Expert: Paul Henneman - 8/27/2006

Question
Hi Paul,

I'm an absoluete novice at buying stocks and decided I'd like to learn and try this for myself, I've only used cash I'm happy to 100% lose but figured I'd just have to get stuck in and try and learn the ropes. Anyway after a few months of simply investing in almost random companies I've had a resonable amount of success, but was thinking my luck is purely fluke and I wondered if there was some stock forecasting software out there which could help me make a more informed decision. Basically I've tried a few programs and even the supposidly easiest to use applications seem very complex, all I want is a prediction graph based on the stocks history and a simple clear results which lets me know wheether to buy or sell. I realise whichever product I use is not fool proof, but surely there must be some sort of application that doesn't need a degree in accounting to be able to use. I simply want to be able to enter my chosen company, the program then trawls the internet for its info and bring me back a nice simple graph of set of results which actually mean something to us novices. Can you help at all ?

Answer
Scott,
  Thank you for your question! I do have some advice for you. Perhaps not quite as simple as what you are hoping for, but your theory regarding how to take your investing to the next level is solid. You do need some sort of more consistent approach for long term success.
   I would recommend reviewing several sources. First, pick up a copy of "Investing for Dummies". I realize that the title is not exactly flattering, but what this book can do is introduce you to the most common forms of investing. The stock section is decent, and goes through some of the most important data points that can be used to select quality companies that have a greater chance of seeing a rise in stock price. With that information you could go to a free site such as finance.yahoo.com to enter tickers that you are interested in, and have a better understanding of how to interpret the wealth of data the site gives you.
  Once you get a handle on the above, you could then investigate more involved trading techniques. Anything that is too simple just won't work. However, William O'Neil's approach (He is the found of Investor Business Daily) is very popular, and I think for those that spend the time to learn and implement it, successful. His books are available on amazon.com and most major bookstores in the Financial or Investing sections, and book by O'Neil will do.
  Other online sources that could provide you with some actionable information are www.morningstar.com, and www.motleyfool.com
  One of the programs that I am aware of that most closely fits your description, is Wise Trade. But I don't recommend it. The program is very simple to use and gives signals on what to buy or sell, but the analysis is poor and highly questionable, in my opinion.
  I rarely recommend this as it is not the purpose of this site to advertise services, but you could take a look at my company's website, www.ValuEngine.com  We cover 4,500 companies, and in the 'Valuation' section you can enter a ticker, get a chart and other supporting data on that company. The 'detailed analysis' links brings up additional charts, forecasted target prices for the tsock going into the future, and other information. Very easy to pull up tickers and view the data on the company you are interested in.
   We also have www.ValuEngineView.com which is a portfolio of 15 stocks that we adjust once per month. It is up about 40% since May of 2005, so performance has been very strong. This would be of interest if you wanted to buy a 15 stock portfolio, and trade it once per month. This may sound like alot, but if you use a service like Foliofn.com, you can do this for a flat fee of $19.95 per month (plus the subscription we charge to receive the portfolio).  There are other services like ValuEngine, such as VectorVest and Valu Line.

I hope this helps! Please do not hesitate to follow up with me if I can be of any further service,

Sincerely,
Paul Henneman
President
ValuEngine, Inc.
www.ValuEngine.com