Picking Stocks to Invest In

As you probably know, there are different sized firms (small, medium, and large capitalization), and there are different emphases among them in ETF's. In this post I focus on growth and value orientations.

To get the symbols for these, I went to the ishares.com web site, which has an easy navigation method. On the left, select the US Market Cap/Style tab. Sub-tabs appear giving the different market cap possibilities, and when you click on one of these, you get the symbols for the market cap and emphasis of that ETF.

You can use these symbols to determine the size/orientations that are outperforming (hopefully) the market using PerfCharts in StockCharts.com. I have done this for you. Click on the following link to get the PerfChart for this.

You will need to convert this to a bar chart, so click on the bar designation below the graph on the bottom left.
- To compare performance to the S&P click on the S&P tab above the bar chart.
- On the bottom right below the graph, drag the bar to select the time period you will investigate. NOTE that the dates you end up with are given in the top left of the graph.

Once this is done, you will be able to see which sizes are performing best, or which orientation is doing better than others. I used the most recent low for the S&P 500 which occurred on February 5. Using this as the starting date (through the most recent date), small cap growth is the most rapidly growing ETF.

As an investor, how can you use this procedure for selecting potential ETF's or stocks to invest in? Obviously, any ETF's that outperform the S&P are obvious choices for you to consider. BUT, make sure you check the technicals of each of these ETF's before you decide whether to purchase shares (using the regular SharpCharts in StockCharts.com).

If you want to purchase individual stocks, what can you do? The answer to this is simpler than it might appear: Get the symbol of the ETF that is outperforming (here JKK), return to ishares.com, and investigate it there. Enter the symbol on the ishares home page or go to the tab to get to that ETF's page. There you will find the primary holdings in that ETF. You can click to find all holdings if desired), and its sector breakdown. If you click on View All Holdings in ishares.com, symbols for each holding are given. Get the symbols for the 10 largest holdings (PerfCharts can only deal with 10 things at a time). Return to PerfCharts, enter those symbols, then determine which individual stocks have outperformed the other ETF holdings.

Once you identify those, the final step consists of charting these and performing a technical analysis of each (or CandleGlance for the entire group). Based on your results, decide which if any you want to purchase (you should also have a sense of where the overall market is going).