Stocks — Benchmarks

Radio Transcript, 60 seconds, for use during week of October 15.

This is an Invest Wisely minute brought to you by Iowa State University Extension.

As you consider your stock investments, don’t look just at one moment in time to determine a company’s health.  Be sure to look at benchmarks to decide if its financial situation matches your investment needs.

One benchmark is to compare the financial ratios for the same company from past years.  It also is helpful to compare a company’s ratios to those of other companies in the same industry.

These ratios can be calculated using a company’s financial statements. These statements are available free from either the company or the Securities and Exchange Commission Web site.

Invest Wisely comes from Iowa State University Extension through a grant from the Investor Protection Trust providing investor education on the web at investorprotection.org.