Sites for investment research

[dayhkr]

Considering the vast enormity of the investing universe, (individual stocks, mutual funds / etfs, bonds, etc.) how does one filter all the information to decide where to invest their money? I have done well with a core and explore methodology but looking for ways to do the exploring part more efficiently and hopefully profitability. It seems more and more sites are fee only, and at a level I can't justify. I don want to run afoul of any forum rules with my questions, so please help steer the conversation in the right direction. What are your go to sites and if a paid site, value to you?

 

[Koolau]

I guess this is my site.

I've learned so much here and maybe, just maybe, I too have been of some assistance to someone here.

 

[Semi-Retyrd]

Considering the vast enormity of the investing universe, (individual stocks, mutual funds / etfs, bonds, etc.) how does one filter all the information to decide where to invest their money? I have done well with a core and explore methodology but looking for ways to do the exploring part more efficiently and hopefully profitability. It seems more and more sites are fee only, and at a level I can't justify. I don want to run afoul of any forum rules with my questions, so please help steer the conversation in the right direction. What are your go to sites and if a paid site, value to you?

I am a tightwad when it comes to searching for good investments. In the old days I used Morningstar's screeners until they decided to charge for use. Now I use Fidelity's mutual fund screener which is free. Why screen mutual funds? Because they eliminate single stock or bond risk and because you can buy them at their NAV rather then trying to time their purchase with an ETF or CEF.

Here is one screen I use starting with narrowing the field to 5 star funds and then sorting by 3 year Sharpe ratio and then further sorting by near term performance.

Mutual Fund Results - Mutual Funds Research | Fidelity Investments

Fidelity offers over 10,000 mutual funds from dozens of different mutual fund companies and can help you find the right ones for virtually any investment need.

fundresearch.fidelity.com

After this screen I dive deeper into individual top rated funds to check if they are buyable (eg many are institutional with high minimum purchase). Also I look at Standard deviation and YTD charts comparing their performance to the S&P 500 or a good bond fund like DODIX.

Finally I read the summary prospectus to understand the fund's strategy and whether or not tax efficiency is considered.

 

[richardsok]

For a long time I was a regular user of stockcharts.com, using their regular screener which gave you a daily update of anything on the NYSE that passed a bullish MACD signal that day, as well as their free charting. The charting is still there, but now you have to pay a membership for the screener.
I still use finviz.com which gives you a complete daily informational panel of stocks and etfs plus screener access (EPS and projected EPS, etc etc etc ) -- but nothing to find new MACDs --- still its really worth being familiar with. FREE
The best charting software I know is thinkorswim which you get free through Schwab. I've reproduced their chart panels here on ER several times. (See my past posts.) Their phone reps will help set you up to get started. VERY sophisticated sophisticated software here. I don't use its "trade" function. I just want the charts and use them daily. FREE for Schwab accounts.
Lastly there's Tipranks.com which rates stocks on a 1-to-10 scoring basis in addition to give you a consensus of analysts.. What I like is that they update their scoring for each stock every day, so there's never any stale information. I pay an annual fee in 2025 and will renew for 2026
Oh -- one more. I'm just getting started deploying A.I. to my choices and find it useful. Of the sites I've tried, claude,ai (intermediate level) seems best. I pay a bit here also, and it's worth it.
Hope this helps.

 

[OK EE]

Reddit subs have been pretty good specifically Bogleheads.

I just don't care that much about the latest and greatest stocks (looking at you SpaceX) but consistent and lower risk growth.

That lead me to the Vanguard Total World Market ETF or VT. It's honestly the best easy button for investing. It limits exposure to the MAG7 by spreading the fund out domestically with small and value stocks, and uses international to buffer the domestic churn.

 

[ktdtx]

"Why screen mutual funds? Because they eliminate single stock or bond risk"

I agree that Mutual Funds probably have a place in many/most people's portfolio but while decreasing single stock/bond risk the upside is also muted by the inevitable under performers in large funds.

No right answer for everyone

 

[Waynew]

I use Seeking Alpha for 95% of my research. It is a paid subscription and (for me) it is worth every penny. It makes it easy to find comparable investments when an investment comes on my radar. I never assume the one that came to my attention is the best of the lot. Fidelity Investments has research, but it falls far short of my needs. I do not, however, invest in mutual funds. All of my investing is ETFs and equities. For mutual fund investors Fidelity is probably the OK choice.