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Favourite Screening Tools

By Jason on Fri, 2007-01-26 03:28

I am interested to see what others use in order to run their screens, whether they be free or paid.

The most common screen I use is the Morningstar.com "Premium" Stock Screener (included once you subscribe to Morningstar's "Premium" subscription service). It seems to offer much more detailed criteria in comparison to others. They also have a bunch of free tools such as a stock/etf screener, stock compare, etc.

Which do you all prefer?

‹ What are you buying on the dip? Tax ›
Nick on Sat, 2007-01-27 17:48
Title: I use

I use www.magicformulainvesting.com as my only screening tool.

Additionally I look for mega caps that I can't imagine living without that seem cheap relative their previous multiples. Walmart and Budweiser were a couple that I picked this way (Got in before Buffett). I also look into special situations like Sally Beauty, Western Union, and Idearc are my most recent selections. I wish there were better sources of info for the spinoffs I usually have to search edgar for the appropriate filing.

George on Sat, 2007-01-27 19:50
Title: Source of spinoffs and other special situations

Hey Nick,

(Warning, product plug ahead.) If you are interested in spinoffs, I invite you to check out my Fat Pitch Financials Contributor's Corner service. I have a whole section devoted to tracking spinoffs. Membership to Contributor's Corner is actually this month's user prize.

Nick on Mon, 2007-01-29 16:29
Title: Thanks for the invite, I am

Thanks for the invite, I am interested in joining, but first I'll see if I can't win the prize!

Nick on Mon, 2007-01-29 16:32
Title: Idearc

George,

Did Contributor's Corner cover the Idearc spinoff from Verizon. I had e-mailed about it when it was announced. I'm up about 20% now...Yellow Pages- who would have thought!?

-Nick

GeoffGannon on Fri, 2007-02-16 17:25
Title: Yes the Idearc spinoff was mentioned

George does a lot of the work, but sometimes users beat him to particular upcoming events. In this case, I think the spinoff was mentioned around the 20th of October along with a mention of the press release. George said he knew about it, and I suspect he would've gotten around to posting on it anyway. But, someone else mentioned it first - so George gave him some extra days of access free. If you bring new ideas to the forums, he gives you a little extra time on your account free.

Jason on Thu, 2007-02-15 01:23
Title: Any other ideas out there?

Any other ideas out there?

GeoffGannon on Fri, 2007-02-16 17:29
Title: Congrats on Idearc

Nick,

Congratulations on Idearc. It looked like a classic unloved spinoff – in fact, I was planning on writing about it on my blog, but decided the combination of the heavy debt load and the shrinking industry it was in would convince most readers to just ignore me on this one.

It seems I always get the most negative emails about the best ideas.

I'm glad someone was smart enough to see the opportunity in such a spinoff despite the warts.

Nick on Tue, 2007-02-20 11:34
Title: Thanks for the encouraging

Thanks for the encouraging words Geoff!

Mark Perkins on Sun, 2007-03-11 23:23
Title: I was running a custom

I was running a custom Zach's screen. I like zachs and businessweek's,they're free and have a ton of variables. the night I found out about the sub-prime news and FMT and NEW came up as the market fear drove them way down,probably below intrinsic value.

with FMT Im wondering if this is going to bankrupt them or affect profits long term becuase if its not and you know something about their business which i dont its probably a great time to back up every truck you can get. I hope the short-termists dump more Barclay's BCS. I think I might like them with a 5% div yield.

Mark Perkins on Sun, 2007-06-10 20:43
Title: Fremont FMT has been up over

Fremont FMT has been up over 100% since then. watched didn't buy any though.da*n

Nick on Mon, 2007-03-12 10:25
Title: It'll be interesting to see

It'll be interesting to see who survives the subprime emplosion. Many 30+ have gone under in the last 90 days. Wells Fargo is the number one non-prime mortgage lender. I wouldn't mind an actractive valuation presenting itself in the coming year.

Disclosure: I have a significant financialinterest in Wells Fargo. Mainly my paycheck.

NextWarrenBuffett (not verified) on Wed, 2007-09-05 22:03
Title: Very good tool

I'm very new to value investing, and am really after something along the lines of Warren Buffett's approach.

Value line seems ok but I have come across Buffett Investor
So far I am only using the free trial, but I have found it to be VERY good.

Covers just about everything a value investor needs to look for within companies.

Economic moat, margin of safety and whether or not stocks are undervalued or not.