Getting Started in Stock Analysis, Illustrated Edition

Robust analysis shows a more complete picture of market behavior

Getting Started in Stock Analysis is an exciting visual guide to both technical and fundamental analysis for the private investor. Rather than addressing the benefits of fundamental or technical analysis, author and trader Michael C. Thomsett draws upon three decades’ experience in the stock market to demonstrate why traders need to employ both. Readers will learn how both methods are different aspects of the same cause and effect within the market, and how exploiting one method at the expense of the other results in an incomplete picture of the true market behavior. Coverage includes a full explanation of the range of indicators necessary to create a working system of analysis that anyone can perform on their own, helping long- and short-term investors alike improve selection and confirm investment decisions. Charts of actual listed companies demonstrate how these techniques are applied in a real trading environment.

Investors and traders are constantly seeking the “magic bullet” for identifying profitable trades and timing both entry and exit. Since the 1940s, the average holding period has fallen from eight years to eight weeks – making fundamental and technical analysis more challenging. This book describes how combining these approaches can compensate for the modern market environment to produce a more accurate – and profitable – analysis.

• Choose better stocks and other securities
• Improve entry and exit while managing risk
• Develop more robust analysis skills
• Blend fundamental and technical analysis techniques

The reduced cost of trading, ease of access via the Internet, and changes in the overall culture of the stock market have increased the pace and volume of trading more than ever before. In this environment, sharp analysis becomes ever more critical. Getting Started in Stock Analysis is the visual guide to more confident investing.

Table of Contents

Part I Fundamental Analysis
Chapter 1: Financial Statements in Overview
Chapter 2: How Reliable Are the Financial Reports?
Chapter 3: Balance Sheet Ratios—Testing Working Capital
Chapter 4: Income Statement Ratios—Trends and Profits
Chapter 5: Five Key Trends Every Investor Needs
Chapter 6: The Annual Report and What It Reveals
Chapter 7: Fundamentals Not on the Statement

Part II Technical Analysis
Chapter 8: Theories and What They Mean
Chapter 9: Charting and Its Value
Chapter 10: Trends and How to Study Them
Chapter 11: Moving Averages and Their Value
Chapter 12: Price Indicators
Chapter 13: Volume Indicators
Chapter 14: Momentum Oscillators
Chapter 15: Confirmation, the Key to Timing