Stock Investment Research

You hear every day how "analysts" are raising or lowering their stock ratings. Ever wondered how they come up with those stock ratings and just how accurate they are? Well, I was a stock analyst for close to ten years and can tell you first hand that you can do your own stock investment research and come up with answers that are just as accurate as theirs. I'll try to break down into simple terms some of the techniques they use. If you are interested in learning more, there are thousands of books devoted entirely to this subject. However, I would recommend keeping things simple and not getting too technical.

There are two steps to choosing the right stocks to invest in. First, do your investment research. This means learning about the fundamentals of the company, including their products, services, business goals, management depth and other intangible assets. Once you've done this, it's time to apply various stock valuation techniques in order determine if the stock is priced attractively and if you should buy it.

In this section, I'll discuss how to do your own stock research. To learn about stock valuations, visit the stock valuation section. You'll need to take the results of both techniques into account before making your investment decision.

Let's get started by looking at the different ways to research stocks. And by research, what we really mean is that we are going to find out as much information about the company as possible and then use that information to deem whether or not the company merits your investment consideration. Use the following methods to formulate an overall opinion about the quality of the company you are considering.

Annual and Quarterly Reports

Press Releases

Industry Reports

Analyst Days and Other Webcasts - product releases, analyst days, webcasts from investment conferences

Conference Calls

Competitive Analysis - market share

Intangible Assets - brand names, patents

Management Depth

Company Goals - are they clear, calculated

Contact the Company

- Abc stock investing --