The results in your first table are correct.

If you invest $100 in the stock market, and suffer a 50% loss, you have $50
left. But to get back to what you started with, you need a 100% gain. This
is the way percentages work.

If you truly want the results in your second table, you need the following
formula:
=(max(a1,b1)-min(a1,b1))/min(a1,b1)

Regards,
Fred

"mahlandj" wrote in message
...
I tried that but am getting two different answers. No mater which cell is
high or low the answer should be the same. Here are the examples:

I tried with this formula =(a1-b1)/a1

A B C
1 $45,161 $43,111 4.54%
2 $43,111 $45,161 -4.76%

It should read the same like below. This is what I need a formula for.
It
should always figure out how much of a % to get from the low # to the high
#.

A B C
1 $45,161 $43,111 4.76%
2 $43,111 $45,161 4.76%

--
Thanks!


"pmartglass" wrote:

format your cell as % and increase decimal points to where you want to
see
something like
=(a1-b1)/a1
should work for what you are trying to do

"mahlandj" wrote:

I know this is probably simple but I am new to excel and have been
going
crazy here. I am doing spread sheet for feedback on jobs I have
quoted.
There is my price (A) and my competitors price (B). I need to know the
difference (C) % + or -.

A B C
1 $45,161 $43,111 % Answer
2 $101,510 $102,810 % Answer

--
Thanks!