SSP (aka Steve) . . . you were quoted in the Wall Street Journal today!! Nice job!! What's next, CNBC?? Here is the full article:
June 12, 2000
Getting Started
A guide to corporate information available to the online
investor
By JASON ANDERS
Two years ago, Steve Platsis quit his accounting job to trade stocks full
time. If it weren't for the stock-research tools available on the Internet, he
figures, he probably would still be an accountant.
"The Net has taught me everything I know about investing," says Mr.
Platsis, who estimates he spends at least three hours a day researching
stocks online from his Toronto home. "I have access to more tools and
data than a lot of professionals that I know." He pauses, and then adds,
"But you know, it's hard work. You've got to really be willing to dig." And
Mr. Platsis is still out there digging and trading online, despite the recent
upheaval in the stock market.
The Internet -- along with the investing tools it has spawned -- has been
hailed as the great equalizer between individual investors and Wall Street.
Investors have access to valuable information. Many of the tools they use
are free, and some are nearly as sophisticated as those used by Wall Street
professionals.
But having access to the tools is one thing. Using them wisely is another.
And the truth is that most investors simply aren't doing the hard work
required to take advantage of all the Net has to offer.
"Unfortunately, I think novice investors are largely avoiding doing their
homework and are instead picking up stock tips from chat rooms and
stock-tip newsletters," says John Markese, president of the American
Association of Individual Investors.
So, what can an investor do? Here's a primer to help get you started:
Sec Documents
Some of the most valuable nuggets come from information that companies
themselves disclose in paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All companies traded on a major market are required to file
regular status reports, which are stored in a database called Edgar, for
Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval. Investors who study the
filings can learn of pending lawsuits, earnings disappointments or changes in
key staff.
Not so long ago, the only way for investors to read these filings was to visit
a regional SEC reference room to browse in person, or pay an information
vendor a hefty sum to retrieve the documents. Investors now can read
SEC reports as soon as they're filed, free of charge. "Historically, this data
was preserved in the confines of corporate securities lawyers and Wall
Street analysts. Now anyone can read it," says Jay Sears, a spokesman for
Edgar Online Inc., the largest supplier of SEC reports on the Net.
Edgar Online launched an ad campaign earlier this year to educate
investors about the valuable nuggets of information available in SEC filings.
One teaser: "Discover which airline exec flew his family free to the tune of
$90K." The answer, according to a March 1999 filing by UAL Corp.'s
United Airlines, was Paul E. Tierney Jr., a director of the company. United
allows members of its board and their immediate families to travel free of
charge, and according to the filing, Mr. Tierney, who didn't return phone
calls seeking comment, racked up about $90,000 in such expenses during
1998.
Investors have to pay a fee to gain access to the Edgar Online site, which
also includes a number of advanced search tools. But SEC reports can be
read free and in real time -- meaning just minutes after they become
available on the SEC's computer system -- at the company's other Internet
site, FreeEdgar.com. Edgar Online bought FreeEdgar.com last year; the
two previously were competitors. Edgar Online still runs FreeEdgar.com as
a free site -- you're accessing the exact same SEC filings on both sites. But
the company hopes the pay site's advanced searching tools will motivate
people to subscribe to that service.
Another site, 10K Wizard, has gained a loyal following because it was one
of the first sites to allow full-text searching of SEC filings -- a tool only
recently added to Edgar Online's sites. Such tools are handy for
brute-force searching of a certain phrase -- say, a person's name -- when
you're not sure exactly what type of filing you are looking for.
How to Get There
BigCharts
bigcharts.com
Edgar Online
edgar-online.com
FreeEdgar.com
freeedgar.com
Microsoft's MoneyCentral Investor
investor.com
Multex.com
multexinvestor.com
SEC forms descriptions
www.sec.gov/edaux/forms.htm
10K Wizard
tenkwizard.com
Thomson Investors Network
www.thomsoninvest.com
Yahoo! Finance
quote.yahoo.com
Zacks Investment Research
zacks.com
Understanding what is in the Edgar system can be tough. If you don't know
an S-1 (stock registration statement) from a 10-K (annual report), click
over to an SEC site for descriptions of the various forms that companies
file with the agency. The SEC also offers delayed access to Edgar filings,
but only in tough-to-read raw form.
Corporate Web Sites
Corporate Web sites can be another useful way to get information that
companies disclose about themselves. It's important to remember that
you're not looking at an unbiased source. But such sites can be useful for
finding old news releases or getting information about products, corporate
executives or routine matters, such as when earnings will be announced.
What's more, companies increasingly are using their Web sites to give
investors access to the conference calls that executives periodically hold
with Wall Street analysts. The calls -- some live and others recorded --
can offer insights as executives read statements and field questions from
analysts. (Most companies don't allow small investors to ask questions on
conference calls.)
Motorola Inc., for instance, recently announced that its first-quarter
earnings had doubled, beating the average forecast of Wall Street analysts.
But investors who listened to a conference call on the company's Web site
learned that Motorola expected second-quarter earnings would fall short of
what analysts had predicted. In fact, it isn't uncommon for companies to
give guidance on future earnings during conference calls, making them
worthwhile for investors to listen to.
Research Reports
Access to research reports is one area where the great Internet equalizer
falls a bit short. It's true that you can get access to certain research reports
that brokerage firms once shared only with their best customers. But in
most cases you're going to have to pay for the privilege. Multex.com Inc.
offers access to reports from dozens of firms. Some reports are free, but
many others run from $10 to $100 apiece.
There are, however, some freebies available. Investors can get a snapshot
of analysts' earnings estimates on a particular company at Thomson
Investors Network, owned by Thomson Corp. of Canada. In-depth
earnings estimates and other advanced tools require a $19.95-a-month
membership.
Most online brokerage firms give their customers access to research
reports. But the firms often charge a fee to all but their most favored
clients. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Online, for instance, gives free access
to research reports to clients with an account balance of at least $100,000,
while others pay $49.95 a year for access to reports for a single company.
(The more companies you subscribe to, the lower the price for each.)
It's important to remember that even if you're paying for research, you're
still not getting all of the information available to the pros.
A change in an analyst's opinion on a stock -- a downgrade or a new "buy"
recommendation, for instance -- often is communicated to brokers and
other professionals through a proprietary computer network operated by
Thomson Financial's First Call. Firms regularly place embargoes on their
research, prohibiting "retail" sites such as Multex from selling the reports to
individual investors until weeks after the research has first been issued.
Stock Charts
Believe it or not, until as recently as 1994, it could cost hundreds or even
thousands of dollars a year to look at stock charts. Professionals used
high-priced computer services to look at fresh data, while individual
investors were stuck with weekly or monthly chart-book services. One
popular chart book published by Standard & Poor's Corp. cost $589 a
year.
Now you can find charts just about everywhere, free. A handful of
companies provide interactive stock charts, where you can select variables
such as a time frame, or search for stock splits. But a favorite for many
online investors is BigCharts. The site quickly delivers charts that are clear,
easy to understand and, yes, big. Everything at BigCharts is free. If the
charts look familiar, it's because BigCharts has agreements to provide
charts on many financial sites, including WSJ.com, the online Wall Street
Journal.
Stock Quotes
It's hard to find a financial site without stock quotes these days. Internet
financial portal sites such as Yahoo! Inc.'s Yahoo! Finance, Zacks
Investment Research Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MoneyCentral Investor,
will serve up all the delayed quotes you need, typically 20 minutes old, and
will provide links to dozens of other investment sites.
Real-time quotes are available on many sites. But these come with their
own headaches. The quality of such quotes can be spotty, as some firms
still are working on the technology required to deliver quotes on the Web.
With most sites, you'll be required to read through lengthy contracts from
the exchanges. And in some cases you'll have to print out a registration
form and mail it in before you can actually get any stock quotes. What's
more, many of the real-time-quote sites limit users to a set number of
quotes a day, sometimes a maximum of 50.
Most online brokerage firms provide free real-time quotes to their
customers. If you have an online account, check the firm's Web site.
--Mr. Anders is a staff reporter for WSJ.com in Washington.
Write to Jason Anders at jason.anders@wsj.com |
