companies that are included in a selected market index. An ETF will invest in either all of the securities or a representative sample of the securities included in the index. For example, one type of ETF, known as Spiders or SPDRs, invests in all of the stocks contained in the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index.

About Settling Trades in Three Days: T+3

Investors must settle their security transactions in three business days. This settlement cycle is known as “T+3″ — shorthand for “trade date plus three days.”

This rule means that when you buy securities, the brokerage firm must receive your payment no later than three business days after the trade is executed. When you sell a security, you must deliver to your brokerage firm your securities certificate no later than three business days after the sale. How you hold your securities (either in physical certificates or in electronic accounts) can affect how quickly you are able to deliver them to your broker.  For more information, please read Holding Your Securities — Get the Facts. 

History of T+3

Unsettled trades pose risks to our financial markets, especially when market prices plunge and trading volumes soar. The longer the period from trade execution to settlement, the greater the risk that securities firms and investors hit by sizable losses would be unable to pay for their transactions.

For many years, our markets operated on a “T+5″ settlement cycle. But, nearly a decade ago, the SEC reduced the settlement cycle from five business days to three business days, which in turn lessened the amount of money that needs to be collected at any one time and strengthened our financial markets for times of stress.  

Here are the answers to some of the questions we’ve been asked about settling trades:

 ”What security transactions are covered?”

Most security transactions, including stocks, bonds, municipal securities, mutual funds traded through a broker, and limited partnerships that trade on an exchange, must settle in three days. Government securities and stock options settle on the next business day following the trade.

“How do I calculate when the three-day settlement cycle begins and ends?”

The first day of the three-day settlement cycle starts on the business day following the day you purchased or sold a security. For example, let’s say you bought a stock on Friday at anytime during the day. Saturday and Sunday are not considered business days, so the three-day clock doesn’t start running until Monday. Your payment or check must arrive at your broker’s office by the close of business on Wednesday.

Generally, those days when the stock exchanges are open are considered business days. Always check with your broker to make sure that you understand when your payment or securities are due.

“Will there be a penalty if my payment does not arrive at the brokerage firm within three days?”

Some brokerage firms may charge investors fees or interest if their payments or checks do not arrive by the third day. Since firms are responsible for settling transactions if their investors do not pay, firms may decide to sell a security, charging the investor for any losses caused by a drop in the stock market value of the security and additional fees.

Ask your broker or brokerage firm what they plan to do if your check or payment does not arrive within three days, and what fees or charges will apply.

“When I sell or buy a security, will I receive funds or my security certificate from my brokerage firm within three days?”

While brokerage firms are required to send funds or certificates “promptly” to customers following the settlement of a trade, there are no deadlines imposed by federal law or regulations.  Brokerage firms will credit your account with sale proceeds as soon as your trade settles. Some brokerage firms may immediately “sweep” your money into an account that earns interest. You should ask your broker about how you can assure that all funds and securities are delivered to you promptly.

If you purchase a security and would like to receive paper certificates, you should review your account agreement, as it may contain additional requirements and fees associated with ordering paper certificates.

Short Sale Restrictions

A short sale is generally a sale of a stock by an investor who does not actually own the stock. To deliver the stock to the purchaser, the short seller will borrow the stock. The short seller later closes out the position by returning the security to the lender, typically by purchasing securities on the open stock market. In general, short selling is utilized to profit from an expected downward price movement, to provide liquidity in response to buyer demand, or to hedge the risk of a long position in the same or a related security.

The SEC has traditionally held the belief that protections against abusive short selling are important for issuer and investor confidence and has enacted prophylactic rules designed to curb manipulative behavior. In addition, Rule 105 of Regulation M governs short sales immediately prior to offerings where the sales are covered with offering shares. Specifically, Rule 105 prevents persons from covering short sales with offering securities purchased from an underwriter, broker, or dealer participating in the offering if the short sale was effected during the Rule’s restricted period, which is typically five days prior to pricing and ending with pricing. Its aim is to promote offering prices that are based upon open market prices determined by supply and demand rather than artificial forces. In this way, the Rule safeguards the integrity of the capital raising process.

Direct Investment Plans: Buying Stock Directly from the Company

Many companies allow you to buy or sell shares directly through a direct stock plan (DSP). You can also have the cash dividends you receive from the company automatically reinvested into more shares through a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP).

Here are descriptions of the two different types of plans:

Direct Stock Plans — Some companies allow you to purchase or sell stock directly through them without your having to use or pay commissions to a broker. But you may have to pay a fee for using the plan’s services. Some companies require that you already own growth stock in the company or are employed by the company before you may participate in their direct stock plans. You may be able to buy stock by investing a specific dollar amount rather than having to pay for an entire share. In that case, you could have your checking account debited on a regular basis to make investments in the plan. Some plans require a minimum amount of investment or require you to maintain specific minimums in your account.

DSPs usually will not allow you to buy or sell your securities at a specific market price or at a specific time. Rather, the company will purchase or sell shares for the plan at established times — for example, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis — and at an average market price. You can find when the company will buy and sell shares and how it determines the price by reading the company’s disclosure documents. Depending on the plan, you may be able to have your shares transferred to your broker to have them sold, but the plan may charge you a fee to do so.

Dividend Reinvestment Plans — Dividend reinvestment plans let you take advantage of the power of compounding. Instead of receiving cash dividends from the company, you may purchase more of a company’s stock by having the dividends reinvested. You must sign an agreement with the company for this to be done. If you have a brokerage account or mutual fund, your firm may also have a dividend reinvestment plan. You should check with your firm or the company to see whether you will be charged for this service.

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The features and services offered in DSPs vary depending on the kind of plan and the company offering the plan. Before setting up a plan, read the company’s disclosure information to learn how its particular plan works. The plan will tell you how to enroll, the number of shares needed to open an account, any fees or charges that apply, the minimum or maximum you can buy or sell, the dates when you can invest, and how to withdraw, transfer, or sell your shares. Many large companies have Internet sites that can provide you with information about their plans or tell you who to contact for more information.

Convertible Securities

A “convertible security” is a security – usually a bond or a preferred stock – that can be converted into a different security – typically shares of the company’s common growth stock. In most cases, the holder of the convertible determines whether and when a conversion occurs. In other cases, the company may retain the right to determine when the conversion occurs.

Companies generally issue convertible securities to raise money. Companies that have access to conventional means of raising capital (such as public offerings and bank financings) might offer convertible securities for particular business reasons. Companies that may be unable to tap conventional sources of funding sometimes offer convertible securities as a way to raise money more quickly. In a conventional convertible security financing, the conversion formula is generally fixed – meaning that the convertible security converts into common stock based on a fixed price. The convertible security financing arrangements might also include caps or other provisions to limit dilution (the reduction in earnings per share and proportional ownership that occurs when, for example, holders of convertible securities convert those securities into common stock).

By contrast, in less conventional convertible security financings, the conversion ratio may be based on fluctuating market prices to determine the number of shares of common stock to be issued on conversion. A stock market price based conversion formula protects the holders of the convertibles against price declines, while subjecting both the company and the holders of its common stock to certain risks. Because a stock market price based conversion formula can lead to dramatic stock price reductions and corresponding negative effects on both the company and its shareholders, convertible security financings with market price based conversion ratios have colloquially been called “floorless”, “toxic,” “death spiral,” and “ratchet” convertibles.

Both investors and companies should understand that market price based convertible security deals can affect the company and possibly lower the value of its securities. Here’s how these deals tend to work and the risks they pose:

	The company issues convertible securities that allow the holders to convert their securities to common stock at a discount to the market price at the time of conversion. That means that the lower the stock price, the more shares the company must issue on conversion.
	The more shares the company issues on conversion, the greater the dilution to the company’s shareholders will be. The company will have more shares outstanding after the conversion, revenues per share will be lower, and individual investors will own proportionally less of the company. While dilution can occur with either fixed or market price based conversion formulas, the risk of potential adverse effects increases with a market price based conversion formula.
	The greater the dilution, the greater the potential that the stock price per share will fall. The more the stock price falls, the greater the number of shares the company may have to issue in future conversions and the harder it might be for the company to obtain other financing.

Before you decide to invest in a company, you should find out what types of financings the company has engaged in – including convertible security deals – and make sure that you understand the effects those financings might have on the company and the value of its securities. You can do this by researching the company in the SEC’s EDGAR database and looking at the company’s registration statements and other filings. Even if the company sells convertible securities in a private, unregistered transaction (or “private placement”), the company and the purchaser normally agree that the company will register the underlying common stock for the purchaser’s resale prior to conversion. You’ll also find disclosures about these and other financings in the company’s annual and quarterly reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, respectively, and in any interim reports on Form 8-K that announce the financing transaction.

If the company has engaged in convertible security financings, be sure to ascertain the nature of the convertible financing arrangement – fixed versus market price based conversion ratios. Be sure you fully understand the terms of the convertible security financing arrangement, including the circumstances of its issuance and how the conversion formula works. You should also understand the risks and the possible effects on the company and its outstanding securities arising from the below market price conversions and potentially significant additional share issuances and sales, including dilution to shareholders. You should be aware of the risks arising from the effects of the purchasers and other parties trading strategies, such as short selling activities, on the market price for the company’s securities, which may affect the amount of shares issued on future conversions.

Companies should also understand the terms and risks of convertible security arrangements so that they can appropriately evaluate the issues that arise. Companies entering into these types of convertible securities transactions should understand fully the effects that the market price based conversion ratio may have on the company and the market for its securities. Companies should also consider the effect that significant share issuances and below market conversions have on a company’s ability to obtain other financing.

Broken Promises: Promissory Note Fraud

A promissory note is a form of debt – similar to a loan or an IOU – that a company may issue to raise money. Typically, an investor agrees to loan money to the company for a set period of time. In exchange, the company promises to pay the investor a fixed return on his or her investment, typically principal plus annual interest.

While promissory notes can be legitimate investments, those that are marketed broadly to individual investors often turn out to be scams. The SEC and state securities regulators across the nation have joined forces to combat the fraudulent sale of promissory notes to investors. But we can’t stop every fraud.

That’s why you should ask tough questions – and demand answers – before you consider investing in a promissory note. Be sure you understand how they work and what risks they pose. These tips will explain how promissory note fraud can occur and will help you to spot the scams.

Anatomy of a Promissory Note Fraud

Fraudsters across the nation have recently begun to use promissory notes as vehicles to defraud investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Most promissory note scams follow predictable, fraudulent fact patterns:

 
• The fraudsters – who may or may not be affiliated with the company – persuade independent life insurance agents to sell promissory notes, luring them with lucrative commissions of up to twenty or even thirty percent. These agents often do not have a license to sell securities. And in selling the notes, they frequently rely solely on the information the company gives them – which later proves to be false or misleading.

 

• Investors purchase the promissory notes, enticed by the promise of a high, fixed-rate return – up to fifteen or twenty percent – with a very low level of risk. The promissory notes may appear all the more attractive because the seller falsely claims that they’re “guaranteed” or insured. And few investors ask tough questions about these investments because they know and trust the sellers, insurance agents with whom they’ve done business in the past.

 

• The fraudsters use a portion of the money they collect from investors to pay the sellers their commissions. But they typically abscond with the rest, squandering it on personal expenses or high-flying life styles.

 

• They may also use some of the proceeds to support an elaborate “Ponzi” scheme in which money coming in from the sale of new notes pays the interest on older notes. Some fraudsters try to avoid repaying investors’ principal by convincing investors to “roll-over” their promissory notes upon maturity. These investors may, for at least a time, continue to receive interest payments – but they rarely get their principal back.

Promissory note scams often target the elderly, bilking them of their retirement savings at a time when they can least afford to lose it. But no one is immune. Fraudsters rarely discriminate when it comes to separating investors from their money. And most investors don’t even realize their investment dollars are at risk until it’s far too late.

Tips To Avoid Promissory Note Scams

Here’s how you can avoid the costly mistake of investing in a sham promissory note:

  
• Bear in mind that legitimate corporate promissory notes are not usually sold to the general public. Instead, they tend to be sold privately to sophisticated buyers who do their own “due diligence” or research on the company. If someone calls you up or knocks on your door trying to sell you a promissory note, chances are you’re dealing with a scam.

 

• Find out whether the investment is registered with the SEC or your state securities regulator – or whether it’s exempt from registration. Most legitimate promissory notes can easily be verified by checking the SEC’s EDGAR database or by calling your state securities regulator, which you can find at the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association. If the promissory note is not registered, you’ll have to do your own thorough investigation to confirm whether the company has the ability to pay its debt.

 

• Be skeptical if the seller tells you that the promissory note is not a security. The types of promissory notes involved in promissory note scams usually are securities and must be registered with either the SEC or your state securities regulator – or they must meet an exemption.

 

• Make sure the seller is properly licensed. Insurance agents can’t sell securities – including promissory notes – without a securities license. Call your state securities regulator, and ask whether the person or firm is licensed to sell securities in your state and whether they have a record of complaints or fraud. You can also get this information by calling NASD’s public disclosure hotline at (800) 289-9999 or by visiting their website.

 

• Beware of promises of “risk free” returns. These claims are usually the bait con artists use to lure their victims. Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

• Watch out for promissory notes that are supposedly “insured” or “guaranteed,” especially if a foreign insurance company is involved. Be sure to call your state insurance commissioner to find out whether the foreign insurance company can legally do business in the United States.

 

• Compare the rate of return on the promissory note with current market rates for similar fixed-rate investments, long-term Treasury bonds, or FDIC-insured certificates of deposit. If the seller promises an above-market rate on a short-term note, proceed with caution.

What To Do If You Run into Trouble

If you believe you’ve invested in a promissory note scam, act promptly. By law, you only have a limited time to take legal action.

Contact the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. You can send us your complaint by using our online complaint form. Or you can reach us as follows:

 

U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Office of Investor Education and Advocacy
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549-0213
Fax: (202) 772-9295

You should also contact your state securities regulator and, if an insurance agent sold you the promissory note, your state insurance commissioner.

Closing Price

Many investors use closing prices reported in the newspapers to monitor their holdings. But not all closing prices are the same, and the differences may be important to you. Here’s what you should know about closing prices:

“Closing price” generally refers to the last price at which a stock trades during a regular trading session. For many market centers, including the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the Nasdaq Stock Market, regular trading sessions run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

But a number of market centers offer after-hours trading. Some financial publications and market data vendors use the last trade in these after-hours markets as the closing price for the day. Others, however, publish the 4:00 p.m. price as the closing price and display prices for after-hours trading separately.

This discrepancy in the way the media and others report closing prices can cause confusion – especially when a single, low-volume after-hours trade occurs at a price that’s substantially different from the 4:00 p.m. closing price. For example, an investor might read on a company’s website that its stock closed at one price but then see a much different price on theconsolidated tape flashing across the bottom of her or his television screen. Or, the next day, the investor might hear that the stock opened “up” when, in fact, it opened “down” compared with the price at the 4:00 p.m. close.

To help clear up this confusion, the central distributor of transaction prices for exchange-traded securities – the Consolidated Tape Association – implemented a system designed to make closing prices uniform. Under this system, the regular session closing price for stocks will be the 4:00 p.m. price. Sometimes orders come in before 4:00 p.m., but they can’t be filled until after 4:00 p.m. Therefore, the CTA produces a 4:15 p.m. Stock Market Report for vendors and the media that includes regular session trades that are reported before 4:15 p.m. but should be included in regular session 4:00 p.m. prices. Any trades that take place during after-hours trading sessions will be “tagged” with the letter “T” on the consolidated tape and will not affect the regular session closing price (or the regular session high and low prices). The Nasdaq Stock Market, which operates a similar system for trades in its securities, uses similar conventions.

Because the closing price for the same stock may continue to be reported differently among various media and market data vendors, investors should try to understand what the reported price is based on. For example:

 
• Does the newspaper or vendor indicate that the closing price is based on the regular trading session price established on the security’s primary market, such as the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or the Nasdaq Stock Market? 
• Does the closing price reflect the last trade reported over the consolidated tape as of the close of the regular trading session at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time? 
• Does the closing price reflect the last trade reported over the consolidated tape in after-hours trading?

Investors may be able to find this information if their newspaper or vendor system describes how the closing price is being reported.