Financial education, in plain English
Beyond the price. Understand the story.
Every line on a stock chart is the end of a story: an earnings report, a rate decision, a dividend raised or cut. We explain what drives stocks, dividends, options and the whole market, so you can read the chart and know why it moved.
- No stock picks
- No paid coverage
- Sources on every page
Six stories behind every chart
What do you want to understand?
Stocks
What a share really is, what moves its price, and how to read the chart without being fooled by it.
3 guides
Dividends
How companies pay shareholders, how to judge whether a dividend is safe, and how dividends are taxed.
3 guides
Earnings
The quarterly report card: how to read it, what Wall Street expects, and why good news can sink a stock.
2 guides
Valuation
Price is what you pay; value is what you get. The ratios and models analysts use to tell the difference.
2 guides
Options
Calls, puts and covered calls explained with real math, and the risks the ads don't mention.
3 guides
Market Moves
Interest rates, the economy and the business cycle: the tides that lift and sink every boat.
2 guidesMost read
Start with these
What Moves Stock Prices? The Story Behind Every Move
Earnings, expectations, interest rates and emotion: the four forces behind almost every line on a chart.
Read StocksHow to Read a Stock Chart: Candles, Volume and Moving Averages
Candlesticks, volume bars, moving averages and support levels, and what a chart can and can't tell you.
Read DividendsHow Dividends Work: Declaration, Ex-Dividend, Record and Pay Dates
The four dividend dates, why the stock drops on the ex-date, and what changed under T+1 settlement.
Read DividendsDividend Yield and Payout Ratio: Is the Dividend Safe?
Why a high yield can be a warning sign, and the four numbers that tell you if a dividend can last.
Read EarningsHow to Read an Earnings Report (and Why Stocks Fall on Good News)
Revenue, EPS, margins, guidance and the call: what to read first, and why a beat can still send a stock lower.
Read ValuationThe P/E Ratio Explained: What It Tells You and What It Hides
Trailing vs. forward P/E, earnings yield, the PEG ratio, and why a low P/E isn't automatically cheap.
ReadCalculators
Run the numbers yourself
Free, private and in your browser. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Dividend & DRIP calculator
Yield, annual income, and how reinvesting dividends compounds over time.
P/E & simple DCF calculator
Price-to-earnings, earnings yield, and a two-stage discounted cash flow estimate.
Options payoff calculator
See profit and loss at expiration for a long call, long put or covered call.
CAGR & total return calculator
Turn a start value, end value and years into an annual growth rate.
Free downloads
Worksheets for doing your homework
Print them, fill them in by hand, keep them in a binder. Writing it down is how you stop buying on a headline.
Stock Research Worksheet
Two pages: the business, the numbers, the risks and your decision rules.
Download PDFEarnings Report Checklist
What to check in the press release, the 10-Q and the call.
Download PDFDividend Income Tracker
Log holdings, yields, payment dates and income by month.
Download PDFValuation Worksheet
P/E, PEG, free-cash-flow yield and a simple DCF on paper.
Download PDFOur approach
We explain. You decide.
Plenty of websites will tell you what to buy. We won't. Behind the Chart exists to explain how markets work: how a dividend is paid, what an earnings miss really means, why a covered call caps your upside. Every page cites the regulators and primary sources we relied on, from the SEC's Investor.gov to FINRA and the Options Industry Council.
Our editorial standards