We recently created a list of 15 Best Websites To Research Stocks. Wall Street Journal is one of them.
When it comes to building a strong portfolio, retail investors conduct a great deal of research to learn about the macroeconomic climate, read up on the most recent stock market trends, become familiar with investing strategies, and observe the most notable actions of smart investors and elite hedge funds. A sizable portion of the investing community consists of retail investors, and they have access to a wealth of online information that can assist them in navigating the volatile stock market. According to Gallup’s survey, 162 million Americans, or 62% of adults in the United States, own shares in public companies. That is a 1% rise over 2023 and the highest percentage observed by Gallup since 2008. During the Great Recession, stock ownership declined and remained low for more than a decade, reaching lows of 52% in 2013 and 2016. Before 2008, the majority of Gallup surveys revealed that at least 60% of American adults owned stocks.
Today, the stock market is very different from what existed at the time of the millennium. The internet has democratized information, resulting in increased stock market involvement, which has been accelerated during the pandemic. Wall Street welcomed retail investors for the first time as a result of the pandemic, even though the global outbreak is primarily remembered for the deadly virus and lockdowns. In a poll, 15% of American stock market participants stated they started investing in 2020. The study additionally shows that these new investors tended to be more optimistic about their prospects for success in the stock market. A study revealed that 19.5% of all stock market shares exchanged in the first half of 2020 were made by individual investors. That is about twice as many trades by ordinary investors as there were in 2010, and it represents an increase of 4.5% over 2019. This occurred during the meme stock mania in 2021, which saw prominent businesses skyrocketing on the stock market as retail investors banded together on social media and purchased the shares in bulk.
Notwithstanding the attraction of potential profits, new research from eToro indicates that many retail investors in the United States appear to be more afraid of losing money than they are of missing out on the next great opportunity. Rethinking Risk, research by eToro, finds that while 31% of US retail investors are driven by the fear of missing out on the next great thing, 61% of investors indicate that their investment strategy is shaped by the fear of losing money through immoderate risk. Their behaviors, however, reveal a different tale, as many retail investors continue to invest in risky assets, with 70% holding single stocks and 41% holding crypto assets in their portfolios. Additionally, this research shows that 62% of people who began investing in the markets now feel better about it.
Amidst these developments, the demand for easily available, reliable information to aid retail investors in their decision-making is rising. According to a survey conducted by BNY Mellon and the World Economic Forum on global retail investment, three-quarters of current retail investors said they would trade more actively if they had more opportunities to learn about investing along with personalized, goal-oriented stock guidance. Here’s where trustworthy websites for stock research would come in very handy.
Smartphone with stock charts
Methodology:
We selected the most popular finance websites that have been shown over time to be trustworthy for stock research and information accuracy. We also discussed the most recent news and trending stocks on each website.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here)
The Wall Street Journal
New York City is home to the Wall Street Journal, a worldwide daily business newspaper published in the United States. The Wall Street Journal covers bonds, equities, commodities and futures, commercial real estate, and personal finance in its Markets section. WSJ Money, Streetwise, and Intelligent Investor sections are also available on the WSJ website. Information on venture capital, private equity, central banking, and bankruptcy can be accessed on WSJ Pro.
The Wall Street Journal revealed on May 24 that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) has significantly increased its marketing spending, going from 7% of net sales in its fiscal year 2019 to 25% of sales in its fiscal year 2024, even while companies as a whole reduced their marketing spending as a proportion of revenue. For one straightforward reason, the beauty giant has increased spending: “Our marketing investment is working,” Chief Marketing Officer Kory Marchisotto said in an interview following E.L.F. ‘s reported earnings. In the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, which ended on March 31, the cosmetics firm reported net sales of $321 million, a 71% increase over the same time the previous year.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, one of the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey, owns $641,400 shares of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) is valued at $125.73 million. Overall, 33 hedge funds were long on ELF at the end of Q1, compared to 34 in the previous quarter.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding E.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Along with Iovance Biotherapeutics, notable adds in the quarter included E.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) . We already mentioned emerging signs of consumer weakness, especially among those with lower incomes. We think this environment sets up nicely for companies that provide high-quality products sold at a discount to capture market share from their name-brand competitors. SharkNinja and e.l.f. Beauty are two examples. e.l.f. Beauty is a cosmetics company focusing on a low-price strategy, sizeable social media presence and rapid speed to market. In the core business, it aims to replicate existing prestige products at a lower price along with recognizing new and emerging trends. Its share of the US cosmetic market is around 10%. We believe it will gain more market share in the US and leverage social media to expand into new markets, such as Western Europe, India and Latin America. Furthermore, the company has growth potential within its skincare business, where its recent acquisition of Naturium will benefit from e.l.f.’s innovative distribution model.”
The Wall Street Journal ranks 6th on our list, but if you want to check out what other websites are and where they rank, visit the 15 Best Websites To Research Stocks. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ELF but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: Analyst Sees a New $25 Billion “Opportunity” for NVIDIA and Jim Cramer is Recommending These 10 Stocks in June.
Disclosure: None. 5 Best Websites To Research Stocks is originally published on Insider Monkey. It focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds’ investor letters by entering your email address below.