Value Investing

The book I read to research this post was Value Investing For Dummies by Peter J Sander which is an excellent book which I bought from Kindle. This book is aimed at people who know a little bit about investing and are particularly interested in buying shares although the book does look at other types of investment as well. One thing it suggests is typing George  Soros share holdings into google to see what he or another prominent investor is investing in. Companies shares tend to track the true value of the company but they may fluctuate wildly. 2 of the basis for valuing a company are liquidation value which is if a companies assets were sold tomorrow, what would they fetch. Another popular one which may be more accurate is intrinsic value which includes a companies assets, current profits and forecasted profits. Another valid thing is increase or decrease in market share. 2 useful websites are http://finance.yahoo.com & http://google.finance.com. Both these sites are free and pretty good. An interesting bit of advice if you are trying to value a company and are having major problems is move on to another company. Some people find it useful to meet the management prior to making a major investment. If you do this you need to be experienced and know what you are looking for. A final bit of advice is don't be too eager to sell your shares. If you sell them after 12 months you must pay tax on them but if you hang on to them for several years the profit accrues and you don't pay tax until you sell them. It should save you a bit of money. This book is written with the American market in mind so if like me you are English you must adapt the information. A great book nonetheless.