Investor's Business Daily will Help you Monitor your Investments
Written: Aug 01 '02 (Updated Aug 01 '02)
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Pros: Heaps of Financial Data; Timely articles
Cons: High subscription price; not much direct advice
The Bottom Line: This is a good, timely investment publication for keeping track of investment prices and trends
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Investor's Business Daily |
Keeping track of investment trading prices and staying abreast of the latest financial news requires that an investor pay close attention to daily trends. One can access the internet to obtain this information, or he/she can subscribe to a daily publication. One daily paper that tracks financial news and stock/mutual fund prices is Investor’s Business Daily, a publication that is sold five days per week, Monday through Friday. This paper was launched in 1994 by chairman and CEO, William O’Neil and it now has more than one million subscribers.
Highlights of This Publication:
Investor’s Business Daily comes in two sections that are approx. 16 pages each. The front of the paper contains the publication’s name and it includes market summaries and quotes (Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P, 10-year bonds, Euro, Dollar-Yen, NYSE volume, NASDAQ volume, and CRB Futures) across the top of the front page. Also on the front page of each issue, the reader is greeted by “IBD’s Top 10”, a listing of ten important investment/financial stories for the previous business day. Other features in the front section include “To the Point” (a summary of business briefs, economic news, trends and technology, etc., with a few sentences under each topic), “Leaders and Success” (includes stories on innovation and management), “Internet and Technology (stories on software, internet, and other high- tech news), “The New America” (news on IPO’s, acquisitions, etc.), “Mutual Funds (summary of fund prices), and “Issues and Insights” (editorials, letters, and important national issues).
The second section of the paper is titled “Making Money” and this is where you will find a breakdown of the latest financial market trends and stock prices. Investor Business Daily divides the quotes into the market which they are traded, and by price per share. First, you will find the NYSE stocks, that are trading at $10 per share or higher. Then, IBD lists the NASDAQ stocks that are valued over $10. The American Exchange comes next, followed by T-Bills and Notes, NASDAQ small caps, and then NYSE and NASDAQ stocks valued under $10 per share. Futures prices and stock options round out this section of the paper.
Price of This Publication:
Investor’s Business Daily has a cover price of $1.25 per issue. If you want to subscribe, you can sign up for either a one- year, two- year, or three year subscription. The going rate on one year is $219 (260 issues, 84 cents per issue), two year is $364 (520 issues, 70 cents per issue), and three year is $495 (780 issues, 63 cents per issue). It’s also common to find special offers if you subscribe on- line, including a free, 2- week trial subscription ( 10 issues) that is good for those who want to see what this publication is all about before they commit themselves to the costly subscription price.
Final Thoughts:
Investor’s Business Daily provides a good summary of the day’s market activity and closing prices. It provides timely stories, too, and they are almost all written by IBD staff, which includes journalists like Paul Katzeff, Craig Shaw, James Detar, Donna Howell, and many others.
I like the way this publication breaks down the stock prices into the “over $10” and “under $10” categories. It’s a simple concept, but it helps to shrink the list of stocks down, making the lookup of a stock price faster. I also like the comprehensive data that’s given on each of the NASDAQ and NYSE stocks that are valued over $10. With each company, you can find the earnings per share, relative price strength, industry group relative strength, sales+profit margin+ ROE (a grading, from A to E), Accumlation/Distribution rating, 52- week high, stock name, ticker symbol, closing price, change from previous day, volume of shares traded, percent change in volume from the previous day, and the P/E ratio. For stocks priced under $10, you get the same as the over $10 crowd, minus the industry group relative strength, sales+profit margin+ROE, stock trading volume, and P/E ratio. This is an impressive amount of data for a printed publication, and it puts the business section of most daily newspapers to shame.
The “Making Money” section also includes graphics for overall market trends and for selected companies, showing the closing prices over the past year along with moving averages and relative trading strength. These graphs remind me of the illustrations that are found in Value Line and other investment guides.
I like what this publication has to offer, and I like the timeliness of the information. It’s not overrun with advertisements and the writers are clear and easy to understand. But I don’t know if I can justify paying the high price for a subscription. With the easy accessibility of financial data on the internet, it’s difficult to validate spending $219 for an annual subscription. Unless you’re the type who likes to save these types of publications for future reference, I don’t know if the high price will be worth it, for most investors.
Overall, I think Investor’s Business Daily is a good publication. It has many good stories to read and lots of financial data to digest. It’s not big on giving advice (they provide the data, but it’s up to you, the investor, to interpret it all), but it does give you the facts that you need to make your next investment decision, spot trends, and evaluate financial maneuvers. If you’re not sure about whether or not this financial paper is right for you, sign up for a free trial subscription and see what Investor’s Business Daily has to offer. I think you will like what you see!
Recommended:
Yes
Describe the newspaper's political views: No political views are evident
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