A Bit on Public Sources for Investors

A good investor is imbued with endless curiosity fueled by the need to find those pieces of information that provide an edge in a information saturated environment. Knowing one aspect or another is not enough for one to become a successful investor. Investments are built on layers of information. From basic valuation to global forces shaping the business environment. To hone my sense of markets, economies, consumers and companies I use a wide variety of financial publications and sites to build a full picture of a target equity. Today, I will talk about my favorites. 

Note: This is in addition to brokerage sites for prop research and analysis and Value Line.

With a masters degree in international economics I have an affinity for two global financial rags. The Financial Times and the Economist present globalized views of world culture, markets and politics that are increasingly essential in current times. It is not only true that when the U.S. gets sick other parts of the world get a cold, but it may be that bugs in other parts of the world are responsible for the symptoms in the U.S. I see the FT as daily version of the Economist. My sincere hope is someday to be able to finish an issue of the Economist before the next arrives!

For additional high-level information, I turn to a suite of blogs including Econbrowser, Calculatied Risk, and Realtime Economics. Between these three blogs an investor can gain valuable insights on domestic and international economic issues as well as the politics behind them. The writers on each of these blogs take time care to add substantial depth to their posts. Their writing provides me with a deeper understanding of the economic forces at work in the global economy and every now and then overlaps with an investment thesis of mine.

Moving down to the next level of specificity, Zero Hedge provides an exhaustive look at the areas of finance, economics and politics for the investing public. It provide what traditional financial journalism struggles to cover: rumor and conjecture. While it prides itself on and anarchic, uber-revolutionary form of gorilla financial journalism, it often identifies financial and economic issues before the mainstream media. Zero Hedge is not afraid of complex issues and frequent posts. Its mysterious writers post upwards of 50 time a day. However, it also provides outstanding global market briefings prior to the opening bell in the U.S. One must be wiling look past the dramatic doom and glooms that often appear in Zero Hedge posts to get all that value that it has to offer.

Now that I have the lay of the economic and market land, I turn to the best free stock screener on the web: Finviz. It contains 70 different screens and allows the user to save and update them in real time. Finviz also allows for cross-comparisons of companies and industries in a very concise format. This is perfect when looking for industry leaders or companies that have value characteristics that make them worth investigating. I came across Panera Bread in August of last year with a Finviz screen. That lead, along with thorough analysis has provided more than a 30 percent gain since September. As an additional perk, it also contains a real time news page with links to a wide variety financial news services and blogs.

Recently I discovered StockTwits. This is a Howard Lindzon production that uses a twitter model to deliver rapid information on specific equities. Though I am not a trader, I found this service very helpful for staying on top of the news cycle when looking to buy or sell positions.

I consider all these sources arrows in my information quiver. The combination allow me to remain on top of important issues that shape my investing philosophy and strategy.

I am always on the hunt for new souces to stay ahead of the information curve.  Let me know what you use!

Mahmoons