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Posted August 22, 2009 (12:20AM)
Thanks slaffka-s.
I've seen a couple of other people recommend Benjamin Graham's book, and decided to check to see if it was available at my local library. It was. While I was there (online), I checked to see if they had Jim Cramer's "Real Money - Sane Investing in the Insane World", and they had that as well. In both book and CD format (5 CDs "read by the author").
I also googled the book and found a downloadable online copy in a couple of formats here:
www.asiaing.com/the-intelligent-investor.html
Wikipedia also wrote of another of his books that is still used in college level courses, entitled "Security Analysis". That was also at my library in both book and CD format. It sounds to me as if trying to nail down somewhat complex or detailed concepts etc. might be a little tough for me via CD, but I might check out the book. That too is apparently available online via a college course:
www.ebook-search-engine.com/benjamin-graham-security-analysis-2008-ebook-pdf.html
I had briefly stopped by the business section in our library while one of my children was picking up some books and saw Value Line which looked like an excellent resource. I didn't have time to go through it and research a couple of companies but asked a librarian if it was available online. She said no, but that Morningstar was recently made available online and was very popular. I looked at a binder with some of the paper issues and wasn't too impressed. It looked to me like it was primarily all about mutual funds, but when I checked it out I was pretty impressed. It definitely has a stock section with some nice resources, and even gives not only 1 to 5 star ratings, but even an estimated intrinsic value, which I assume is arrived at along the lines of the methods pioneered by Ben Graham. They also gave price points to "consider buying" and to "consider selling" which are probably about 20% to 25% below and above their estimated "intrinsic value", which also seems to be modeled on Ben Graham's "safety margin".
They also have analysts following most of the major stocks and their reports look quite excellent in giving the prospects both good and bad for the industry in general and the company in particular.
Your advice to check the companies' websites for their reports is a good one. I did notice, however, that some of the stocks people on here had asked about were apparently pretty small and apparently did not have websites. I imagine some others may not have those reports. I was hoping TradeKing might have them available, or that there might be some sort of clearinghouse, library or public storage place for them, but I guess not. Don't stockholders usually get copies of those &/or stockholder reports after they purchase securities, or is that paid for by the higher fees from full service brokerages?
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