1. Researching Stocks The Cursory Review Lynn Ostrem, VP Crow River Investment Club www.bivio.com/crowriver

2. Preliminary Review ßIn our Nov. 2001 handout, we learned where to find good stocks. ßIn Dec., Jan. & Feb. we learned how to complete an SSG. ßIn Mar., we passed out our detailed Research Guidelines Handout. ßIn this lesson, we’ll work toward beginning our in-depth research.

3. First Things First ßComplete an SSG to make sure the quality is there. ßNext, go to Quicken or Multex Investor to make a preliminary check. ßWe’ll use Multex Investor…here we go!

4. www.multexinvestor.com First, go to the site!

5. Enter your Ticker…

6. We’ll work with this section.

7. Check the News And Significant Developments first! If the News is BAD… Move on!

8. Need Some Examples?? ALL BAD!!

9. Company Overview and Business Description

10. Company Overview provides a brief description… …are you interested?? It also provides valuable links to a TON of Company Information!

11. The Business Description provides a more detailed overview...plus a bonus!

12. VectorVest Report This is a free analyst report. Never use it by itself… …only as “part” of your overall information-gathering

13. Officers & Directors Who are they? How much are they paid? How much stock do they own?

15. Highlights Report

16. The Highlights Report not only gives you the Normal stuff… …at the bottom, it gives you ownership and stock info, too!

17. Earnings Estimates

18. The first box will give you Long-Term Growth Rates. Do they meet our goal?

19. Ratio Comparison

20. Compare your company to its industry, its sector, and the S&P!

21. Ready for Some Advanced Review??

22. Insider Trading

23. Officers receive options in lieu of compensation. Oftentimes, they sell those options. This is not a problem. You are looking for lots of people buying or selling for no apparent reason!

24. Positive Cash Flow

25. The first Sub-Total is Operating Activity or Cash From Operations! Is it positive?? Free Cash Flow is Operating Activity minus Capital Expenditures. Here, $23.3M - $4.8M = $18.5M in Free Cash Flow

26. Accts. Receivable & Inventory Neither should be growing faster than sales. So what if…sales grew at 18% last quarter, but ßAccounts Receivable grew at 21%? ßInventory grew at 30%? The answers are…

27. ßThe company isn’t collecting its money from customers in a timely manner anymore! ßThe company isn’t moving its products as fast as it used to! BOTH are RED FLAGS!!

28. Sales are on the Income Statement Accounts Receivable is on the Balance Sheet Inventory is on the Balance Sheet

29. And if you like what you see… …Order that Investor’s Packet early!

30. Questions??