In This Issue:
Introducing Toolkit 6
ICLUBcentral is proud to announce the release of Toolkit 6, the newest generation of tools in the Toolkit software family! Toolkit 6 is packed with power features to turbocharge your portfolio. As with prior versions of the program, Toolkit 6 features a complete suite of stock analysis forms and portfolio resports that identify stocks that are good possibilities for investment and stocks that should be avoided.
Want to make smarter stock investing decisions? Check out all that Toolkit 6 has to offer:
- Instantly weed out unlikely candidates using preliminary judgment with the new "First Impression" screen.
- Develop your model of a stock's likely future performance, current valuation, and optimal buy price.
- Download and update ten years of history using Morningstar data from StockCentral.com or BetterInvesting's S&P Data Service. (Subscription required.)
- Get early warning alerts from Toolkit 6's unique portfolio management system for companies that are potentially over-priced or experiencing troubles.
What's New in Version 6:
In addition to all the popular features from Investor's Toolkit 5, here is sampling of the new features and improvements in Toolkit 6.
- Displays preliminary judgment for any new stock using Toolkit 6's "First Impression" screen, helping you to instantly weed out unlikely candidates and focus only on stocks with the most promising prospects.
- Plot additional historical data points including dividends, net income, book value, and outstanding shares on the program's customizable historical data graph.
- Chart future fiscal year analyst estimates directly on the EPS graph to aid in projecting a company's future long-term growth.
- Choose to calculate Return on Equity and using beginning-of-year equity instead of end-of-year data to better reflect management's performance.
- Display and print a more complete revenue-based EPS estimate directly on the company's data graph for ease of reference.
- Choose to use average Price/Earnings Ratios from the last five or ten years by default whenever you are developing a valuation model for a stock.
- Company-specific web site addresses used in conducting additional research on a stock under review can now be automatically revised automatically as updates to the software are released. Users may continue to enter their own research links, as well.
- Navigate more easily through the program using an improved, cleaner graphical toolbar.
- A new "Smart Data Updater" notifies users at startup if newer data is available for downloading for companies in the library and saved portfolios.
- Portfolio Review report headers now reflect the actual values being displayed on the report, such as Projected P/E Ratio and Projected Relative Value.
- Company-specific web site addresses used in conducting additional research on a stock under review can now be automatically revised automatically as updates to the software are released. Users may continue to enter their own research links, as well.
- Share completed stock studies and discuss conclusions with like-minded investors in the StockCentral community, all from within the Toolkit 6 program. (StockCentral subscription required.)
- Identify top-rated companies as potential stocks to study using the regularly-updated "Complete Roster of Quality Companies" listing, downloaded automatically directly into the program. (StockCentral subscription required.) The "Complete Roster of Quality Companies" is ICLUBcentral's proprietary screen of companies that meet minimum standards of quality as defined by the consistency and strength of historical EPS growth and the consistency of profit margins.
- Miniature "Quick View" Stock Study graphs appear when right-clicking on a company in the Library, or on the Comparison header row.
- The Stock Study no longer displays potentially misleading simple averages, instead always using compound annualized values.
- Installs and runs in 32-bit Windows Vista® without annoying User Access Control alerts.
Purchase your copy today! Current users of Investor's Toolkit 5 are eligible to upgrade to Toolkit 6 at a special discount price of just $109.99 ($99.99 for StockCentral members!). You can purchase the download version and start using the program immediately---you can import your Investor's Toolkit 5 database seemlessly into Toolkit 6. Investment clubs with 10 or more members: Call ICLUBcentral by phone at 1-877-33-ICLUB to learn about bulk order discounts! This product is not available for purchase from BetterInvesting, so upgrade today directly from the ICLUBcentral web site!
Free Online Webinar: Introducing Toolkit 6
Please join ICLUBcentral's president, Doug Gerlach, for a free online webinar, "Introducing Toolkit 6," on October 1, 2008. During this live online presentation, Doug will walk you through the program and demonstrate how to use the new features that Toolkit 6 has to offer. Douglas will also be available for a brief question and answer segment after the class has completed. The class will be presented twice, so those on the East Coast and West Coast (and in between!) will have an opportunity to attend. Space is limited, so sign up quickly! We look forward to seeing you there!
Join us on October 1, 2008 at 7pm ET/4 pm PT
Join us on October 1, 2008 at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Join the Club!
By Amy Rauch Neilson
I love my computer. Truly. In fact, I could easily do without my landline and, when we're on vacation, I look forward to getting away from the phone. But not my computer. One of the first questions I ask when I'm planning a trip is: Do you have wireless Internet access?
Still, I must admit that while there are lots of computerized gadgets in the world that I have readily embraced, there are a few that I'm not so fond of. Like computerized calendars. I have several calendars--and they're all the old-fashioned, paper kind. There's one hanging in my kitchen and another in my office. On top of that, I have a huge, desktop-sized calendar that contains both social and business commitments on it--and I actually take it back and forth with me to my new office.
I'm sure I look ridiculous carrying a desk pad calendar that easily measures three feet by two-and-a-half to work each day. Matter of fact, a colleague recently, carefully broached the subject. Had I ever, er, uh, perhaps considered a BlackBerry? Or, at the very least, maybe one of those small, traveling planners--one that could fit in my purse?
Sure, I've considered it. Briefly. But I decided against it because, well, I'm quite fond of my desktop calendar. I like having everything--from writing deadlines to doctors' appointments--written out in huge blocks where I can see everything all at once. I like being able to scribble notes down the side or across the top. And I like being able to flip through the pages to jot a note to myself about something I'll need to revisit several months down the road.
The Time Has Come
The only reason I'd consider changing to a computerized calendar would be if I thought my current calendar was somehow making me less efficient at what I do. But while I admit that my method is a bit eccentric, it works for me. The minute that it stops working for me--and reeks of inefficiency--will be the minute I make the change, though I hope that time never comes.
Investment clubs, unfortunately, no longer have that luxury. The time has come--in fact, it came a while back--for both new and well-established clubs accustomed to using the paper-and-pencil version of the Stock Selection Guide to take advantage of the new Millennium and all it has to offer. In short, that means using the computer to not only increase the speed with which your club conducts stock analysis, but also its efficiency.
Read more...
Join ICLUBcentral at the New England BetterInvesting Regional Conference
Please join Doug Gerlach and ICLUBcentral at the New England BetterInvesting Regional Conference on October 3 and 4,2008 in Framingham, MA 01701. Our President, Doug Gerlach, will be teaching a variety of classes to assist both the neophyte and seasoned investor.
In addition, ICLUBcentral representatives will be available to answer you questions all day on Saturday, October 4th, starting at 8 am in the Exhibitor Hall. Bring a copy of this email to the ICLUBcentral table and be entered to win a special prize!
We look forward to seeing you in Framingham. Register today!
September 18, 2008
We're ICLUBcentral Inc.
From our World Headquarters in the historic College House building in the heart of Cambridge's Harvard Square, we develop high-quality software products and web services for individual fundamental investors, and powerful accounting tools used by the majority of US investment clubs.
ICLUB Links:
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myICLUB.com
Investor Advisory Service
Complete Roster
Training
Events Calendar:
10/03-10/04: New England BI Regional Convention, Framingham, MA; ICLUBcentral, Exhibitor.
10/25: StockCentral User Group, Denver, CO; Doug Gerlach, Speaker.
11/21-11/22: Puget Sound Investor's Fair, Bellevue, WA; ICLUBcentral, Exhibitor.
12/6: Club Accounting Workshop, Philadelphia Area, PA; Doug Gerlach, Instructor.
Submit Your Event!
Like 7-Eleven, we're not always doing business, but we're always open -- visit the ICLUB Store and outfit yourself with the simple, yet powerful tools and services that smart investors have been using to grow their portfolios since 1989.
Got a Problem?
Support is here to help. You can reach them M-F, 9:30 AM--6:00 PM at 877-33-iclub (877-334-2582), or use the email web form at ICLUB Support.