Before you make an investment, it’s crucial that you understand the company and the market in which you are investing. Advice and guidance about personal finance often focus on the best strategies for evaluating potential stocks before you invest. There are two main strategies for getting this done: fundamental analysis, which focuses on a company’s present value and assets, or technical analysis, which uses charts to plot likely future stock movement.
This brings us to the age-old investors’ debate: which analysis strategy is best to maximize your financial gains?
Throughout our research, our team of experts at Island Equity Systems has found that the best investing advice is actually to combine these two techniques. You don’t have to choose between fundamental and technical analysis and, in fact, you shouldn’t. A combination strategy will create a complete picture of a company’s current standing and future potential for growth so you can make the most of your money.
Get The Basics With Fundamental Analysis:
Fundamental analysis is great for setting you up with, well, the fundamentals. Before you invest, it’s crucial to know the facts about a company’s current value. That’s where fundamental analysis comes into play. Using this strategy, you can perform an initial screening of the company so you know the benefits and risks of your potential investment.
During fundamental analysis, you use financial ratios and the company’s released financial reports to understand a stock’s current financial standing. You can also use this process to check for drawbacks or warning signs of a bad investment, like excessive debt or rising competitors in the market. If a fundamental analysis indicates that similar companies in the market have better prospects or less debt, you might want to think twice before investing.
Look To The Future With Technical Analysis:
While fundamental analysis focuses on a company’s present intrinsic value, technical analysis uses data from the past to make predictions about the company’s future. Fans of technical analysis are often called “Chartists” because this part of your analysis will involve a lot of stock charts and graphs to represent past trends in the industry and consumer demand.
During a technical analysis, you will analyze the patterns of growth and decline from a company’s past in order to determine when in the future it will be a good idea to invest. You will also look at historical data throughout the market, focusing specifically on trends. That’s why an understanding of things like history and human psychology is beneficial for good technical analysis- understanding current and past patterns of human behavior can help you make smart predictions about the way that stocks will trend in the future.
No two trades are alike, so the best advice on personal finance is always to think on your feet and use your best judgment in a given situation. Using both fundamental analysis and technical analysis techniques is the only way to ensure that you have all the crucial info you need before making your next big investment move.
D.A. Campbell
IslandEquitySystems.com
Island Equity Systems designs and markets equity trading systems for the personal investor
