Spreadsheets: All You Need to Know!

A spreadsheet is:

1. Made up of cells, each with a unique address consisting of a letter, then a number.
2. Divided into vertical columns labeled by letters and horizontal rows labeled by numbers.

Navigating and Formatting:

1. Users move around the spreadsheet by using the arrow keys or the mouse, highlighting one cell at a time with the black outline.
2. Adjust the size of the cells by clicking and dragging the borders of the labels at the top or the side.

Setting Up Your Spreadsheet for the Stock Market Activities:

1. Click on cell c1: Type the title of your spreadsheet. After you have entered the information in this cell, press enter or an arrow key; the cell will show your entry. 
2. In cell a5 type  the word "Stock" with a capital S. Click on the B button on the toolbar to make this word bold. Make sure the font is Arial size 10.
3. In cell a6 type the word "Symbol," with a capital S. Click the B and U buttons on the toolbar to make this word bold and underlined.
4. Go to b5, enter "Stock," and make it bold.
5. B6: "Name." Bold, underline.
6. C5: "Number." Bold
7. C6: "Shares." Bold, underline.
8. D5: "Base." Bold.
9. D6: "Price." Bold, underline.
10. E5: "Base." Bold.
11. E6: "Value." Bold, underline.
12. F5: "Current." Bold.
13. F6: "Price." Bold, underline.
14. G5: "Current." Bold.
15. G6: "Value." Bold, underline.
16. H5: "Gain." Bold.
17. H6: "Loss." Bold, underline.
18. i5: "%." Bold.
19. i6: "Change." Bold, underline.
20. Go to a18, enter "Total."
21. In c7, type in the following formula: =e7/d7. Be sure to include the " =" (equals sign); all formulas start with "=".
22. Go to cell c8, and type in the formula =e8/d8. Do this for eight more cells in the c column, adjusting the formula each time to show the new row you’re in. Don't worry about the symbols or gibberish-text that are starting to appear on your spreadsheet. These will turn into intelligible information soon.  I promise.
23. Go to e7. Enter 10000. Highlight that cell, and the cells in the column below, down to e16. Leaving them highlighted, go Edit, Fill, Down.
24. Press directly on the letter E at the very top of the column (this will cause the entire column to be highlighted), then on the dollar sign on the toolbar. Observe what happens. Nice, huh? Do the same for columns d, f, g, and h; that is, press on the large letter at the top of the column, then on that nice $ symbol.
25. Do the same to center the characters in all columns: press the letter, then use the "center" button on the tool bar. Do this for all columns.
26. Go to g7. Enter the formula: =f7*c7. Highlight g7 through g16, then go to Edit, Fill, and Down.
27. Go to h7. Enter the formula: =g7-e7. Fill down as above.
28. Go to i7. Enter the formula: =h7/e7. Fill down as above.
29. Go to e18. Press on the button just below the Help menu. It looks like a capital E. After the marching ants surround the correct columns, press Enter.
30. Do the same in cells g18 and h18.
31. Go to cell i18. Enter the formula: =average(i7:i16) .
32. Choose ten stocks. List them starting in b7, ending in b16.
33. Minimize the screen. Open up the internet on your computer. Go to the website http://www.usatoday.com .  Or use another good stock-tracking site, such as www.cnbc.com. The following instructions (#41-47) apply to using the usatoday.com site, but you can use any financial site.  They key is to find "Symbol Look-up" and then "Stock Quotations."
34. Click on "Stocks," which is a link in the left-hand margin.
35. At the next page, scroll down slightly until you see "Symbol Lookup" on the left. Click on that.
36. Click on "Symbol Lookup" at the very top right of the next page.
37. At the next page, scroll down slightly until you see a blank box that says "Company Name," then below it, make sure that "U.S." is selected. Type in the name of the company that you want to purchase in the box below that. Then press "Submit."
38. On the page the follows, find the results of your search. The stock symbol will be listed in blue letters when you scroll down half a page; it is usually an abbreviation of the company name, up to three or four letters.
39. Using the button on the taskbar of your computer (without closing or minimizing or resizing the internet) go back to your spreadsheet. Enter the stock symbol for your stock in the cell in a7. Repeat this operation for the rest of your stocks, and enter the stock symbols in cells a8 through a16.
40. Go back to the internet.  Look up the prices of each one of your stocks.  The price will usually be called "Last," or "Current."
41. Update your portfolio in Excel. Enter the Current Price into both the Base Price and Current Price columns. After today, you will be changing only the Current Price (F) column.

Charting (bonus)

1. Highlight cells b5 through b16.
2. Holding down the Control button on your keyboard, highlight cells d5 through d16.
3. Holding down Control still, highlight f5 through f16.
4. On your button bar just below the menus, find the button for Chart Wizard, and click it.
5. Do what the nice wizard tells you to do:

1. Select a chart type from the many choices. Don’t go crazy here. KISS.
2. Click on Next.
3. View a quick preview of your chart; again, click on Next.
4. On the screen the follows, add a title if you’d like. As above in A, don’t go crazy.
5. At the screen that follows (Step 4 of 4), click on Finish.

6. That’s it. You have your chart. You can format it a dozen different ways: right-click on any part of it, and you’ll see that you can customize it easily by following the context-sensitive menus that pop up. Add colors, patterns, depth, labels. Change the style, too. Now go crazy.

Now sit back and admire your work. A nice spreadsheet is a gorgeous thing to behold: it is symmetrical, it is powerful, and it is just packed with information. Customize it as you will: use WordArt for your title, fool around with fonts (size, style, color, whatever), change your column and row sizes, freeze and unfreeze headings, and explore various menus to see what you can do.

By now, you may be thinking that what we've done with the exercise above is just a beginning. The spreadsheet is an amazingly potent tool for analyzing and presenting information of so many varieties -- not just numbers. If you've enjoyed walking through the mini-tutorial I've provided, then you'll want to learn more; by all means do so. Even if you haven't enjoyed it so much, you've still learned a little bit about a terrific application. You're most thoroughly welcome.

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