Stockpicking Tools

“It wasn’t long ago that amateur stockpickers had a hard time following the fundamentals of the companies whose stocks they owned. Analysts at the brokerage houses were scurrying around, finding out everything they could, but this information rarely reached the client. If a brokerage house changed its recommendation from “buy” to “sell,” the small-time customer was the last to know. If you asked for it, your broker might send you an analyst’s report on a company, but these reports were often several months out of date. Amateur investors had to rely on the quarterly and annual reports put out by companies themselves. They also made frequent trips to the local library, where they pored over a publication called Value Line. Value Line gives a one-page rundown on hundreds of companies and is packed with useful information—it’s an excellent resource even today.”

Excerpt From: Peter Lynch and John Rothchild. “Learn to Earn.”