Wal-Mart's market (stock market, that is).

• Position: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Shoppers cram Wal-Mart's aisles in search of low prices on everything from barbecues and baby clothes to blue jeans and even bananas. But as a publicly traded company, Wal-Mart has more than its customers to satisfy. It must also satisfy its stockholders.

Stock-market investors look for stocks that will appreciate in value so they can sell them at some point for more than they paid. Some stockholders are actually professionally-managed funds that buy and sell huge numbers of shares for pension plans, unions, and other large groups. Others are individuals who are saving for their retirements, their children's college funds, or other needs. In both cases, the goal is to buy when the stock is low and sell when it is high.

The price of Wal-Mart's stock has ranged from about $53 to $55 since January. But as this line graph indicates, the stock has taken some dramatic ups and downs over the past five years.

The data in this graph show the average price of Wal-Mart stock from January 1999 to September 2004. Use the data in the graph to answer the questions below.

1. In three of the years shown, the price of Wal-Mart stock was at a tow of about $42 to $45 per share. Identify the three years. --, -- and --

2. What was the approximate difference in the price of Wal-Mart stock at the beginning of 2004 and the high point of the stock in 1999?

   a $26 b $40 c $33 d $18

3. At the beginning of 1997, a year not shown, Wal-Mart stock was setting for about $12 a share. What is the approximate difference between that price and the price of the stock at the beginning of 2002?

   a $45 b $51 c $35 d $27

4. What was the approximate price of the stock in July-August 2002?

   ...