Research & Analysis of stocks listed on New York Stock Exchange

Making analysis of the stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange we focus on the performance of true world leaders across 10 industry sectors and all regions of the world. The covered companies reflect the NYSE's high standards and substantial listing requirements.

As many analysts have noted, it has become difficult to associate companies with a single economic domicile. Increasingly, share-price performance is affected by global and sectoral economics or overall equity sentiment rather than conditions prevailing in the local market where the company is geographically headquartered. This has led to the growing awareness among investors of the benefits and opportunities available in the global markets. The concept of global investing for country diversification continues to grow as non-U.S. equities now account for over 45% of the world's total market capitalization.

All of the stocks covered by 'Stock Analysis on Net' are priced on the NYSE during U.S. trading hours.

The economy of the United States is the largest in the world and as such is an important indicator of both domestic and world economic trends. The strength and potential of the U.S. market, as well as its relative stability, are just two of the many reasons to invest in the high-quality companies of the NYSE. Savvy investors are discovering the opportunities available in the U.S. market, just as past generations of investors have for over 200 years.

The Exchange has substantial listing standards with respect to company size, income and cash flow, providing a base level of quality for the companies analyzed in 'Stock Analysis on Net'.

Financial statement analysis involves:

comparing the firm's performance with that of other firms in the same industry,
evaluating trends in the company's financial position over time.

Ratio Analysis

Financial statements report both on a firm's position at a point in time and on its operations over some past periods. However, the real value of financial statements lies in the fact that they can be used to help predict future earnings and dividends. From an investor's standpoint, predicting the future is what financial statement analysis is all about. Financial ratios are designed to help one evaluate a financial statement.

Liquidity Ratios

A liquid assets is one that trades in an active market and hence can be quickly converted to cash at the going market price, and a firm's liquidity position deals with this question: Will the firm be able to pay off its debts as they come due over the next year or so? By relating the amount of cash and other current assets to current obligations, ratio analysis provide a quick, easy-to-use measure of liquidity.

Operating Performance Ratios

The operating performance ratios measures how effectively the firm is managing its assets. This ratios are designed to answer this question: Does the total amount of each type of asset as reported on balance sheet seem reasonable, too high, or too low in the view of current and projected sales levels? When companies acquire assets, they must borrow or obtain capital from other sources. If a firm has too many assets, its cost of capital will be too high, hence its profits will be depressed. On the other hand, if assets are too low, profitable sales will be lost.

Financial Risk Ratios

The extend to which a firm uses debt financing, or financial leverage, has three important implications:

By raising funds through debt, stockholders can maintain control of a firm while limiting their investments.
Creditors look to the equity, or owner-supplied funds, to provide a margin of safety, so if the stockholders have provided only a small proportion of the total financing, the risks of the enterprise are borne mainly by its creditors.
If the firm earns more on investments financed with borrowed funds than it pays in interest, the return on the owners' capital is magnified, or leveraged.

Profitability Ratios

Profitability is the net results of a number of policies and decisions.

Choose a company...

3M Co.

ABB Ltd.

Abbott Laboratories

Alcoa Inc.

Altria Group Inc.

America Movil S.A.B. de C.V.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Apache Corp.

ArcelorMittal

AstraZeneca PLC

AT&T Inc.

Barrick Gold Corp.

Baxter International Inc.

BHP Billiton Ltd.

Boeing Co.

BP PLC

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.

Canon Inc.

Caterpillar Inc.

Chevron Corp.

China Mobile Ltd.

CNOOC Ltd.

Coca-Cola Co.

Colgate-Palmolive Co.

ConocoPhillips

CVS Caremark Corp.

Devon Energy Corp.

Diageo PLC

Dow Chemical Co.

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.

Eli Lilly & Co.

EMC Corp.

Emerson Electric Co.

ENI S.p.A.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

France Telecom

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

General Electric Co.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC

Goldcorp Inc.

Halliburton Co.

Hewlett-Packard Co.

Home Depot Inc.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honeywell International Inc.

International Business Machines Corp.

Johnson & Johnson

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Kraft Foods Inc.

Lowe's Cos. Inc.

Marathon Oil Corp.

McDonald's Corp.

Medco Health Solutions Inc.

Medtronic Inc.

Merck & Co. Inc.

Monsanto Co.

Nokia Corp.

Novartis AG

Novo Nordisk A/S

Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Panasonic Corp.

PepsiCo Inc.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.

Pfizer Inc.

Philip Morris International Inc.

POSCO

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.

Praxair Inc.

Procter & Gamble Co.

Rio Tinto PLC

Royal Dutch Shell PLC

Sanofi-Aventis

SAP AG

Schlumberger Ltd.

Siemens AG

Sony Corp.

Suncor Energy Inc.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Target Corp.

Telefonica S.A.

Time Warner Inc.

Total S.A.

Toyota Motor Corp.

Transocean Ltd.

Unilever N.V.

Union Pacific Corp.

United Parcel Service Inc.

United Technologies Corp.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Vale S.A.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Walgreen Co.

Walt Disney Co.