Each monthly issue of the Investor Advisory Service is packed with information aimed at helping you make smarter investing decisions about the stocks in your portfolio. From helping you gain perspective on the broader economic outlook, to identifying new stocks to consider, IAS will educate and inform you each month.
The economy has an effect on corporate profits and hence stock prices. Each month’s Investment Comments are necessarily general in nature, but the column does review market and economic conditions with an eye on what has been happening recently and what the outlook may be for the future.
Portfolio management is not carried out in a vacuum. Interest rates and the general economy are important factors affecting stock prices. Each month, the Key Market Indicators section presents charts of short-term and long-term interest rates as well as the level of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
The Recent Earnings Reports give the latest quarterly earnings per share and the percent changes tabulation for companies that have reported this information since the previous issue of IAS. This is an effort to keep you informed about the fundamental progress of the companies.
Announced dividends and stock splits are also recorded here.
All of the stocks (typically around 60) being followed by IAS can be found in a monthly spreadsheet in each issue sorted by symbol. A downloadable spreadsheet can also be downloaded with each issue with supplemental details and the ability to sort by projected total return, dividend yield, current price/earnings ratio (P/E), and more.
Please note: The IAS publication schedule is fixed, so it is possible market prices will change between the time we go to press and when your copy arrives in your mailbox or appears online.
When situations warrant, stocks will be recommended for sale. Sell recommendations will be noted in this section, along with a brief rationale for the action. Companies recommended for sale are discontinued from the service, and are no longer covered by IAS analysts.
In the interest of keeping subscribers informed about stocks followed by IAS, News of Companies is intended to report pertinent information that reflects how the companies are doing, as well as what may affect the stocks’ performance.
The most obvious newsworthy item is the quarterly earnings report for each company in IAS. Percent changes in sales, pre-tax profits and earnings per share are important figures to the investor. We will comment on other financial and business developments as appropriate.
Up to three stocks are recommended each month, each selected and analyzed using the Stock Selection Guide methodology developed by the investor education organization BetterInvesting.
The write-up that accompanies each stock study gives the reader a good perspective on what the company does as a business and how well it is managed. This offers some insights into the elements of judgment used in preparing the study.
The Investor Advisory Service is designed to help its subscribers learn more about investing. At the conclusion of each write-up, investor contact information is provided including the address, telephone number, and Web site address of the company so that you are able to contact it for annual and quarterly reports or to do your own research on the Internet.
The investment time horizon of our recommendations is five years (or more). If a stock meets our target of at least doubling in price in five years, the compound annual rate of return is 14.9% plus dividend income. It takes time for value to work out, hence the expectation to hold on for the longer term. We suggest patience to allow value to develop as outlined in our recommendation.
We tend to be contrarian at times. We try not to get caught up in what may be the latest investment fad. Frequently, we will recommend stocks not on the Wall Street institutional investors’ dance cards but which are likely to work out profitably over a five-year time frame.
If major news about a company that IAS follows becomes known in the month between issues, we will send a brief update by e-mail to all subscribers to make you aware of this news in a timely manner. This information is also included in the next published edition.
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