You folks (that answer our dumb questions) are brilliant. Having said that,
many times the answer to a question ( the sample provided) includes some
strange symbols (such as --, or &, $$, etc). How can I find a list of these
symbols and whey they need to be used?

FOr example, when doing a COUNTIF with Dates I have to do:
=COUNTIF(a1:a50, "<" &DATE()-90)
but in IF,
=IF(a1:a50, < DATE()-90,Bad,Good)

NOt sure why I need quotes and & in COUNTIF but not in IF?

Thanks,

Kevin