Top 6 Websites For Stock Market Information For Individual Investors
- Apr 29, 2018
- 6 min read
In a world full of optimists and pessimists, the stock market reacts to the whims of the majority sentiments. This leads to what premium front-line investment companies refer to as volatility. And it is in this nebulous volatility that investors seek to look into and make sense out of the chaos of the financial world, and predict whether a certain stock is going to go up, down or sideways.
Large financial institutions have access to premium repositories of financial information, and are usually the first recipients of market news. And it is using these information repositories and the earliest fragments of market sentiment clues, that they build intricate models of volatility, which in turn gives them the idea about where the price might be in the next few minutes of trading.
But individual investors, who toil hard in production factories and offices, seldom have the resources to put together a trading desk with access to top of the line financial information, or the time required to build the intricate models. So, the individual investor usually seeks advice from some tell-tale investor, who in turn gets the advice from some other peer group who have opinions, who in turn may or may not have the incentive to make wild guesses or build intricate models. We now see how the band wagon of speculators get filled up by the masses of sundry, individual investors.
Let me assure you, you are not alone!
People across the globe have joined hands to remove this yoke from the shoulder of the common man by building repositories of information that are free and accessible to one and all. Today, we list for you top 6 websites that you should refer to for building a sound fundamental basis on which you should rest your investment decisions.
Please note, this article has been written with the Indian financial markets in mind, but most of these websites cater to global financial markets.
As many of you might be knowing, that investment analysis can be classified into fundamental analysis and technical analysis. For the more advanced reader, do note that the first three websites cater heavily towards fundamental analysis, while the later three are more inclined towards technical analysis of market movements.
Money Control is arguably one of the most popular websites that most investors in India refer to when seeking stock market related information. Being owned by CNBC TV 18, this website remains up-to-date with every tick of the market. The website repository contains data for all NSE and BSE listed stocks, and their associated financial reports, ratios, peer competition, charts and graphs.
Pros:
Plenty of information with considerable amount of historical data
Ratio analysis is one of the best in class
Constant news feed that helps investors keep track of market sentiments
Cons:
Lots of task buttons need to be clicked to get around to the information that is required
Bonus: A similar website with a much easier presentation is Screener, but it lacks the depth of Money Control.
This is a goldmine for people who invest in the markets for a long term, or are invested in the currency markets. There is appalling dearth of credible information relating to trade information of various countries, and even when they are available, the data is usually not available for downloads in a format where you can exercise your analytics. This website overcomes all of that by providing information about export and import data of all countries, the associated statistics, and the source of all that data.
The best thing that makes it worth your time, is that the website has embedded visualization tools. All of the trade data and statistics can be visualized on various charts and graphs, and added to that you can tweak them for your desired requirements. Now that is some power to the common man!
Pros:
The best in class visualization tools
Up-to-date repository
Data sources are available
Cons:
None.
Having a knowledge of the sector of industries, their performance, their strengths and weaknesses can help you go a long way in building yourself a portfolio that has mitigated a multitude of risks associated with investing. It is quite a common scene in India, where one sector flourishes, and then falls flat on its face with some new reform introduced by the government. Having a prior knowledge of the economics that affect the various sectors, and there by the stocks under the aegis of that sector, is a must if you want your investments to yield positive returns for you, be it spring or monsoon in the markets. IBEF does just that. It provides a sectoral report on the various sectors, the economics in play, and future estimates about performance. Based on just this report you will be able to screen out sectors that meet your investment requirements and taste.
I will agree that there are much more powerful reports in the market, but you cannot forget that they require a premium. IBEF provides a very good report, given that you pay absolutely nothing for it.
Pros:
Easy to understand and implement
Decent amount of economics
Employs estimation techniques that can be understood by the majority
Cons:
Major estimations are fundamentally regression based, and thus do no incorporate volatilities and sentiments, and other unforeseeable factors
This website is where most individual investors with some knowledge of technical analysis head to in India. The website offers plenty of information, with constant news feed, portfolio analysis tools, charting tools and some rapid refresh rates. The website also offers some educational tools as well. In addition to all of this, there is considerable amount of information for the fundamental analysis of the stocks as well.
Pros:
The best in class charting tools, with the most frequently used indicators easily available
Load speed of charts is very good, considering that it is not a proprietary software
In our experience, the price updates are the quickest among all other peer websites
Cons:
People usually end up on the US market website as that is what comes on a quick Google search, and hence the associated frustration
If you are an advanced technical analyst, chances are you will not be satisfied with the integrated charting tools of most websites. Stockcharts.com is a hidden gem, that not only helps you plot the stock prices from markets all over the globe, but also has repository charts of debt market instrument rates. You can perform a host of advanced charting analysis on this website for free, though some advanced tools are only available for premium users. Even then, this website goes a long way to make sense of the patterns and seasonality of stock prices.
Pros:
Host of advanced charting tools
Some charts can be animated for the analysis
Cons:
Load time is considerable for animated charts
Can be a bit overwhelming at first as the arrangement is not very neat
Some of the really nice features are for a premium
This website is probably the most loaded website in this list, and arguable the most professionally built. This website offers analysis that can hardly be found in a handful of websites all over the web. The graphs are not only interactive, but highly customizable, and the analysis that is offered is beyond what comes for free. The premium features can be used under a trial period and is your best bet in getting a readymade portfolio and a portfolio analyser. The depth of this website is where you will be amazed. The website caters to financial data from all across the globe and has critical analysis of all markets.
The golden crown of this website is the ‘Investing Ideas’ section. This is the first place you should head towards, if you have absolutely no clue about investing.
Pros:
Top of the line analysis
Plethora of information
Portfolio analysis and guidance
Investing Ideas
Cons:
A lot of the advanced analysis and tools come at a premium
And with that we conclude this list of the top 6 websites that provide top of the line financial information for individual investors. For any query or feedback please write to us at insigniainvestments@gmail.com or head over to Insignia Investments.
Have a nice day.
And remember, money can be made in both rising and falling markets! Stay invested.
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