Barron's -- Excellent Investing Tool

I’ve heard people say that in this kind of bull market, you can pretty much take a dart and toss it at a stock chart, purchase the stock, and you’ll make money. I think that’s the most asinine way to invest your money, but hey, we all have our own little secrets, right?

I’ll tell you with firsthand knowledge that not all the stocks out there are making money. A perfect example of this is Officemax (OMX). My investment club (see my review on NAIC for more information) purchased 100 shares of Officemax last year and the stock has lost 50% of its value since we purchased it. We have also purchased a few other stocks that haven’t been performing as expected.

The fact is, my investment club has done a lot of research on any stock prior to investing. Even doing that kind of research doesn’t guarantee a winner. We are told that for every five stocks we invest in, three will do what is expected, one will take off and one will sink like the Titanic.

One of the publications I’ve used to do my research is Barron’s. Barron’s is the Dow Jones Business and Financial Weekly “magazine.” It is more of a newspaper than a magazine, however, if not more by the format than the information provided.

One of the reasons I like Barrons’s is they suggest stocks to look out for – positive or negative. For instance, if I look at the March 20, 2000 issue, they list 207 Internet stocks to look out for, based solely upon their lack of cash to stay in business. What I find particularly interesting is the names of some of those companies, such as Egghead.com, MotherNature.com, FTD.com, ShopNow.com, Beyond.com, Amazon.com, Prodigy, Barnes & Noble.com, Juno, iVillage, NetZero, CNet, McAfee, Priceline.com, Earthlink Networks, and Ameritrade. Barron’s is indicating that their amount of capital left means that they can go out of business anywhere from two weeks from now to five years from now, depending on where on this chart they reside.

They don’t, however, leave you hanging there. Barron’s has also gone ahead and written an article explaining what plans, if any, these firms have for replenishing their dwindling cash reserves. They list which companies you should consider dumping because company insiders are unloading their stock holdings within the company.

I also like the commentary section of Barron’s. The editorial staff gives a lot of insight as to what makes the daily news headlines around the country. For instance, the March 20, 2000 issue talks about what really caused John McCain to lose on Super Tuesday. They discuss happenings in Washington DC and how they effect the business world and stock markets.

Another thing I like about Barron’s is the larger-print stock prices. These are given in a font that doesn’t require an electron microscope to see what’s printed. Granted it is still small, but is nearly twice as large as those that appear in your local newspaper. Still, they’re days behind, and I can get current prices off the Internet. I suppose that’s a negative for the publication.

Barron’s does, however, provide a quote for just about everything. At the beginning of the section, they list this past week’s biggest movers percentage-wise in the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ. They then list the most active stocks for each of the three markets by volume percentage, share volume and dollar volume. They give a NYSE, NASDAQ, NASDAQ Small-Cap and AMEX composite lists, Defined Asset Funds list, a list for the foreign stock markets, US Regional market lists, bonds, options, commodities and financial futures, and also cover an entire section on mutual funds.

Like most financial and business rags, Barron’s has the names of up-and-coming stocks to research and consider buying stock. Unlike many of those publications, there is no hidden agenda behind Barron’s recommendations because they are independently owned from any mutual fund companies or brokerage houses.

Differing again from many other publications, Barron’s doesn’t bore the reader to tears with endless drivel that only a stockbroker could understand. The articles are written in a reasonably entertaining manner to keep the reader’s interest, yet concise enough to get the point they are trying to make across.

The one true downside to the magazine, like most weekly financial publications, is they are out of date if you want daily market information. For this, I would recommend one of the Internet sites or your daily newspaper. However, if you are investing or researching for long-term commitments, then Barron’s should be a part of your investing toolbox.