Diff btw Value Line, Manual of Ideas, YCharts

[Marve2013]

Dear All,

 

I am contemplating subscribing to one of the above.  However, I'm not entirely sure what the key differences are - wld appreciate it if any of you could please help out.

 

- For Value Line, I looked thru their website and found some free samples.  Are they usually just that (one pg summaries of financials going back 10yrs)?  Or is there more where you can click on in their web to see historical buybacks, P/Es, etc

 

- for Manual of Ideas, other than the reports we will receive every now and then, is their a database of companies similar to valueline?  And how comprehensive is that database? 

 

- any thoughts on YCharts? 

 

- Value Investor Insight - was great.  But I heard it's up for sale.  Not sure abt quality going forward.

 

- Lastly, if there are any others which you would like to recommend, I would highly appreciate it.  I'm an individual investor, and mainly use it to get familiar with companies.  I like it that MoI provides some description (strengths, weaknesses, etc).

 

 

Thank you so much.

 

[CorpRaider]

As far as I know, value line's company specific reports are just the one page tear sheet info.  They have the same information presented differently on the site.  There are also like industry summary information and you know summaries and indexes and whatnot but I don't believe you can call up like buyback information.  I like it.  Morningstar and Gurufocus are two others I would add to your list to check out.

[Uccmal]

Hi Marve, Manual of Ideas posts on this message board under ManualofIdeas (go figure).  His work consists of very good, and extremely detailed analysis, of companies, that are possible value candidates.  I am not a subscriber but a friend lent me a couple of copies once.  It has no resemblance to value line. 

 

Al

[Marve2013]

Thank you very much to you both !

[Yours Truly]

anyone try out Fast Graphs by any chance ?

[eclecticvalue]

Look into gurufocus.com. It has got 10 year financials like value line. Very value oriented.

[KCLarkin]

I get ValueLine free from the local library. Check if you can get access from your library.

I get Morningstar reports free from my broker. I get S&P reports from my broker too, but they aren't as detailed.

 

[KCLarkin]

anyone try out Fast Graphs by any chance ?

 

I use Fast Graphs frequently. It is a quick way to find out whether a company is cyclical, slow grower, compounder, etc. It is also a good way to quickly spot mis-pricings.

[intothebreach]

I subscribed to Manual of Ideas for a couple of years, and they are one of the rare that successfully combine quality with quantity. Their site also offers a wealth of content beyond the publication itself (haven't checked, some may be accessible without a subscription). Not the cheapest service, but in my opinion could be worth the cost as a source of ideas or a way to learn about multiple businesses (at some point I found myself lacking the time to use it properly). I still subscribe to YCharts, but we are talking about 2 different beasts here: YCharts is primarily a data service that is very well organized, and provide some of the most complete and easy to use fundamental charts at their price point. Morningstar could be another option to familiarize yourself with businesses, but I would caution to use them for the data and information and not to pay too much attention to their intrinsic value.

 

In the end, I think it mostly depends on what you need. Bear in mind that you can also find a lot without paying a subscription (13F's and annual reports are free, numerous sites have financial data), so I would first make sure to define the need and validate that what's available for free is not sufficient to start. A great place to look that does not cost anything is the quarterly letters of select value investors (you can search this forum to get some ideas).