No one can predict the future very well, and the farther into the future a seer tries to look, the less likely he is to be right.
Be open, because that's where you'll find good information.
Second, you'll find that the price of information doesn't always show how valuable it is.
A lot of the best stuff you can find is free.
Your main sources of investment information are the firms that are members of the New York Stock Exchange and the companies you are interested in.
Your brokerage firm will give you free, accurate, and up-to-date information if you ask for it. Many companies have started large-scale informational programmes because the number of new investors has gone up. Most of them send out weekly market letters, monthly or quarterly surveys, and analyses of individual stocks or industries.
(According to a recent count, 296 member firms now send out about 30,700 market letters, 15,500 pieces of sales literature, and 1,800 special reports, which adds up to a stack of paper about 38 feet high and 975 pounds!)
Most of the time, a senior analyst writes the weekly letter. This person's job is to go around and talk to professionals about current market trends or to do field research on new developments in companies or industries. It's casual, full of news, and can't be very thorough because of that.
The monthly and quarterly surveys are more in-depth, but it takes time for editors and producers to put them together, so they are not always up-to-date. Most of the time, these compare the performance of different groups of stocks, show trends, and give ratings or opinions about those groups. It's easy to get on the mailing list for these things.
Also, sign up for certain Internet message services that will keep you up to date.
If you ask, your broker will also send you information about specific companies that you might be interested in. Most of the time, these include the company's capitalization, its earnings and dividends, and the prices at which its stock has sold in the past.
You can also get more detailed studies of companies or industries if you ask for them. The range will mostly depend on how flexible your brokerage firm's research department is.
Lastly, your broker should have booklets about specialised investments like the Monthly Investment Plan, investment clubs, Forex, and commodity trading.
Corporations are also very aware of investor interest these days, and most are happy to send you annual reports, quarterly statements, stock prospectuses, or other information if you ask for it.
These are often more detailed than what your broker can give you. Annual reports include balance sheets, consolidated income statements, and records of earnings going back 10 or 20 years, as well as general information about what the company does.
It's important to keep in mind that companies are naturally biassed toward their own business interests and tend to put their best foot forward.
This doesn't mean that you can't trust their information. It just means that, for example, an annual report, which is management's account of its management to stockholders, will make the company look the best. There is a chance that people will be too optimistic about its performance or future.
Normal newspapers, some 600 of which now print daily stock tables, and magazines with a wide readership that deal with business and money are easy to find secondary sources.
These are good because they are not part of the financial community and may have a broader view of the news. On the other hand, they might not have some of the information that is easy to find in more specialised financial publications.
If you trade on the Forex, you can download Forex software to help you predict how prices will change in the future.
