Good FREE websites/sources for comprehensive stock market research?

September 15, 2005 2:21 PM

What are good FREE websites/sources for comprehensive stock market information and research?

I currently use Yahoo! Finance, Big Charts, and QuantumOnline -- but sometimes they don't have all the correct information. I'm looking for alternative, hopefully more thorough options for researching historical prices and corporate actions (splits, dividends, mergers, etc). I'm open to non-free options as well, assuming they are reasonably priced. But of course, not having to spend money is preferred.

posted by jruckman to work & money (11 comments total)

Clearstation.

http://www.clearstation.com/

Full Disclosure: I was one of the founders back in 1997, but haven't worked there since 2000, when we were purchased by E*TRADE. I still use the site nearly every day.
posted by toxic at 2:56 PM on September 15, 2005

You can get historical prices on Yahoo! Finance. All the other data on those websites are derived from public information available in the form of 10Qs/10Ks/8Ks. Go to the company's investor relations website (or sec.gov) to download these documents and other goodies such as analyst call webcasts, call transcripts or equity conference presentations (not every company will have these).

I get my SEC docs via this link:

http://10kwizard.ccbn.com/fil_list.asp?TK=MSFT

Just replace the "MSFT" at the end of the url with the ticker you're looking up. You can download pdf versions of the sec docs, which you can print in a much nicer format than any other source. This is a backdoor into 10K Wizard (you'd need a subscription otherwise).

For corporate actions, 8Ks (press releases and other things) will be your best source. I use a Bloomberg terminal for extra data, but that costs money.

The reality is that for the stuff that really matters - e.g. forward estimates - you have to pay big money for access to equity research. While advice from sellside analysts should be taken with a grain of salt, they do generally have better access to management, market sentiments and other resources. The valuation metrics (P/E, EV/EBITDA and others) available from free sources are usually historical while the market is really driven by forward estimates.

Having access to a bunch of pay-only resources, I tend to think retail investors are fucked.
posted by mullacc at 3:30 PM on September 15, 2005

thanks mullacc -- i'm familiar w/ getting SEC docs and using Yahoo's historical pricing tables, etc. i'm not looking for forward estimate and investing advice -- just comprehensive historical data that isn't limited to open/close prices.
posted by jruckman at 3:40 PM on September 15, 2005

Any libraries in your area have a Bloomberg?
posted by Kwantsar at 4:06 PM on September 15, 2005

If you had access to Thomson Financial's SDC database you'd be all set.

What are you looking for, more specifically?

I assumed you were trying to do basic investment research, but I think I was wrong. Is this a research project of some sort?
posted by mullacc at 4:35 PM on September 15, 2005

Kwantsar: i'm looking for something I can use from my computer

mullacc: i'm an intern for a company where I do customer support. we have a virtual portfolio system that occasionally doesn't accurately reflect the latest corporate actions on less-publicized stocks. i don't fix these errors, i just research the terms of the event(s) our system missed, and compile them into something that's easily assimilated by our developers. obviously, the less popular a stock is, the more likely it is to generate errors, the less information is available on the web, and the more difficult it is for me to find all the neccesary details surrounding the missed split/dividend/acquisition/etc. i need alternative and hopefully more comprehensive sources to do this kind of research.
posted by jruckman at 4:48 PM on September 15, 2005

i didn't mean to mark that post two up as a best answer -- a glitch of the hand. not that i'm not digging the advice -- but this thread still hasn't really gone anywhere yet. continue...
posted by jruckman at 5:32 PM on September 15, 2005

[Ticker] EQUITY CACS is the command you'd use on Bloomberg. It keeps a chronological order of exactly what you're talking about (of course, the data is mostly sourced from 8-ks).

If this is something your company will be using frequently, you may want to invest in a Bloomberg terminal. I think they're a couple grand a year. Unfortunately, I've never heard of a public Bloomberg outside of Wharton.

It will be harder to sift through, but perhaps a news wire service that allows you to search for company press releases? Dow Jones and PR Newswire come to mind and may be much cheaper than a Bloomberg.
posted by mullacc at 8:00 PM on September 15, 2005

MarketEdge.com is really a slick sight and it's not too expensive. I've used it for two years and it's very accurate, timely and when I've cross referenced some of their data and reseacrh it pans out well. Hope this helps. The B
posted by thebarron at 9:24 PM on September 15, 2005

Edgarscan?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:49 AM on September 16, 2005

What you are looking for is a subscription to the Hoover's database. I work in the IR industry, and my firm regards Hoover's as the most comprehensive and accurate data available. It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for. (Online tool is just a peak into the glory available to subscribers. You will need to contact Hoover's for better info.)
posted by junkbox at 6:06 AM on September 16, 2005