Sector Analysis for Investment Clubs at the Library

Sector Analysis is a task investors do to make sense of many many smaller industries that all relate to one another. For example Energy as a sector includes Coal, Distribution, Petroleum, Power, Natual Gas, & other related lines of business.

Value Line Industry Report

Not only does Value Line have full-page reports on about 1,700 stocks, but there are also analysis on more than 90 industries. Location in Beaverton City Library on 2nd floor,

Index Table 1. Use the slim insert inside the cover of the Value Line, called Summary and Index, look at bottom half of front page, and those list page #s to the various Industries that are included in Ratings and Reports--the thicker packets.



All the company reports in The Value Line Investment Survey are grouped by industry, and at the front of each industry group is a one- or two-page Industry Report. The information contained in each Industry Report may differ considerably from one industry to another, but
there is a general format we follow. The number of industries followed in The Value Line
Investment Survey is constantly changing. As companies drop out, usually because of mergers or acquisitions, we may discontinue an industry. On the other hand, as new industries develop, we add them.



More information on page 13 of this document go into depth about Industry Sectors

http://www.valueline.com/pdf/Complete_Overview_of_VLIS_FINAL.pdf

Mergent Industry Review
Index Table 1, East side of table.
Comparative rankings within 137 industries include: Revenues; Net income; Profit margins; Assets; Returns on equity; Returns on investment; Cash position; Evaluation of stock performance; Price/earning ratios; Yields; Mergent's short- and long-term price scores
Comparative statistics include: Key business ratios on industry groups; Table of comparative statistics;
Special ranking factors on specific industries include: Size of gross/net plant; Sales per dollar of gross; Return on net plant; Capital expenditures;
Standard and Poors Industry Surveys Index Table 1 East Side of Table
Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys are the fastest way to come up to speed on the players and events impacting over fifty (50) of the largest North American and global industries. Ideal for management consultants, strategic planners, money managers, public and academic librarians, students, and business faculty; Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys enable readers to think and act like industry insiders.
Beaverton does not actually subscribe to this quarterly, as it is released. The information inside is helpful to gain an understanding of the sectors, but the Multnomah County Library kindly donates one of these sets per year to us, and it's to be used with the understanding that if you want the current quarter, you could refer to Multnomah County Central Library for that.
Hoover's Handbook of Industry Profiles 2009 will be an item we are anticipating to purchase this year. It contains 300 industries.
Business and Company Resource Center does not do current sector analysis really, but it offers reports on hundreds and hundreds of individual lines of business. What do I mean? Whereas the products listed above will roll together several types of businesses into larger, more broad catagories, Business and Company Resource Center sticks to reports on each kind, each separate from the other. Example, they don't do an Energy Sector. They do a report on Petroleum Refining. There is a report on Coal Mining. A report on Natural Gas Liquid. A report on Petroleum Extraction. But not roll them together in a sector. And their reports are filled with lots of background on industries, whereas the reports above focus on investment oriented statistics.