Researching Investments

Stock market investors may undervalue companies for a variety of reasons. However, if a company's fundamentals are strong, its true value should eventually catch up with its market price.

In June of 2009, during a very difficult time in the economy, General Motors Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The new name of General Motors, while in bankruptcy, is Motors Liquidation...

A company trying to decide whether to issue bonds, which are debt, or stocks, which are equity, may have a difficult choice to make, because both asset classes produce benefits. However, a company...

Financial statements are required for any company that wants to issue stocks to the public. The statements are used to provide full disclosure of all business and financial decisions that may be...

Rating stocks is a lot like rating companies. However, price and volume history provide additional clues about the direction and value of a company's shares. There are two main camps of analysis...

Micro cap stocks refer to companies that have low capitalizations, which is the company's total value. Micro cap stocks tend to be riskier investments because the U.S. Security and Exchange...

A stock may continue trading once a company files for bankruptcy protection, but it may no longer meet the listing requirements of major stock exchanges. In this case, a stock begins trading as an...

There are two different schools of thought in terms of researching stock: fundamental vs. technical analysis. Fundamental analysis focuses on the intrinsic value of a stock based on its earnings,...

When a company decides to change the number of shares it has available on the market, it can do one of two things--either decrease the number of shares available or increase the number of shares...

A dividend is another way that companies share profits with investors. Dividends are usually entered quarterly and tend to increase in $.01 increments. Companies announce the dividend every...

Honda of America is the U.S. branch of the Japanese multinational company Honda Motor Company, Ltd. Honda is primarily known for making automobiles and motorcycles.

Macromedia was, until 2005, a publicly traded company. The company was active in the development of software tools for producers of interactive CD-ROMs and websites. The company was acquired by...

Analyzing stocks is much easier than one might think. It only involves 3 simple steps. You need to collect information, arrange the information, and make a decision based on what you found. You...

Investors analyze a variety of factors when screening stocks for investment. Two such factors are the company's size and book-to-market ratio. A company's size, also known as its market...

Corporations can raise money through the sale of stocks (also known as equities) or bonds to the financial markets. In certain situations, a company might sell a special class of stock known at...

Companies can raise money by selling common stock, preferred stock, and bonds in the financial markets. Common stock is the most risky to the investor, but it has the greatest potential to rise in...

Many traits are important to investing successfully in the stock market, but doing your research is the key. Devote a lot of time to picking profitable stocks.

The value of a company varies with the level of profitability and expected growth. The level of risk in operations can influence the level of profitability. All things being equal, if you can...

Preferred stock is issued by companies to raise capital and is an important part of the capital structure of many public companies. Investors find them attractive because they often pay higher...

Determining how you want to invest your money in the market can be an alarming exercise at first, especially given the vast amount of choices and investment tools. The two most common are stocks...

One of the key indicators to look at when choosing to make an investment is what a stock's worth may actually be. This requires more than looking at the price of a stock. It requires making a...

One of the things you will want to know before you invest in a stock or a company is how profitable it is. You want to know the profit margin, which is how much more money the company is earning...

Buying a stock is a direct investment in the company itself. Any information that gives you a better understanding of the company's likely performance makes that buying decision easier. While you...

Novartis is a Swiss pharmaceutical company that was formed by the merger of Ciba-Geigly and Sandoz. The company's combined heritage can be traced back over 250 years and includes some notable...

Comparable company analysis, or "comps" as termed by investment bankers, is one way to learn more about the true value of a business. Looking at different valuations for comparable companies can...

Due diligence has become a buzzword among investors especially since the Bernard L. Madoff fraud was uncovered. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the primary watchdog through...

Before you deal with management of your investment, you must know what to invest in. More importantly, you must know about the company you are about to relinquish your money too. Don’t leave it up...

Any company that is or wishes to be publicly traded in the U.S. is required to file a variety of forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These filings offer a look at the inner...

Wal-Mart Stores is a public company. Since its initial public offering in 1970, the company has performed well, recording numerous splits and providing a return of more than 160,000 percent to its...

Wondering how to redeem your old stocks or simply find out what they're worth? Depending on the amount of time and money you're willing to spend, you could undertake the research on your own or...

Understanding a company's annual report helps investors determine how a company is faring in the marketplace. A good annual report is prepared with succinct information that easily shows...

The z-score is a numerical measure that is used to predict bankruptcy. The z-score formula was created in the 1960s by Edward Altman, a professor of finance at NYU's Stern School of Business. The...

Penny stocks have long been a siren call in the investment world. The promise of massive gains from unknown, undiscovered small companies has lured many investors into throwing away hundreds or...

A company's beta is a numerical measure of how closely correlated a company's shares are to the stock market as a whole. A beta of zero means there is no correlation between the company's stock...

Enterprise Value (EV) is a measure of a firm's value. For investors, it is equivalent to a book value as it represents the market value of a firm minus the intrinsic (actual) value of debt. Market...

Since its inception in the 1930s, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has required that publicly traded companies issue an annual report. Generally, the annual report is a communication...

This article explains the way I know how to avoid paying a broker to buy securities.

A company's book value represents the excess of the company's assets over its liabilities. In simple terms, a company's book value tells you how much money would be left for shareholders if the...

Inventory represents the value of goods available for sale that a company is holding. Inventory is calculated according to the following formula: ending inventory = beginning inventory + net...

Qwest communications, previously a conglomerate of communication companies including flagship US West, is a major telecommunication and entertainment company and one of the largest...

Nissan Motors is a global auto manufacturer with a rich history dating back to the turn of the 20th century. It was a pioneer in the Japanese motor vehicle industry with its popular DAT and later...

Chrysler is an American automobile company currently in transition. Once a public company, it was sold to German company Daimler-Benz. Daimler sold the company in 2007 to Cerebus Capital...

Balance sheet analysis provides several ways to examine a company's total value. Evaluate companies by examining their balance sheets for potential cash flow and asset values. Compare the balance...

The LIFO inventory accounting method stands for "last in, first out." The method assumes that the most recently acquired goods (last in) are the first to be used or sold (first out). LIFO is one...

You would think that figuring out how many shares a company has outstanding would be easy, right? Well, thanks to modern technology, it is pretty simple. You just need to get a few terms right....

Price Waterhouse Coopers was formed in 1998 through a merger of accounting firms Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. The company itself can trace its history back to 3 firms founded in the...

Sony is a public company that has been traded on numerous worldwide exchanges since 1958. Originally, the company was owned by the founders and their immediate families. Today, there are over...

Dell Computers is currently run by Michael Dell, who also founded the company in 1984. Dell ran the company from its founding until 2004, when he retired. He became CEO again in 2007 after his...

The investment company is the legal and operating "ownership" of a mutual fund. It is the investment company that is responsible for all personnel decisions including the portfolio and analysis...

Were you ever interested in finding out which institutions or funds are either buying, selling or holding a particular public company's stock? Thinking of investing, but are not certain and want...