Stock Research

Sources

• Press Release• Financial Reports• News Articles• TV story• Magazine Article• Message Boards• Analyst Opinions

Press Release

• Source is usually trustworthy• Information controlled by company• Promises don’t always come true• Need to evaluate purpose of release

Financial Reports

• Should follow GAAP• Highly trustworthy• Companies can’t lie– Can shift losses to another quarter

• Regulated by SEC

News Articles

• Can be trustworthy– Evaluate the source

• Check for more than one reporter• Check for biases• Compare to press releases and financial

reports• Is it fact based or opinion based

TV Story

• Great insight into company• Was company involved• Any biases• Quest for ratings• Current info

Magazine Article

• Dated information• Great way to look at past

Message Board

• Credibility issues• Pump and Dump• Who knows what the truth is• Read for entertainment purposes only

Analyst Opinions

• Evaluate source• They don’t have money in game– If they do they have to disclose

• No different than ESPN fantasy sports analyst • Do they have sources or gut feelings

Places to Start

• Yahoo Finance• Google Finance• CNBC• Companies investors page• Stockbrokers page