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December 15, 2014 at 12:04 AM
There is certainly no shortage of investment research and analytical tools available today. However, every now and then a new application hits the market and makes a splash. YCharts may well be today’s wave-maker. This is one of the most impressive applications I’ve seen in over 25 years in the business. In this article, I’ll explain what it is, how it works, and most importantly, why it is gaining such traction in the investment community.
(Disclaimer: I am not a subscriber nor am I receiving any remuneration from YCharts for writing this article.)
YCharts is a web-based tool with an extremely deep reservoir of investment and economic data. It includes 22,000 equities with 5,000 metrics or data points on each. It also contains closed-end funds, 2,000 ETFs, and 35,000 mutual funds, each with about 200 data points. For those interested in economic data, YCharts offers 450,000 economic indicators on countries around the world. Yes, YCharts is indeed deep. It’s also highly customizable and is available in three levels.
One of the most impressive aspects of the program is its integration with Microsoft Excel. YCharts becomes part of the Excel toolbar and offers incredibly dynamic functionality for the astute investor and advisor. To explain, let’s consider an example.
Assume you are following 10, 20, 30, or more stocks. YCharts Excel integration simplifies this task. The first step is to select the data points you desire from the 5,000 included in the program. The next step is to create the template (each data point would be a separate column). You can even write your own formulas using the data points you’ve selected. As mentioned, each column contains a different metric and each row contains a different security. Best of all, there is no limit on the number of data points (columns) or securities (rows) you can select. Each time you open the spreadsheet, the data will update automatically. You can even add new securities to the list and the data for that company will populate immediately.
Fundamental Research, Analysis and Alerts
Most people equate stock charting with technical analysis. However, YCharts offers a great deal of fundamental data in its charting tool. In short, you can create a chart using any of the 5,000 data points available for each company. This can be especially useful if you want to compare companies. For instance, you can create a chart which includes the trailing P/E on several companies. Perhaps you’d like to view a chart with the TTM revenue for five different healthcare companies. This tool provides a great way to compare companies using data other than just price or performance. You can also create a chart with company specific data and one or more economic indicators. This is one more feature which sets YCharts apart from the competition.
YCharts is one of the best tools I’ve seen for technical analysis. It contains about 30 technical indicators and offers something you rarely see in similar products. In addition to the technical indicators, you can create a search using any of them. For example, let’s assume you wanted a list of stocks that are in oversold territory. You could search for all stocks with a Relative Strength Index (RSI) below 30. Again, any technical indicator can be incorporated.
