Evaluating Stocks for Investment
By Ken Little, About.com Guide to Stocks
Investors have access to a wealth of information about stocks, but making sense of it may seem like a daunting task. Evaluating stocks isn't that difficult if you follow some basic steps.
Picking Stocks
Picking winning stocks involves understanding what makes one stock great and another stock ho-hum. It involves getting your hands dirty with financial ratios and looking at markets, but finding good investments is not as hard as you may think.
- ROA is a Leading Measure of Company's Efficiency
- Picking Stocks begins with Assessment of Need
- Following the Stock Market Herd Often Wrong Decision
- Don't try to Time Bottom of Falling Stock Market
- Understanding What Effects Stock Prices
- A Good Company with a Bad P/E
- Why Free Cash Flow is so Important
Financial Ratios
Investors can use financial ratios to evaluate a company, especially as it compares to others in the same industry. This type of analysis will help you understand where the company ranks among its peer and if it is properly priced by the market as reflected in its stock's price.
- Tools of Fundamental Analysis
- P/E is most Important Stock Valuation Tool
- Understanding Price to Earnings Ratio
- Understanding the PEG
- Understanding Earnings Per Share
- Understanding Price to Sales Ratio
- What Dividend Ratios Tell You
- Understanding Price to Book Ratio
- Understanding Dividend Yield
- Understanding Dividend Payout Ratio
- Understanding Book Value
- Understanding Return on Equity
- Cash Flow is Better than P/E
- Why Per-Share Price is Not Important
- Short-Interest Ratio Monitiors Level of Short Seller Interest in Stock
- Use Cash Flow to Evaluate Stocks
- Watch Out for too Much Debt
- Betas Aid in Stock Trading - But which Beta do You Use?
All about Earnings
Earnings drive stock prices. That's why earinings reporting time is so important to stock prices.
- It's the Earnings
- Understanding Earnings Season
- The Role of Earnings Estimates
- Beating Earnings Estimates
- Companies with too much Cash: Good Stock Buy?
What to Look for
There are many factors to consider whan analyzing a company. Here are some of the factors you should consider along with others such as financial ratios and the economy.
- Look for Stocks with Earnings Growth
- Size Matters in Investing
- Three Main Influences on Stock Prices
- What are Traits of Great Stock?
- Is a Stock Cheap or Expensive?
- Forget Old Sayings - Invest on Fundamentals
- Using Advance/Decline Numbers
- Using Relative Strength in Stock Selection
- Use R&D Spending in Evaluating Stock
- How to Evalutate Stocks for Debt
- Tools to Help Evaluate Stocks for too much Debt
- How to Measure Management Effectiveness before You Buy a Stock
- Check on Institutional Ownership Before Buying Stock
- Using and Misusing the Beta Ratio
- Beware the Dividend Yield Trap
- Happiness is a Positive Cash Flow
- Stock Buyback can Benefit Shareholders
- How to Spot Stock Market Trends
Figuring your Return
If you can't measure your return, how will you know if you're making money? Here are some tips on tallying up your profits.
- Calculating the Real Rate of Return on Investments
- Calculating Compound Annual Growth Rates of Stock Investments
- Use these Simple Calculations to Determine Return on Your Investments
- Is Beating the Market a Worthy Goal for your Stock Investments?
- Software Tools for Investing
Stocks and the Economy
The economy can have a dramatic affect on stock prices. Factors such as interest rates and retail sales play an important role in what happens in the stock market.
- What Moves the Stock Market
- Interest Rates and Stock Prices
- Stagflation is Dangerous for Stocks
- What is the Fed and What Does it Do?
- What Stock Investors Should know about Inflation
- Inflation is Dangerous to Investors
- Interest Rates and Stock Valuations
- Consumer Price Index
- Understanding the CPI
- What You Should Know about the Consumer Confidence Index
- Manufacturing Indicators
- Slowing Economy not Good for Stocks' Future
- Why Retail Sales are Important
- Why Holiday Shopping is Important
- Weak U.S. Dollar May Mean Higher Interest Rates
- Good News - Bad News for Stocks
- Does Inverted Yield Curve Mean a Recession is Coming?
- Can the Stock Market Crash Again?
Stock Research Tools
Investors have many tools at their disposal to help them evaluate stocks. Many of these sophisticated tools and informations services are free, in fact your reading one now.
- Stock Screening Basics
- Characteristics of a Good Stock Screen
- You Should be Using Stock Screens
- Stock Screens for All Investors
- A Great Source of Information on Companies
- Look into the Future with Stock Market Indexes
- Choose Business Fundamentals over Management Quality when Investing
Market News Sources
There are many sources for market news on the Internet. Here are some of the best.
