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There is plenty of free investment information to be found on the internet if you know where to look. To save time on search engines try visiting Shareslink.com, which has links to many useful investment websites.
Investment education: Decide your investment strategy
There are many different approaches to investing and none of them are guaranteed to be successful. Deciding upon a fundamental analysis approach such as value investing or a technical approach will determine the kind of research you need to undertake.
Stock screeners
If you do not have a particular stock in mind try using stock screeners to kick start your journey. Stock screeners are interactive online tools that are used to filter out stocks that meet your selected criteria. Some screeners use technical analysis parameters, filtering stocks based on their price action in relation to moving averages, volume, momentum or other technical indicators. Free custom stock screeners often have a variety of filters based on fundamental criteria such as price to earnings, price to book, and debt to equity ratios.
Virtual trading
Virtual trading online is the next evolution of paper trading. Tracking your virtual trades is a fun and harmless way to test out your investment strategies especially if they are geared towards short-term capital gain.
Insider trading
Insider trading can be conducted both legally and illegally. For legal insider trading directors and senior management announce their actions to buy or sell shares of their company to the stock exchange they are listed with. This public knowledge can be very useful. Insider selling of a company can be a bearish sign while insider buying can be a bullish sign.
Institutional ownership
Institutional ownership of a company can also be very useful. Mutual funds count as institutional investors and their decisions come from their own research teams. Assuming their jobs are on the line they are motivated to try their best to make good investment decisions. A recent increase in institutional ownership of a particular stock may reflect this research or some other information that may not be well known and this could be considered a bullish sign. Unfortunately a decrease in institutional ownership of a stock you own may mean that there is already a fall in that stock’s price. Please consider the kind of institutional ownership involved – especially with the subprime shake out in mind – as some funds exposed to various mortgage-backed or junk bonds are in for dire times and may have to sell assets.
Broker recommendations
There are many people skeptical of analyst or broker recommendations, however, there is no harm in looking at recommended stocks and then doing your own research.
Company research
If you arm yourself with some fundamental knowledge you can investigate a company’s future possibilities through their annual reports and company announcements. Company research links are available under the analysis link of Shareslink.com
Economic data
Interest rates, inflation, employment & wages figures, sentiment surveys & other economic data can impact on different company sectors positively or negatively.