How to research and analyze the U.S. markets
Part of what makes the U.S. markets so attractive is the large and diverse selection of stocks to choose from. Of course, this can also make it a bit overwhelming when first entering the market. Fortunately, the top-down approach to stocks selection starts with the big picture, and works down to help you easily find stocks that fit your needs.
So you would start by looking for which of the 11 different sectors is showing a favorable trend.
From there, drill down to a specific industry, and even further to sub-industries. Then compare a few candidates by focusing on the criteria that matter most to you, whether it’s for capital appreciation or income.
So what does that look like in practice? For Schwab clients, we’ve made it easy to follow this top-down approach in just a few easy steps.
Start by logging in and accessing the sectors overview.
Here, you can easily get a quick overview of how Schwab thinks each sector will perform for the next 3 – 6 months, relative to the overall market. These outlooks are created by a group of seasoned investment professionals and are updated every two weeks.
Then turn to Industry Performance to compare how smaller slices of the Information Technology industry have been performing.
Once you have a list of potential candidates, whittle down even further with Screeners that help you compare using the criteria most important to you.
To learn more about finding trade opportunities in the U.S. market, visit the Investor Education tab of the Schwab International website.