Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis generally refers to the study of the economic factors underlying the price movement of securities or commodities, not the price movements themselves. For the most part, this form of analysis usually results in longer-term investments and is considered to be a more conservative approach. At a high level, fundamentalists attempt to quantify the current value of a stock by gathering data relating to general industry outlook, overall market conditions, corporate financial strength, historical patterns of sales, earnings, market share, dividends, etc.