在這個幾乎“全民皆股”的時代，怎樣選擇股票實在是個大問題。下面這篇文章為您稍作一下分析，希望對您有用。

    When technical analysis is mentioned, people often think of analysts plotting price movements of stocks, drawing lines to find trends, support or resistance. Technical analysis is the art of deducing probable future trend from historical records of stock trading. It is the study of the stock market itself rather than the external factors that influence the market. The most familiar indicators used are the price and volume of a stock.

    Advocates of technical analysis believe that information is not immediately reflected in the market prices of stocks. For example, when a piece of good news about a company is available, it is not immediately known to everyone but is slowly passed from one person to another.

    This process takes time and an upward price trend develops for that company as more and more people hear the good news and want to buy the stock and fewer and fewer people are willing to sell the stock. The stock price which has started to move in an uptrend will continue to do so until something happens to change the supply-demand balance.

    For the technical analyst, he does not need to know what the good news or any other information that is affecting the stock price is; the chart will tell him whether the stock price is going to move up or down. He does not need to know the fundamentals of the company because if the price is going up, the fundamentals must be improving.

    On the other hand, fundamental analysis examines all relevant factors affecting the stock price in order to determine an intrinsic value for that stock. If the market price is below the intrinsic value, then the stock is undervalued and should be bought. The factors to consider include balance sheet items, corporate management, business prospects and earnings outlook.

    The fundamental analyst calculates financial ratios based on data available from the balance sheet and income statement of a company. From these ratios, he deduces the financial strength and earnings trend of the company. Then he will meet the company's management to affirm his deductions, to understand the business and to learn of any new development of the company and the industry.

    A widely used tool in fundamental analysis is the price-earnings ratio or PE ratio. It is calculated using the stock price divided by the earnings per share (EPS) of a company. As a general rule, a stock with a low PE ratio is considered cheap although there are difficulties in applying this principle. PE ratios of two companies can only be compared if the companies are similar.

    It is believed that companies in different industries deserve different PE ratios. For example, Singapore Telecom is believed to deserve a higher PE ratio than many other stocks because of its position in the telecommunication business.

    However, analysts have not yet agreed on what PE ratio each industry or company deserves and there is no one way to determine the right PE ratio. Both approaches attempt to predict the future price movement of a stock. Fundamentalists study the cause of market movement while technicians believe that the effect is all that they need to know.

    Despite their differences, both approaches try to increase your probability of picking up the right stock at a right price. However, these methods only increase your chances but do not guarantee complete success. Some believe that fundamental analysis is good for picking the right stock while technical analysis is appropriate to decide the right price or time to buy.

    For the professional investor, he has to take another step of deciding the sequence of analysis. This will have an impact on how the investor divides his money among different countries and stocks. Basically, the investor decides whether the market as a whole or the company itself is more important in determining stock prices. Both factors definitely influence stock prices but the degree of influence is the issue.

    The top-down approach or sometimes known as the Economy-Industry-Company (EIC) model emphasizes the market over the company. It starts with the analysis of different economies to determine which country could offer the investor better returns.

    In the selected economy, it searches for industries that provide better prospects and it picks the best companies within these industries. The top-down approach offers a systematic and structured way to analyze stocks. It advocates that the economy and industry effects are significant factors in determining the total return for stocks.

    The bottom-up or stock picking approach believes in finding stocks that are undervalued which can provide superior returns irrespective of the market and industry factors. The company effect is the dominant factor in determining stock return.

    There is no overwhelming evidence to suggest which approach offers superior returns to the investors. The most important thing is that an investor is comfortable with a particular method, understands its strengths and limitations, experiments with it, finds that it works for him and abides by the method.

    一提起技術分析，人們就會想到股票分析員畫股價走勢圖，找支持線和阻力線。基本上，這個方式是根據過去的記錄預測未來表現。換句話說，技術分析研究股市本身，不是影響它的外在因素；而股價和成交量是它最常用的數據。

    技術分析的支持者認為，影響股價的消息沒有立即反映在股價上。舉例說，一家公司的好消息并不是每個人都同時知道的，而是從一人傳到另一個，整個過程需要一段時間。越來越多人知道這好消息后會買進，而越來越少的人愿意賣掉，這么一來使股價逐步升高。股價會因此繼續上升直到供應與需求的平衡出現變化。

    但對技術分析員來說，他并不需要知道那好消息是什么，走勢圖將告訴他股價會起還是落。他也不需知道公司的基礎因素，對他來說，基礎會隨著股價上升而改善。他們相信歷史會重演，可從過去的股價走勢推測它將來的表現。

    另一方面，基礎分析則研究所有可能影響股價的因素，以確定股票的實際價值。如果市價低過實值，就值得買進。基礎分析員研究資產與負債表的項目、企業管理層、業務展望和盈利潛能，再根據資產與負債表和損益表提供的數據計算而得的比例，判斷這家公司的財力和盈利趨勢。分析員也會與公司的管理層會面，了解它的業務以及有關公司和行業的最新發展。

    本益比是基礎分析中最常用的比例，計算方式是股價除每股盈利。一般上，低本益比表示股票便宜。 不過，這個準則有時不太好用。兩家公司從事相同的業務，才能夠比較它們的本益比；不同行業的公司，本益比通常是不一樣的。舉例說，以新加坡電信在電信業的地位，它的本益比會較其他公司高。

    對于每個行業的本益比應是多少，分析員們到目前為止還沒有定論，而且也沒有計算正確本益比的方式。 技術分析和基礎分析都嘗試預測股價今后的走勢。它們的做法雖然不一樣，但都盡可能幫助投資者以合適的價格買入有增值潛能的股票。不過，它們都只能提高可能性，而不能保證成功。有些人認為，基礎分析較適合用于選擇股票，而技術分析則適用于決定買入的時機和價格。

    對專業投資者來說，他們還必須決定分析的步驟。這將影響投資者把資金分配于不同市場和股票的決定。基本上，他們決定市場的整體走勢還是公司本身對股價的影響比較大。這兩個因素都會影響股價，但程度可能不同。

    從上至下的方法側重于整體市場。它首先決定哪個市場能帶來較高的回報，然后再選擇具投資展望的行業和屬于這一行業的公司。這是個系統化的股票分析方式，認為經濟和行業是決定股票回報的重要因素。

    而從下至上的選擇股票方式，無視市場和行業因素，重點是選擇市值低于股值的股票，認為公司本身是決定回報的最重要因素。

    哪個方式能帶來較高的回報，并沒任何研究證明。最重要的是投資者懂得所選擇方式的優缺點，并嘗試使用。