About UK City Media

This is primarily a city and business news service specialising in publishing latest internet based investment news headlines, relevant articles and blog and forum postings.

As well as news paper headlines we cover London stock exchange news releases - RNS news and these cover Aim and OFEX, oil industry news, latest pharma & Biotech company reports, defensive stock reports, cyclicals news, blue chip company

news, company reports, utilities updates, power companies news, food retailers reporting.

Where to start ? Here are some notes and FAQ's which we hope you will find useful.

Brokers

Choosing the right broker. We have a link to the popular Brokers selection tool on our BROKERS page. Here are some of the variables to evaluate:

Dealing costs The actual cost of placing an individual buy/sell order. There is stamp duty also at the prevailing rate but only on buys. Allways check that cheap dealing offers dont have high admin charges.

Admin charges Normally charged quarterly. When calculating real cost look at number of deals likely per year and then add in this admin cost.

Transfer costs Check costs to transfer in and out shares, share certificates and other charges must also be considered when evaluating costs.

Online or telephone dealing Nearly all brokers now offer some form of Online dealing with telephone as optional back-up. Some Online systems have some human interface and others are 100% automated.

Holding share certificates Outside of accounts avoids admin charges. Ok if you are likely to be a long term share holder (years not months).

Broker support How much info can the broker offer you? Will he offer advice and recommendations or is his service completely without support.

Broker speciality Information Some will offer Real-time share prices, trades information, news and feedback direct from the trading floor, live market data.

Getting Information

Charts Software packages or Online sources are options for charting and analysis. For Software we think Metastock is the most powerfull package from major providers - Reuters. Online source Yahoo Finance is good - see our page header.

Fundemental data Look no further than Hemscott. From here you can get Key Dates, Major shareholders, Trades Information, Company Contacts.

Newspapers Obviously you can find FT, Telegraph and times securities recommendations, but morning round-ups are available from Sharecast and Citywire.

Share tips If the source isnt regulated be very careful. Tip Sheets can help in this respect. See our TIPSHEETS page for rundown of benefits.

Bulletin Boards
A great source of information but allways qualify claims made on bulletin boards.

Broker and analyst buy/sell ratings NEVER buy shares solely on the basis of Broker or Analysts recommendations.

Establishing values Establish your own set of values and opinions on any company that you hope to invest in.

Buy/sell strategies Develop your own very clear set of buy/sell strategies.

Stop loss Search the net for stop-loss strategies. Find one that will work for you and STICK TO IT. Check out Michael Walters He usually has something on Stop Loss.

Expected investment period Decide if you are investing or trading ! An investor is looking at periods in excess of two years. A trader may hold for less than two years.

Preferred sectors Establish in your mind which sectors are likely to do well in current conditions. Therefore identify the likely poor performing sectors.

Views on world climate Hunt for information on the world economic climate and take a view on world cash flow and employment stats.

Identification of independant external forces Be aware that external forces can have a significant effect on the UK market. The classic example is Wall Street opening at 2.00PM UK time. this often causes very sudden changes in sentiment.

Trading derivatives such as CFD's, Forex, Futures, Options or Spreadbetting carries a high level of risk not be suitable for all investors. Traders should be confident in the risk profile, control systems, training and knowledge. Live derivatives trading not suitable for inexperienced traders. ukcitymedia.co.uk does not offer financial advice.

 Research Tips

Follow the path below and use the Research Section on our home page to obtain information from probably the best sources on the web.

Firstly, get Epic Code. See below for explanation

For fundemental data
Search the news archive
& RNS news at UK Wire
Charts
Look at Postings on iii
and also on ADVFN

1. Company data
2. Archive news
3. RNS news
4. Charts
5. iii bb
6. ADVFN bb

 How to Research a Share

• Epic Codes.
  
  Epic Codes are the three or four letter short code which identifies individual company shares on the LSE (London Stock Exchange) and Ofex (private exchange run by J P Jenkins and ptns).
  
  Use the Epic Code to find all sorts of information that exists on web supplied normally by the biggest institutions in the industry.
• Fundemental Data.
  
  How big is the company?
  How many employees?
  What is the Market Capitalisation?
  What do the brokers say?
• Select "CoData", enter the epic code and go straight through To Hemscott Fundementals.
• Search Archive Select "News" enter the Epic code and hit go. Newsnow will return all articles involving news on your company in the last 30 days.
  
  For further research facilities page down the left hand navigation bar and find "archive news".
  
  Citywire produce stories with in-house corres- ponents and normally pick up on significant news. Their archive database extends back several years. We have no hesitation in recommending the company researching facility at Citywire.
  
  InvestEgate bring all official news releases. These are news releases reportable officially according to LSE rules (RNS News, Regulated News Supply) and include business sector news such as LSE bulletins, director deals, results of AGM etc breaking telecoms news, latest biotech news, hot technology stocks news, general london stock exchange news.
  
  The UK Wire archive tool is an important facility if you really want ,history on your company.
• Charts. Many investors learn a great deal about the attractiveness of a share simply by studying the share chart. Moving averages may be used as a "clarifier" for a shares overall historic performance. The 120 day moving average can be found on most chart sites. As rule of thumb the share is considered ;
  
  a "Bull market" if the price is above the 120 dma.
  a "Bear market" if the price is below the 120 dma.
  may be regarded as "bullish" if the 120 dma turns up.
  may be regarded as "bearish" if 120 dma turns down.
• Trades, Prices. Short-term share holders find minimum delay trades one of the most useful pieces of information. Coupled together with knowledge of key dates AGM, Interim results etc can be used to spot likely sudden movers.
• Consider : (These are just a few pointers).

Term : What timescale are you considering for your investment. One week, one month, one year ?

Liquidity : How many shares are in circulation. At the current share price, what value does this give the company ?

NAV : What is the actual value (per share) of the company including all assets. Referred to as NAV (Net Asset Value)?

Sector : What is the companies primary business and is it still involved in current trend industries

Special Position : Does the company have any niche position in its market. Special knowledge, proprietary rights etc ?

Major Shareholders : Who are the major shareholders and does this include the companies own directors ?

Key Dates : What are the key reporting dates, what is dividend yield and when is it paid.

You will see continual improvements to the site. Our mission is to provide accessible news and the very best facilities to allow full research of the news as it breaks.

If you have ideas, dont keep them to yourself. Be a part of the mission and see your suggestions turned into improvements.

And thank you for visiting !

Information on this page was extracted from public domain sources and is not the sole opinion of UKCityMedia who, as a news site, is not qualified to give financial advice.