Walk me through the major items in Shareholders’ Equity.

Common items include:

• Common Stock – Simply the par value of however much stock the company has issued.

• Retained Earnings-How much of the company’s Net Income it has “saved up” over time.

 Additional Paid in Capital – This keeps track of how much stock-based compensation has been issued and how much new stock employees exercising options have created. It also includes how much over-par value a company raises in an IPO or other equity offering.

• Treasury Stock – The dollar amount of shares that the company has bought back.

• Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income – This is a “catch-all” that includes other items that don’t fit anywhere else, like the effect of foreign currency exchange rates changing.