Investing in US markets

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20. Researching US companies - the basics

Reliable and accurate information is the foundation of all good investment decisions. This is as true if you are investing in the US market as in the UK or elsewhere. And the techniques for finding out information about companies are much the same for the US as for other markets.

Investors differ in the extent to which they use fundamental information - newspaper articles, annual reports and company results information - on the one hand, or technical analysis - that is to say, share price chart analysis and other similar techniques - on the other. In both cases, information is readily available to allow investors to come a judgement about US stocks and other investments.

There is, though, a big drawback to investing outside of your own home market. You might be able to read and analyse a lot of information about a company. But unless you travel regularly to the country in question (in this case, the US) you will not have that personal familiarity with it and its products and services. Investing on the basis of your own experience can be valuable. It's difficult to do this from thousands of miles away.

This aside, information is available from various easily accessible sources:

• National newspapers
• Regional newspapers and specialist magazines
• Business TV
• Company annual reports
• Corporate web sites of US companies
• Official government sources
• General financial portal sites
• Your broker's web site, which may include access to company research
• Specialist sites providing price charts and other information.

1. Diversification 2. Opportunity 3. Special features of the US market 4. You are already investing abroad! 5. Opening an account to deal in US securities 6. Inputting orders 7. Cash management 8. Currency factors 9. Tax 10. Trading on margin 11. Short selling 12. Types of investment - introduction 13. Shares (common stocks) 14. Indices 15. Bonds 16. Offshore mutual funds 17. Exchange-traded funds 18. ADRs 19. Options 20. Researching US companies - the basics 21. National newspapers 22. Regional newspapers and specialist magazines 23. Business TV 24. Company annual reports 25. Corporate web sites 26. EDGAR 27. Financial portals 28. Broker research 29. Charts 30. Conclusion

• Investing in Latin America