Stock Market Data

Matt1927 · 17 May 2017 at 12:38PM

Hello,

I am looking for (an ideally free) website where I can download into spreadsheet format a full list of UK shares, their current share price, their market capitalisation and their last EBITDA or operating profit.

I am trying to work out the valuation multiple of each business in order to shortlist possibly undervalued shares. This is slightly different to P/E ratio.

Have started looking but having no luck!

Thanks in advance.

Matt

aldershot · 17 May 2017 at 1:51PM

Why?

There are thousands of investment analysts working for investment banks doing just that but with access to the best data and economic research available. What makes you think you can do it better than they can by downloading some data to a spreadsheet? Why do you think Goldman pay them £500k a year if it was that easy?

This is not meant to sound harsh but stock picking is hard for the best brains out there. Even Warren Buffett bought Tesco and IBM. I've got a few individual stocks in my SIPP portfolio but overall the losers have outweighed the winners by some margin and in aggregate they have all underperformed various indices over the past 5 or so years. I may be particularly thick but I've been involved in financial markets for 35 years and I've stopped doing it. Now I stick to low cost trackers and Fundsmith because I like Terry Smith's philosophy (other fund managers are available).

Matt1927 · 17 May 2017 at 8:36PM

aldershot wrote: »

Why?

There are thousands of investment analysts working for investment banks doing just that but with access to the best data and economic research available. What makes you think you can do it better than they can by downloading some data to a spreadsheet? Why do you think Goldman pay them £500k a year if it was that easy?

This is not meant to sound harsh but stock picking is hard for the best brains out there. Even Warren Buffett bought Tesco and IBM. I've got a few individual stocks in my SIPP portfolio but overall the losers have outweighed the winners by some margin and in aggregate they have all underperformed various indices over the past 5 or so years. I may be particularly thick but I've been involved in financial markets for 35 years and I've stopped doing it. Now I stick to low cost trackers and Fundsmith because I like Terry Smith's philosophy (other fund managers are available).

Thanks for your reply, I think the why is obvious. No worries if you can't point me in the right direction

ThinkingOutLoud_2 · 17 May 2017 at 10:42PM

Matt I also don't mean to be harsh but in truth if you don't know how to do this already - I don't rate your chance to outthink or outsmart the market with a spreadsheet of your own making.

I think you could spend better time reviewing the recommendations of multiple sources and checking your feel for those are valid.

BUT in reality - unless you have massive sums to invest or potentially lose in individual stocks - picking a fund or five managed by the guys who get paid the big bucks and have all the real time analysis tools and support they need to react fast and smart seems wiser.

You can also do something better with your time.

serko · 17 May 2017 at 10:55PM

Use a stock screener like on digital look. Input your requirements and it will list companies that match it.

serko · 17 May 2017 at 10:59PM

I disagree that a fund is always better than doing it yourself. There are usually higher charges with funds. If you have an interest in investing and put in the time to do research there is no reason why investing in individual shares can't be the best solution.

ThinkingOutLoud_2 · 17 May 2017 at 11:10PM

OP - Why don't you try this for a while and see if you can beat the market.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-1585809/Power-Portfolio-track-real-virtual-investments-play-stock-market-free.html

username12345678 · 17 May 2017 at 11:23PM

I started investing in the 90's and it has been a long - and expensive- journey to realise that for an amateur like me the most likely route to a successful investing strategy is to decide on my asset allocation, diversify as widely as possible within those asset classes, keep costs to a minimum and rebalance occasionally (if it isn't done automatically).

There is a wealth of information out there now that can take an absolute beginner with no knowledge to someone with a reasonable understanding of what steps they need to take to achieve their financial goals.

That said, if someone wants to spin the wheel on individual shares and pit themselves against some of the cleverest people on the planet armed with billions of dollars worth of research then why not!

serko · 17 May 2017 at 11:24PM

The problem with using a virtual portfolio is the timescale needed to make a judgement. Anyone can get lucky and choose a few shares that do well over a short period of time. But it's how they perform against the market over the longer term that's important. Or vice versa the shares you choose could undsrperform the market for a year or two so you give up. They could then significantly outperform the market, but you would have already given up.

With all the shares I own I would not worry about the share price performance for at least 5 years as long as the business fundamentals and rational for investing still exists.

serko · 17 May 2017 at 11:30PM

Most of the cleverest people on the planet don't beat the market return and you pay really high costs for the privilege.

Thrugelmir · 17 May 2017 at 11:42PM

serko wrote: »

Most of the cleverest people on the planet don't beat the market return and you pay really high costs for the privilege.

When you have millions of pounds to invest and manage. Then finding suitable investments becomes increasingly harder. For the private investor seeking value means fishing where others don't. Large funds by their very nature become the market.

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