THERE'S A NEW LOOK: DECIMALS FOR STOCKS

Fractions are out, decimals are in.

There's a new look on the Southeast Missourian stock pages today -- 12 1/2 is out, 12.5 is in.

Stocks were figured in eighths for a number of years, based on the old Spanish Doubloon that could be broken down into eight pieces, thus the phrase "pieces of eight."

"Then it got more complicated," said Joe Domian, an Edward Jones Investment broker. "You started seeing some strange numbers, like 2 25/32, or, in the case of a stock earlier this week, 13/128."

Using decimals, said Domian, makes more sense.