Free Financial Lessons

Financial Basics, Tutorial #6 Stock Screening

This video tutorial is available for watching at YouTube or here for free. My YouTube name is Featureman.

Stock screening tools are available at most financial sites. They are free to set up and use. When you go to the financial site, such as Google, Yahoo or Bloomberg or any of the other sites, search first for a stock screener. You then enter any criteria you want to use as your stock requirements. I think the most important are Price/Earnings Ratio, Price per share, Shares Traded on a daily average (volume), Dividend Yield and Long Term Debt. Check what is your area of interest. A lot of information is available. The screener is one of many tools available for free which can help you decide what to buy or sell after you have done some research.


Checking under the hood Make sure the company is running smoothly and not missing its "expected" earnings or "whisper" number. Wall Street can be unkind to corporation stock prices for companies which say they expect to make $1 per share and they make only 98 cents. Sometimes the expected earnings are one number and the whisper number is higher. If they beat the whisper number that can be very good for the stock price. Search Whisper Number and Expected Earnings. Don't run into a brick wall. Screen the stock carefully.

Dream big, but invest with caution

Chef You will be able to check who is on the Board of Directors of a company by doing research at a financial page such as Yahoo Finance. Many times the information will include how many shares each member has and how many options the board member has that can be exercised (sold or held). Look for information about the board members who also are on the board of directors of other companies. See where their interest lies. Check the board member's ethical background if you can.