Records of previous trading activities in the stock market are known as financial charting data or historical market data.
The information in these records help an investor analyze the behavior of stocks so that he or she may better choose which company to buy/sell stocks from, and when.
To understand this, let's see what is in stock listings in the first place.
Current stock listings must include a volatility indicator of the stock; that is, the difference between it's high and low points.
The greater the disparity between the two, the more volatile or riskier it is to buy that stock.
The listings must also show the cash dividend or the amount of money you will get paid for owning stocks in the company.
Other data include volume traded, and high/low prices.
When it comes to historical stock prices, the charting data will also display the stock's price performance over time, its growth rate, volatility, price comparison and more.
Charting data software also gives you many data analysis tools to help test a trading system you want to try (without investing real money).
These tools are especially crucial for a short-term investor who makes a profit only by selling stocks.
But even long-term investors who are after dividends need market trends data so they can choose what stocks to buy.
In the past, market analysts had to record historical market data by hand.
Now thanks to the advent of computers and the internet, the work is made much easier.
You can download charting data here, available in all formats to ensure compatibility with different stock market software.