Online Investing Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

by Bonnie Biafore

Overview

For the geek who's an investor, and the investor who's a geek, we present Online Investing Hacks, 100 industrial-strength, bleeding edge tips, tools and techniques for analyzing and managing online portfolios.Individual investors have become more computer-literate and technology-dependent than ever before. Whether you're looking for suitable investments, studying alternatives, or managing your portfolios, you need data. The Internet can be a goldmine of financial data and research, but today's online investors also use spreadsheets, databases, and financial applications to select, study and manage investments. If your proficiency has grown to the point where you crave industrial-strength tips and tools to turbo-charge your efforts, this is the book for you.Online Investing Hacks covers:

• Screening Investments
• Collecting Data
• Fundamental Analysis
• Technical Analysis
• Executing Trades
• Investing in Mutual Funds
• Portfolio Management
• Updating Stock Data
• Financial Planning

Other books for managing online investing are either out of date, are for beginners and don't go beyond the most basic advice, or are so dull and boring they squeeze that last bit of fun out of the topic. Online Investing Hacks is for the customer who wants to know the latest techniques, to go beyond the basics, who gets jazzed by cool online tools and services, and who actually wants to have a bit of fun while trying to strike it rich (or at least not lose their shirt).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449390976
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/17/2004
Series:	Hacks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	506
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

After spending 10 years as a project manager and tech writer for Electronic Data Systems, McDonnell Douglas, and others, Bonnie Biafore became a full-time financial-software writer in 1997. She's a columnist for both Quicken.com and Better Investing magazine and the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Personal Finance.

Table of Contents

	Credits	ix
	Preface	xiii
Chapter 1.	Screening Investments	1
1.	Screen Savings Rates	2
2.	Screen Fixed-Income Investments	7
3.	Screen Loan and Mortgage Rates	11
4.	Fast and Free Stock Screening Tools	17
5.	Build Industrial Strength-Stock Screens	21
6.	Weed Out Results	29
Chapter 2.	Hacking Excel for Financial Analysis	32
7.	Download Data Using Excel Web Queries	33
8.	Make Good and Bad Values Stand Out	40
9.	Make Nested Functions Work in Excel	43
10.	Prevent Growth Calculations from Blowing Up	48
11.	Flexible Techniques for Referencing Data	52
12.	Add Conditional Commentary	59
13.	Create Financial Charts in Excel	61
Chapter 3.	Collecting Financial Data	68
	Introduction: Fathoming Financial Statements	68
14.	Download Mutual Fund Data	75
15.	Choose Your Favorite Flavor of Data	79
16.	Obtain Price Quotes	81
17.	Download Historical Price Files	84
18.	Download Financial Statements	86
19.	The Best Data for Free	89
20.	The Best Data for a Fee	91
21.	Download News	92
22.	Locate the Competition	96
23.	Obtain Averages for an Industry and the Competition	99
24.	Create Alerts	106
Chapter 4.	Analyzing Company Fundamentals	111
	Introduction: Investing in Growth	111
	Introduction: Insisting on Quality	115
	Introduction: Buying Good Value	115
25.	Calculate Percentage Change for Growth and Return	116
26.	Calculate Compound Annual Rates of Growth	117
27.	Calculate Price and Dividend Ratios	122
28.	Calculate Additional Valuation Ratios	130
29.	Calculate Financial Strength Ratios	138
30.	Calculate Management Effectiveness Ratios	144
31.	Calculate Turnover Ratios	151
32.	Calculate Profitability Ratios	157
33.	Compare Year-to-Year Results	164
34.	Compare Several Competitors to Identify the Strongest Candidate	170
35.	Measure Earnings Predictability in Excel	174
36.	Use Rational Values to Buy and Sell Wisely	180
37.	Are You Walking on the Wild Side?	187
38.	Use Ready-Made Fundamental Analysis Applications	198
39.	Spot Hanky Panky with Cash Flow Analysis	203
40.	Use Online Analysis Tools	208
41.	Find the Best Free Excel Tools for Fundamental Analysis	215
42.	Find the Best Excel Tools for Fundamental Analysis for a Fee	218
43.	Analyze Real Estate Investment Trusts	219
44.	Bank on Banks	224
45.	Steps to Building a Financial Analysis Template	230
Chapter 5.	Technical Analysis	235
	Introduction: A Short History of Technical Analysis	236
	Introduction: Computers and Technical Analysis	237
	Introduction: Technical Charts	237
	Introduction: The Importance of Money Management	238
46.	Use Line and Bar Charts	240
47.	Light the Way with Candlestick Charts	244
48.	Point and Figure Charts	246
49.	Look for Patterns in Technical Charts	250
50.	What's Volume Got to Do with It?	256
51.	How to Use Indicators and Oscillators	258
52.	Support and Resistance	265
53.	The Best Tools for Technical Analysis	267
Chapter 6.	Executing Trades	270
54.	Pick the Right Type of Trade	271
55.	Execute After-Hours Trades	276
56.	Sell Fractional Shares	279
57.	Build Your Own Mutual Funds	280
58.	Buy Bonds Online	282
Chapter 7.	Investing in Mutual Funds	284
	Introduction: Mutual Funds Are Here to Stay	285
	Introduction: It's Your Money	286
	Introduction: Index Funds, Anyone?	286
59.	Why Don't My Funds Perform as Well as Others?	287
60.	Calculate the Damage of Mutual Fund Expenses	292
61.	Analyze the Hidden Costs of Fund Turnover	298
62.	The Taxman Cometh for Your Fund Returns	302
63.	Evaluate Short-Term and Long-Term Returns	307
64.	Manage Interest Rate Risk with Bond Fund Duration	312
65.	Evaluate Mutual Funds	316
66.	The Best Mutual Fund Screens for Free	319
67.	The Best Mutual Fund Screens for a Fee	323
68.	Beware of the Closet Index Fund	326
69.	Spot Mutual Funds That Don't Play Fair	331
70.	Know When to Fold 'Em	335
71.	Comparison-Shop for Mutual Funds	340
72.	Compare Mutual Funds Online	344
Chapter 8.	Managing Your Portfolio	347
	Introduction: What Is Portfolio Management?	347
	Introduction: Tracking Results	349
73.	Build an Online Portfolio	351
74.	Asset Allocation: Less Risk on the Road to Returns	354
75.	Keep Allocation in Line	360
76.	The Best Portfolio Management Tools for Free	363
77.	The Best Portfolio Management Tools for a Fee	367
78.	Portfolio Management with Excel	370
79.	Take the Sting Out of Portfolio Management	373
80.	Use Bonds in a Portfolio	380
81.	Calculate Investment Return Over Different Time Periods	383
82.	Compare Your Return to a Benchmark	386
83.	Forecast Future Returns	391
84.	Compare Returns for Alternative Investments	394
85.	Assess Portfolio Quality	398
86.	Flag Fundamental Sell Signals	402
Chapter 9.	Financial Planning	405
87.	Choose the Right Type of Account	406
88.	Choose an Online Broker	410
89.	Pick the Best Broker for Your Trading Style	415
90.	Save Up for Something Good	419
91.	Up, Up, and Away: The Cost of College	424
92.	Let Me Count the Ways to Save for College	430
93.	A College Savings Plan in Every State	433
94.	Balance Risk and Return for College Costs	437
95.	When It's Time to Break the College Savings Piggy Bank	443
96.	Save for Retirement While Still Enjoying Yourself	446
97.	Juggle Multiple Objectives	451
98.	Get Out of Debt Before Debt Takes It Out of You	454
99.	Find a Financial Planner	457
100.	Build a Ladder of Fixed-Income Investments	463
	Index	467