My knowledge about picking stocks is very unstructured. I did not apply any systematic approach of picking stocks yet. This is my first attempt to formulate rules and techniques. Therefore, this exercise plays important role of developing set of rules and bridge the gap in the overall investing strategy. Also, it will be useful to learn reading this post in the future, when the results of this process will be visible.
My understanding of picking stocks is primarily influenced by Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham. I recommend to read legendary book Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Warren Buffet calls Graham his teacher. If I am not wrong, the first edition was published in 40s. Nevertheless, I think that it is very good book for beginners, because it gives comprehensive overview of investors' strategy and behaviour.
Before I go into details, I want to say that it is very important to have data for long period of time in order to be able to recognise any trends and tendencies. For the next selection of stocks I plan to use 10 years period and see how companies performed in 2 financial crises in 2001-2002 and 2008-2009. Also it is important to analyse overall industry dynamics, profitability and competition structure in order to understand in what context a company operates. This type of analysis is very difficult to do and requires some knowledge of a given industry. For the first time, I will try to use industry reports. Fortunately, being as a student in the business school I have an access to necessary business databases.
Size
First of all, in order to invest in a company it must be of adequate size and market capitalisation. I will screen companies which market capitalisation is more than $1 bln.
Profitabil...
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... recovered. Price to book (P/B) ratio shows the relationship between stock price and book assets (total assets - intangible assets and liabilities). It should not be more than 1.5.
Also Graham and Buffet recommend to select companies with sustainable competitive advantage(s) and long term proved track record. A company have to have a sustainable 'moat' (competitive advantage) to protect its market position and revenue. Also there are few recommendations what not to do, for example, not to buy a serial acquirer. Also it is not advisable to buy a heavy borrower or issuer of new stocks and a company who relies on a single customer.
Each selection criteria deserves a detailed and comprehensive research. I plan to tackle each criteria in future and write detailed essays discussing different points of view, my ideas and results of real application of those criteria.
In order to make the decision, this report measures the following qualitative and quantitative areas:
You would not buy a home, car or other large purchases without researching what product offered you the most for your money. The same is true when investing in a company. Investors do avid research on multiple companies to find what company matches the investors' criteria. In this paper Team C will research both AT&T and Verizon's financial documents. Team C will compare selected ratios, cash flow and make recommendations how both companies can manage cash flow for the future.
Investing in stocks involves owning part of a company’s equity which effectively enables the shareholder to receive a portion of the company’s earnings and assets in form of dividends. Stocks are generally categorized as either common stocks or preferred stocks whereby common stock allow investors to vote on key issues but do not guarantee of dividends (Markowitz 78). Preferred stocks on the other hand do not provide voting rights but assure stockholders of dividend payments. Investing in stocks offers investors comparatively high returns relative to treasury securities but the investments also have high inherent risk. Stocks are purchased through licensed stockbrokers who range from the discounted order-taking online brokers, to the pricey full-service brokers and money managers (Sourd 112). Despite the type of broker an investor opts for, the stock market has the potential to generate high returns through an investment strategy. One of the main strategies employed is diversification which involves the purchasing of different stocks with varied performance and rates of returns in order to spread out the risk of the individuals stocks across a portfolio. Investing in stocks is therefore one of the most profitable alternatives of personal financial planning, and should be considered as one of the investment vehicles that generates an additional income stream.
Warren Buffett is a legendary investor who now sits at the CEO position as well as Chairman and President of the multibillion dollar corporation known as Berkshire Hathaway. For convenience I will refer to Berkshire Hathaway as BH. BH is a conglomerate holding company which means that they specialize in investing across several different industries. Yahoo! Finance defines BH to be in the financial sector and their primary industry as Property and Casualty Insurance. Some of the other companies that BH owns and manages are GEICO Insurance, Helzberg Diamonds, Benjamin Moore & Co., and Dairy Queen. BH also owns large portions of stock in Heinz and Mars Incorporated. Due to the present day’s stock market volatility there would be no other better choice than to buy into Berkshire Hathaway.
There are many different ways to save money and there are different things to save for. A savings plan for an immediate want is apparently different than a savings strategy for retirement. One may choose to select stocks, bonds, or mutual funds for a savings strategy, however, my personal choice is to invest in bonds first, then mutual funds.
When setting up a stock portfolio there are things one should look into. First off, one should know what is currently happening, not only in the stock market, but in the economy as well. Researching stock indexes such as “The Dow” and the “S&P 500” will give you general stock performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average only tracks 30 large industrial firms in hopes of getting a sense of where the market is heading. The S&P 500, on the other hand, tracks 500 stocks which may give the investor a better overall picture of where the market is going. Which ever the investor may choose to use, the idea is to find out whether stock prices are going up or down. Also important to know is state of the economy. Certain stocks tend to perform better or worse depending on the state of the economy. Knowing which stocks tend to perform well at a given state will help the investor choose which type of stock is best for the given conditions.
Stock investment means you are purchasing a share of the company, therefore the company’s success determines the value of your investment. Buying stocks is not a difficult process; clarification of some important terminology and differentiation helps gives you the foundation to start investing.
“One of the very nice things about investing in the stock market is that you learn about all different aspects of the economy. It's your window into a very large world,” Ron Chernow once said. The stock market is undoubtedly an incredibly important economic feature, one that our modern world depends on. Indeed, the stock market is so integral to our life today that it can serve as a valuable tool where financial literacy is concerned. Two of the most important financial lessons that the stock market teaches are financial literacy terminology as well as a historical understanding of stock market institutions. The Stock Market Game simulation serves to teach these lessons in a secure environment, and
The companies I have selected for this assignment is Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd (5098) and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd. (7153), both of the company is from industrial products sector and its share is traded in main market.
There is a sense of complexity today that has led many to believe the individual investor has little chance of competing with professional brokers and investment firms. However, Malkiel states this is a major misconception as he explains in his book “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”. What does a random walk mean? The random walk means in terms of the stock market that, “short term changes in stock prices cannot be predicted”. So how does a rational investor determine which stocks to purchase to maximize returns? Chapter 1 begins by defining and determining the difference in investing and speculating. Investing defined by Malkiel is the method of “purchasing assets to gain profit in the form of reasonably predictable income or appreciation over the long term”. Speculating in a sense is predicting, but without sufficient data to support any kind of conclusion. What is investing? Investing in its simplest form is the expectation to receive greater value in the future than you have today by saving income rather than spending. For example a savings account will earn a particular interest rate as will a corporate bond. Investment returns therefore depend on the allocation of funds and future events. Traditionally there have been two approaches used by the investment community to determine asset valuation: “the firm-foundation theory” and the “castle in the air theory”. The firm foundation theory argues that each investment instrument has something called intrinsic value, which can be determined analyzing securities present conditions and future growth. The basis of this theory is to buy securities when they are temporarily undervalued and sell them when they are temporarily overvalued in comparison to there intrinsic value One of the main variables used in this theory is dividend income. A stocks intrinsic value is said to be “equal to the present value of all its future dividends”. This is done using a method called discounting. Another variable to consider is the growth rate of the dividends. The greater the growth rate the more valuable the stock. However it is difficult to determine how long growth rates will last. Other factors are risk and interest rates, which will be discussed later. Warren Buffet, the great investor of our time, used this technique in making his fortune.
...d from publicly available information. Other researchers have performed time series analysis on stock returns as well as on the cross sectional distribution of returns of individual stocks to find out if profit opportunities exist (Damodaran, 1996; Reilly and Brown 2003).
...n the stock broker is in full control they are trust worthy enough to make the right decisions to increase your profits from your investment. By giving the broker all your information with no type of legal limits, they can do whatever they feel like. The broker can give you improper investment advice, make unsuitable decisions, commission churning, hide prices, and not diversities your portfolio. At the end all these occurrences can affect your profit to increase the stock broker’s profit. When you are dealing with investors (stock brokers) you should do a great amount of research. The research will pay off at the end because you will know the surface of the stock market and its ways. You should always get a copy of an original copy. When signing documents you should always sign in black pen. The stock market can either make or break you; it is just how you play it.
4. Determining the Sample Size: Determining the sample size involves several qualitative and quantitative considerations, such as the importance of the decision; the nature of the research; the number of variables in...
The stock market is an essential part of a free-market economy, such as America’s. This is because it provides companies the capital they need in exchange for giving away small parts of ownership in their company to investors. The stock market works by letting different companies sell stocks to gain capital, meaning they sell shares of their company through an exchange system in order to make more money. Stocks represent a small amount of ownership in a company. The more stocks a person owns, the more ownership they have of that company. Stocks also represent shares in a company, which are equal parts in which the company’s capital is divided, entitling a shareholder to a portion of the company’s profits. Lastly, all of the buying and selling of stocks happens at an exchange. An exchange is a system or market in which stocks can be bought and sold within or between countries. All of these aspects together create the stock market.
When I was in the second grade our teacher signed us all up for the game, giving us a login, and telling us to go to a website and start researching stocks. My first year playing the game I placed 3rd to last in my region, and even further back in the national