What is Google Finance and How Does It Work?

Online Learning

By Corbin HartwickUpdated on February 21, 2018

You don't have to be a trade shark running around on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street to make smart moves with your publicly-traded investments. Let Google Finance help you put together a portfolio of stocks and bonds, and give you the information you need to know what to invest in and when to do it. Started by Internet mega-corporation Google in 2006, Google Finance allows you to keep your financial affairs in order.

Why use Google Finance?

  • Create your own custom portfolio of publicly-traded investments — From Macy's to La-Z-Boy, from Samsung to Panasonic, Google Finance will help you keep track of your purchase and sale of shares from players in the financial world, both big and small.

  • Get stock quotes and market performance of currencies — See how company shares are performing in their localised market, and see the value of national money denotations on the global stage. You can even view the average worldwide performance of general business sectors.
  • Gauge interest in markets with Google Domestic Trends — A unique feature of Google Finance is that it lets you see how often people are using Google Search to look for keywords related to certain business sectors. It might give you clues as to which markets are about to take off and which are going to take a nosedive!
  • Get the latest news stories on the world's major businesses — Mergers, takeovers, new products and services… Google Finance has you covered when it comes to what the world's leading corporations are up to. Plus, you'll see news on worldwide events that might affect the markets.

Oh, and did we mention that, like most other Google services, Google Finance is free of charge to use?