3. One company and its price

The returns table (RETURN)

RETURN lists the return of each period and the return since the start of the window, so you can see how small moves compound.

  • 4 min
  • 3 questions
  • Lesson 2 of 4

Why you would care

How much did it move each week, and in total? "AAPL is up 12% this year." Was that one big jump in May, or a steady climb? The single number hides the path. A returns table shows every step, and teaches you why returns multiply instead of adding.

The idea from scratch

A return is a price change as a percentage of where it started (chapter 01, Returns and percentages).

RETURN computes two returns for every row (every bar, one period like a day, a week or a month):

  • Interval return

    this bar's close against the previous bar's close. "How much did it move this week?"

  • Total return (in this table, cumulative return)

    this bar's close against the base, the close just before the window started. "How much since the start?"

Why returns multiply

Interval returns compound: each one applies to the new, larger (or smaller) amount.

WeekCloseInterval %Total %
base100.00
1110.00+10.00%+10.00%
299.00-10.00%-1.00%
3108.90+10.00%+8.90%

Multiply the interval returns, as (1 + r), and you always land on the total. That check is how you know the table is right.

  1. Base close: the bar before the window
  2. Bar 1: interval r1
  3. Bar 2: interval r2
  4. Bar 3: interval r3
  5. Total = (1+r1)(1+r2)(1+r3) - 1

Price return, not total return in the investor's sense

The table uses prices only: split-adjusted, but without dividends. So "TOTAL %" here means cumulative price change, not the "total return" of an investor who also collected dividends (chapter 01, Returns and percentages). For a stock paying 2% a year, the difference over ten years is large.

See it in Gloom

Gloom screenshot: RETURN AAPL in its default view
RETURN AAPL in its default view: Range and Interval selectors on top, then one row per bar with price, interval and cumulative returns. Captured 2026-10-06 (historical example).

open ittype RETURN AAPL.

  1. Range 5D and Interval 1H: the window and the bar size. Change them in the two selectors (for example Range 1Y, Interval 1W).
  2. PRICE 332.89: the bar's close.
  3. INT $ -0.80 and INT % -0.24%: the move against the previous bar.
  4. TOTAL $ and TOTAL %: the move since the base. On the first row they equal the interval return, because the previous bar is the base.
  5. Times are in UTC. An interval the data does not offer for that range falls back to the nearest coarser one.

Practice and recap

Try it3 tasks
  1. Check the tiny table: from 99.00 to 108.90 is +10%? (9.90 / 99 = 10%. Yes.)
  2. A stock does +20% then -20%. What is the total? (1.2 x 0.8 = 0.96: -4%.)
  3. In the app, set Range to 1Y and Interval to 1M on any stock and multiply three interval returns to check one total.
Common mistakes4 mistakes
  • Adding interval returns. They multiply.
  • Calling the TOTAL column a dividend-included return. It is price only.
  • Comparing two tables with different ranges or bar sizes.
  • Reading the newest bar as final while the market is open.
Check yourself3 questions
  1. What is the base of a returns window?
  2. Week 1 +5%, week 2 +5%. Total?
  3. Why can a stock's "total return" in an investor report beat the TOTAL % here?
Answers
  1. The close of the bar just before the window starts.
  2. 1.05 x 1.05 = 1.1025, so +10.25%.
  3. Because investor total return adds dividends; this table uses prices only.
Words in this lesson6 words
bar
One period in a price history: a minute, a day, a week, a month.
interval return
A bar's close against the previous bar's close.
cumulative return
A bar's close against the window's base.
base
The close just before the window starts.
compounding
Returns applying to an amount that already grew or shrank.
price return
Return from price changes only, without dividends.

Educational material about reading market data, not investment advice.