| For us, with hundreds of online stock trading sites at | | | | lead to information overload ' you can get to a point |
| our disposal, it is difficult to even imagine a world | | | | where it's simply too much to make sense of. That's |
| where buying stocks online did not exist. Yet a short | | | | when you need to lay down certain measurable |
| twenty years ago this was not possible. In 1990 you | | | | criteria against which you measure different stocks |
| still had to personally contact a broker before you | | | | before reaching a decision about them. |
| could buy stocks. | | | | Never let the real reason for all your research slip |
| The advent of the Internet made a profound change | | | | your mind. You are looking for a stock that is |
| in the manner in which stocks are bought and sold by | | | | undervalued. A stock which has huge growth |
| the ordinary man and woman in the street. You can | | | | potential and the market has not yet caught up to |
| now buy any stock you want at the click of a | | | | this. |
| mouse without ever meeting a broker or asking for | | | | There's a large number of formulas and criteria you |
| his advice. | | | | can use to evaluate stocks. Many books have been |
| Not just the buying and selling process underwent a | | | | written about the subject. A simple rule of thumb is |
| dramatic change, there were also changes to other | | | | that the P/E (Price/Earnings) ratio of the stock must |
| aspects of the process. The most prominent of this | | | | be lower than what you calculate the future |
| no doubt was the sudden and dramatic increase in | | | | profitability of the company to be. A company with a |
| the amount of information at the disposal of | | | | low P/E ratio which does not seem to have |
| investors and traders. | | | | discounted these high future profits is always a good |
| It does not matter which stock you are investigating, | | | | buy. |
| you now have access to a huge amount of | | | | To find such a stock which is obviously undervalued |
| information about that company merely by visiting a | | | | is not going to be without effort. You must be willing |
| couple of websites. You can track its stock price for | | | | to analyze the various companies' financial |
| the last twenty years and get expert projections of | | | | statements and discuss the figures with experienced |
| where the price is heading for. You can study the | | | | traders or investors in online discussion forums. |
| financial statements and read what market experts | | | | Buying stocks online does not eliminate the need to |
| think of the stock. | | | | do your homework ' it simply makes it easier to do it. |
| This drastic increase in information volumes can easily | | | | |