TL;DR:
At Mello Workshop 2015 I presented on the topic of the best websites for the private investor and this is the content of that offering with annotations to provide additional colour.
Introduction
Mello Workshop 2015 is the latest venture from Mello Events and I ran a workshop on the best websites for a private investor in the UK. The short-list covered in this talk is culled from a much broader long-list of websites with the successful sites being selected on the basis of utility, timeliness and ease of use.
Presentation
In thinking about websites, and how to structure this introduction, I've focused on my own investment process and the resources that I use on a regular basis. However I think that it's worth taking a step back and reflecting on the fact that this presentation couldn't have existed twenty years ago; we truly live in a golden age for the private investor. There are numerous sites available to us and new ones are appearing all of the time to fill unappreciated gaps in the market. So it's important not to let our mental list of favourites become too stale.
As private investors we often have a portfolio of shares that we need to manage; so keeping abreast of current news is important. At the same time all but the most indolent of us are on the lookout for new ideas and there are many sources, in blogs and otherwise, of such ideas. However once we've taken someone else's suggestions on-board the onus is on us to put in some leg-work and actually research the companies of interest; this is where clean data and intuitive tools are useful. Of course investing can be something of a lonely business and it's always good to chat and perhaps hear the bear-argument for our intentions. The only problem with this is that even on-line we don't want to appear too foolish when we don't understand these arguments - fortunately there are plenty of learning resources available to fill the gap.
Listed companies are required to disclose standard announcements, such as financial reports, and price-sensitive information in a fair manner (to avoid a false market) and most do this with an RNS. Investegate are an excellent source of these announcements and I have them set-up to send
