Skip header Skip to main content
Woman researching on her phone.

How to Research Like a Boss

Written by Regan Ray | Published on March 26, 2019

Investing Academy.  Knowledge Supports Success. Visit now.

Finding a new investment for your portfolio is like making any big purchase — it's important to research your options. Learning the basics about a company shouldn't have to mean poring over decades of financial statements. With the right resources, you can do your own research and move forward feeling confident with your investment choices. Here are some easy places to start.

Go Straight to the Source

As with any shopping experience, a company website can be a great source of information when researching your investments. Most publicly traded companies devote a section of their site to investors. That's where you'll find financial filings, corporate governance documents, management bios, information about the board of directors and more. If you want to confirm a company announcement you read about somewhere else, you can often find the original news release on the company's website.

Find Secondary Sources You Trust

If, like many, you need a little help translating corporate-speak into useful information, there are plenty of experts to turn to, starting with equity analysts. Analysts study publicly traded companies and write detailed reports about financial information and projections, stock-price fluctuations, management decisions, capital allocation and industry developments. Analysts also publish research notes, which can range from detailed overviews of specific companies and industries to their takes on recent company events, such as takeovers, management shakeups and more.

Companies often list the names of analysts who cover them in the investor sections of their websites. Independent research firms offer equity research on their respective sites, and many online trading platforms provide analyst reports to clients as a value-added service. Most sites that provide stock quotes also compile analysts' earnings forecasts and recommendations such as buy, sell or hold.

Analysts' reports can get very detailed, so if you're looking for more bite-sized information, seek out relevant articles. Business journalists, columnists and bloggers can offer insights to investors. A trusted market-watcher can be a valuable resource, and that second opinion can get you thinking, but take some time to understand an expert's point of view. The “elbow grease" approach (reading, questioning and fact-checking) is a great way to build confidence in your sources. It's also good to have a roster of voices you turn to; sometimes the stories being told can take different angles depending on who is doing the telling.

Study Stock Quotes

Of course, much of the information that will help you make informed decisions resides in real-time stock quotes. It can be an overwhelming amount of information to take in if you don't speak the lingo. Get yourself up to speed with our detailed-quote checklist below.

The types of information you can find from a company itself, an expert or a stock quote can be valuable at any stage, but particularly as you're getting to know a company. There's no magic method, but it's worth putting in the time to get informed.

Detailed-quote checklist 

Here are the stock-quote terms you need to ace to bring out your inner equity analyst.

Last trade. As you might expect, this is the price at which the last trade was made. Take note of the time — depending on where you're reading the quote, it could be real-time or delayed by 20 minutes or so.

Previous close. The stock's final price at the end of the previous trading session (or trading day). This helps you determine if the stock is up or down in the current session.

52-week high/low. The highest price and lowest price the stock has reached in the previous 52 weeks. This can give you an understanding of how volatile the stock has been over the past year.

Bid/ask. The bid price is the maximum price buyers are currently willing to pay for one share, and the ask price is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for one share. The the difference between the bid and ask prices is called the bid-ask spread.

Volume. You'll typically find the current day's volume of shares that have traded, plus an average volume you can use for comparison. Together with the bid-ask spread, volume is an indicator of the stock's liquidity, meaning how easily it can be bought or sold.

Market capitalization. The total value of a company's shares, which allows you to gauge a company's size.

Dividend1If a company is currently paying a dividend, here's where you can see how much. You can also see how often dividends are paid (typically monthly or quarterly), dividend yield and specific payment dates.

How do you tackle research? Leave a comment* to share your thoughts.

This article was featured in our special issue, as seen in the Globe and Mail. Find all the magazine articles HERE.

*Comments only enabled for clients. Not a client? You can open and account or get a free practice account. If you are a client, sign in to read or comment.

RBC Direct Investing Inc. and Royal Bank of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. RBC Direct Investing Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada and is a Member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Royal Bank of Canada and certain of its issuers are related to RBC Direct Investing Inc. RBC Direct Investing Inc. does not provide investment advice or recommendations regarding the purchase or sale of any securities. Investors are responsible for their own investment decisions. RBC Direct Investing is a business name used by RBC Direct Investing Inc. ® / ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. © Royal Bank of Canada 2020. All rights reserved.

1 Dividends earned pursuant to DRIP may be subject to requirements imposed by the Income Tax Act (Canada). It is your responsibility to ensure that any associated tax requirements or obligations are satisfied.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are for your general interest and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of RBC Direct Investing. Furthermore, the products, services and securities referred to in this publication are only available in Canada and other jurisdictions where they may be legally offered for sale. If you are not currently resident of Canada, you should not access the information available on the RBC Direct Investing website.

EXPLORE MORE
Two hands holding up a clock

Be Strategic: 5 Things to Keep in Mind When Investing

From watching your emotions to the impacts of inflation to asset allocation, here are a few considerations when you invest.

Houses placed under glass container.

Will I Get a Tax Slip for the New First Home Savings Account?

Find out where and when to expect your FHSA tax slip.

A wire head wearing a hat connecting last month's top traded stocks.

Top 10 Traded Stocks and ETFs in January 2024

Here's what RBC Direct Investing clients traded and added to watchlists in January.

You Know More Than You Think

A guide to investing in stocks.
Find out more