We’d like to welcome SharePad which is a massive market data base that allows investors to identify excellent investment opportunities in the shortest period of time.
I’ve been using SharePad since the time it was launched in 2015 and was unable to purchase shares without it.
SharePad has a broad range of highly effective investment toolsone of them is an outstanding stock screener which narrows hundreds of companies to one or two to further investigate.
I’ve been investing since the beginning of the 1990s. I’ve screened for winners by using, for example, Bloomberg, Capital IQ, Stockopedia and Company REFS…
…and Trust me when I say that SharePad is the best. SharePad for user-friendliness, value-for-money customization of filters and data security.
Why am I insisting on using a standard screener like SharePad?
Simple — I’d like to discover the best opportunities on my own and not depend on anyone else.
The SharePad’s rich information can instantly highlight the many promising shares to explore further shares I’d never find.
Another option to screen stocks is to rely on the suggestions of investment magazines, tips sheets, notes from brokers and social media.
I guarantee you that you’ll never be an experienced stock-picker when you depend on others to give you investment recommendations. The most successful investors do themselves and discover their own top performers.
In this review of stock-screening, I will discuss the SharePad benefit and guide you to a variety of sources to help you determine whether stock-screeners or SharePad are the right choice for you.
However, first, let’s look at some screening historical background.
Companies REFS along with Jim Slater
Screening stocks has advanced since I began buying shares.
My first screener for stocks used to be Company REFS. The service was prior to the advent of the internet, and users received massive volumes of data each month. I have preserved this issue from 1996:
There there was no screening in the sense of. The book contained tables that listed shares that met certain criteria, and you needed to look through the book for companies that met different criteria.
You had to be patient for another month before receiving another volume of information!
REFS was then transferred to monthly CDs, making the filtering process much more simple. Then REFs Online emerged that provided daily updates via a website.
The most appealing aspect that was REFS was its amazing PDF layout of data — a real design icon that gave an immediate overview of any business. The black moons on the top-right-hand shaded area were especially useful:
In the past everyone in the private sector used REFS. Jim Slater, who helped develop REFS through the Zulu Principle books, informed me that REFS was still in use when I spoke with the latter in 2009. The experience of having Jim look over my shoulder as I logged into REFS was an amazing experience!
The main drawback of REFS was the lack of flexibility in screening. The columns that were used to filter information (such as the P/E ratio and dividend yield, gearing, and etc. were fixed, which meant that the structure of the screens you used was restricted.
As you’ll see in only a few seconds Many screeners have the same fixed filter disadvantage even today.
REFS was sadly entangled in financial trouble as more affordable services like SharePad and Stockopedia came into existence in the late 2010s. REFS was a huge expense, costing PS800 per year.
Mark Slater, Jim’s son Mark has acquired REFS during the year of 2019. Mark stated in the moment:
“My father created REFS (Really Essential Financial Statistics) in the early 1990s. It was an innovative source of information and stood way ahead of the rest for a long period of. Slater Investments will invest in the database, and I am confident that it will be an extremely important research tool, which will improve investing.”
Stockopedia and StockRanks
Stockopedia was founded in 2012 following its cofounder Ed Croft discovered “deep within academic research ” a largely unexplored method known as”Factor Investing.”
As per Ed, Factor Investing “built on the knowledge of huge value and momentum investors toward a solid system that anyone can successfully use.”
This “robust and repeatable framework” was transformed into a Stockopedia algorithm that ranks each share based on quality value, momentum and quality. Ed Croft has run a “NAPS” portfolio with the Stockopedia “StockRanks” system since the year 2015.
The entire portfolio of Ed’s write-ups remain behind a paywall however, the introductions to their portfolios are available for free (email registration is required) and offer a brief overview of what’s transpired.
The appeal of Stockopedia’s StockRanks is as simple. The Stockopedia computer determines the most highly ranked shares. all you have to do, at the very least in accordance with Ed -is spend an hour a year to purchase the shares in a variety.
Ed’s portfolio demonstrates how the method works. However, the real question is whether you can trust the data of Stockopedia enough to adhere to the method…
…and do not give any more analysis into your investment decisions.
Click here when searching for SharePad alternatives.
I started investing around 20 years ago before StockRanks were released which is why I have always needed to consider my own thoughts when evaluating shares. I don’t have the confidence to rely solely on an algorithm created by computers.
However, you might not be weighed down by my experiences and might want to implement a ‘NAPS’ style portfolio that is not thought-of.
The Stockopedia stock screener lets users to spot shares with attractive StockRanks.
To screen stocks for normal use however, Stockopedia lacks the custom flexibility and the extensive information provided by SharePad. SharePad.
Stockopedia provides screening of typical financial ratios.
It is not possible to design your own ratios for example, income per employee, or profit as proportional to debt within Stockopedia.
This restriction might not be too restrictive if you’re novice to the world of screeners.
However, over time, you’ll realize that custom screening ratios can aid in identifying shares that aren’t surfacing in the minds or the radars of investors.
Therefore, you can create an investment benefit by using individual screening rates and SharePad lets you accomplish this.
Let’s take a look at how SharePad compares with Stockopedia in terms of screening.
I’ll jump right into a complicated filter.
Let’s suppose we wish to identify businesses that haven’t depended heavily on acquisitions to boost growth.
You could accomplish this by searching for companies in which goodwill on the balance sheet (created via acquisitions) comprises between, for example 10% and 0 percent of net asset value.
This filter is not possible to use with Stockopedia however, it is not possible to do so using SharePad.
Screeners for stocks are ideas generators.
I want to stress the fact that SharePad (or any other screener that you can use) is only the beginning step in your research into investing.
Screeners for stock are known as ‘idea generators’. They offer names that you can examine further, not names to purchase without thinking about it.
The stock market database cannot provide you with all the information about the company’s products or long-term outlook. You must decide for yourself whether profits, sales and dividends are expected to grow and increase the value of shares up to new levels.
SharePad will save you time when making lists of great ideas to future research. Actually, you can create an entire library of screens with your own personal ratios and filters, and then you’ll get rid of financial magazines and the tipsheets…
…because you’ll find better ideas for yourself on SharePad!