After a three years of hemming and hawing (is that how you write that?), I purchased a subscription to Zack's Research Wizard today. I've been testing it for the past couple of weeks, and I've really discovered some time-saving ways to evaluate my screens and ideas. I used to go through reams of information (I have a stack of paper two feet tall) to get certain types of historical data. I found ways to get that same information in a few seconds.
The subscription price is $1,600 and that provides 6 years of historical data. I've talked with a lot of folks that nearly drop dead when they hear a price like that but I spent nearly that amount on my dumb '99 Plymouth Voyager yesterday and there is no way that thing is going to make me any money.
I've met a few traders out there who hurt their returns because they are too wrapped up in nickels and dimes. They are afraid to exit a $20,000 losing position because of a $7 commission. They spend all their time looking for free information when they could be making a lot more paying somebody else to do the leg-work for them.
I think there is a lot of fear out there because of shysters who have taken people for all they are worth. I'm sure that hurts the businesses of reputable companies that want to help people make money. My experience with Zacks over the years has been very positive.
I figure this is money well-spent. I'll let you know how things go throughout this next year. I hope to develop some new screens and after the summer, I'll be sharing those screens (and some of my older ones) with StockPunk readers.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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7 comments:
Congrats on your purchase of RW. I'm a Premium member at Zacks and often consider getting RW. I never buy a stock unless it has a Zacks rank of at least 2. Of course, that means I never buy anything that isn't covered by at least one analyst. I've been using Zacks for two years and my account is up over 70%. You made a good purchase. I hope one day to bite the bullet and buy RW.
I've been pretty impressed with how helpful the Zacks staff has been. My screens using the Zacks rating have outperformed the basic screens by far. I think I'll be happy with my purchase and I'll be sure to let everyone know if I'm not.
I am very interested in your analysis of RW. I have researched for 2 weeks in Feb and am reviewing it for another 2 weeks. The problem I am facing is, I cannot see how the screens performed during the bear market.. I can only backtest for 2 years.. I am willing to share my screens with you going forward. I will be visiting this blog 2-3 days to see your new thoughts on RW.. my e-mail address is dasarihp@hotmail.com/
I think the price of researching stocks is relative to the amount of money you are using to trade/invest with. For me 2-3% annually on tools and other things to make me money is not a big deal. Unfortunately with everything else I already use, the RW pushes me closer to 7%. I will probably add it next year when my subscriptions to some other things runs out.
I was a heavy user of RW. I still use it ocasionally, but mainly for fun. The problem is that you cannot rely on the backtesting, since the database is entirely survivor based, a very serious bias. Additionally, the backtester does not handle price splits correctly. List membership ( e.g. SP500) is strictly current, but the backtester will happily use it anyway.
That's a good point about the biases of backtesting. After doing some screening analysis, I was curious about the "survivor bias". I noticed that some former tickers didn't take when I typed them in. I thought I read somewhere on Zack's website that the program accounts for the bias so it isn't an issue. I'll need to go back and do some research because that could seriously impact the results of a screen. I might be experiencing some post-purchase dissonance now.
Hi guys,
Did you find find out if the Zacks' Research Wizard suffers "survivor bias"? I am interested in subscribing to it, but I would like to know this before.
Cheers
Xaguar
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