I love free tool and free information are available in the internet and nowadays, most of the crucial financial data are available simply access to the internet. One of my favorite sites for stock analysis is by using MSN Money Central. It is totally free tool and the site is comprehensive for whatever financial and technical information you need about stock. 

On the welcome page of Money Central, you will see the get quote column box, simply enter the symbol of the listed company that you are looking for, the information of the company will appear in front of you. On the left side of the list, go to fundamental, you will be able to get all the financial data here.

One of the most comprehensive way to do your stock search is by using the “Deluxe Screener“. On the left side column, under “finding stock”, click on stock screener, then custom search. Install the “Deluxe Screener” (Yes, it is absolutely free!), and you will see something on the screen like this after the installation complete. 

Under the field name, you choose different category like financial condition, company basic, Investment Return, Price ratio, Dividend, and etc. Under each category, you can choose the specific information you need.

For example, I have chosen Net Profit Margin under Profit Margin category, and my operator is “ >= ” value of “ 20%”. Under the field description, the tool explained clearly the Net Profit Margin means “The latest 12 months’ net income from total operation divided by the latest 12 months’ sale.” Then, click on “Run Search”. The tool is able to find out look for specific information you need.

Now go a step further, let’s search for some specific information:

I have save the screener name called Paul2, under this file, my search are as follow:

• 1.      Return on Equity => 15%
• 2.      Debt to Equity Ratio <= 0.9
• 3.      Payout- 5 year avg >= 30%
• 4.      Avg Daily Vol. Last Quarter >= 1 million
• 5.      Last Price >= 40
• 6.      Total Share Outstanding <= 1 billion
• 7.      Industry Name – Display only
• 8.      P/E Ratio – Display only
• 9.      % Institutional Ownership – Display only

As you can see some of the items are only for display because I do not really want to limit the search but I would love to know this information from the search results. 

Now click on “Run Search” and the result is out! Some interesting companies appear in the list like BA, NUE, MMM, MON, RTN which I am more familiar with. You can further study the companies by going in to the details of their financial report and news to decide which your focuses to invest or trade are.

With this, now you are close to become a professional trader!