In the ocean of internet resources, investors always try to search for authentic information related to stocks and mutual funds. And rightly so, it is always advisable to conduct your own thorough research on funds and stocks before you invest your hard earned money. This would help you reduce the risk and increase your profits. I observed that, depending solely on paid services for stock tips and recommendations usually fail due to mismatch of timings and possibility of hidden agenda which is quite difficult to judge or identify. And hence it is recommended that one should do his or her own research and then invest, instead of depending on paid services. Now the question is where to search information for studying the stocks and mutual funds.
Although there are many useful resources available, I will share my experience with two such excellent websites I use, when I invest in stocks and mutual funds.
1. Google Finance (https://www.google.com/finance ) :
Google Finance is a wealth of information for stock market lovers. One needs to explore its full potential by spending some time on this website. I always keep the window of google finance opened in my laptop when the market is trading. The reason is, in a single page you get whole lot of information in front of your eyes, that too in a very simplified manner and without any clutter of unwanted information. You will get all the detailed information such as :
- Live updating of all major global stock market numbers
- Click on your desired market and further details will appear
- The graphical representation is very nice and can be optimize for axis view as per convenience
- One interesting thing is- it shows past performance of not only stocks but also the mutual funds
- Historical performance not only limited to few years, & shows real past numbers for decades
- On the right side, upper corner – you see news related to stocks and indices
- Option of making your own portfolio to keep track of your interested stocks and funds
- Live updates on currencies and bonds
2. Ratestar.in : ( http://www.ratestar.in/ )
This is again a tremendous source of technical information on thousands of stocks, mutual funds and interestingly the big investors. The additional information this website gives you is quarterly holdings of popular investors in the stock market, which you can search by simply typing the investor name. You can search for portfolio & holdings of top investors like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Porinju Veliyath, Dolly Khanna and so on. If you think to invest in the stocks where these top investors are investing, this website is helpful. Nevertheless, remember that, successful trading comes not by following an expert but more from learning the market dynamics and educating yourself to take decisions on timings and picks. The information you get here is
- Search stock holdings of top and famous investors
- Search thousands of companies for detailed technical information
- Apart from usual numbers, like market caps and PE, several key technical things to explore
- Quarterly and annual results, Key financial ratios and debt and profit status
- Assigned ratings (zero to hundred, hundred being best) associated with all stocks which is attributed to factors like financials performance & trends
- On the home page, you also see list of stocks with high performance ratings for quick review
- Also available as an android App. as beta version so you can use it on phone
- Less clutters and unwanted material which usually distracting the focus
