Most traders don't worry about the fundamentals. These numbers include the general economic and market conditions that impact a stock, as well as the financial information known about a company's activities and its financial successes and failures.
Instead, traders focus on technical analysis and trends that can be seen using that type of analysis.
Taking the time to analyze the fundamentals of a stock will put you one step ahead of the trading crowd. Using fundamental analysis, you can determine how a stock's price compares with those of similar companies based on earning growth and other key factors, including business conditions.
When starting a fundamental analysis, select an industry or business sector that interest you for possible stock purchases. If a particular company perks your interest you can start your research by looking at the major players in that company's sector or by turning to the sector's fundamentals.
Regardless of how you start, you need to narrow down your list of companies and you want to compare to the ones that are in similar businesses within the sector, so you can find the best opportunity.
Most of the tools used in fundamental analysis require you to compare at least two companies operating in similar business environments to understand the meaning of the information.
The best way to do that it to compare and understand the company's financial statements, in particular the critical parts of the income statement, cash flow statements and the balance sheet.
Once you get to grip with companies fundamentals you can then best decide which companies to invest in. It's likely you will then want to watch closely for trends to decide when it is best to make an investment.
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Author writes regularly on issues related to material and financial. For more information on stock analysis, stock investing software, technical analysis software, stock chart analysis, visit the stock trading software - http://www.vectorvest.com
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