I was given some stocks my father bought several years ago (45). How can I find out if they are worth anything?
2007-02-10 05:56:16 · 4 answers · asked by Cheryl J 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
This all depends on if the company is still in business so this may require a little investigative work on your part.
We'll start from the easiest and go to the more challenging:
1) Do a search on the company name right here on Yahoo!
http://finance.yahoo.com/lookup
Enter the companies name and hit enter and it will return the ticker symbol (usually a 1 to 3 letter prefix). If the company is still around you will get a current quote and have a rough value of the company.
2) If the Yahoo! search turns up empty (possibly because the company has gone out of business) you should still check over at the EDGAR database.
http://sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm
This database is maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission and with a little poking around you can find out if the company is still a going concern, or if it went out of business when, etc.
Assuming your company is still around (and assuming you're holding the stock certificates in your possession) you will want to contact a brokerage house so you can transfer them over to an account.
The brokerage will setup an account for you and transfer the shares into "street name" this means they will hold the shares for you and trade them if and when you choose. They can also do a little more background checking to see if the stock has split during the last 45 years and give you a true valuation of their worth.
Will it cost you money with the broker? Absolutely. I suggest you find a local discount broker in your phone book to help you out. If you're not familiar with the stock market and how to buy/sell shares then the service they provide (and the fee they charge) is worth it in my opinion.
Here's hoping you have a nice little windfall!
2007-02-10 06:09:20 · answer #1 · answered by TheBigSquareHead 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would search online for the company and see what I could find out and then look them up on the NYSE or NASDAQ. You can find out what shares are currently trading for at the close of business Friday.
2007-02-10 06:02:10 · answer #2 · answered by themainsail 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
check them on the internet or ring the stocks line to find out the rate
2007-02-10 06:03:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Open a brokerage account at TD Ameritrade and they will help you.
2007-02-10 07:40:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋