Recommended Information < who and what do you suggest?

[Food4Thought]

I am a bit curious to whom people making investments use for their DYOR information.

Which Investment advisors, such as Morning Star, actually give valid information?

Who have you found to be a legitimate source of fair values and so on?

I am getting a bit tired of some advice, which seems to consistently be wrong and out of the loop, so I hope some of you on this site can share some of your knowledge.

Thanks in advance Share Trader community

[percy]

A good start is to read any company you are interested in annual report.

[percy]

morning star are fine for good information to use for research but I dont rely on any advisors valuation or recommendations.
DYOR and come up with your own valuations.

I am not that keen on annual reports they are full of spin doctor dribble and unless you are an accountant or insider it can be very hard to fully understand how the financial side is being reported.

Start with cash flow from operations,then look at current assets verses current liabilities.

[janner]

Firstly.. " YOU " must decide what you are looking for in a company..

When you are really sure what you are looking for..

You will have little boxes that need to be ticked..

Then you will know where to look.

[winner69]

morning star are fine for good information to use for research but I dont rely on any advisors valuation or recommendations.
DYOR and come up with your own valuations.

I am not that keen on annual reports they are full of spin doctor dribble and unless you are an accountant or insider it can be very hard to fully understand how the financial side is being reported.


This guy like you believes some reports are full of twaddle
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/10386450/Terry-Smith-Words-that-should-be-banned-from-finance.html

[blobbles]

morning star are fine for good information to use for research but I dont rely on any advisors valuation or recommendations.
DYOR and come up with your own valuations.

I am not that keen on annual reports they are full of spin doctor dribble and unless you are an accountant or insider it can be very hard to fully understand how the financial side is being reported.

Woooo, snapiti, hold your horses! The Annual Report is full of accurate figures (well at least they should be). It doesn't take much to learn how to read them, you certainly don't need to be an accountant! After going through a few of them, you should quickly be able to separate the "spin" from the truth! Relying on an advisor to interpret them can be disastrous if that same advisor holds a position in the company as I have seen a many number of times... hell, just look at all the financial advisor info around the sale of SOEs!

[Microsloth]

Big fan of Google stock screener to identify potential investments

https://www.google.com/finance/stockscreener amazing tool

Reuters good source company info financial ratios charts etc


http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=RYM.NZ

Company websites for reports investor info etc

Sharetrader great to be able to learn from others success and failures

[Zeitgeist]

If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest developing your own shares plan. How much $ have you got? How many shares do you want to split it between? Which sectors do you think have attractive futures? How risky do you want your portfolio?

Once you know which sectors you're targeting, shortlist some candidates. You should then be able to pick through annual reports to assess which shares are attractive (and ideally undervalued). If you are a university student you can freely access NZX Company Research which gives all the numbers you'll ever need as well as giving broker forecasts/recommendations to test your own research against. Failing all that, test the broker market to see who knows their stuff!

If you're in the business of "picking winners" I don't think anyone can help you in the adviser community, this website is probably your best opportunity. e.g. many around these parts knew about PEB years ago thanks to early researchers. Many advisers still haven't heard of PEB! Not suggesting PEB is a buy, my point is these boards are a good place to test your research/logic in the absence of "expert" research.

[percy]

Percy right in annual or 6 monthly reports there are some basic fundimentals that are a good indication on how the company is performing but companies can be very good at smudging reports.
There are several posters on ST that will sniff out and post when annual reports do not have the clarity one would of hope for on a given subject.
You will see this often on different threads.

The true picture is where I said;cashflow from operations,and current assets verses current liabilities.
It is still the best,and safest place to start.

[Joshuatree]

I havnt been able to find charts with specific moving averages 20 day 50 day and 200 day ones for starters. Just want some basic charts to help time entry and exit better.

[SCOTTY]

Hi Food4Thought

IMO the first place to look in an annual report is the Chairman/CEO report regarding the company "outlook". If this does not get my interest I don't waste my time by going any further.

Cheers

[MAC]

DYOR:

1. Reports, announcements, income statements, balance sheets
2. Fundamental analysis, develop valuation models and check the performance of your models over time
3. Go to the AGM's and hear first hand snippets of what does not make the media or reports
4. Market research, internet, professional societies, a lot is often available for free
5. Research competitors
6. Check the charts occasionally at times when seeking to enter or exit

[percy]

DYOR:

1. Reports, announcements, income statements, balance sheets
2. Fundamental analysis, develop valuation models and check the performance of your models over time
3. Go to the AGM's and hear first hand snippets of what does not make the media or reports
4. Market research, internet, professional societies, a lot is often available for free
5. Research competitors
6. Check the charts occasionally at times when seeking to enter or exit

Great post,coupled with what Scotty posted.

[percy]

I havnt been able to find charts with specific moving averages 20 day 50 day and 200 day ones for starters. Just want some basic charts to help time entry and exit better.

Go to www.financeyahoo.com then in enter symbol type in hnz.nz then click onto charts interactive,then click onto technical indicators[I use 50 and 200 day ma,and MACD] for Aussie stock;hdx.ax.

[BIRMANBOY]

So are you trying to do your own research or looking to other sources for the results of their research? Not clear from your stated quote. DYOR means using sources such as company websites, annual reports and other publicly available information and then applying some analysis and criteria of your own to come up with a position that answers your questions as to viability of taking a position in the company. Any professional investment advisers are going to be wanting payment for the time, energy and expertise they expend in coming up with advice. As always there is no "free lunch" so the level and quality of advice has got to be taken in context of where is it from, and how much did it cost. Also, unfortunately, paying for advice doesn't necessarily mean you get good value bugger!!!. The answer, to my thinking, lies in developing your own set of criteria, measurements and tools and using these diligently to make your decision. By all means use forums, google etc..etc to get leads or ideas but always remember use your own tools as the final filter. All professional advisers however must be considered as ultimately having their own interests at the top of their "cover" rules. Clients will forgive them for getting a 5% return but will thrash them for losing money. So common sense will tell you that everything they do or suggest is predicated on "don't piss off the client because they pay us our daily bread". Nothing wrong with that and better that than giving rash advice or risky tips. As other people have noted annual reports are very useful so its worthwhile learning how to read them and interpret them. Since they are required to be audited by professional accountants the information must be accurate and timely. Doesn't mean they cant be hard going and as boring as ****e but the bones of the company are there to be looked at if you take the time and learn how to read them. I don't use professional advisors but if I did I would make sure that the advice I got was geared specifically around what I was looking for. So for example if I wanted to specialize in new technology companies I would look for an advisor that had strength in that particular area and drill down to a specific experienced individual who fitted the spec. Remember you don't want advice from other people or sources...what you want is accurate information...advice is what you give yourself based on your own criteria.
I am a bit curious to whom people making investments use for their DYOR information.

Which Investment advisors, such as Morning Star, actually give valid information?

Who have you found to be a legitimate source of fair values and so on?

I am getting a bit tired of some advice, which seems to consistently be wrong and out of the loop, so I hope some of you on this site can share some of your knowledge.

Thanks in advance Share Trader community

[blackcap]

[QUOTE=SCOTTY;436468]Hi Food4Thought

IMO the first place to look in an annual report is the Chairman/CEO report regarding the company "outlook". If this does not get my interest I don't waste my time by going any further.

Cheers[/QU

I's rather avoid the CEO rhetoric because this is the part of the report that can contain all the spin it wants. I do think what Percy said about cashflow and current assets and liabilities is where you start. The caveat with the "currents" is that they can be manipulated and massaged as well. But it is a start and will tell you if the company is viable as a going concern.

[Food4Thought]

DYOR:

1. Reports, announcements, income statements, balance sheets
2. Fundamental analysis, develop valuation models and check the performance of your models over time
3. Go to the AGM's and hear first hand snippets of what does not make the media or reports
4. Market research, internet, professional societies, a lot is often available for free
5. Research competitors
6. Check the charts occasionally at times when seeking to enter or exit

Thanks MAC. That's a solid list. Great help from all those posting on here. Interesting views. Trying to broaden current methods.

I like to visit the businesses myself. Get a view of the staff/competence level, the products/services that are being sold, the customer service, their unique market position, strategic position/competitive strategic advantage, response from their help lines, competitors in their market, growth scope etc.

PEB is one I certainly thought about, and hadn't the money to invest. Amazing concept and a great reach if the product is the business like they are talking up. This will be the XERO of medical products in my view. Revolutionary. Goodluck to the holders.

And thanks again for your view's sharetrader participants. I hope this forum helps others to also broaden how they go about making informed decisions.

[blobbles]

Go to www.financeyahoo.com (http://www.financeyahoo.com) then in enter symbol type in hnz.nz then click onto charts interactive,then click onto technical indicators[I use 50 and 200 day ma,and MACD] for Aussie stock;hdx.ax.


Wow, great tip Percy! I thought I would have to pay for a product to do the charting available on yahoo finance, awesome!

[CJ]

Wow, great tip Percy! I thought I would have to pay for a product to do the charting available on yahoo finance, awesome!google finance also does those charting indicators. I find it more user friendly.

The audited section of the accounts are the true, the rest is spin. That spin is still interesting if you read between the line - where do they want to grow, what excuses are they making etc.

[Lizard]

Different charting sites give different choices of indicators. I often use the interactive charts at FT.com (http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Summary?s=TEN:NZC) (click on the link to interactive chart in the blue line above the company name). New Zealand tickers are all loaded in the "TEL:NZC" format. To change tickers once in interactive mode, choose the "change" link next to the company name.

[Lizard]

I mostly rely on my own fundamental research. Over time, inevitably get frustrated with other sources - I need to understand why I am holding or I won't know when to sell. Besides, one look at the bottom of the ShareTrader comp table and it is clear that the average and median results for investors on this site is well and truly beating the best of the paid sources of advice, so a bit of thought and common sense is all it takes.

Fundamental investing depends a lot about what shares I am looking for - spec flutter or more solid/dependable and without the risk. Not much to learn from the accounts on a spec, but more to be gained by understanding the business, their market, the management and the vagaries of share market behaviour.

AGM's and blurb tells me a lot - I look for consistency in direction and achievement over time and tend to go back 3 years. For a "turnaround" situation, a change in Chairman and CEO/MD around 9-18 months earlier is a good omen.

When looking at the accounts, there are 3 key aspects:

Are they "low risk" - debt to EBIT, debt to equity, cashflow etc. Stay away if they could go broke in the next six months (barring fraud!)?
Will their "underlying" profit increase in the coming 12 months?
Are they "cheap" based on future earnings or assets - there are multiple measures to gauge this including DCF, PE, Pr/NTA, EV/EBIT, PEG... all of which could be garbage-in-garbage-out. Either spend some time fine-tuning the model for different types of companies or give up and ignore this!

[bull....]

I to rely on my own research mainly quant based short term trading high profits in as short a time as possible , not really a long term investor hence i have never really been that good at the S/T competition and dont really spend any time trying to be.
One thing people should do is find something that works for you.

[Joshuatree]

Thanks Percy, CJ and Lizard re charting sites , appreciate it. Cheers