A Primer on Stock Investing

This article aims to summarize some key metrics of stock investments and valuation and help investors make informed decisions using a relatively simple framework.

There has been a plethora of information on stock investing, regularly bombarded on investors by financial media. Multiple media channels disseminate this flood of information. Some of these industry resources provide valuable information, yet these reports may not help make informed decisions. Studies have shown that the Value line can hardly compete with the Market index with its highly sophisticated analysis. Research has demonstrated that beating the Market index needs “superior” analysis and right-timed execution. The term used for this unique skill is Alpha, and some examples of Alpha-seeking Gurus are Warren Buffet, George Soros, Peter Lynch, and others.

Stocks

Before delving into a more pragmatic framework of stocks, defining different stock investing categories is important. Stocks are broadly categorized as either common stocks or preferred stocks. The key difference between the two is characterized by the following. First, preferred stocks are preferred, as the name implies, over common stocks in terms of a claim by the shareholders in case of default by the company. Second, preferred stocks are purchased to get dividends (income) with less potential for appreciation.
In contrast, common stocks may be used for dividends and capital appreciation, focusing on the latter. Third, preferred stocks sometimes behave like bonds; as interest rates go up, the select price typically decreases. Interest rate variation correlates with the stock market because as interest rates go up, the stock market gets hit. For individual common stocks, interest rate variation effects depend on several factors, particularly the firm’s capital (or debt) structure.

Other categories of common stocks include First blue-chip stocks of well-reputed Dow Jones companies with an established history of dividend payments to investors. Second, value stocks are under-valued gems, likely to grow in the long run. Third, as the name implies, growth stocks are growth-oriented stocks priced higher because of their perception of appreciation in the future. Fourth, cyclical stocks are sensitive to swings in the business cycles. And fifth, stocks that stay calm during market swings, such as Utilities.

The key metrics of stock investing are summarized below:

1-52 Weeks High-Low: Find out the price of the stocks prevailing in the stock market and compare the current price to the past 52 weeks of the same stock’s high and low prices. The idea is simple: stores having a lower price range in the rising markets have greater upward potential than stocks that have already reached the high 52-week mark.

2-Market Capitalization: This metric reflects how big the company is. Market capitalization is obtained by multiplying the company’s number of shares outstanding by the prevailing market price. Typically, stocks are classified as large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks. Large-cap stocks, like Exxon, generally do not have a great upward potential of the price increase compared to some gems in the mid-cap and small-cap stocks category. The latter type of mid-cap and small-cap stocks is most likely to represent emerging star investments, which typically multiply and grow ten-fold in a certain period.

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3-Volume: This metric tells us how many dollars are being traded on a single day. Volume is computed by multiplying the number of stocks selling on a particular day by the average price. Blue-chip stocks like Exxon, Microsoft, and Apple have a larger volume. In contrast, small and mid-cap stocks have a smaller book, thereby creating some liquidity risk.

4-Earnings growth (past and future): A key metric determines stocks’ price. Earnings per share (EPS) is computed by dividing the company’s profits by the number of shares outstanding. Earnings growth (year over year YOY) is important from two angles: whether earnings have grown in the past five years and whether actual earnings have exceeded the predicted gains in the current year. The corresponding growth of earnings judges the performance of growth companies particularly. Interestingly, earnings per share are diluted by more shares or conversion of fixed-income securities onto common stocks. This action would decrease the value of EPS.
In contrast, if a company buys back its shares, the earnings per share would increase proportionately. For example, if a company with cash reserves buys back half of its shares, the EPS would arithmetically double, making it more attractive to the stock investors. Remember, EPS is strongly correlated to the price of the stock. Consequently, buying back stocks and assuming that the external factors do not change can increase stocks’ prices.

5-Price to earnings (P/E) ratio: Although this ratio has some caveats, P/E is the most popular ratio in stock investing. The P/E ratio is simply the current price of a stock divided by the 12 months of trailing earnings (although analysts sometimes use 12 months of forecasted earnings). Growth investors would like growth in payments regardless of the direction of the stock price. Conversely, the value investors want to see a declining P/E ratio to hunt for the undervalued gems. Value investors typically go after companies whose earnings growth rate exceeds the P/E ratio. The second metric admired by the value investors is the current P/E ratio falling below the past five-year average.