Fundamental Analysis For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Fundamental Analysis For Dummies, 3rd Edition

by Matthew Krantz
Released May 2023
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781394159697

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Pick stocks, create a portfolio, and build a nest egg

Ever wonder how the pros pick the stocks they invest in? Well, most of them use some form of fundamental analysis, a popular method for assessing securities. In Fundamental Analysis For Dummies, you'll get a crash course in valuating publicly traded companies based on their financial statements, overall health, competitors, markets, and the overall economy. You'll also get easy-to-follow advice on how to protect your investments and diversify your portfolio so you can reduce risk without sacrificing returns.

Inside...

  • Learn fundamental analysis basics
  • Discover why fundamental analysis works
  • Get your hands on important data
  • Perform a fundamental analysis
  • Understand financial statements
  • Construct financial ratios
  • Read proxy statements
  • Valuate and price stocks

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Icons Used in This Book
    3. Beyond the Book
    4. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part 1: Getting Started with Fundamental Analysis
    1. Chapter 1: Understanding Fundamental Analysis
      1. Why Bother with Fundamental Analysis?
      2. Knowing the Tools of the Fundamental Analysis Trade
      3. Making Fundamental Analysis Work For You
    2. Chapter 2: Getting Up to Speed with Fundamental Analysis
      1. What Is Fundamental Analysis?
      2. Comparing Fundamental Analysis with Other Ways of Picking Investments
      3. Putting Fundamental Analysis to Work For You
      4. Making Money with Fundamental Analysis
      5. The Fundamental Analysis Toolbox
    3. Chapter 3: Gaining an Upper Hand on Wall Street: Why Fundamental Analysis Gives Investors an Edge
      1. Better Investing with Fundamentals
      2. Relying on the Basic Info the Pros Use
      3. Figuring Out When to Buy or Sell a Stock
    4. Chapter 4: Getting Your Hands on Fundamental Data
      1. Getting in Sync with the Fundamental Calendar
      2. Getting up to Speed with the Basic Accounting and Math
      3. How to Get the Fundamental Data You Need
  6. Part 2: Performing Fundamental Analysis Yourself
    1. Chapter 5: Analyzing a Company’s Profitability Using the Income Statement
      1. Digging Deep Into the Income Statement
      2. Taking in the Top Line: Revenue
      3. Calculating Profit Margins and Finding Out What They Mean
      4. Comparing a Company’s Profit to Expectations
    2. Chapter 6: Measuring a Company’s Staying Power with the Balance Sheet
      1. Familiarizing Yourself With the Balance Sheet
      2. Understanding the Parts of the Balance Sheet
      3. Analyzing the Balance Sheet
      4. The Danger of Dilution
    3. Chapter 7: Tracking Cash with the Statement of Cash Flow
      1. Looking at the Cash-Flow Statement As a Fundamental Analyst
      2. How Investors May Be Fooled by Earnings, But Not by Cash Flow
      3. Understanding the Fundamentals of Free Cash Flow
    4. Chapter 8: Using Financial Ratios to Pinpoint Investments
      1. Using Financial Ratios to Find Out What’s Really Going on at a Company
      2. Getting Familiar with the Price-to-Earnings Ratio
      3. Putting the P-E into Perspective
    5. Chapter 9: Mining the Proxy Statement for Investment Clues
      1. Getting up to Speed with What the Proxy Statement Is
      2. Expanding Fundamental Analysis Beyond the Numbers
      3. Stepping Through the Proxy
      4. How Much Are We Paying You? Understanding Executive Compensation
      5. Checking In on Your Fellow Shareholders
  7. Part 3: Making Money with Fundamental Analysis
    1. Chapter 10: Looking for Fundamental Reasons to Buy or Sell
      1. Looking For Buy Signals from the Fundamentals
      2. Knowing When to Bail out of a Stock
      3. What Dividends Can Tell You about Buying or Selling a Stock
    2. Chapter 11: Finding a Right Price for a Stock Using Discounted Cash Flow
      1. How to Stop Guessing How Much a Company is Worth
      2. Performing a Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
      3. Making the Discounted Cash Flow Analysis Work for You
    3. Chapter 12: Using the Annual Report (10-K) to See What a Company Is Worth
      1. Familiarizing Yourself with the Annual Report
      2. How to Tackle a Massive Annual Report
      3. Examining What the Auditor’s Opinion Means For Investors
    4. Chapter 13: Analyzing a Company’s Public Comments and Statements
      1. Using Analyst Conference Calls as a Source of Fundamental Information
      2. Getting in Tune with Fundamental Information from the Media
      3. Knowing When to Pay Attention at Shareholders’ Meetings
    5. Chapter 14: Gleaning from the Fundamental Analysis Done by Others
      1. Reading Analysts’ Reports for Fundamental Analysis Clues
      2. Interpreting Credit-Rating Agencies’ Reports For Fundamental Analysis
      3. Finding Fundamental Data about Companies Using Social Investing
    6. Chapter 15: Performing “Top-Down” Fundamental Analysis
      1. Broadening Out Fundamental Analysis to Include Monitoring the Economy
      2. Analyzing the Key Measures of the Economy’s Health
      3. Getting a Jump on the Future Using Leading Economic Indicators
  8. Part 4: Getting Advanced with Fundamental Analysis
    1. Chapter 16: Digging into an Industry’s Fundamentals
      1. Realizing How a Company’s Industry Can Influence Its Value
      2. How to Track How Sectors Are Doing
      3. Adding Industry Analysis to Your Fundamental Approach
    2. Chapter 17: Pinpointing Trends Using Fundamental Analysis
      1. Understanding Why to Consider Trends
      2. Finding Trends in Insider Trading Information
      3. Designing Screens to Pinpoint Companies
    3. Chapter 18: Avoiding Investment Blowups with Fundamental Analysis
      1. Uncovering the Dangers of Not Using Fundamental Analysis
      2. Finding and Avoiding Financial Red Flags
    4. Chapter 19: Marrying Fundamental Analysis with Technical Analysis
      1. Understanding Technical Analysis
      2. Blending Fundamental and Technical Analysis
      3. The Primary Tools Used by Technical Analysts
      4. Keeping a Close Eye on Options
      5. Applying Technical Analysis Techniques to Fundamental Analysis
  9. Part 5: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 20: Ten Things to Look at When Analyzing a Company
      1. Measuring How Much of a Company’s Earnings Are “Real”
      2. Considering How Much Cash the Company Has
      3. Making Sure You Don’t Overpay
      4. Evaluating the Management Team and Board Members
      5. Examining the Company’s Track Record of Paying Dividends
      6. Comparing the Company’s Promises with What It Delivers
      7. Keeping a Close Eye on Industry Changes
      8. Understanding Saturation: Knowing When a Company Gets Too Big
      9. Avoiding Blinders: Watching the Competition
      10. Watching Out When a Company Gets Overly Confident
    2. Chapter 21: Ten Things Fundamental Analysis Cannot Do
      1. Ensure You Buy Stocks At The Right Time
      2. Guarantee You’ll Make Money
      3. Save You Time When Picking Stocks
      4. Reduce Your Investing Costs
      5. Protect You from Every Fraud
      6. Easily Diversify Your Risk Over Many Investments
      7. Predict the Future
      8. Make You the Next Warren Buffett
      9. Protect You from Your Own Biases
      10. Overcome the Danger of Thinking You’re Always Right
  10. Index
  11. About the Author
  12. Connect with Dummies
  13. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Fundamental Analysis For Dummies, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Matthew Krantz
  • Release date: May 2023
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781394159697