As Warren Buffett proved, buying and holding is the key to great investing. But how do you know you're not holding on to a loser? Aside from glancing at an earnings release, the only information many investors get about a stock comes from its price. It's tough to separate good companies from bad ones on such scant evidence -- but it's vitally important. Finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices is a great way to accumulate a fortune over the long run.
With that in mind, we Fools have whipped up an easy tool to help you see how your company is doing. We can harness the aggregate intelligence of the 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to see what the community is thinking about a company today, and how they felt about it last quarter. A change in the community's approval (signified by four- and five-star ratings) or disapproval (one- and two-star ratings) could indicate that further research is in order.
Here are the CAPS community's aggregate feelings on eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), and opinions on some related companies, from today and last quarter.
| Metric | eBay, Inc. | Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS) | RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNWK) | Terremark Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMRK) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This Quarter (10/28/2009): | ||||
| Price: | $22.75 | $17.78 | $3.78 | $6.57 |
| % of Members Rating Outperform | 86.02% | 86.02% | 86.02% | 86.02% |
| % of All-Star Members Rating Outperform | 91.00% | 61.76% | 78.79% | 51.61% |
| CAPS Rating (out of 5) |
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| Last Quarter (7/30/2009): | ||||
| Price: | $21.66 | $17.05 | $3.06 | $6.34 |
| % of Members Rating Outperform | 86.50% | 86.50% | 86.50% | 86.50% |
| % of All-Star Members Rating Outperform | 92.31% | 92.31% | 92.31% | 92.31% |
| CAPS Rating (out of 5) |
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Source: Motley Fool CAPS. Dates given are the posting dates of eBay, Inc.'s most recent quarterly and/or annual reports to the SEC's website. Percentages are calculated from the number of members rating each company.
It pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made -- all from a stock's CAPS page. Head over to the completely free CAPS service, and let us hear what you've got to say about these or any other stocks that might be up-and-comers.
