| Question #4: What Is a Stock or Mutual
Fund Screen? Finding companies with
track records that make them worth studying is a challenge. You can use the Internet and
PC-based stock or mutual fund screening tools to whittle down the universe of stock to a
manageable few candidates. You can then analyze your short
list of stocks for gems that may bring you above-average returns.
Screens allow you to ask questions about stocks
that were too hard to answer without computerized databases. Stock screens can help you
answer these questions.
The Internet provides a variety of stock screens.
Some are easy-to-use, and others are more complex. The more advanced stock screens require
some learning time. Web-based stock screens may require between two and 30 variables.
Their computerized stock databases can include anywhere from 1,100 stocks to more than
9,000 stocks. Additionally, some computerized stock databases are updated daily, weekly,
or monthly. The stock screen that is best is the one that includes your personal
investment criteria.
A
Few Examples of Online Screens:
* Yahoo! Stock
Screen
http://screener.finance.yahoo.com/newscreener.html
is located in the Yahoo! Stock Research Center. You can create your own
screens with over 150 different screening criteria, see result
immediately when you run or change screens. For example you can use the
stock screener to search stocks by industry, index membership, share
data such as price, market cap, beta, and so on.
* Google
Finance: Stock Screener http://finance.google.com/finance/stockscreener
is located at Google's Finance Home. You can find the perfect stocks for
your portfolio with the new stock screener from Google Finance. you can
use criteria like: market capitalization, the P/E ratio, the most
recently reported trade prices, gross margins and select the values
interactively.
* MSN Investor
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/finder/customstocksdl.asp
has a stock screen called
Investment Finder that searches 8,000 companies to find securities that meet your specific
criteria. The program uses dozens of variable combinations.
There are two levels of stock screens. The first is
ready for immediate use. The second is a more advanced screen, called
the Deluxe Stock Screener. The Deluxe Stock Screener requires your
registration and the downloading of special software. The good news is
that both stock screens are free.
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