ShareBuilder provides three different premium research offerings from top-rated independent research firm, TheStreet.com Ratings*. They include:
Stock Grades are available only to Standard or Advantage Program customers, and stock research reports and strategy reports are available only to Advantage customers.
Read more about TheStreet.com Ratings, their ratings methodology and why analyst independence is important.
*TheStreet.com Ratings (then known as Weiss Ratings) was rated #1for one-year performance versus the S&P 500 in June 2005, as reported by The Wall Street Journal ("Stock Research Gets More Reliable,” June 7, 2005, by Jane J. Kim.)
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Stock Grades condense a broad range of factors to form a composite opinion of a stock's risk-adjusted performance – from independent research firm TheStreet.com Ratings.
Stock Grades are exclusively available to Standard and Advantage Program customers. These ratings can be accessed from an individual stock’s Quote tab or Stock Grade tab pages, or can be searched for using the Stock Grade Finder.
Read more about TheStreet.com Ratings and why analyst independence is important.
More on Stock Grades What do the Stock Grades mean? What is the methodology used? Why are some stocks not rated? More on the Stock Grade Finder
*TheStreet.com Ratings (then known as Weiss Ratings) was rated # 1 for one-year performance versus the S&P 500 in June 2005, as reported by The Wall Street Journal ("Stock Research Gets More Reliable,” June 7, 2005, by Jane J. Kim.)
Stock Grades investment ratings condense a broad range of factors to form a composite opinion of a stock's risk-adjusted performance. Each letter grade is given a corresponding label (from Excellent to Bankrupt), a grade description, as well as a Buy, Hold, or Sell rating. Read more on TheStreet.com Ratings model and methodology.
The plus or minus sign is an indication that the stock is in the top or bottom third of its letter grade. Information for each of the grades is below.
Grade: A “Excellent” Rating: Buy The company’s stock has an excellent track record for providing strong performance with minimal risk, and it is trading at a price that represents good value relative to the company’s earnings prospects. While past performance is just an indication - not a guarantee - we at TheStreet.com Ratings believe this stock is among the most likely to deliver superior performance relative to risk in the future.
Grade: B “Good” Rating: Buy The company’s stock has a good track record for delivering a balance of performance and risk. While the risk-adjusted performance of any stock is subject to change, we at TheStreet.com Ratings believe that this stock is a good value, with good prospects for outperforming the market.
Grade: C “Fair” Rating: Hold In the trade-off between performance and risk, the prospects for the company’s stock are about average based on its track record and current valuation. Thus, we at TheStreet.com Ratings feel it is neither a significantly better or significantly worse investment than most other common stocks. In short, there is no particular advantage to investing in this stock unless you believe that its future risk or reward profile will change.
Grade: D “Weak” Rating: Sell The company’s stock is an underperformer relative to other common stocks with a similar amount of risk. While the risk-adjusted performance of any common stock is subject to change, we at TheStreet.com Ratings believe this stock represents a poor investment based on its current valuation and the company’s current financial position.
Grade: E “Very Weak” Rating: Sell The prospects for the company’s stock are not good, with significant downside risks outweighing any upside potential. This opinion is based on the company’s current financial condition in combination with the stock’s historical risk-adjusted performance and current valuation. While the risk-adjusted performance of any stock is subject to change, we at TheStreet.com Ratings believe this stock is a poor investment risk.
Grade: F “Bankrupt” Rating: Sell An F rating means that the company issuing this stock is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, and that it remains under active coverage. The decision to retain bankrupt companies' stocks under active coverage is based on factors such as data availability and quality, and is made on a discretionary basis. Typically, shareholders in a bankrupt company lose their entire investment when the company emerges from Chapter 11 reorganization or liquidates under Chapter 7. Therefore, we at TheStreet.com Ratings feel this stock has substantial downside risk for investors and very little, if any, upside potential.
TheStreet.com Ratings currently provides ratings for approximately 6,000 different stocks. There are certain stocks however, that cannot be rated (or have been dropped from coverage) for a variety of reasons. Possible reasons include:
Once issues preventing coverage have been resolved, TheStreet.com Ratings will again consider issuing ratings for that particular stock.
ShareBuilder provides access to stock reports on over 3,000 companies. These in-depth research reports are filled with comprehensive analysis and commentary from TheStreet.com Ratings, a top-rated independent research firm. TheStreet.com Ratings was rated #1 for one-year ratings performance, as reported by The Wall Street Journal in June 2005.*
Each five-page report provides an in-depth, comprehensive look including:
These research reports are a ShareBuilder Advantage exclusive. As an Advantage customer you get:
The Stock Grade Finder allows you to view stocks with grades that match your selected criteria.
If you wish to search for a specific Stock Grade:
If you wish to search for a specific Buy, Hold, or Sell rating:
The results are sorted first by grade, and then by company name. Results include the following columns: symbol, company name, price, change (net amount), change percent, grade, and trade. Advantage customers are provided a link to the research report, if available.
The Research Reports Updates page is a convenient place to review those companies with recently updated research reports.
TheStreet.com Ratings publishes updated reports on a periodic basis as conditions warrant. (More >)
Access to the in-depth research reports is a ShareBuilder Advantage exclusive.
TheStreet.com Ratings publishes updated reports as conditions warrant, subject to data availability. Reasons that affect the publishing of an updated report include:
All research reports contain a published on date in the upper right hand corner. This date indicates the date that the report was generated.
The Research Reports Updates page is a convenient way to review those companies with recently updated research reports.
From TheStreet.com Ratings on their ratings model and methodology:
“TheStreet.com Ratings' stock model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period including both price appreciation and dividends. At TheStreet.com Ratings, our Buy, Hold or Sell ratings designate how we expect these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates. While our model is quantitative, it utilizes both subjective and objective elements. For instance, subjective elements include expected equities market returns, future interest rates, implied industry outlook and forecasted company earnings. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenues, financial strength, and company cash flows.
Our model gauges the relationship between risk and reward in several ways, including: the pricing drawdown as compared to potential profit volatility, i.e. how much one is willing to risk in order to earn profits; the level of acceptable volatility for highly performing stocks; the current valuation as compared to projected earnings growth; and the financial strength of the underlying company as compared to its stock's valuation as compared to projected earnings growth; and the financial strength of the underlying company as compared to its stock's performance. These and many more derived observations are then combined, ranked, weighted, and scenario-tested to create a more complete analysis. The result is a systematic and disciplined method of selecting stocks.”
Read more about TheStreet.com Ratings and why analyst independence is important. Research information should not be viewed as a guarantee of future performance. All investments are subject to market risk and fluctuation.
“Our mission is to empower consumers, professionals & institutions with high quality advisory information for selecting or monitoring a financial services company or financial investment. In doing so, TheStreet.com Ratings will adhere to the highest ethical standards by maintaining our independent, unbiased outlook and approach to advising our customers.”
More from TheStreet.com Ratings: “TheStreet.com Ratings is the source for accurate ratings that you can rely upon to make sound, informed financial decisions. We are proud to offer a complete line of products designed to direct consumers and business professionals alike toward safe investment and insurance options while avoiding unnecessary risks that could lead to financial losses.
We don't accept compensation from the companies we rate for issuing the rating. Nor do we give the companies an opportunity to preview the ratings or suppress their publication if they're unfavorable. We are totally independent and unbiased because our loyalty is to you – the customer.
Every quarter, we evaluate the financial strength of more than 13,000 institutions, including life, health, and annuity insurers, property and casualty insurers, HMOs, Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, banks, and savings and loans. In addition, we track the risk-adjusted performance of over 16,000 mutual funds and more than 6,000 stocks.
We encourage you to use our ratings and analysis to avoid the potential dangers of the weakest companies and to find those that you can trust -- now and well into the future.”
Read more about TheStreet.com Ratings model and methodology.
If you should need additional assistance in answering questions about TheStreet.com Ratings’ research, you may contact TheStreet.com customer service representatives by phone or email. Let them know you are a ShareBuilder customer accessing TheStreet.com Ratings research off of the ShareBuilder site.
Phone: 1-800-289-9222 (hours: 8:30am and 5pm Eastern time) Email: questions@thestreet.com
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