Sources of information

Useful sources of information

Having set your screen filters you now need to apply them to the universe of over 2,500 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

There are numerous free screening tools available, one of the best is Digital Look.  Once you have registered, the "Research" tab at the top  will take you to a menu on the left hand side which has a "Screening Tools" facility.

Once you have built up your portfolio and your returns warrant it, you may want to upgrade to a paid service that gives you more flexibility and enables you to drill down further into the financial information.  One of the best services I have found that I use, is Stockopedia.  There is still a lot of free information on the site and well worth searching the "Learn" area.

When you have a watch list of stocks or maybe have a number that you hold, it is important that you keep track of their announcements.  The best way to do this is with Investegate a free service that once you have signed up allows you to set up e-mail alerts, so that every time your companies make a stock-exchange announcement you are alerted.

A good web-site for general stock analysis and forecasts (the only site that produces total shareholder returns for companies) is Morningstar, you can also set up your portfolio and track it on here.  You do need to sign up, but the basic membership is free.

You will need to open a stock broking account and Hargreaves Lansdown provide a good service.  They do have some good “in a nutshell” analysis on some of the larger companies and produce some good free guides.  I also use Barclays Stockbrokers who also provide a good service and might be an alternative, although a little more expensive on charges.

There are numerous places for general news flow, but I have found the free services of Bloomberg, Reuters and ShareCast to be very useful along with the paid for service of the Financial Times.

If you want to know when company & economic announcements are panned ProShare provide a good service.