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Research Wizard User Manual ()

1. 6 To exit the X Y Scatter Plot menu click Close Output Ticker List Option be You can save the list of companies used in the X Y Scatter Plot by following these steps 1 Click the browse button next to the Output Ticker List box Graphics e 67 2 At the Output Ticker List menu specify the Ticker List name and location You can either type a new Ticker List name or select an existing Ticker List if you specify the existing Ticker List its contents will be replaced with the companies used in the X Y Scatter Plot Click Open when done 3 To add the companies used in the X Y Scatter Plot to the specified Output Ticker List click the lt Add All button 4 Click lt View to see the companies on the list X Y Scatter Plot Display and Summary A regression line is fit to a Scatter Plot Next to the graph the X Y Scatter Plot summary is displayed The summary section displays regression statistics estimated alpha estimated beta R squared the size of the active universe number of cases non N A values and Low and High for the X and Y values Manipulating X Y Scatter Plot Display You can zoom in to the specific parts of the chart exclude some tickers from the plot or add some companies to the Output Ticker List To perform any of these tasks follow these steps 1 At the X Y Scatter Plot display place your cursor at the area you want to analyze 2 Click the left mouse button ho
2. Using Research Wizard Version 4 0 Copyright 2001 Zacks Investment Research Inc Contents Introduction 1 Research Wizard 4 0 OVCrVieW ccccccciceccteee cette eeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeteccaaeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 1 Using Research Wizard o cceeccseeeeee eee eeeecaeeee eens eeeeeeaaaeeeeeeeeeedecaaaaaaaaeeeseeeeeeeenaaaes 1 Guided Tour 2 Getting Started in Research Wizard ccccccccececteeeeeeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeeteecaaeaaaeeeeeeeettees 2 Parts of Research Wizard cccccccceeeeeeeeeecneeeeeeeeeeeecaaaeeeeeeeeettaeeeaaaeeeeeeeeteeenaaaes 3 Navigating in Research WiZard ccccceeccecccceeeeeeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeteeceeceiaeeeeeeeeennees 3 Report Export Options arnee a i a aaa Aa Eo ATECA aio idiari Ee 3 Exporting to ExXCelesasiietisessiosdncpetens vesisdamnesivtseveieyeesdaclebsseesssaseevecnciecro evens 3 Exporting to Text FilOS csissssovenoeters seviesecteesiee eeedbeeneieaieierssneseresceieoeneee 3 Print Options in Research Wizard 0 ccecceceneee cece eeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeetecaaaeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeesaaaes 4 ANAIEI ENED O EEEE EE EE EE E E E E TTT 4 Printing REPOS makap e aa a AN N Aa riaa INIA 4 Using Mouse in Research Wizard 0 ccecccceneeeeeeeeeeececcaaeeeeeeeeeteecaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeteenaaaes 4 Screening Quick Start Guide neeeeeeeeseeeneeessesseerrrntssesnternnetssesrrosrrennnnsssesrrennnnne 4 How to Save Tickers After Screening esesssseerrrsesssesrrnrrssssrrrrnrernnnesens
3. ltem Date a1 06 2000 i 4 Select the M Industry Aggregate category from the Function Category list 5 Select the desired aggregate from the Function Name list and click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box 6 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports M Industry Aggregate To add a calculated item to the report using the M Industry Aggregate functions follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed 2 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button 46 Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 7 8 At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 11703720 K
4. Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Ordinal Ranking To add a calculated item to the report using the Ordinal Ranking follow these steps ou 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed 2 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button 3 At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes 50 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 8 9 Function Parameters ltem Date fi 92 fi 1 03 20 From the Function Category list click Rank and then select the desired Ordinal ranking Full Universe Industry or Sector from the Function Name list At the Additional Parameters menu select a ranking order ascending or descending from the Rank Order pull down menu Additional Parameters Rank Order Descending Click the Add Selected Functio
5. Clear the Screening Criteria only b Clear both the Screening Criteria and the Repot Definition tables c Clear the Repot Definition table only To Clear Screening Criteria Only 1 From the Screen menu select the Clear Criteria command or click the Clear Criteria button 2 The message Would you like to clear the Report Definition will appear Click No 3 Only the screening criteria will be removed To Clear both Screening Criteria and Report Definition Tables 1 From the Screen menu select the Clear Criteria command or click the Clear Criteria button 2 The message Would you like to clear the Report Definition will appear Click Yes Screening Basic Steps e 19 3 The Screening Criteria and the Report Definition tables will be emptied To Clear Repot Definition Table Only 1 From the Report menu select the Clear Report Definition command 2 The Report Definition table will be emptied Viewing Active Universe After running a screen you can view the list of companies that passed your criteria To view the active tickers follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the View Edit Active Tickers command or click the View Edit Ticker List button 2 The Ticker List dialog box will appear containing the companies that passed your screening criteria 3 You can save the companies that passed your screening criteria in the Ticker List by clicking the Save button How to Save Tickers Af
6. Company K 34 11 10 9 Company L 32 12 10 10 Carefully specify your ranking order when working with the items for which the low values are better then the higher ones For example Broker Ratings will range from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell Calculation Expression Moving Average Using Moving Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the Moving function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear 2 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button 3 At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes 54 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Additional Parameters mm l Number of Periods From the Function Category list click Moving Average and then select the desired function from the Function Name list At the Additional Parameters menu select type the number of periods to be used in the moving calculation in the Number of Intervals box r Additional Par
7. From the operators pull down menu select the less than lt operator In the value entry box type 15 and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the Valuation sub category From the tem list choose the Price Fundamentals category and highlight the Price Book Common Equity item Double click the Price Book Common Equity item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the less than lt operator In the value entry box type 1 and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the Return on Investments sub category From the tem list choose the Return on Equity ROE category and highlight the ROE Most Recent 12 month item Double click the ROE Most Recent 12 month item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the greate
8. M Time Period Rating Line 2 Alignment ealGuletion HHHOO Cancel 3 Modify the parameters for your report and click OK Center Justify Modifying Calculated Item 1 Open the report definition you want to edit The Report Definition table will fill up 2 From the Report Definition table highlight the calculated item you want to modify and double click it or right click your mouse on that item to bring up the Edit menu and select the Modify option The Modify Column dialog box will appear where item formula will be noted i Modify Column DBDA dbem i 6 dbdp i 6 Column Name Column Format dbem i 6 dbdp i 6 Line 1 Line 2 Alignment Calculation Center Justify Cancel 3 Click the Calculation button if the calculation expression was build using database that is not currently active you will be prompted to switch to that database The Calculation Expression dialog box will appear Make the necessary changes there and click OK Cut Edit Report Menu To cut a report item follow these steps 1 Open the report definition you want to edit The Report Definition table will fill up 2 Highlight the data item you want to cut Research Wizard 4 0 Report Writing Basic Steps e 25 3 From the Report menu select the Edit Report Definition command and select the Cut option You can then paste or insert the item anywhere in the report d
9. Research Wizard has a sample Ticker List myportf txt Creating Ticker Lists Research Wizard works with special portfolio file called a Ticker List A Ticker List is a text tab delimited file with one column of data companies tickers There are several ways you can create a Ticker List You can save the companies that passed your screening criteria or you can manually enter the ticker symbols to the Ticker List To manually create a Ticker List follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the Enter New Ticker List command or click the New Ticker List button The Ticker List dialog box will appear Ticker List 5 companies Full Universe 6322 companies AOL Add Ticker Search o Add List J Company i Company GENL ELECTRIC AMERICA ONLINE INTL BUS MACH AURORA FOODS COCA COLA CO SMITH 40 CORP AT amp T CORP AMPCO PITTSBRGH YAHOO INC APACHE CORP APAC TELESERVIC APA OPTICS ANADARKO PETROL AMER POWER CONV AUTO PROTECTION AIR PRODS amp CHE APEX PC SOLUTS AMER PAC CORP Save As Apply Cancel Ticker List dialog box In the Ticker box type a ticker symbol Click Add Ticker or press Enter To view the list of all available companies use the scroll bar to browse the Full Universe selection Select a company from the list and click lt lt Add 5 After all of your tickers have been entered click Save As and then Apply to make
10. Supiises and SUE 74 P E using F 2 Estimate 35 14 Estimate Revisions 646 P E using 12 mo forward EPS Estimate 39 93 Growth P E Ratios using EPS Actuals EPS Projected 76 PE using 12 month EPS 47 74 EPS Historical Sales 78 P E 12 month 5 year High 43 92 Net Income Dividend and Book Ratios Dividend and Payout ctual Fiscal Year Estimates 79 P E 12 month 5 year Low 124 P E 12 month 5 year Average 509 P E Curent 5 year High 510 P E Curent 5 year Low 511 P E Curent 5 year Average P E Ratios relative to the S amp P Index 73 Rel P E using F 1 Estimate 75 Rel P E using F 2 Estimate 77 Rel P E using 12 month EPS i IP E using 12 month forward EPS Estimate Close 14 39 27 19 0 96 3 32 1 76 154 81 141 32 160 27 Company Data display Screening Basic Steps e 13 14 e Screening Basic Steps Viewing Single Item Statistics Sometimes before defining your screening criteria you want to have a visual impression of how the companies in the full universe are distributed making it easier to determine appropriate operators and values for screening To view single item statistics follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select Item Summary The Item Summary window appears This window contains the following item statistics for the full universe e High the highest value for the item in the universe e Low the lowest value for t
11. rates and sales ratios e Quarterly Ratios amp Turnover Rates Assets Liabilities ratios turnover rates and sales ratios Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Return on Equity Reports There are two Return on Equity reports presented annually for the last 5 years and quarterly for the last 8 quarters These reports use the extended DuPont model ROE Decomposition The ROE Decomposition model measures company s profitability and helps to relate and interpret the financial ratios for asset management debt management and profitability It also calculates return on shareholder equity ROE After Tax Profit Margin x Total Asset Turnover x Equity Multiplier The reports in this category include e Annual Return on Equity ROE Decomposition 5 years e Quarterly Return on Equity ROE Decomposition 8 quarters Risk Rating Bankruptcy Reports In addition we have included two Risk Rating Bankruptcy reports presented annually for the last 5 years and quarterly for the last 8 quarters These reports show what the company would be worth upon liquidation The Net Liquidation Value is the amount that could be realized by selling the assets of a firm after paying the debt The reports in this category include e Annual Risk Rating Bankruptcy Report displays annual growth rates and components of the Net Liquidation Value e Quarterly Risk Rating Bankruptcy Report displays quarterly growth rates and components of the Net L
12. section and right click your mouse Select the Add Database Item to Report command from the menu Running Reports To run an existing report follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Open Report Definition command The Report Definition dialog box will appear Saved reports usually appear in the zir inputs folder and have extension rpd 2 Select a report and click Open The Report Definition table will fill up 3 Click Run Query to display the report The Research Wizard includes several pre formatted sample reports EZ Screen Quick Start Guide Click the EZ Screen button from the Research Wizard display to access the EZ Screen menu The EZ Screen has thirteen pre selected items and six pre defined criteria You assign the Priority rank A Priority rank 1 13 determines the order in which the software will run the screen The default priority is from top to bottom You may want to include only few items for your screening by selecting values from the six criteria options If you want to include an item in your screen select a criterion and its value from the Criteria pull down menu If you do not want an item to be in your screen leave its Criteria option box as Not Applicable After making your selections click the Run button to perform the screen and generate a report The EZ Screen reports will include all thirteen items shown in the menu Alerts Quick Start Guide Select the Alerts button from the Re
13. 2 Select a report and click OK The Report Definition table will fill up 3 Click Run Query to display the report The Research Wizard has several sample pre formatted reports 28 e Report Writing Basic Steps Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Adding Removing Indices Options in Reports By default every report includes data for S amp P 500 S amp P Industrial and DJIA Indices at the top of the report You can add or remove these indices by clicking Indices from the report output Data menu Research Wizard File Graphics Data Script Internet Tools Help BE EI S amp P Indl gt aex wal oela aalala 30 passed T S amp P 500 SPAL 1 341 77 Dow Jones Indl INDU 10 470 20 Current Price SPIN 1 604 83 Adding Titles to Reports To add title to your report type the desired name in the provided report Title section at the report output menu remember to save the report definition Le E Research Wizard File Graphics Data Script Internet Tools Help Bile Es 30 passed Title Line 1 lt ela pelne aalala Projected EPS Growth Title Line 2 Report Writing Basic Steps e 29 Working with Portfolios 30 e Working with Portfolios Ticker List Overview Research Wizard allows you to select and save group of tickers as a portfolio called a Ticker List A Ticker List is a text tab delimited file that contains a column of ticker symbols
14. 21366 8457 4 0 21 367 21366 8457 0 0 21 366 8 21366 8457 4 0 00 21 366 85 1 839 0 2 1 839 0 0 1 8 1 839 0 00 1 84 Format Result Text Upper UPPERCASE Text Lower lowercase Text Default Title Case Numbers Format columns can be formatted to display numbers with zero one or more decimal places and use the 1000 separator can also apply currency percent and comma styles to the numbers The following table explains the column formats You Text Capitalization Format there are three additional column format options available for the text items Time Period used to change item s period available for time series items only Calculation used to change the calculation for the custom item Calculation Expression Modify Edit Report Menu The report item can be a database item or a calculated item This will determine the additional edit options Modifying Database Item 1 Open the report definition you want to edit The Report Definition table From the Report Definition table highlight the item you want to modify and double click it or right click your mouse on that item to bring up the Edit menu and select the Modify option The Modify Column dialog box will appear where item number and database association are noted Research Wizard 4 0 i Modify Column DBZHE i57 Column Name Column Format avg Broker Line 1 H0 00
15. 24 Other Key Measures Year Beta 1 64 Current Avg PE 12Mo 42 4 42 5 Shareholder Data Rel P 141 ata Shares Out 3064 0 MMINet Margin 13 5 5 STR BUY HOLD SELL STR Institutions 13 00 ROE 36 7 471 Bue SELL insiders 28 3 00 2 50 Teee E 2 00 f 4 1 50 1 00 0 50 0 00 SURPRISE REVISION 4 4 4 pHONPAWONE industry Comparables amp P 500 Pr Chg P EPSGr Prices Price Price Ret Div Net Debt ndusty 179 YTD 12Mo 5Yr Est Book Sales CF P Yield Margin ROE Cap UCENT TECHINC 29 42 4 23 120 44 29 0 0 56 01 13 0 37 23 DUSTRY AVG 1466 26 48 34 2 10 55 10 0 10 5 6 0 30 0 12 ompanies in industry group 11 1 24 57 Latest Splits 04 05 99 2 000 0402 48 2 000 Ex Div Date 11 01 99 Zacks Company Report Zacks Performance Rank Research has shown that one of the most powerful forces driving a stock performance is change in earnings estimates from brokerage analysts The Zacks Rank also called Zacks Rating is a Snapshot Reports e 99 100 Snapshot Reports short term trading indicator based primarily on the momentum of revisions in analysts earnings estimates The ranking ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has been shown to be an accurate predictor of stock price performance relative to the market fo
16. 4 0 Snapshot Reports Research Wizard 4 0 Tel Snapshot Snapshot Report Options Click the Snapshot button from the Research Wizard display to access the Company Reports menu There you can perform several tasks Access Zacks Company Snapshot Access Expanded Company Reports Access Zacks Integrated Company Analysis application Print Snapshot for Active Tickers Enter Ticker aol Zacks Company Snapshot C Expanded Company Reports Integrated Company Analysis Print Snapshot for Active Tickers Conce Company Reports menu Working with Zacks Company Snapshot The Zacks Company Snapshot is a single company report featuring company description actual and estimated EPS company vs industry ratings fundamental data broker recommendations and price charts Accessing Zacks Company Snapshot To access Zacks Company Snapshot follow these steps 1 Atthe Research Wizard main menu click the Snapshot button 2 Atthe Company Reports menu type a ticker symbol into the Enter Ticker box and check the Zacks Company Snapshot radio button 3 Click OK to display the report Snapshot Reports e 97 98 e Snapshot Reports Printing Zacks Company Snapshot Reports for Active Tickers You can print Zacks Company Snapshot report for tickers that passed your screen or are in your Active Ticker List To print Snapshot reports for all tickers that passed your screen follow these steps 1 Aft
17. 5 Creating Repon Sama tonoa eS ee a et a ee tate whale 5 Running RE POMS 24 0 55 eo Oe ee Oe ee es aoe it tiie 6 EZ Screen Quick Start Guide ccc cceccceccceneee cece eeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeetecaaaeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 6 Alerts Quick Start Guide 0 2 0 2 cccccceeeeeeecccneeee eter eeeeeaaaeeeeeeeetteaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeseeeneaaaeeeeees 6 Snapshot Quick Start GUIdG 0 0 2 2 eee eee eee e eter eee deere eee eter eet aaaeeeeee ett 7 Link to Integrated Company AnalySis ccccccccecceeteeeeeeeeeeeectaeeeeeeeeeeneee 7 Screening Basic Steps 8 Overview of Research Wizard Screening Process cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeeetees 8 SCFESNING M n asra ia aa aa ne a EAER 8 Selecting Databases seeeeseosssereeesseeetrrttsserttnnnntsserntnnntnnnntssesrnennnnnt 8 Available Zacks Databases cccececeeeeeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeeeeecaaaeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeesaaaes 9 Zacks Database Concepts ssssesssseeneessessretrrttssestittrnnttasttnrennnesnnanasernnennnnnnsent 10 Understanding Data Time Periods ccccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeecneeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaes 10 Specifying Data Periods ccscccceeeeeeeeencneeeeeeeeteeeenaaeeeeeeeeeeeeteeesiaaaeeeeees 12 Item Frequency Codes ccccccceceeeccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeteeciaaaeeeeeeeeeeeetneea 12 Fiscal Periods Abbreviations cccceccceeeeeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeesectaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeteed 13 Viewing Data in Research WIZard cccc
18. Click Save when done Running Scripts To run a previously saved script follow these steps 1 From the Script menu select the Run Script command 2 At the Research Wizard Script dialog box select the script file and click Open Editing Scripts To edit a previously saved script follow these steps 1 From the Script menu select the Edit Script command 2 At the Research Wizard Script dialog box select the script file and click Open 3 At the Script window make the desired changes to the script To remove a line from the Script section highlight it and click the Remove button 4 Save your script 72 e Working with Scripts Research Wizard 4 0 Screening Examples Research Wizard 4 0 Basic Screening The following examples will introduce you to the screening basics Before running each screen clear both the Screening Criteria and Report Definition tables unless otherwise noted Screening for Investable Universe Using the Current Market database DBCM of over 6 500 companies let s narrow down our investable universe to include companies with the market cap over 500 million and that are followed by at least 3 analysts Define a screen for stocks with a market capitalization above 500 million 1 From the list of Categories choose a Company category and then the sub category Size and Share Volume 2 From the Items section choose the Company Size category and highlight the Market Value
19. Fiscal Year yyyymm Growth 12 Month Trailing EPS Projected 34 12 month EPS Before NRI share 6 Qtr EPS Historical Quarterly Sales 28 EPS Before NRI share Quarterly 9 Qtr Net Income 29 Last Reported Fiscal Quarter yyyymm ible at chore lat5 Dividend and Book 30 Last Completed Fiscal Quarter yyyymm ears diluted EPS excludes extras Ratios EPS Report Dates 5 a 9 ee ae Dividend and Payout 154 Last EPS Report Date yyyymmdd 9 Qtr po oiler tees erini adjustments and above the line items classified by Zacks as 189 Next EPS Report Date yyyymmdd Return on Investment Turnover Leverage Liquidity Valuation Margins Income Statement Balance Sheet EPS Fiscal Year Estimates Fiscal Quarter Estimates nd OK Cancel 4 Double click the item to select it and click OK 5 After specifying the axes click Plot The X Y Scatter Plot will displayed XY Scatter Plot i MEE AxisX ltem 28 EPS Before NAI share Quarterly E Ear Reset Axis Y ltem 6 Month end Price El G Active Print Output Ticker List Optional a _ view lt AddAl Axis X 28 EPS Before NRI share Quarterly Active Universe Axis Y 6 Month end Price 100 Number of Cases 100 A Estimated Alpha 34 9847 B Estimated Beta 30 8441 R Squared 0 2154 Axis X Low 0 77 High 1 96
20. Industry z Median z 0 80 Compare to Value Number Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 OK Cancel 7 The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Next you would like to include only stocks that pay dividends To do this screen for stocks with a current dividend yield above 0 8 From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the Dividend and Payout sub category 9 From the tem list choose the Dividend Ratio category and then highlight the Current Dividend Yield item 10 Double click the Current Dividend Yield item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button 11 The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the greater than gt operator In the value entry box type 0 and click OK And he Current Dividend Yield p ti fo Compare to Value Number C Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 12 The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table 13 Next click the Run Query button to run the screen and view the companies that meet our criteria Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Screening for
21. M Industry using Ordinal Rank MindHstRank Classifies companies in the M Industry using Histogram Rank MindUnRank Classifies companies in the M Industry using Uniform Rank SecOrdRank Classifies companies in the Sector using Ordinal Rank SecHstRank Classifies companies in the Sector using Histogram Rank SecUnRank Classifies companies in the Sector using Uniform Rank Selecting Ranking Order When specifying your ranking method you will be asked to select the ranking order Ascending or Descending This selection will specify whether the highest numerical value of the ranked item will be ranked highest ascending order or lowest descending order For example an ascending order rank Working with Calculation Expressions e 53 of raw values 47 and 44 might be 10 and 9 respectively A descending order rank would assign 47 a 1 and 44 a 2 In Research Wizard there is an assumption that 1 is the best Rank The descending order will assign low rank numbers to high values Ascending order will assign low ranks to low values Example Rank on Market Value Company Market Cap Ordinal Histogram Descending Uniform Descending mil Descending Decile Decile Company A 82 798 1 1 1 Company B 56 098 2 4 1 Company C 53 640 3 4 2 Company D 13 715 4 9 3 Company E 6 297 5 10 4 Company F 1 063 6 10 5 Company G 626 7 10 6 Company H 58 8 10 6 Company 48 9 10 7 Company J 41 10 10 8
22. Ordinal Ranking 0 cc08 50 Using Rank Functions Uniform or Histogram Ranking in Screening Calculation Expression nrin a eaaa 51 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Uniform or Histogram Ranking 52 Research Wizard 4 0 Available Rank Functions ccccccccccceccceecseeeceeeeceeeeceeueeeeaeseeaeseeaaseeaeenaues 53 Selecting Ranking Order ccccecceceeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeeeecaaaeeeeeeeeseeccaaeeeeeeeeees 53 Calculation Expression Moving Average ccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennneeeeeeeesesenncneeeeeeeenees 54 Using Moving Functions in Screening Calculation Expression 000 54 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Moving Functions 55 Available Moving FUunctions c cccccceeeeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeeeeecaeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeaaaaes 56 Calculation Expression Miscellaneous ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeccnneeeeeeeeeeeeencaeeeeeeeeeenees 56 Using Miscellaneous Functions in Screening Calculation Expression 56 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Miscellaneous Functions 57 Available Miscellaneous Functions cececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeees 58 Calculation Expression Custom Aggregates Ranks sccceeeeeeeeettteeeeeeeeete 58 Using Custom Aggregates Ranks Functions in Screening Calculation EXPlOSSION inna a a a a aSa arinari ORERE a eii 58 Available Custom Aggregates Ranks FUNCtions cccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeees 59 Backtesting 6
23. Q 1 Q 0 Est EPS Gr Q 2 Q 1 Est EPS Gr Q 3 Q 2 Est EPS Gr O 4 Q 3 Quarterly Qtr same qtr yr ago Est EPS Gr Q 1 Q 3 Est EPS Gr Q 2 Q 2 Est EPS Gr O 3 0 1 xl 96 passed 5Yr Hist EPS Gr Aw Aw SHHHO 0 00 0 00 0 00 1072372000 3 53 PM The Research Wizard main menu 2 e Guided Tour Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Parts of Research Wizard The following is a description of the Research Wizard display elements and access buttons Title Bar the bar at the top of the Research Wizard window Menu Bar a list of menu names displayed below the title bar of Research Wizard Menu a pull down list of commands Command a function or action chosen from a pull down menu Toolbar a bar containing tools buttons that when chosen with the mouse pointer produce a function or action Access Buttons EZ Screen Alerts Snapshot and Run Query EZ Screen a quick way to select companies using 13 pre EZScreen selected screening criteria Alerts pre formatted reports that highlight several price driving events alerting you to possible future price changes Snapshot access to over 15 pre formatted single company Snapshot reports Run Query execute your search and report commands g a Run Query Navigating in Research Wizard Use the BACK and FORWARD buttons on the Research Wizard toolbar to switch between
24. Select the M Industry Aggregate category from the Function Category list Select the desired aggregate from the Function Name list and click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available M Industry Aggregate Functions MindSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MIndMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindNum Returns the Number of Companies in the Industry in the Full Universe MindStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry Calculation Expression Sector Aggregate Using Sector Aggregate Functions in Sc
25. a sass eens eae 21 Creating New Repon Sunsara a a a A RE EEE 21 Research Wizard 4 0 Contents e i ii e Contents Creating Reports for Existing Portfolio ssssssssssssssesseesesssseeesseeseeeeaes 21 Editing Report Definitions cccccceccccceneeeee eee eeeecccaeeeeeeeeeeeeccaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeteescaeeeeeees 22 Adding Items to Report ceeccceeceeeeeeeeeeeecneeeeeeeeeeeeecaaeeeeeeeeesececaaeeaaeeeeees 22 Editing Report Definitions OVerview cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeteeestsaeeeeeees 22 Clearing Report Definition 00 ccccecccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeteecscaaeeeeeeeenees 27 Sorting and Organizing Reports cccccccceccceeeeeeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeeeccaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeteee 27 Organize Report Options ccssssssssssessssssesssesseeeeeseseeseeesesseeeseeeeeeeeeess 27 OrganiZing REPOMts sesse aroro oiai 28 Sorting REPOMS i a aa a aaaineeancnanuneeaelvaaasaaenentpeaeves 28 Running Existing Reports ssseeesssessserreessssssrerrntssserrrnnnnesssernrenrnnnssenssent 28 Adding Removing Indices Options in Reports ssseeseeeeeeeeeeesererrnreeseseees 29 Adding Titles to Reports cccecceeeeeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeeeeecaeeeeeeeeeeeeenaaeeaaeeeeees 29 Working with Portfolios 30 TICKER EIS OVGIWIOW sonnn bunan a e ebe ee 30 Creating NEKET ISIS GEnERNENRNNNANNNANNNANNNENANNNNN NNN Suire 30 Selecting Vicker ListS ccicisisssisanceceizesssezivaverecieeesaspisavacisiteeeaseisane
26. companies in the X Sector SecMean Calculates the Sector Mean value for the selected item forthe companies in the X Sector SectMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector SecHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector Working with Calculation Expressions e 37 SecLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector SecNum Returns the Number of Companies in the Industry in the X Sector SecStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector Rank Classify companies within the full universe or corresponding Zacks Sector X or M Industry AllOrdRank Classifies companies in the Full Universe using Ordinal Rank AllHstRank Classifies companies in the Full Universe using Histogram Rank AllUnRank Classifies companies in the Full Universe using Uniform Rank XIndOrdRank Classifies companies in the X Industry using Ordinal Rank XIndHstRank Classifies companies in the X Industry using Histogram Rank XIndUnRank Classifies companies in the X Industry using Uniform Rank MIndOrdRank Classifies companies in the M Industry using Ordinal Rank MindHstRank Classifies companies in the M Industry using Histogram Rank MindUnRank Classifies com
27. difference between the previous and current rating For example if the previous rating for a stock was 3 3 Sell and the subsequent rating is 2 5 Hold the difference 3 3 2 5 is a positive 0 8 lt Indicates a downgrade with the negative from 0 9 to 0 1 difference between the previous and current rating For example if the previous rating for a stock was 1 3 Buy and the subsequent rating is 2 0 Buy the difference 1 3 2 0 is a negative 0 7 NEW Denotes the initial recommendations issued by an analyst for the stock gt Win Analyst s historical recommendation accuracy calculated as the percent of the selected analyst s buy or sell recommendations that outperformed an equal weighted industry index gt Rating Date date of the recommendation or a revision date The Full Universe parameter is not available for this report Top Analyst Recommendations This report provides recommendations from the historically most accurate analysts for each stock in your portfolio Zacks uses two measures to evaluate an analyst s ability to rate stocks Win Percentage and Excess Return A Win is recorded for each analyst s recommendation that beats the performance of an equal weighted industry index for all buy and sell ratings Ties are broken by measuring how much the average buy recommendation was in excess of the average industry performance In addition to the analysts historical accuracy Win th
28. e 91 92 e Alerts for the corresponding Zacks Medium Industry The report also shows the difference in these ratings To compute the average recommendation Zacks uses a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents a Strong Buy and 5 represents a Strong Sell Change in Average Recommendations This report shows the percent change in the average broker recommendation for a specified time period one or four weeks for each stock in your portfolio or universe Also included are new and old recommendations To compute the average recommendation Zacks uses a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents a Strong Buy and 5 represents a Strong Sell The positive percent change indicates an improvement in the average ratings for example a change from 1 73 to 1 63 is a positive 6 25 The negative percent change indicates a worsening in the average ratings for example a change from 2 93 to 3 07 is a negative 4 72 Change in Analyst Recommendations This report shows the changes in the individual analyst ratings for the stocks in your portfolio You can specify the time period for the ratings changes The default is set to the last 30 days If during the specified time period there were no changes in the analyst recommendations for any stock in your portfolio that particular stock will not appear in the report The Change in Analyst Recommendations report includes gt Rating SB Strong Buy for ratings 1 0 B Buy for ratings between 1 1 an
29. folder is zir output 3 Click Save Print Options in Research Wizard Print options in Research Wizard include Printer Setup and Print Report Printer Setup To select or modify printer options select the Printer Setup command from the File menu Printing Reports To enable the Print Report option you have to run a report first To print the report select the Print Report command from the File menu or click the Print Report button Using Mouse in Research Wizard Right clicking your mouse in specific areas of the interface of Research Wizard allows you to perform the following functions 1 To screen by a database item to add a database item to the report or view item s summary right click your mouse on that item inside the tems section at the main menu 2 To get the Zacks Company Snapshot report or a direct link to the Integrated Company Analysis module for the selected company right click your mouse on that company while at the report output display 3 To get the Edit menu in the Screening Criteria or Report Definition tables right click your mouse while in the corresponding table at the main menu Screening Quick Start Guide To begin the screening process follow these steps 1 From the list of Categories choose a category and then highlight a data item from the list of Items 2 Double click the selected database item alternatively select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen men
30. frame specified in your backtest is outside the holding period span you will see the results only for the completed holding periods For example if on July 6 1999 you specified a 24 week holding period with the time period set from 7 11 1997 to 6 25 1999 you will see 5 period returns with the period five dated 5 14 1999 the last complete 24 week period up to the current date Backtesting e 61 62 e Backtesting DBCM Items Not Suitable for Backtesting Error 1001 There are some DBCM items that are not suitable for backtesting If these items are included in the screen definition the Research Wizard will produce an Error message 1001 Backtest Failed followed by the Query Error message The Research Wizard does not allow to backtest screens that include the following DBCM items Est One Year EPS Growth F 1 F 0 item 529 Est Two Year EPS Growth F 2 F 0 item 531 12 Mo Forward Estimate 12 Mo Actual item 645 Est YTD EPS Gr Q 1 YTD Year ago item 636 Est YTD EPS Gr Q 2 YTD Year ago item 637 Est YTD EPS Gr Q 3 YTD Year ago item 638 Est YTD EPS Gr Q 4 YTD Year ago item 639 Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 1 Year ago item 533 Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 2 Year ago item 534 Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 3 Year ago item 535 Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 4 Year ago item 536 Est EPS Gr Q 1 Q 0 item 547 Est EPS Gr Q 2 Q 1 item 548 Est EPS Gr Q 3 Q 2 item 549 Est EPS Gr Q 4 Q 3 item 5
31. in Consensus 13 o o o Compare to Value Number C Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 12 The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table 13 Next click the Run Query button to run the investable universe definition screen When you have executed the screen your active universe will consist of only those tickers that meet all of your screening criteria and the Screening Criteria table will show the number of tickers passed the screen Screening on Stocks vs their Industry Continue from the previous example Now that we have defined our investable universe let s find companies that have an EPS growth that is above the median for their Industry and for which analysts are revising their estimates If you are at the Report display click the Back button to return to the main menu Define a screen for stocks that have an EPS growth above their X Industry median 1 From the list of Categories select the Growth category and then the EPS Projected sub category 2 From the tem list choose the Trend category and highlight the Next 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr item 3 Double click the Next 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button 4 The Screen By dialog box will appear From the o
32. in an item s time series are determined by the database end Date and the item s frequency For example a fiscal quarterly EPS series will start with the last completed fiscal quarter before the End Date Fiscal annual EPS data will start with the most recently completed company fiscal years as of the End Date Understanding Data Time Periods The data items in the Zacks databases can be time series items have multiple periods Period 1 in the Zacks databases is created as soon as the accounting period that it describes is complete For example on January 2 a firm with a December 31 fiscal year end will have period 1 earnings with a date of 12 31 In this case Period 1 for this item will be N A until the company releases its earnings several weeks later By default when you specify an item for the screen or a report the Research Wizard will select the first non N A value called period Recent This could be data from the previous accounting period in addition the time period in the screening and reporting menu is presented on calendarized basis To align all items by the same period you may want to use the specific period designations for your screens and reports such as 1 2 3 etc To add multiple periods you can also use choices Today meaning period 1 and Today N Periods select number of periods to go back Example using Quarterly Items On September 29 2000 DBCM i28 Actual EPS Q before NRI will have the calendari
33. in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Miscellaneous Functions To add a calculated item to the report using the Miscellaneous Functions follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 11703720 4 From the Function Category list select the Miscellaneous category Working with Calculation Expressions e 57 5 Next select the desired Miscellaneous function from the Function Name list and double click that function or click the Add Selected Function button The Calculation Expression will appear in the Calculation Expression da
34. in the X Sector e SectMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector e SecHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector e SecLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector e SecNum Returns the Number of Companies in the Industry in the X Sector e SecStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector Calculation Expression Rank Overview Ranking functions allow you to classify companies within the full universe or corresponding sector or industry The ordinal ranking algorithm will rank items by their values based on the number of tickers in the group The uniform ranking algorithm will place approximately equal numbers of companies in each fractile If there are several fractiles of companies with the same value for the variable selected they will be assigned a rank in the middle of the range they would otherwise fill The histogram ranking algorithm will create equal length intervals based on high and low values within each time period Histogram ranking shows the distribution of values on a selected item If an item has a wide range of values with a number of outliers this ranking method will have small numbers of companies in the top and bottom ranking and a large num
35. information on various Indexes The following table lists the available Indexes and corresponding ticker symbols Index Ticker Screening Examples e 83 Dow Jones Industrial Average INDU S amp P Industrial As Reported amp P MidCap 400 amp P SmallCap 600 Wilshire 5000 84 e Screening Examples Research Wizard 4 0 EZ Screen Research Wizard 4 0 How to Use EZ Screen Click the EZ Screen button from the Research Wizard display to access the EZ Screen menu The EZ Screen has thirteen pre selected Items and six pre defined Criteria You assign a Priority rank A Priority rank 1 13 determines the order in which the software will run the screen The default priority is from top to bottom You may want to include only few items for your screening by selecting values from the six criteria options If you want to include an item in your screen select a criterion and its value from the Criteria pull down menu If you do not want an item to be in your screen leave its Criteria option box as Not Applicable After making your selections click the Run button to perform the screen and generate a report The EZ Screen reports will include all thirteen items shown in the menu Item Criteria Priority Market Value mil Not Applicable A Zacks Rank Top 10 x fr Change Price 1 Week Not Applicable ad Change Price 4 Weeks Not Applicable hal Change Price YTD Not Applicable xy Average
36. mil item 3 Double click the Market Value mil item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button 4 The Screen By dialog box will be displayed From the operators pull down menu select the greater than gt operator 5 Inthe value entry box type the market capitalization 500 market cap item is in millions and click OK And Market Value mil p 7 500 Compare to Value Number C Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 OK Cancel 6 The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Next screen for the companies followed by at least 3 analysts 7 From the list of Categories select the EPS category and then the Fiscal Year Estimates sub category 8 From the tem list choose the Estimates for Current Fiscal Year category and highlight the F 1 Analysts in Consensus item 9 Double click the F 1 Analysts in Consensus item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button 10 The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the equal or greater than gt operator Screening Examples e 73 74 e Screening Examples 11 In the value entry box type 3 and click OK And be Fa Analysts
37. parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 11703720 lt From the Function Category list select the S amp P 500 Aggregate category Next select the desired S amp P 500 Aggregate function from the Function Name list and double click that function name or click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Working with Calculation Expressions e 43 7 8 Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available S amp P 500 Aggregate Functions e SPSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 e SPMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 e SPMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 e SPHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 e SPLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 e SPStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the S amp P 500 e SPMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the S amp P 500 Calculation Expression X Industry Aggregate Using X Industry Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screeni
38. return is a handy performance measure which could approximate the total annual return including dividends and capital appreciation an investor might achieve over the next several years provided the projected growth on EPS actually materializes and the P E ratio does not change Beta A stock s Beta is a statistical measure of its sensitivity to past market movements A stock with a beta of 1 5 has historically seen its price move up or down one and one half times the percentage change in the broader equity market Shareholder Data This section includes data on the number of shares outstanding and the percentage owned by Inside Management and Institutional Investors Some Institutional sponsorship is desirable because these large investors typically trade large blocks of stocks that can result in significant upward price movements However too high a level of Institutional ownership can increase a stock s downside risk because these large shareholders represent potential Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 sellers if something goes wrong at the company Significant ownership by corporate insiders is considered favorable because management s interests are then more closely aligned with other shareholders Fundamental and Technical data EPS P E and Growth Rates This section summarizes the company s recent Actual and Estimated EPS P E and Year to Year EPS Growth Rates Current and 5 year Average Data This section includ
39. t 2 etc that were dated before t by the broker but which had not yet been received on date t The F1 estimates in the backtest database are what was known on date t Understanding Backtest Output Report The Historical Performance of the Screen report shows a summary of the strategy and compares it with the specified benchmark It shows statistics such as portfolio return benchmark return and excess returns for entire time span and for individual periods It also displays how the investment strategy performed in up and down markets The Historical Performance of the Screen report contains the following data Historical Performance of Screen LG_GR from 04 11 1997 to 11 20 1998 12 week holding periods Companies Tot Return S amp P 500 Tot Excess Ret in Portfolio of Portfolio Retum of Screen 04 11 97 07 04 97 09 26 97 12 19 97 03 13 98 06 05 98 08 28 98 11 20 98 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Average Up Markets Down Markets Annualized Bactest Report Period displays the number of holding periods in your backtest This number will depend on the time span and the number of weeks in your holding period specifications Date identifies holding period end dates Companies In Portfolio number of companies passed the screen in each period Total Return of Portfolio the return of the portfolio comprised of stocks that passed the screening criteria for the period The ret
40. table right click the calculated item to display the Edit menu Alternatively you can double click the item 2 Select the Modify command The Calculation Expression dialog box will appear 3 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as and click OK At the Screen by menu enter your parameters and click OK 4 Save the screen definition Changing Calculated Items Name in Reports To rename a calculated item in the report definition follow these steps 1 Open the report definition At the Report Definition table right click the calculated item to display the Edit menu Alternatively you can double click the item Select the Modify command The Modify Column dialog box will appear At the Column Name section type the item name using if needed two lines for the names for example Sales to Average Working Capital Click OK 63 Modify Column OF x DBCM i80 i88 88 1 189 i89 1 2 Column Name Column Format Sales Sales to Average Line 1 working Capital Line 2 Alignment Default Left Justif Center Justify OK Cancel 4 Save the report definition Calculation Expression Parameters Overview The maximum number of characters for a calculation expression is 500 The maximum number of operands elements that can be used in a calculation expression is 60 The item name for a calculation expression
41. the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the P E sub category From the tem list choose P E Ratios using EPS Actuals category and highlight the P E using 12 month EPS item Double click the P E using 12 month EPS item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the less than lt operator In the value entry box type 15 and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Next click the Run Query button to run the screen and view the companies that meet our criteria Screening for Value Trailing 12 month P E lt 15 Price Book lt 1 and ROE gt 15 Screening Examples e 77 78 e Screening Examples 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the P E sub category From the tem list choose P E Ratios using EPS Actuals category and highlight the P E using 12 month EPS item Double click the P E using 12 month EPS item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear
42. the Research Wizard main interface and the report output display Report Export Options Once your reports have been displayed you can export the data to a variety of the file formats You can export the report data to Excel or save it in one of the following text file types text tab delimited formatted text space delimited or CSV comma delimited Exporting to Excel To export the report data to Excel after running a report from the Data menu select the Export to Excel command The Excel application will automatically start and the report will be displayed in the Export worksheet The default file name for the exported file is export csv in the comma delimited format If you want to use the exported file later remember to save it under the different name before exiting Excel Exporting to Text Files To export the report data to the text file after running a report follow these steps Guided Tour e 3 4 e Guided Tour 1 From the Data menu select the Export to Text command and then select from the following text file options e Select Text option to save the file in the Tab Delimited that is separated by tab characters format e Select Formatted Text option to save file in the Space Delimited separated by spaces format e Select CSV option to save file in the Comma Delimited separated by commas format 2 At the Save dialog box type the file name and specify the file location the default export
43. the newly created Ticker List active Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Selecting Ticker Lists To select a Ticker List follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the Open Ticker List command or click the Open Ticker List button The Ticker List dialog box will appear In the Look in box click the drive and folder that contains the Ticker List In the folder list double click folders until you open the folder that contains the Ticker List you want Double click the Ticker List you want to open Editing Ticker List Removing Tickers From Ticker List To remove tickers from the list follow these steps 1 3 Open the Ticker List and then select the View Edit Active Tickers command from the Portfolio menu or click the View Edit Ticker List button At the Ticker List dialog box highlight a ticker on the Ticker List and click Remove To delete all ticker from the list click Remove All Adding Tickers to Existing Ticker List To add tickers to the existing Ticker List follow these steps 1 3 From the Portfolio menu select the View Edit Active Tickers command or click the View Edit Ticker List button At the Ticker List dialog proceed with adding tickers to the list by entering them in the Ticker box After all of the tickers have been entered click Save Combining Several Ticker Lists To combine several Ticker Lists follow these steps 1 Open the first Ticker List a
44. 1 OVGIVIGW AEE EE E EEEE EEE LEE ETETE 61 Running Backtest eeeeeessseireresesssirrrrtstssrtinrnnttssstnrnnnnnsssneassttnnnnnnnsnnnt 61 Understanding Backtest Output Report sssssssssessssssssssrrrrrsssssrrrnnnnssssssnnns 63 Graphics 65 OVENI Wiretastic tent ai iat aaa aa agit eer in rar ery 65 Lg 2 bl 1 Fe 0 ert ee oc ee rte cae ee rere ree ee 65 Specifying Hot Maps cece eeecceeeee cece ee eeeecaee eee ee ee eeecaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesaaaeeeeees 65 XY Scatter PlOte Avon me a sree a a T etn a ee 66 Specifying Scatter Plots cccseeeeeeeeeeeeeccnee tsetse eeeeccaaeeeeeeeeeteeeteeenaaeeeeees 66 X Y Scatter Plot Display and SUMMAL ccceeeeeeeeeceteeeeeeeeeeeettaeeeeeees 68 Manipulating X Y Scatter Plot Display cccecsseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeeteee 68 Printing X Y Scatter Plotina nanenane iaaea aai aa aA E ES 69 Working with Scripts 70 Inirod C O M A AASA AA PATARENI EOS 70 Scripting Process Overview sssssssssserrsssssssrerssesrrtnrntssstnrennntsssettnensserrtnnnnnnssent 70 Available Script Operations ccccceceeeeeeeeeccceeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 70 Available Script Parameters c cccceeceeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeeeececaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 70 Creating New SCripts cccccccccceecseeeceeeeeeeteeeeceeeeeeeeeseeeecaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesaaaes 71 RUNNING SCIPS issiacecesctanssaissanateceaayadauaueemicasamsaiauauermicacamundauawencti EEE 72 EGITING SCHIPt
45. 50 Est EPS Gr Q 1 Q 3 item 537 Est EPS Gr Q 2 Q 2 item 538 Est EPS Gr Q 3 Q 1 item 539 Est EPS Gr Q 4 Q 0 item 540 Screening Criteria Not Suitable for Backtesting Error 1004 Screen Definitions that contain expressions EVERY or ANY cannot be backtested If the screen contains any of these expressions the Research Wizard will produce an Error message 1004 Bactest Failed followed by the Query Error message Data Limitations and Biases e The are two years of data available for the backtest e The backtest calculates the Total Return as Price Change Yield 52 Holding Period in weeks Since we are using 1 4 12 or 24 week holding periods the above Total Return is only an approximation but we think it is very close to the actual total return e The database used for Backtest has not been adjusted for splits However the backtest results are calculated using the Percent Change in Price item that is split adjusted Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 e The database used for Backtest contains only survivor companies it is created using the DBCM universe so all backtests using it have survivor bias e On the plus side the database used for Backtest is the only estimate database in existence that does not have a look ahead bias For example in other databases the Current Fiscal Year F1 estimates ona specific date t include estimates that were received on dates t 1
46. 9 CONSTRUCTION BUILDING SERVICES 30 CONGLOMERATES 38 AEROSPACE DEFENSE 39 COAL 40 ENERGY ALTERNATE SOURCES 41 OIL MACHINERY SERVICES DRILLING 42 OIL EXPLORATION amp PRODUCTION 43 OIL MISC 44 OIL INTEGRATED 45 OIL amp GAS PRODUCTION PIPELINE 46 BANKS MAJOR 47 BANKS amp THRIFTS 48 FINANCE 49 INSURANCE 50 INVEST BKRS MGRS 51 INVESTMENT FUND 52 REAL ESTATE 53 UTILITY ELEC PWR 54 UTILITY GAS DISTR 55 UTILITY TELEPHONE 56 UTILITY WATER SUPPLY 57 TRANSPORTATION AIR 58 TRANSPORTATION 59 BUSINESS SERVICE 70 UNCLASSIFIED Appendix e 105 1 ADVERTISING 2 AEROSP DEFENSE 3 AEROSP DEF EQ 4 AGRI OPERATIONS 5 APPLIANCE HSHLD 6 AUDIO VIDEO PRD 7 AUTO DOMESTIC 8 AUTO FOREIGN 9 RET WHL AUTO PT 10 AUTO TRUCK ORIG 11 AUTO TRUCK REPL 12 BANKS FOREIGN 13 BANKS MIDWEST 14 BANKS MONEY CTR 15 BANKS NORTHEAST 16 BANKS SOUTHEAST 17 BANKS SOUTHWEST 18 BANKS WEST 19 BEVERAGES ALCOH 20 BEVERAGES SOFT 21 BLDG amp CONST MISC 22 BLDG PRD AIR HT 23 BLDG PRD DRS amp TR 24 BLDG PRD LTG FX 25 BLDG PRD RT WHL 26 BLDG PRD WOOD 27 BLDG CMT CNT AG 28 BLDG HEAVY CNST 29 BLDG MAINT amp SV 30 BLDG MBL MFG amp RV 31 BLDG RSDNT COMR 32 BRDCST RADIO TV 33 CABLE TV 34 CHEM DIVERSIFD 35 CHEM FIBERS 36 CHEM PLASTICS 37 CHEM SPECIALTY 38 COAL 39 COMP GRAPHICS 40 COMP MAINFRAME 41 COMP MICRO 42 COMP PERIPH EQP 43 COMP SERVICES 44 COMP SOFTWARE 45 CONTNRS MTL GLS 46 CONTNRS PPR PLS 47 COSMETICS amp TLTRS 48 DIVERSIFIED OP
47. AL PRD DISTR 121 METAL PRD FSTRS 122 MOVIE TV PROD DISTR 123 CON PRD MISC DISCR 124 OFFICE AUTO amp EQP 125 OFFICE SPPL amp FRM 126 OIL US RYLTY TR 127 OIL FLD MCH amp EQP 128 OIL REFING amp MKTG 129 OIL C EXP amp PROD 130 OIL C INTEGRTD 131 OIL FIELD SVCS 132 OIL INTL INTGD 133 OIL INTL SPCLTY 134 OIL amp GAS DRILL 135 OIL PROD PIPELN 136 OIL US EXP amp PROD 137 OIL US INTEGRTD 138 COMP OPTICL REC 139 PAINTS amp REL PRDS 140 PAPER amp REL PRDS 141 PAPER BUS FORMS 142 PHOTO EQP amp SUPP 143 POLLUTION CNTRL 144 PREC MTLS JWLRY 145 PRINTING COMMRL 146 PROTECTION SFTY 147 PUBLSHG BOOKS 148 PUBLSHG NEWSPRS 149 PUBLSHG PRDCALS 150 REIT EQTY TRUST 151 REIT MTGE TRUST 152 REAL ESTATE DEV 153 REAL ESTATE OPS 154 RETAIL APP SHOE 155 RETAIL CATLG SH 156 RETAIL CONS ELC 157 RETAIL CNV STRS 158 RETAIL DISCOUNT 159 RETAIL DRUG STR 160 RETAIL RESTRNTS 161 RETAIL HOME FRN 162 RETAIL JEWELRY 163 RETAIL MAIL ORD 164 RETAIL MJR DEPT 165 RETAIL MISC DIV 166 RETAIL RGN DEPT 167 RETAIL SUPERMKT 168 RETAIL VENDING 169 RETAIL WHSL CMP 170 RUBBER amp PLASTICS 171 RUBBER TIRES 172 SCHOOLS 173 SHOES amp REL APPRL 174 SOAP amp CLNG PREPS 175 STEEL PIPE amp TUBE 176 STEEL PRODUCERS 177 STEEL SPECIALTY 178 TELECOMM SVCS 179 TELECOMM EQUIP 180 TEXTILE APPAREL 181 TEXTILE HME FRN 182 TEXTILE PRDUCTS 183 TOBACCO 184 TOOLS HAND HELD 185 TOYS GAME HOBBY 186 TRANS AIR FRGHT 187 TRANS AIRLINE 188 TRANS EQP a
48. AllSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AIIMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the Full Universe Calculation Expression S amp P 500 Aggregate Using S amp P 500 Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the S amp P 500 Aggregate function follow these steps 42 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Par
49. Broker Rating Not Applicable fy Last EPS Surprise Not Applicable ha Estimate Revisions Change F 1 4 Weeks Not Applicable v Growth EPS Projected Next Year F 1 F 0 fop E Growth EPS Projected Next 3 5 Years yr Not Applicable X PE to Growth Ratio PEG Not Applicable P E using F 1 Estimate Not Applicable xy Current Yield fp AT EZ Screen menu EZ Screen Functionality Overview The EZ Screen allows you to screen and generate reports using thirteen pre designated items based on six pre determined criteria This gives you a simplified point and click screening reporting access to the DBCM database EZ Screen e 85 86 e EZ Screen EZ Screen 13 Screening Items The screening items in the EZ Screen are as follows Market Value Market Capitalization in millions Current Price x Shares Outstanding Zacks Rank based on Zacks Indicator score The Zacks Indicator is a proprietary fundamental stock selection model which predicts stock price movements based on estimate revisions and EPS surprises 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy 3 Hold 4 Sell 5 Strong Sell N A Not available Price Change 1 Week Percentage price change for one week Price Change 4 Week Percentage price change for four weeks Price Change YTD Percentage price change for the year to date period Average Broker Rating The average of analyst ratings for company Strong Buy 1 Bu
50. Growth ROE gt 20 Estimated EPS Growth gt 20 and P E 12 month lt 15 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the Return on Investments sub category From the tem list choose the Return on Equity ROE category and highlight the ROE Most Recent 12 month item Double click the ROE Most Recent 12 month item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the greater than gt operator In the value entry box type 20 and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table From the list of Categories select the Growth category and then the EPS Projected sub category From the tem list choose the Trend category and highlight the Next 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr item Double click the Next 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the greater than gt operator In the value entry box type 20 and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below
51. PA A EA A a res On E a S E e e a5 35 38 38 40 i 1083 0 0 1800 0 0 1081 23 0 0 38 0 0 23 ltem Summary display Research Wizard 4 0 Tip Another way to access the Item Summary option is to follow these steps 1 Right click your mouse on the selected item inside the Items section on the Research Wizard main menu 2 Select the Item Summary option from the drop down menu Available Screening Operators Operator Meaning Oo eoa Top and Bottom operators refer to the value of a data item and do not imply qualitative characteristics of an item they just select the largest or the smallest value How to Screen Basic Concepts To begin the screening process follow these steps 1 From the list of Categories choose a category subcategory and then highlight a data item from the Items section 2 Double click the selected database item or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear i Screen By x And bd fe Change Price 4 Weeks gt x 20 Compare to Value Number Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 OK Cancel Screen by 20 Price Change in the last 4 weeks 3 At the Screen By dialog box enter the parameters for your screen You can compare the selected item to a Value any number or a Group If you are comparing to a specific Value enter that number into the value data entry box When you are comparing to a Group I
52. S 49 ELEC COMP SEMIC 50 ELEC MISC COMPN 51 ELEC MSRNG INST 52 ELEC PRODS MISC 53 ELEC CONNECTORS 54 ELEC PARTS DIST 106 Appendix Zacks X Expanded Industry Groups 55 ELEC MILITARY 56 ENERGY ALT SRCS 57 ENGINRG R amp D SVS 58 ENGINES INT CMB 59 FERTILIZERS 60 FIBER OPTICS 61 FIN CONS LOANS 62 FIN INVEST BKRS 63 FIN INVEST MGMT 64 FIN LEASING COS 65 FIN MTG amp REL SVS 66 FIN INVEST FUND 67 FIN SVGS amp LOAN 68 FIN SBIC amp COMMRL 69 FIN MISC SVCS 70 FOOD ITEMS WHLE 71 FOOD CANNED 72 FOOD CONFECTNRY 73 FOOD DAIRY PRDS 74 FOOD FLOUR amp GRN 75 FOOD MEAT PRODS 76 FOOD MISC DIVERS 77 FOOD SUGAR amp REFG 78 FUNERAL SVS amp REL 79 FURNITURE 80 GLASS PRODUCTS 81 HOTELS amp MOTELS 82 INDL AUTO RBTCS 83 INSTRU CONTROL 84 INSTRU SCIENTFC 85 INS ACC amp HLTH 86 INS BROKERS 87 INS LIFE 88 INS MULTI LINE 89 INS PROP amp CASLTY 90 LASERS SYS COMP 91 LEISURE amp REC PRD 92 LEISURE amp REC SVS 93 LINEN SPLY amp REL 94 MACH TLS amp RL PRD 95 MACH CONST MNG 96 MACH ELEC UTILS 97 MACH ELECTRICAL 98 MACH FARM 99 MACH GENL INDL 100 MACH MATL HDLG 101 MACH PRINT TRAD 102 MACH THRML PROC 103 MED INSTRUMENTS 104 MED PRODUCTS 105 MED BIOMED GENE 106 MED DRUGS 107 MED GENERIC DRG 108 MED HMO 109 MED HOSPITALS 110 MED NURSING HMS 111 MED OUTP HM CRE 112 MED WHSL DRG SN 113 MED DENTAL SUPP 114 MINING GOLD 115 MINING IRON 116 MINING MISC 117 MINING NON FERR 118 MINING SILVER 119 METAL PROC amp FABR 120 MET
53. S sissies daddies aetna ae eee 72 Screening Examples 73 Basie Screening taataan As hath oa at hack kaha upbunne noadeeseaeeepevents 73 Screening for Investable Universe ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeetteesnaeeeeeees 73 Screening on Stocks vs their INGUSIY cceceeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeeeteetaaeeeeeees 74 Screening ON TWO Criteria ccccceeeceeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeeecaaeeeeeeeeeseessnaeeeeeees 75 Screening for Growth 0 00 2 cece eeeeceeee cece eeeeeecnaeeeeeeeeceeeaaaaeeeeeeeeteescaaeeeeeeeeees 77 Screening for ValUC ececeeeececeneee cece eeeeeecaeeeeeeeeeeeecaaaaeeeeeeeeseescaeeaaaeeeeees 77 Using Historical Search Option ccccccceeeeeceeecceeeeeeeeeteeeecceeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 78 Examples of Advanced Screening and Reporting cccccccceecceteeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeees 79 Calculating New Items Using Existing Database Items ccceeeeees 79 How to Screen for Several INGUStIri S cccceeeceeeeeteeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeeeteed 80 Using Moving Functions in Reports 0 ccccccecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeecnneeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaes 80 Using Boolean And Calculations cccccccccccececeeeeeeeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaes 81 Using Boolean Or Calculations cccccccceceeeeccneeeeeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 82 Sample Son plir a E E a aa 83 Screening Reporting on Multiple Databases cccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 83 Using Ndex TICKETS aiaia ora aa sees seeded pisveisaanee
54. The calculation expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Using Calculation Expression in Reports To add a calculated item to the report follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight an item to be used in the calculation If the item has several time periods select the period from the pull down menu If you want to simply add the item click the Add Item button If necessary use additional operators If you want to use a function proceed to the Function Parameters selection and click lt Select the item number and period will be shown Function Parameters ltem Date fig2 11703720 RS Next select highlight the desired Function Category and select the function from the menu Some functions will have additional parameters that you will need to specify Click the Add Selected Function button when done Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as When the expression is complete click OK The calculated item will be added to the Report Definition table Working with Calculation Expressions e 33 Changing Calculated Items Name in Screens To rename a calculated item in the screen definition follow these steps 1 Open the screen definition At the Screening Criteria
55. Wizard click the Research Wizard button on your Windows taskbar 104 e Snapshot Reports Research Wizard 4 0 Appendix Research Wizard 4 0 List of Zacks Sector and Industry Designations The following is a list of Zacks X Expanded Industries Zacks Sectors and Zacks M Medium Industries designations Zacks X Expanded Sector Groups 0 Indices 9 Conglomerates 1 Consumer Staples 10 Computer and Technology 2 Consumer Discretionary 11 Aerospace 3 Retail Wholesale 12 Oils Energy 4 Medical 13 Finance 5 Auto Tires Trucks 14 Utilities 6 Basic Materials 15 Transportation 7 Industrial Products 16 Business Services 8 Construction 17 Unclassified Zacks M Medium Industry Groups 0 INDICES 31 COMPUTER OFFICE EQUIPMENT 1 APPAREL 32 COMPUTER SOFTWARE SERVICES 2 BEVERAGES 33 ELECTRONIC SEMICONDUCTORS 3 FOOD 34 ELECTRONICS 4 PUBLISHING 35 MISC TECHNOLOGY 5 SOAPS COSMETICS 36 TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT 6 TOBACCO 37 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 7 CONS PROD MISC STAPLES 8 HOME FURNISHING APPLIANCE 9 LEISURE SERVICE 10 MEDIA 11 PHOTO EQUIPMENT amp SUPPLIES 12 OTHER CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY 13 FOOD DRUG RETAIL W HOLESALE 14 NONFOOD RETAIL WHOLESALE 15 DRUGS 16 MEDICAL CARE 17 MEDICAL PRODUCTS 18 AUTOS TIRES TRUCKS 19 CHEMICALS amp FERTILIZER 20 METALS NON FERROUS 21 STEEL 22 PAPER 23 CONTAINERS amp GLASS 24 INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS SERVICES 25 MACHINERY ELECTRICAL 26 MACHINERY 27 POLLUTION CONTROL 28 BUILDING PRODUCTS 2
56. ameters Number of Periods E Click the Add Selected Function button to add the expression to the Expression Calculation box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Moving Functions To add a calculated item to the report using the Moving Average Function follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 11703720 i From the Function Category list click Moving Average and then select the desired function from the Function Name list Working with Calculation Expressions e 55 5 At the Additional Parameters menu select type the number of period
57. ameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes From the Function Category list select the S amp P 500 Aggregate category Next select the desired S amp P 500 Aggregate function from the Function Name list and double click that function name or click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports S amp P 500 Aggregate To add a calculated item to the report using the S amp P 500 Aggregate function follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function
58. and The Hot Maps chart will appear ie Research Wizard BEES Eile Graphics Internet Tools Help gt A a xf alele WANE a o a lt Most Attractive Least Attractive gt EAD www Ge Ux BAR AN PMO on Tf os Pr Done 11 5 99 2 46 PM Ui 2 Use the Back button to return to the main menu Graphics e 65 66 e Graphics Modifying Hot Maps Display The Hot Maps display can be organized to view the results as organized by Sector or Industry To modify the Hot Map display follow these steps 1 Atthe Research Wizard main menu click the Sort Organize button The Organize Sort window will be displayed 2 At the Organize by section select the desired organizational option and click OK Click the Run Query button From the Graphics menu select the Hot Maps command The modified Hot Maps chart will be displayed Hot Maps Organize Options The following Organize options can be used e Zacks X Expanded Industry e Zacks X Expanded Sector e Zacks M Medium Aggregate Industry e Organize by Zacks Expanded Sector and then by Expanded Industry designations e Organize by Zacks Expanded Sector and then by Medium Aggregate Industry designations If you do not want to have your report organized select None from the pull down menu X Y Scatter Plot Specifying Scatter Plots The X Y Scatter Plot feature produces a scatter plot of the values of any pair of database it
59. annualized EPS growth as of the last completed week EZScreen Categories Company L Descriptive Size and Share Volume Alerts Price and Price Changes Ratings rel Changes EPS Earnings Per Share SIGE Surprises and SUE Estimate Revisions ri Growth Run Query EPS Historical Sales Net Income Dividend and Book Ratios Dividend and Payout Return on Investment Tumover Leverage Liquidity amp Coverage Valuation Margins Income Statement Balance Sheet EPS Earnings Per Share Market Value mil Change Price YTD 5 Year Historical EPS Growth Next 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr n Market Ticker Cap mil Year to Date Est EPS Gr rate Company Ch Price Screening Criteria Report Definition Next 3 5 Yr Items Database DBCM Nest 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr Median EPS LT Estimate Growth Std Dev of LT EPS Growth Estimates Analysts in Growth Consensus Annual next pr yr Est One Year EPS Growth F 1 F 0 Est Two Year EPS Growth F 2 F 0 12 Mo Forward Estimate 12 Mo Actual Year To Date ytd ytd year ago Est YTD EPS Gr Q 1 AYTD Year ago Est YTD EPS Gr Q 2 YTD Year ago Est YTD EPS Gr Q 3 VTD Year ago Est YTD EPS Gr Q 4 VTD Year ago Quarterly 12 mo 12 mo year ago Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 1 Vear ago Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 2 ear ago Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 3 Vear ago Est 12 mo EPS Gr Q 4 Vear ago Quarterly qtr prior gtr Est EPS Gr
60. asks in one step process using the Script feature of Research Wizard Once you have defined your script with one click you can then run a series of screens and reports an then print or export the results The script files have extension scr and are usually stored in the Inputs folder of Research Wizard Scripting Process Overview To create a script you will need to select a task from the Operation list specify the Parameters for the operation and then add that task to the script Available Script Operations The following is a list of Script Operations e Open Saved Screen Definition select a screen to be used in the script e Open Ticker List select a Ticker List to be used in your script e Open Saved Report Definition select a report definition to be used in the script e Run Screen Report Query select options for the reports output e Print Snapshot for Active Tickers print Snapshot reports for all companies that passed particular screen Available Script Parameters An Operation selection you made at the Research Wizard Script dialog box will determine the Parameters choices in script You can specify the location of your screens portfolios and reports select the Full Universe Active Universe or Ticker List to be used in screening select the desired output save in a specific file format export to other applications or print Operation Script Parameters Open Saved Screen Definit
61. ata item for the companies in Zacks M Industry Aggregate values may then be compared to individual values to create relative comparisons N A values are excluded from the calculations MindSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry MindNum Returns the Number of Companies in the Industry in the Full Universe MindStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the companies in the M Industry Sector Aggregate Use this option to calculate aggregate values of the data item for the companies in Zacks X Sector Aggregate values may then be compared to individual values to create relative comparisons N A values are excluded from the calculations SecSum Calculates the Sector Sum value for the companies in the X Sector SecMed Calculates the Sector Median value for the selected item for the
62. ber of companies in each of the middle ranks N A values are not assigned a rank but receive a N A rank Using Rank Functions Ordinal Ranking in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the Ordinal Rank function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear 2 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a Working with Calculation Expressions e 49 specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button 3 At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date a1 06 2000 i 4 From the Function Category list click Rank and then select the desired Ordinal ranking Full Universe Industry or Sector from the Function Name list 5 At the Additional Parameters menu select a ranking order ascending or descending from the Rank Order pull down menu Additional Parameters Rank Order Descendin g 6 Click the Add Selected Function button to add the expression to the Expression Calculation box 7 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled
63. box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Working with Calculation Expressions e 39 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Math To add a calculated item to the report using the Math function follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 1103 20 i From the Function Category list click Math From the Function Name list select the desired Math function and double click that function name or click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available Math Functions Absolute Value Calcu
64. cannot be changed by the user Additional Alert Parameters Certain reports provide you with additional choices for displaying company information For example gt Change in Average Recommendations report you can select to show changes for the last week or last 4 weeks gt Change in Analyst Recommendations specify past N days gt Recent Consensus EPS Revisions choose revisions during the last 1 4 or 12 weeks for the current fiscal year F1 last 4 12 weeks for the next fiscal year F2 last 4 weeks for the completed fiscal quarter QO last 4 weeks for the current fiscal quarter Q1 or last 4 weeks for next fiscal quarter Q2 gt Recent Analyst EPS Revisions choose revisions for the completed fiscal year FO current fiscal year F1 next fiscal year F2 completed fiscal quarter QO current fiscal quarter Q1 or next fiscal quarter Q2 for the last N days gt Reported EPS Surprises specify last N days Vv Expected Report Date specify next N days gt Predicting Next Surprise Most Accurate Analysts specify next N days Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 gt Predicting Next Surprise Most Recent Analysts specify next N days gt Most Accurate Consensus specify completed fiscal year FO current fiscal year F1 next fiscal year F2 completed fiscal quarter Q0 current fiscal quarter Q1 or next fiscal quarter Q2 gt Most Recent Conse
65. ccccccccesceccneeeeeeeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeteenseeeeeeees 93 EPS Surprise Category asirini a A E TEAT aA 94 Upside Potential Category ssssssossserneessessenrrntsssrnrnnnnnsssennennnnnssesnnnnn 95 Prig Acti n CAaleQOly sivisce sizesivinisasceendeztsveassaastnsseztsteeesaaatnaseeeseaeaaadzeasaenee ss 96 Snapshot Reports 97 Snapshot Report Options cece eee eect teense eee rete ecaaeee seer eeeeeeaaaeeeeeeeeeneeeneee 97 Working with Zacks Company Snapshot ceceeeeeeeeeeeecaneeeeeeeeeeeeenaeeeeeeeeeetees 97 Accessing Zacks Company Snapshot cccccccceeeeeeeececeeeeeeeeeeeestcneeeeeees 97 Printing Zacks Company Snapshot Reports for Active Tickers 06 98 Zacks Company Snapshot Report Overview ceeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteneeeeeees 98 Zacks Company Snapshot Report Componentt ccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 98 Working with Expanded Company Reports cccccccccececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteneeeeeeeeetees 101 Accessing Expanded Company Reports cccccceccsceeeeeeeeestesstnneeeees 102 Expanded Company Reports Categories ccccceccceeestteeeeeeeeeeeeeeaees 102 Fundamental Reports ccccccccceceeceeeeeeeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeetecccaeeeeeeeeeeeeneaaes 102 Return on Equity Reports 0 cceccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeeeeecaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaes 103 Risk Rating Bankruptcy Reports cccccccceeeccceeeeeeeeeeeeeccnaeeeeeeeeeeeeeiaaaes 103 Busines
66. cccceeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeecaeeeeeeeeeeseecesesaeeeeeees 13 Accessing Single Company Datta cccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeencneeeeeeeeseeestaaeeeeees 13 Viewing Single ltem Statistics eeccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeeeecseaaaeeeeeees 14 Available Screening Operators ccccceeceeeeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeeeecaaeeeeeeeeeeeeceessaeeeeeees 15 How to Screen Basic COnCepts cccccccececceeccceeeeeeeeeeteeccceeeeeeeeeeeceddeeeeaeeeeeeeennee 15 Using Historical Search Option in Screening cccecceeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeaees 16 SAVING SCTE N Siana ai a aaa e aia a Tea aa AEE N es 16 Running Saved ScreenS eesssesssesrreessssrrrtrnrtssssrrrennnnsssersrterrennnnessent 16 Combining Screen Definitions ssseeeeeeeeseseeeeeeeesnerrnrrtsneennrnnrnssssrnennnnn 16 Editing Screens OvervieW ssssssssssssrrssssssrrrirrttsserrrrnnnntsssetnrentnennnnsssennennnetssent 17 Adding Screening Criteria eeccceeeeceeeeeeeeececneeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaes 17 Editing Screen Definitions ccccccceeeeeee eee eeeeeecneeeeeeeeeeeeccaaeeeeeeeeeeeenteed 17 Clearing Screening and Reporting Criteria ccccccsseeeeeeeeeeteeeteneeeeees 19 Viewing Active Universe ccccccccceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeeeeceaaaaeeeaeeeeeeeettecsaaeeeeeees 20 How to Save Tickers After Screening ccccceceeeeseecneeeeeeeeeeeeetcnteeeeeeeeeees 20 Report Writing Basic Steps 21 Working with Repor Sinana a ana a
67. ch Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 delete it from the Report Definition because every company will have 1 as the data value Instead you may want to include the items 72 and 551 Sample Script Here is a sample script that selects a screening definition runs a report saves the report as a csv file and saves the companies that passed the screen as a Ticker List ig Research Wizard Script Unidentified Operation Parameters Saved Report Definition Open Ticker List a fc zir inputs projected eps growth rpd Open Saved Report Definition Run Screen Report Query Print Snapshot for Active Tickers Open Saved Screen Definition Add Insert Remove Edit Script Line Screen Name c zir inputs internet stocks w positive 12 mo eps und 2 ll erat Names C Anata pioected eps growth mor RunQuery Output Print TkrList c zirsports positive txt Close Save Save s Cancel Screening Reporting on Multiple Databases To create a calculation involving data from multiple databases use the following syntax at the Calculation Expression menu 1 If you want to use the item from the active database and another database you can specify the following calculation i5 DBDA i 25 2 If you have one active database and want to use the items from two other databases you can specify the following calculation DBCM i 6 DBDP i6 Using Index Tickers Zacks databases contain
68. cific and non periodic dates is an example of E frequency item X No Frequency No date is assigned to the item for example Ticker or Company Name 12 e Screening Basic Steps Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Fiscal Periods Abbreviations The following table explains Fiscal and Quarterly abbreviations used in Research Wizard Q 4 Three quarters from the current fiscal quarter F 3 Two years from the current Q 3 Two quarters from the current fiscal year fiscal quarter Viewing Data in Research Wizard The Research Wizard provides you with the ability to view the data for a single company or a singe item Accessing Single Company Data You can quickly view the active database data for a particular company by following these steps 1 From the Report menu click Company Data The Company Data window appears This window displays data Categories and Items using the same layout as the main screening menu 2 Type the company s ticker symbol in the Ticker box and click Go The data for all items in each category will be displayed As you browse each category the item information for the company will be changing accordingly The Company Data will show item s Recent period the first period that is not N A 3 To exit the Company Data window click Close Ticker GE Go Categories Items Current a P E Ratios using EPS Estimates cee Changes 72 P E using F 1 Estimate 40 21
69. ck Rank and then select the desired Uniform or Histogram ranking Full Universe Industry or Sector from the Function Name list At the Additional Parameters menu select a ranking order ascending or descending from the Rank Order pull down menu and type the number of fractiles default is 10 into which item s values will be ranked e g 5 for quintiles 10 for deciles and so on in the corresponding Number of Fractiles box 52 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Additional Parameters Rank Order Descending Number of Fractiles Click the Add Selected Function button to add the expression to the Expression Calculation box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available Rank Functions AllOrdRank Classifies companies in the Full Universe using Ordinal Rank AllHstRank Classifies companies in the Full Universe using Histogram Rank AllUnRank Classifies companies in the Full Universe using Uniform Rank XIndOrdRank Classifies companies in the X Industry using Ordinal Rank XIndHstRank Classifies companies in the X Industry using Histogram Rank XIndUnRank Classifies companies in the X Industry using Uniform Rank MindOrdRank Classifies companies in the
70. ck your mouse Select the Add Database Item to Report command from the menu Adding Multi Period Data Items When adding items that have more then one period associated with them the Report Column dialog box has a special check box History This option Report Writing Basic Steps e 21 allows you to add multiple data periods at once After marking the History check box simply select the desired time periods and click OK i Report Column x Net Income Before NRI Qtr mil Quarterly 09 1999 09 1997 09 1999 X V History OK Cancel Add several periods of data at once by selecting the History check box on the Report Column menu To align data by the same period you can specify your selection as period 1 2 etc Actual EPS used in Surprise sh Quarterly 09 2000 09 1998 1 he IV History 7 MS OK Cancel Editing Report Definitions One way to modify a report is to add a new item to the report definition The other option is to manipulate the existing items Adding Items to Report To add an item to the report follow these steps 1 Open the report definition you want to edit The Report Definition table will fill up Highlight a new item from the tems section 3 From the Report menu select the Add Database Item command or click the Add Database Item button 4 The item will be added to the Report Definition table 5 Save your r
71. click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear From the list of categories select the Price and Price Changes category From the Items list select the Price category and highlight the Month end Price item i6 From the Function Category menu select the Moving Average option From the Function Name menu highlight the MovingHi function and double click it to open up the Moving Average dialog box 6 Inthe Moving Average dialog box enter 12 as the number of periods and Click OK 7 The following expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box MovingHi12 i6 8 Click OK Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Using Boolean And Calculations Example A Technical Investor Screen the DBCM database for companies with significant recent price action Select those companies with a 20 price increase over the last 4 week period and a 50 price increase over the last 12 week period Four week Price change is DBCM Item 11 and twelve week Price Change is DBCM Item 13 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen by Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will be displayed 2 Type the following expression into the Calculation Expression data entry box i11 gt 20 And i13 gt 50 Click OK The Screen By dialog box will appear Select TRUE from the menu options to include on
72. criteria items are automatically added to the Report Definition table By default the report will always include the Company Name and the Ticker items In order to run a report you must have the Screening Criteria defined first The Screening Criteria could be a screen definition or a portfolio Creating Reports for Existing Portfolio To create a report for the existing Ticker List follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the Open Ticker List command or click the Open Ticker List button and choose your Ticker List 2 The Screening Criteria table will show the Ticker List name and the number of companies in it 3 To add a database item to your report select that item from the Items section and click the Add Item to Report button or from the Report menu choose the Add Database Item command The added item will appear in the Report Definition table To save the report for future uses select the Save Report Definition command from the Report menu 6 The Report Definition dialog box will appear and the default folder for the report files will be shown usually zir inouts To save the file in a different folder click a different drive in the Save in box or double click a different folder in the folder list 7 In the File name box type a name for the report all reports have extension rpd 8 Click Save To add an item to your report with the mouse highlight that item in the Items section and right cli
73. culates the lowest value for the specified periods for the data item Example MovingLo5 i6 when item 6 has the following values for the specified five periods 71 59 88 69 31 65 94 69 38 will produce 59 88 the lowest value over the five periods Usable for items with multiple periods only Calculation Expression Miscellaneous Using Miscellaneous Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the Miscellaneous function follow these steps 56 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date a1 0672000 From the Function Category list select the Miscellaneous category Next select the desired Miscellaneous function from the Function Name list and double click that function or click the Add Selected Function button The Calculation Expression will appear
74. d 2 0 H Hold for ratings between 2 1 and 3 0 S Sell for ratings between 3 1 and 4 0 SS Strong Sell for ratings between 4 1 and 5 0 NR No Rating gt Rating Change describes the direction and magnitude of a change in the analyst s ratings Indicates an upgrade with the difference of 1 between the previous and current rating For example from 3 2 Hold to 2 2 Buy Indicates an upgrade with the difference of 2 between the previous and current rating For example from 5 Strong Sell to 3 Hold Indicates an upgrade with the difference of 3 between the previous and current rating For example from 4 8 Strong Sell to 1 8 Buy Indicates an upgrade with the difference of 4 between the previous and current rating from 5 Strong Sell to 1 Strong Buy Indicates a downgrade with the difference of 1 between the previous and current rating For example from 2 9 Hold to 3 9 Sell Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 o Indicates a downgrade with the difference of 2 between the previous and current rating For example from 1 5 Buy to 3 5 Sell Indicates a downgrade with the difference of 3 between the previous and current rating For example from 1 Strong Buy to 4 Sell Indicates a downgrade with the difference of 4 between the previous and current rating from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell lt Indicates an upgrade with the positive from 0 1 to 0 9
75. d function from the Function Name list Specify Additional Parameters and then click the Add Selected Function button 6 The Calculation Expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box 7 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as 8 Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Custom Aggregates Ranks To add a calculated item using the Custom Aggregates Ranks Functions from the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button Available Custom Aggregates Ranks Functions e AllAgg All Aggregates Allows to select a certain aggregate for the full universe To use select from Average Median Sum Hi Low number of observations or Standard Deviation options from the Aggregate Type pull down menu e AllWtAv All Weighted Average Calculates a Weighted Average for all companies in the database universe To use select highlight the Weight Item from the Items section of the Calculation Expression window and click the lt Select button e GrAgg Group Aggregate Calculates a Group specific aggregate To use select from Average Median Sum Hi Low number of observations or Standard Deviation options
76. e 6 Change F 1 Est 4 Weeks p alg Compare to Value Number C Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Next click the Run Query button to run the screen and view the companies that meet our criteria Screening on Two Criteria Screen for stocks that have a P E using F1 estimate 20 below the X Industry median and are paying dividends 1 From the list of Categories select the Ratios category and then the P E sub category From the tem list choose P E Ratios using EPS Estimates category and highlight the P E using F 1 Estimate item Double click the P E using F 1 Estimate item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button Screening Examples e 75 76 e Screening Examples 4 The Screen By dialog box will be displayed From the operators pull down menu select the less than lt operator In the Compare to section choose Group 5 From the Group pull down menu select X Industry as the group and select median as the aggregate 6 Next type 0 8 in the coefficient box The default coefficient of 1 00 represents the Industry median Typing 0 8 will indicates the P E 20 below the median P E Click OK 6 Screen By x And fe PE using F 1 Estimate fk 7 x
77. e portfolio file you want to open or click Open 7 Click OK If you want to view Top Bottom companies in your portfolio based on the specific report criteria mark the Screening check box and select Top Bottom number Alerts e 89 90 e Alerts Alert Parameters Full Universe Some reports give you an option to select Top Bottom companies from the Zacks database of over 6 500 stocks To use this option click the Full Universe radio button at the Alert Parameters section When using the Full Universe option you will be provided with the choice to include either Top best performers or Bottom worst performers according to the criteria of the chosen report In addition you can specify the number of companies to be included in the report default is 50 To change the Full Universe default parameters follow these steps 1 From the Tools menu click Options 2 Click the Alert Parameters tab 3 Type anew number at the Top Bottom selection box 4 Click OK Saving Tickers As Portfolio After running an Alert Reports on Full Universe you may want to save the companies that the report produces as a portfolio To do so 1 From the Data menu click Save Tickers As List 2 At the Ticker List dialog box specify the name and location of the portfolio 3 Click Save Companies displayed in a report defined using the Full Universe option are selected from the database using Zacks pre set ranking criteria and
78. ected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XindLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndNum Returns the Number of Companies in the Industry in the Full Universe Working with Calculation Expressions e 45 e XIndStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry Calculation Expression M Industry Aggregate Using M Industry Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the M Industry Aggregate function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear 2 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button 3 At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters
79. ected report date Most Recent Consensus This report highlights potential quarterly and annual EPS surprises based on the most recent estimates This report takes into considerations the difference between the general consensus estimate and the most recent analysts EPS consensus The surprise is calculated as Most Recent Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate x100 The potential surprises are then normalized divided by the Standard Deviation of Consensus and ranked This rank is determined as Most Recent Consensus Consensus Estimate Standard Deviation of Consensus The higher the Surprise Rank the more there is a potential for a surprise Additional information provided by this report includes fiscal period end month number of estimates for each company and expected report date By default this report is sorted from highest positive to the biggest negative Surprise Rank value Price Action Category Price Changes This report shows the percent price change during a specified time period for stocks in your portfolio or universe This report also includes percent price change relative to the S amp P 500 52 week high low data and the closing price as of the prior s day last trade Intraday Price Changes This reports monitors the following Intraday price changes for the stocks in your portfolio Price Change Net Price Change Last Trade Update Time Open and High Research Wizard
80. ed with forecast errors that are large by historical standards To account for this a forecast error can be related to previous errors by meanings of Standardized Unexpected Earnings SUE SUE effectively minimizes the earnings surprise in a particular quarter by a measure of the typical surprise in an average quarter This discounts forecast errors for firms with historically very unpredictable earnings A large error for such a firm might not be as significant as for a firm with typically very predictable earnings This report rates companies by Standardized Unexpected Earnings SUE a measurement of the deviation of 12 month actual EPS from the 5 year EPS growth trend line Today s Reported EPS Surprises Several times a day as information on reporting companies becomes available Zacks updates the surprise file up to eight times a day At the end of the day this information will be consolidated into the daily surprise file In this report EPS Surprise is expressed in percent and is calculated as Actual EPS Consensus EPS Absolute value of Consensus EPS x 100 Additional information provided by this report includes quarter end month Actual EPS Consensus Estimate Net Income and Sales numbers and EPS report date Upside Potential Category Most Accurate Consensus This report indicates quarterly and annual EPS surprises based on the most accurate estimates This report takes into consideration the difference bet
81. eesedietthebyths 31 Editing Ticker List cccceccceeeeeeeeecneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaeeeeeeeeteeecaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesaaaes 31 Working with Calculation Expressions 32 Understanding Calculation Expression User Defined Calculations 0 0cee 32 Building Calculation Expression BasSiCs cccceecceeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 32 Calculation Expression ParameterS cccececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccceeeeeeeeeeeeeecaeeeeeeeeeeeeetnee 34 OV EIVIEGW E EET A E tein EE NA 34 Calculation Expression Operator Categories sssrrrrrrrrrrrrnnrrrnnnnnnnna 35 Calculation Expression Function Categories eeeeeeeeeeeeseeeerreeesrrrrrne 35 Calculation Expression Math esesssessssssssserrrrsssssrrirrrrsssssttirrntsssssttnntnrrnnnnnssssnnnnn 39 Using Math Functions in Screening Calculation Expression 00c0 39 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Math ccccccccccseeeeeeeeeeeeees 40 Available Math Functions ccc cccccceeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeeeeceessaeeeeees 40 Calculation Expression Universe Aggregate cccccecccseeeeeeeeeeeeeeenneeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 41 Using Universe Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression 41 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Universe Aggregate 41 Available Universe Aggregate FUNnCtions ccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenes 42 Using S amp P 500 Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expr
82. efinition except for two default items Ticker and Company Tip To get the Edit menu in the Report Definition table right click your mouse inside the Report Definition table Copy Edit Report Menu To copy a report item follow these steps 1 Open the report definition you want to edit The Report Definition table will fill up Highlight the data item you want to copy 3 From the Report menu select the Edit Report Definition command and select the Copy option If you want to copy these items to another report definition switch to that report In the Report Definition table click where you want the item to appear To replace the item from the Report menu select the Edit Report Definition command and select the Paste option 6 To add the item from the Report menu select the Edit Report Definition command and select the Insert option Tip To get the Edit menu in the Report Definition table right click your mouse inside the Report Definition table Paste Edit Report Menu This command is available only if you have cut or copied a report item In the Report Definition table highlight the item you want to replace From the Report menu click Edit Report Definition command and select the Paste option Tip To get the Edit menu in the Report Definition table right click your mouse inside the Report Definition table Delete Edit Report Menu To delete a report item follow these steps 1 Open the report definition y
83. efinition from the report and will replace them with the items used in the second screen definition The screen definitions will be combined Editing Screens Overview One way to modify a screen is to add a new criterion to the screen definition The other option is to manipulate the existing criterion Adding Screening Criteria To add a screening criterion to the existing screen definition follow these steps 1 Open the screen definition you want to edit The Screening Criteria table will fill up 2 Select a new screening item and then double click the item s name in the Items section or click the Screen by Database Item button 3 At the Screen By menu enter the data into the Value box The new item will be added to the Screening Criteria table To add a screening item with the mouse highlight that item in the Items section and right click your mouse Select the Screen by Database Item command from the menu Editing Screen Definitions To edit a criterion in the screen definition from the Screen menu select the Edit Screen Definition command to display the following screen editing options e Modify changes screening parameters criterion s value time period or name and calculation for the calculated screening item e Cut removes the selected criterion from the Screen Definition and places it on the Clipboard e Copy copies the selected criterion to the Clipboard e Paste inserts the criterio
84. egate values may then be compared to individual values to create relative comparisons N A values are excluded from the calculations AllSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AllStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for all companies in the Full Universe AIIMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the Full Universe S amp P 500 Aggregate Use this option to calculate aggregate values of the data item for the companies in the S amp P 500 N A values are excluded from the calculations SPSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 SPMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 SPMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 SPHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 SPLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the S amp P 500 SPStdDev Calc
85. ems for the full or active universe The graph also displays the results of a linear regression of the variables including the estimated alpha and beta the R squared value and the number of data points In addition the high and lows values for X and Y are provided To perform the analysis of two data items follow these steps 1 From the Graphics menu select the X Y Scatter Plot command The X Y Scatter Plot dialog box will be displayed X Y Scatter Plot olx Universe i EPS Before NRI share terl Axis X Item 28 efore share Quarterly ee C Ful Reset Axis Y Item 6 Month end Price B Active Print Output Ticker List Optional E lt View lt Add All 2 You can chart the Scatter Plot for companies in either the Full or Active Universe To specify the desired Universe option select the corresponding radio button Full or Active in the Universe selection section Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 To select the X axis item the independent variable click the Browse button located next to the Axis X Item box to select the Y axis item dependent variable click the Browse button located next to the Axis Y Item box The list of the available database items will appear Categories Items Changes PS 31 EPS Before NRI share Annual 5 Yr Surprises and SUE 32 Last Reported Fiscal Year yyyymm Estimate Revisions 33 Last Completed
86. ening Criteria table will fill up 2 From the Screening Criteria table highlight the calculated item you want to modify and double click it or right click your mouse on that item to bring up the Edit menu and select the Modify option 3 The Calculation Expression dialog box will appear Make the necessary changes there and click OK The Screen By dialog box will appear 4 Inthe Screen By menu modify the parameters for your screen and click OK Cut Edit Screen Menu To use this option follow these steps 1 Open the screen definition you want to edit The Screening Criteria table will fill up 2 From the Screening Criteria table highlight the criterion you want to cut and right click the mouse on that criterion to bring up the Edit menu and select Cut Copy Edit Screen Menu To copy screening criteria follow these steps 1 Open the screen definition you want to edit The Screening Criteria table will fill up 2 In the Screening Criteria table highlight the criteria you want to copy and right click the mouse on that criterion to bring up the Edit menu and select the Copy option If you want to copy these criteria to another screen definition switch to that screen definition 3 In the Screening Criteria table click where you want the criteria to appear Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Tip 4 To replace the criteria highlight a criterion you want to replace and right click the mouse to bring up t
87. ent holdings or search for potential valuable additions to your portfolio e Access pre configured multi ccompany reports as well as reports you may create or modify independently e Perform user defined calculations screen and report on resulting values e Access pre configured reports that alert you to the price driven events affecting stocks in your portfolio i e changes in brokerage analyst EPS estimates changes in brokerage firm recommendations and EPS surprises e View your screen s performance relative to a benchmark over time Using Research Wizard Do you want to identify certain low P E stocks that reported EPS during the last 15 days had earnings surprises above their industry median had upward estimate revisions and no decreases in broker recommendations Do you want to search for mid cap stocks in the specific industries that are 30 off their highs Or perhaps you only want to view stocks with earnings growth above their industry median and with P E and P B below their industry medians You can have answers to these questions in seconds and after saving your searching criteria generate and maintain a Followed List Once you have found promising candidates you can run or modify pre configured multi company reports or create your own These reports will help you monitor individual components affecting stocks in your portfolio After your report is produced you can select from a variety of export options to trans
88. eport definition Tip To add an item with the mouse highlight that item in the Items section and right click your mouse Select the Add Database Item to Report command from the menu Editing Report Definitions Overview To edit the report from the Report menu select the Edit Report Definition command to display the following report editing options 22 e Report Writing Basic Steps Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Tip e Modify changes report column s name alignment format time period and calculation e Cut removes the selected item from the Report Definition table and places it on the Clipboard e Copy copies the selected report item to the Clipboard e Paste inserts the item currently placed on the Clipboard at the insertion point in the Report Definition table and replaces any selection This command is available only if you have cut or copied a report item e Delete permanently removes the item from the Report Definition table e Insert puts in the item currently placed on the Clipboard between the items at the insertion point in the Report Definition table This command is available only if you have cut or copied a report item To get the edit menu in the Report Definition table right click your mouse inside the Report Definition table By default you report definition will always have Ticker and Company items These items cannot be deleted Modify Report Overview Some o
89. er specifying screening criteria click Run Query and get the desired universe Return to the main menu and click Snapshot 3 At the Company Reports menu click Print Snapshot for Active Tickers 4 The message will appear stating how many company reports will be printed Select Yes to print them or No to cancel Enter Ticker jeo Zacks Company Snapshot Expanded Company Reports C Integrated Company Analysis Print Snapshot for Active Tickers cnca To print Snapshot reports for a portfolio follow these steps 1 Select a Ticker List its name will be displayed in the Screening Criteria table 2 At the Company Reports menu click Print Snapshot for Active Tickers 3 The message will appear stating how many company reports will be printed Select Yes to print them or No to cancel Zacks Company Snapshot Report Overview Zacks Company Snapshot is a single company report featuring company description actual and estimated EPS company vs industry ratings fundamental data broker recommendations and price charts Zacks Company Snapshot Report Components Company Summary Table and Business Description The most commonly referred to pieces of data on a stock are located near the top of the report for easy references Items here include company name ticker symbol and the Exchange on which the stock is traded price P E ratio Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 trailing t
90. es five key measures as they stand currently versus historically average of the last five years These measures are P E ratio trailing 12 months P E ratio relative to the S amp P 500 Net Margin Return on Equity ROE and the Long Term Debt To Capitalization Ratio a key indicator of financial risk Stocks trading below above their historical P E and relative P E ratios may be cheap expensive unless there have been fundamental changes in the company s growth prospects Similarly changes in a company s profitability or capital structure from previous norms are important to note Actual EPS and EPS Estimates vs Stock Price Chart The chart at the center of the Snapshot report plots the stock price versus the 12 month earnings per share The chart includes fiscal year end data going back five years quarter end data for the last four and next two quarters and estimated earnings projected 1 2 and 3 5 years out While not intended for use as a technical analysis tool the price chart provides a visual representation of how the stock has been trading relative to its past growth in earnings as well as how Wall Street perceives its future earnings growth prospects EPS Surprises and Estimate Revisions Chart A plot of the EPS surprises for the last four quarters and the 12 week earnings estimate revisions for the current and next fiscal years are shown in a bar graph below the price chart Earnings surprises are the percentage by which a co
91. ese features are accessed through the Data menu Organize Sort x Organize by Sector Then by X Industry v Sort by Zacks Rank 7 ic Ascending C Descending Then by Ch Price 1 Week v Ascending C Descending Then by 8 None x Ascending C Descending Then by EEE SSS See None x Ascending C Descending OK Cancel Organize Sort Report dialog box By default all new reports are sorted by Zacks M Medium Industry Organize Report Options An Organize option is used to classify companies in the report Your report can be organized by e Zacks X Expanded Industry e Zacks X Expanded Sector e Zacks M Medium Aggregate Industry There are two more special options that allow two levels of organization e Organize by Zacks Expanded Sector and then by Expanded Industry designations Report Writing Basic Steps e 27 e Organize by Zacks Expanded Sector and then by Medium Aggregate Industry designations If you do not want to have your report organized select None from the pull down menu Organizing Reports You can organize your reports before or after you run them To organize a report follow these steps AJ 1 From the Data menu select the Organize Sort command or click the Organize Sort button The Organize Sort dialog box will be displayed 2 From the Organize by pull down menu choose the desired organize option and click OK 3 After orga
92. ession 42 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports S amp P 500 Aggregate 43 Available S amp P 500 Aggregate FUNCTIONS ccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 44 Calculation Expression X Industry Aggregate cceccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeennneeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 44 Using X Industry Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression44 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports X Industry Aggregate 45 Available X Industry Aggregate Functions ccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 45 Calculation Expression M Industry Aggregate cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaees 46 Using M Industry Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression46 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports M Industry Aggregate 46 Available M Industry Aggregate Functions ccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 47 Calculation Expression Sector Aggregate cccccccccceccceieeeeeeeeeteeeteeeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaes 47 Using Sector Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression 47 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Sector Aggregates 48 Available Sector Aggregate FUNCTIONS cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeees 49 Calculation Expression Rank c cccccccccececcceeeeeeeeeeeeeccceeeeeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeeeetneee 49 DE N 49 Using Rank Functions Ordinal Ranking in Screening Calculation Expression49 Adding Calculation Expression to Reports
93. etyessaeen a 83 Research Wizard 4 0 Contents e iii EZ Screen 85 How to Use EZ Sreem oscars aaa aa aa aaa aa aa decisis 85 EZ Screen Functionality OvervieW essessssssserrssssssrrirrrttsssttrirnnetsssrnnnnnnrnssssennnt 85 EZ Screen 13 Screening tems cccccceecceccccneeeeeeeeeeeeccceeeeeeeeeeeescaaeeeeees 86 EZ Screen 6 Screening Criteria cceecceccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeccneeeeeeeeeeeeseaaeeeeees 86 Screening Priority ccccecccccceeeeeee cece eeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeaaaaaeeeeees 87 EZ Screen Screening and Reporting ccccccecceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeeteesseeeeeees 87 Saving EZ Screen Definitions cece ec ceeeeeeee eee eeeceeeee eee ee eeeeecaaeeeeeeeeeteee 87 Running Saved EZ Screen Definitions cccceccccccceneeeeeeeeeeeecccaeeeeeeeeeeeeeecaeeeeees 87 Alerts 88 Alert Reports Overview cccccccccceeeeecccneeeeeeeeeteeeeaaeeeeeeeeteeeeaaaaaeeeeeeeseeenaaaaaaaaeeeeees 88 Using Alert REPOR Saoi Oct Bi eth ee rh Ns ae 8 OG 88 Specifying Alerts ParameterS ccccceccsseceeeeeeeeeeecceaeeeeeeeeteeeecaaaeeeeeeeenees 89 Additional Alert Parameters cccceccccececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccaeeeeeeeeeseeesseeeeeees 90 Alert Report Categories sic s cccecivevarasazereccetzensesasetinteevseeeaaetiaptaeseeedasaean tadedeteiess 91 Broker Recommendations Category ccccccccccseceeeeeeeeeeecccneeeeeeeeeeeenaaes 91 Estimate Revisions CateQory ccccc
94. fer your report s contents for use with other applications Research Wizard is also an automation tool This automation ability called scripting is a time saver that allows you to combine repetitive tasks into one process similar to macros in the spreadsheet and word processing programs Once you have defined your script with one click you can then run a series of screens and reports and then print or export the results Introduction e 1 Guided Tour Getting Started in Research Wizard Using Research Wizard is quite easy The Research Wizard s main display is the screening interface To aid in your work with Zacks data the company s information is organized into several categories and sub categories Each sub category contains individual items grouped by item category Zacks data includes company description size and share volume information price and price changes analyst recommendations and recommendation changes annual and quarterly Consensus estimate data expected report dates growth rates actual EPS valuation data financial ratios and Income Balance Sheet items As you select an item from its corresponding category a brief item s description will be displayed in the item description box above the Categories and Items section g Research Wizard Be File Screen Portfolio Report Graphics Backtest Script Internet Tools Help 9 a lt lelt plela aalala FA ie estimate for long term 3 5 year
95. from the Aggregate Type pull down menu Next select highlight the Group Item from the Items section of the Calculation Expression window and click the lt Select button e SpGrAgg Special Group Aggregate Calculates special aggregates for Group To use select from Average Median Sum Hi Low number of observations or Standard Deviation options from the Aggregate Type pull down menu Next select highlight the Group Item from the Items section of the Calculation Expression window and click the lt Select button Finally specify if you want the selected aggregate to be True of False by selecting one from the Boolean value pull down menu e GrOrdRank Ordinal Rank in Group Calculate Ordinal Rank in Group To use select highlight the Group Item from the Items section of the Working with Calculation Expressions e 59 Calculation Expression window and click the lt Select button Specify the Rank order e GrUnRank Uniform Rank in Group Calculate Uniform Rank in Group To use select highlight the Group Item from the Items section of the Calculation Expression window and click the lt Select button Specify the Rank order and number of fractiles to be used in ranking e GrHstRank Histogram in Group Calculate Histogram Rank in Group To use select highlight the Group Item from the Items section of the Calculation Expression window and click the lt Select button Specify the Rank order and number of fract
96. from top to bottom After making your selections click the Run button to perform the screen and generate a report The EZ Screen reports will include all thirteen items shown on the menu Saving EZ Screen Definitions To save the EZ Screen definition follow these steps 1 After defining a screen click Save from the EZ Screen menu 2 The EZ Screen Definition dialog box will appear In the File Name box type a name for the saved screen and then click Save 3 The file will be saved with the ezd extension Running Saved EZ Screen Definitions To run a saved EZ Screen definition follow these steps 1 Click the EZ Screen button from the Research Wizard menu to display the EZ Screen window At the EZ Screen window click Open At the EZ Screen Definition dialog box select the saved definition file with the ezd extension and click Open 4 Click Run EZ Screen e 87 Alerts Alert Reports Overview The Alert Reports provide you with the ability to monitor significant events that can impact the future prices of stocks in your portfolio The events monitored by Alert Reports include changes in consensus EPS estimates changes in individual analyst EPS estimates changes in consensus recommendations changes in individual analyst recommendations EPS surprises price changes and notifications of the dates companies are expected to announce their earnings Academic and investment industry research confirms that s
97. g the X Industry Aggregate functions follow these steps 1 7 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date fig2 1103 20 i Select the X Industry Aggregate category from the Function Category list and then desired aggregated from the Function Name list and click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available X Industry Aggregate Functions XIndSum_ Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for the sel
98. growth rates valuation ratios and supplementary information AGGIND Aggregate Industry database containing current fundamental data aggregated by Zacks Expanded Industry Groups AGGSEC Aggregate Sector database containing current fundamental data aggregated by Zacks Expanded Sector Groups DBZHE Monthly Historical database containing data for fundamental estimate and ratio items for entire current universe DBDA Fundamental Historical Annual Data database containing annual income statements balance sheet and cash flow items 10K data DBDQ Fundamental Historical Quarterly Data database containing quarterly income statement and balance sheet items 10Q data ZBT_PRI Zacks Primary backtesting database containing 15 years of quarterly EPS data and monthly price return and estimate data ZBT_SEC Zacks Secondary backtesting database containing 15 years of quarterly EPS data and monthly price return and estimate data DBDP Daily Historical Prices database containing 560 days of daily price information DBWP Weekly Historical Prices database containing 270 weeks of weekly price data DBQUOTE Intraday 15 20 minutes delayed prices database Research Wizard works with DBCM ticker set Setting Default Database You can specify what database will be loaded the moment you start Research Wizard To set a default database follow these steps 1 From the Tools menu select Options 2 Atthe Options dialog box click the B
99. he Edit menu Select the Paste option 5 To place the criterion before another one highlight that criterion and right click the mouse to bring up the Edit menu Select the Insert option Paste Edit Screen Menu This command is available only if you have cut or copied a screening criterion To replace an existing criterion in the Screening Criteria table highlight a criterion you want to replace and right click the mouse to bring up the Edit menu Select the Paste option Delete Edit Screen Menu To delete a criterion follow these steps 1 Open the screen definition you want to edit The Screening Criteria table will fill up In the Screening Criteria table highlight the criterion you want to delete From the Screen menu select the Modify Screen Definition command and select the Delete option or click the Delete Criterion button To delete a criterion from the Screening Criteria table highlight that item in the Screening Criteria table and right click your mouse Select the Delete command from the menu Insert Edit Screen Menu This command is available only if you have cut or copied a screening criterion To place the criterion before another one in the Screening Criteria table highlight that criterion and right click the mouse to bring up the Edit menu Select the Insert option Clearing Screening and Reporting Criteria There are three ways to clear the Screening Criteria and Report Definition tables You can a
100. he date when a company is expected to announce its earnings You can check the expected report dates for the companies in your portfolio or universe In addition to the expected report date this report also includes quarter end month and the variability of the report date the average historical variance in days The report also provides the source of the expected report date gt Default Last year s quarter ended date gt Estimate Zacks estimate of the most likely quarter ending date Predicting Next Surprise Most Accurate Analysts This report forecasts potential EPS surprises in the next several days you can specify the number of days 5 30 60 etc This report predicts earnings surprises by exploiting the differences between the most accurate analysts EPS consensus and the general consensus estimate on a quarterly basis Zacks methodology for identifying the most accurate analysts is based on computing the historical errors of an analyst The error is calculated as the actual EPS minus the quarter end estimate Analysts with the smallest errors are considered to be the best analysts Then analysts are ranked based on a historical average of the absolute error for the two most recently reported quarter end forecasts with the smallest errors being the best The expected surprise in this report is calculated as Most Accurate Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate x100 The poten
101. he extension und Running Saved Screens To run a saved screen follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Open Screen Definition command 2 At the Screen Definition menu select the previously saved screen files with the extension und and click Open The Screening Criteria and Report Definition tables will fill up with data 3 If you want to run both the screen and the report just click the Run Query button 4 lf you want to run the screen only select the Clear Report Definition command from the Report menu and then click the Run Query button Combining Screen Definitions You can combine several screen definitions by following these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Open Screen Definition command and select a screen definition file 2 At the Screen Definition menu select the previously saved screen files with the extension und and click Open The Screening Criteria and Report Definition tables will fill up with data Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Tip 3 From the Screen menu select the Open Screen Definition command and select second screen definition file The message Would you like to CLEAR the Screen Definition will appear 4 Click No The message Would you like to CLEAR the Report Definition will appear Select either Yes or No Selecting No will leave items used in the first screen definition in the report selecting Yes will remove items used in the first screen d
102. he item in the universe e Mean the average value for the item in the universe e Median the median value for the item in the universe e Standard Deviation the standard deviation for the item in the universe In addition the total number of companies in the database and the number of N A values for the item are noted Item Summary Histogram Table Below the item s statistics the item s histogram table is shown This display groups the values into equal ranges around the item s mean value The range is calculated as the fraction of the Standard Deviation for the selected item The fraction of the Standard Deviation used will depend on the Standard Deviation value the bigger the value the bigger the fraction that is used In addition each bar represents the number of companies within a certain range of values of the specified item allowing a quick graphical look at how the companies in the universe are distributed The Item Summary histogram table has 3 rows The first row contains ranges of Standard Deviation Segments fractions on the left and on the right side of the mean The second row contains the number of companies falling within the particular range The third row shows the percentage of companies within the particular range Tf item Summary 192 Zacks Rank Universe 6379 High 5 00 Mean 3 00 Standard Deviation 1 04 Number of N A s 1699 Low 1 00 Median 3 00 1 4 Standard Deviation Segments 20 22
103. he number Example Trun i136 when item 136 is 1 925 will produce 1 Calculation Expression Universe Aggregate Using Universe Aggregate Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the Universe Aggregate function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date a1 0672000 i From the Function Category list select the Universe Aggregate category Next select the desired Universe Aggregate function from the Function Name list and double click that function name or click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Ca
104. ies e Bottom 50 of the Full Universe 50 percent of the total number of companies Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 e Bottom 25 of the Full Universe 25 percent of the total number of companies e Bottom 10 of the Full Universe 10 percent of the total number of companies The terms Top and Bottom mean best or worst performers Screening Priority The EZ Screen runs the top most criteria first and then proceeds down the list Priority allows you to specify the order in which your screen is run Simply assign a 1 13 value to the criteria in the order that you want the screen to be run This enables you to decide which criteria is screened first and so on Because the EZ Screen runs screens on a percentage basis it is possible that when you change the priority you will have a different set of tickers EZ Screen Screening and Reporting To set up an EZ Screen select your screening items from the set and pick the value for each criterion You may want to include only few items for your screening by selecting values from the six criteria options If you want to include an item in your screen select a criterion and its value from the Criterion pull down menu If you do not want an item to be in your screen leave its Criteria option box at Not Applicable Next assign a Priority Rank A priority rank 1 13 determines the order in which the software will run the screen The default priority is
105. ify the file name and location Snapshot Batch No additional parameters Print Creating New Scripts To create a new script follow these steps 1 From the Script menu select the New Script command The Research Wizard Script dialog box will be displayed E Research Wizard Script Unidentified Operation Parameters Saved Screen Definition Open Saved Screen Definition Open Ticker List GY Bl Open Saved Report Definition Run Screen Report Query I Active Universe Only Print Snapshot for Active Tickers Insert Remove Edit Script Line Script Close Save Save As Cancel Research Wizard 4 0 Working with Scripts e 71 2 Highlight the desired action from the Operation menu and then select the corresponding script Parameters 3 After selecting each parameter click the Add button The specified action will appear in the Script section of the Research Wizard Script window T Research Wizard Script c zir scriptl scr Parameters Run Screen Report Query Open Saved Screen Definition Print Be o i or Operation y Print Snapshot for Active Tickers I Save Tickers as List Add Insert Remove Edit Script Line Script Screen Name c zirhinputs computer amp amp technology sector und Report Name c zir inputs key measures rpd RunQuery Output Print Close Save Save As Cancel Lee __ swe _soves __Coren_ 4
106. iles to be used in ranking 60 Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Backtesting Research Wizard 4 0 Overview With the Research Wizard you can produce reports showing the performance of your screens based on DBCM data items only The Backtest option in the Research Wizard enables you to select a saved screen definition DBCM items only and to test it historically and view the screen s performance relative to a benchmark over time Running Backtest To run a Backtest follow these steps 1 From the Research Wizard menu select the Backtest option The Backtest Screen Definition dialog box will appear Backtest Screen Definition Screen Defintion Holding Period From 0672771997 4weeks To SASO Benchmark S amp P 500 A Run Cancel Backtest Screen Definition dialog box 2 At the Backtest Screen Definition dialog box select a saved screen by clicking the Browse button and selecting a saved screen definition 3 Select a time period using the From and To pull down menus dates are displayed at the week ends Backtest ALWAYS shows one week BEFORE the last completed week as the first period for backtesting Select a Holding Period in weeks Select the benchmark S amp P 500 or an Equal Weighted index DBCM Universe Eq Wt Index Return Mean PriceChg Mean DivYeald nWk 52 6 Click the Run button to view the results If the time
107. ion E At the Parameters menu click the Browse button to locate the Saved Screen Definition file If you want to run a subsequent screen on companies that passed your first screening criteria mark the Active Universe Only check box to limit your universe to those that passed the screen Open Ticker List zl At the Parameters menu click the Browse button to locate the Ticker List for the report Research Wizard 4 0 Operation Script Parameters Open Saved Report Definition E At the Parameters menu click the Browse button to locate the Report Definition file Run Screen This is a special set of parameters that will allow you Report Query to specify the desired output for your screens and reports by using the Parameters pull down menu You MUST include the Run Screen Report Query operation line in your script to produce the output At the Parameters menu select from the following e Print will print the selected report e Save as Text tab delimited will save the report results in a txt file specify the file name and location e Save as Formatted Text space delimited will save the report results in a prn file specify the file name and location e Save as CSV comma delimited will save the report results in a csv file specify the file name and location Save as Ticker List check box mark it to save the companies that passed the screening criteria in a Ticker List spec
108. ion table To create the above calculation using your mouse select the items and operators by double clicking them from the corresponding sections of the Calculation Expression window How to Screen for Several Industries This example will show how to screen for several X Industries at the same time using the DBCM database 1 From the Categories section select the Company category and then the Descriptive sub category 2 From the tems section select the Sector and Industry Codes category and highlight the Zacks Industry Codes 1 200 item 3 Double click the Zacks Industry Codes item The Screen by dialog box will appear containing the list of available X Industries 4 Press Ctrl key on your keyboard and at the same time highlight Industry 211 Electronic Commerce 212 Internet Content 213 Internet Services and 214 Internet Software with your left mouse button 5 Click OK 6 The selected Industries will be added to the Screening Criteria table To screen for several consecutive industries hold your Shift key and highlight consecutive industries with your mouse Using Moving Functions in Reports In this example we will create a report with the MovingHi calculation for the 12 month end prices for the companies in your portfolio using the DBCM database To use the MovingHi function follow these steps 1 After selecting the portfolio from the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or
109. iquidation Value Business Description amp Management Discussion Reports Business Descriptions Reports A complete overview of the business of the company from the last 10 K filings Management s Discussion and Analysis Reports Management s Discussion and Analysis report Management s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is a report from management to the shareholders that accompanies the firm s financial statements in the annual report This report explains the period s financial results and enables management to discuss other ideas that may not be apparent in the financial statements in the annual report Insider Trading Report The most recent insider transactions as reported to the SEC are summarized here Insiders include major corporate officers members of the board of directors and owners of 10 or more of any equity class of securities Snapshot Reports e 103 Link to Integrated Company Analysis If you have the Zacks product Integrated Company Analysis ICA you can have an instantaneous link to that module To access ICA from the Research Wizard follow these steps 1 Click the Snapshot button from the Research Wizard display to access the Company Reports menu 2 At the Company Reports menu type a ticker symbol into the Enter Ticker box Select the Integrated Company Analysis radio button and click OK ICA will open in a separate window To switch back to the Research
110. is report also includes ratings ratings changes and rating dates see the Change in Analyst Recommendations report description for explanation of these items The Full Universe parameter is not available for this report Estimate Revisions Category Recent Consensus EPS Revisions This report displays the consensus EPS estimates along with the percentage change in the consensus EPS for stocks in your portfolio or universe You can view changes for a specified fiscal quarter or fiscal year Also included in the report is the fiscal quarter or fiscal year end date Alerts e 93 94 e Alerts Recent Analyst EPS Revisions This report shows individual analysts quarterly or annual EPS estimates along with the percent change in their EPS estimates for every stock in your portfolio over a specified time period Also included in the reports is the reported period end date and the date of the estimate or a revision date The Full Universe parameter is not available for this report EPS Surprise Category Reported EPS Surprises This report shows quarterly earnings surprises for the stocks in your portfolio or universe over a specified time period EPS Surprise is calculated as Actual EPS Consensus EPS Absolute value of Consensus EPS x 100 expressed in percent Additional information provided by this report includes quarter end month Actual EPS Consensus EPS and EPS report date Expected Report Date This report shows t
111. is restricted to 10 characters Constants Large numbers should be typed without commas 1000000 instead of 1 000 000 Lag Date You may also lead or lag an item in your calculation expression For example you want to calculate 3 month relative price change using the month end close price item 6 13 months available you create an 34 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 expression as i6 i6 3 i6 3 The i6 3 lags the month end close price i6 by 3 months Ticker Specifying a ticker in the Calculation Expression allows creation of the Relative Calculations Calculation Expression Operator Categories There are four Operator Categories in the Research Wizard 1 Arithmetic Operators addition and subtraction hy multiplication and division parentheses 2 Comparison Operators gt Greater than gt Greater than or equal to lt Less than lt Less than or equal to Equal to lt gt Not equal to 3 Logical Operators AND returns TRUE if all its arguments are TRUE returns FALSE if one or more arguments is FALSE OR returns TRUE if any argument is TRUE returns FALSE if all arguments are FALSE 4 Miscellaneous Operators A Exponentiation operator Exponentiation may be done in two ways raising a database item to a specified power or raising a specified constant to the power of an item An item raised to a user specified power i n
112. k the Research Wizard button on your Windows taskbar Expanded Company Reports Categories There are several expanded company reports available in Research Wizard These reports can be classified into several categories e Fundamental Income Statement Balance Sheet and Cash Flow tables e Return on Equity e Risk Rating Bankruptcy e Business Description amp Management Discussion e Insider Trading Fundamental Reports Income Statement Balance Sheet and Cash Flow tables There are several Income Statement Balance Sheet and Cash Flow tables presented annually for the last 5 years and quarterly for the last 8 quarters available in this category of the reports Please note that the line items shown in these tables may not exactly match the line items on the 10 K and 10 Q reported by the company as Zacks has standardized a number of items to facilitate comparison between companies The reports in this category include e Annual Cash Flow Statement standardized report containing data from 10K filings e Annual Income Statement standardized report containing data from 10K filings e Annual Balance Sheet standardized report containing data from 10K filings e Quarterly Balance Sheet standardized report containing data from 10Q filings e Quarterly Income Statement standardized report containing data from 10Q filings e Annual Ratios amp Turnover Rates Assets Liabilities ratios turnover
113. lates the absolute value of an item i e without its sign This function may be applied to a data item constant or an expression Example a Abs i122 when item 122 is 4 69 will be 4 69 Example b 5 Abs i122 when item 122 is 4 69 will multiply 5 by the absolute value of item 122 and will be equal to 23 45 Example c Abs i122 2 when item 122 is 4 69 will be 2 35 Exponential Function or e Calculates the value of a constant e 2 71828 raised to the power of x This function may be applied to a data item constant or an expression Example Exp i80 when the value of item 80 is 3 will produce the value of 20 09 2 71828 raised to the third power Natural Logarithm or In x Calculates the natural Naperian or base e logarithm of a data item This function may be applied to a data item constant or an expression Example LogN i5 when item 5 is 76 06 will be 4 33 Base 10 Logarithm Calculates the base 10 logarithm of a number This function may be applied to a data item constant or an expression 40 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Example Log10 i5 when item 5 is 76 06 will be 1 88 Square Root Calculates a square root This function may be applied to a data item constant or an expression Example Sqrt i5 when item 5 is 76 06 will be 8 72 Trun Truncates a data item value to the lowest integer by removing the decimal or fractional part of t
114. lculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Universe Aggregate To add a calculated item to the report using the Universe Aggregate function follow these steps Working with Calculation Expressions e 41 7 8 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date fig2 1103 20 R From the Function Category list select the Universe Aggregate category Next select the desired Universe Aggregate function from the Function Name list and double click that function name or click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available Universe Aggregate Functions
115. ld it down and drag it up or down to form a rectangular outline Zoom In Exclude Add to Ticker List Scatter Plot display options 3 You will have the following options available at the drop down menu Zoom In Exclude and Add to Ticker List Select the desired option from the menu 4 To return to the original display click the Reset button 68 e Graphics o Research Wizard 4 0 68 e Graphics Research Wizard 4 0 Zoom In Option After selecting the area to view use the Zoom In option to analyze the selected companies Exclude Option After selecting the area to view use the Exclude option to eliminate specific companies from the chart useful for removing extreme data values Add to Ticker List Option After selecting the area of the chart you can add companies bounded by the area to the specified Output Ticker List Detailed Data Window To view companies associated with a stand alone data point double click that data point on the Scatter Plot A Detailed Data window will be displayed showing the X and Y values for the companies associated with the data point Detailed Data 2 54 65 00 255 64 44 Click OK to close the window Printing X Y Scatter Plot Click the Print button at the X Y Scatter Plot menu to print the graph Graphics e 69 Working with Scripts 70 e Working with Scripts Introduction When you have defined your screens and reports you can then combine these t
116. lign data by the same period To add multiple periods you can also use choices Today and Today nY Periods specify number of annual periods to go back In addition companies that have their FY ended by October 2000 but have not reported their data yet will have 1 as N A The time period specifications are summarized in this table Period Explanation Specifies the period with the first non N A value of the item Today The first available data period can also be specified as 1 Note that the data in this period may be N A 1 Use the number sign and a period number to select a specific period of data Data periods are labeled from most recent to least recent so Period 1 is the most recent date select period number MM YYYY Example 03 2000 06 2000 09 2000 12 2000 for quarterly Indicates calendarized quarterly periods frequency items MM YYYY Example 08 2000 07 2000 06 2000 01 2000 for monthly Indicates calendarized monthly periods frequency items YYYY Example 1999 1998 1997 for annual Indicates calendarized annual periods frequency items Screening Basic Steps e 11 Specifying Data Periods The following table shows how you can select a specific time period for the screen or report items Data Comment Elements ix Recent i93 Recent Specifies the period with the first non N A value of the item i93 6 2000 Specifies the calendarized period for the item ix period i108 4 S
117. like this i76 gt 15 And i76 lt 25 And i34 gt 0 Click OK The Screen By dialog box will appear Select TRUE from the menu options to include only those companies meeting all three conditions P E ratios in a 15 to 25 range and only positive EPS The Screening Criteria table will fill up showing the calculation The Report Definition will also contain the calculation You may want to delete it from the Report Definition because every company will have 1 as the data value Instead you may want to include the items 76 and 34 Click the Run Query button to run the screen Using Boolean Or Calculations In this example we will search for companies that have P E in a 20 to 25 range or PEG Ratio of 1 We will use DBCM items 72 P E using F 1 Estimate and item 551 PEG Ratio P E F 1 EPS Growth We will use the Direct Method for creating this calculation expression Here is how you can define these conditions 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen by Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear In the Calculation Expression data entry box type the following formula i72 gt 20 And i72 lt 25 Or i551 1 Click OK The Screen By dialog box will appear Select TRUE from the menu options The Screening Criteria table will fill up showing the calculation The Report Definition will also contain the calculation You may want to Resear
118. lt is 10 into which item s values will be ranked e g 5 for quintiles 10 for deciles and so on in the corresponding Number of Fractiles box Additional Parameters Rank Order Descending z Number of Fractiles io Click the Add Selected Function button to add the expression to the Expression Calculation box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Uniform or Histogram Ranking To add a calculated item to the report using Uniform or Histogram Ranking follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 1103 20 R From the Function Category list cli
119. lue of the item when item is not N A If the item is a N A it will show 0 Example NaTo0 i41 when item 41 has a value for ticker A as 5 and value for ticker B as N A for the specified period this operation will assign O for ticker B and 5 for ticker A Calculation Expression Custom Aggregates Ranks Using Custom Aggregates Ranks Functions in Screening Calculation Expression The Custom Aggregates Ranks functions is a group of special functions that allow users to use any item as the basis for aggregation or ranking It also allows to use any item as the Weight or Rank Item To create a screening calculation expression using the Custom Aggregates Ranks function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear 58 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 2 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button 3 At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes 4 From the Function Category list select the Custom Aggregates Ranks category 5 Next select the desire
120. ly those companies that meet both conditions 20 price increase over the last 4 week period and a 50 price increase over the last 12 week period 5 The Screening Criteria table will fill up showing the calculation The Report Definition will also contain the calculation expression You may want to delete it from the Report Definition because every company will have 1 as the data value Instead you may want to include a 4 week Price Change item and a 12 week Price Change item 6 Click the Run Query button to view the companies that passed your screen Example B Search for companies with the P E in a 15 to 25 range and include only companies with the positive EPS We will use DBCM items 34 12 month Trailing EPS and 76 P E using 12 month EPS We will use the Choose and Click Method for creating this calculation expression Here is how you can define these conditions 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen by Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will be displayed 2 From the list of categories select the Ratios category and then the P E sub category 3 From the tems list select the P E ratios using EPS Actuals category and highlight the P E using 12 month EPS item Double click the item it will be added to the Calculation Expression data entry box i76 4 From the Operator Category select Comparison and highlight the greater tha
121. mp LSNG 189 TRANS RAIL 190 TRANS SHIP 191 TRANS SERVICES 192 TRANS TRUCK 193 UTIL ELEC PWR 194 UTIL GAS DISTR 195 UTIL TELEPHONE 196 UTIL WATER SPLY 197 WIRE amp CABLE PRDS 198 COMP NETWORKS 199 COMP MINI 200 LEISURE amp REC GMG 201 TELECOMMCTNS WIRELESS 202 COMP STORAGE DEV 203 COMP INTEGT SYS 204 BANKS MAJOR REGIONAL 205 BUS SVCS 206 BUS INFO SVCS 207 CON PRD MISC STAPLES 208 MEDIA CONGLOMERATES 209 ELEC MFG MACHINERY 210 RET WHLSL AUTO TRUCK 211 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 212 INTERNET CONTENT 213 INTERNET SERVICES 214 INTERNET SOFTWARE 400 INDICES 500 UNCLASSIFIED Research Wizard 4 0 Glossary of Terms Research Wizard 4 0 Active Ticker List A portfolio file being analyzed at the current moment Active Universe The group of companies being analyzed at the current moment either the companies in the current Ticker List or the companies remaining after a screen has been executed Backtest A historical simulation of trading strategy Calculation Expression A user defined screening criteria or report item Consensus Estimate An average of analysts estimates for the particular company Constant e e irrational number occurring widely in mathematics and science approximately equal to the value 2 71828 it is the base of natural or Naperian logarithms e is transcendental i e not a ROOT of any algebraic equation It is defined as the limit of the expression 1 1 n n as n becomes infinitel
122. mpany s earnings exceed or fall short of the consensus estimates for a company on the EPS report date Company vs Industry Comparison The table at the bottom of the Snapshot report provides an overview of howa company measures up against its industry peers and the overall market on a number of key measures Data includes year to date price change P E 12 month estimated 3 5 year EPS growth rate Price Book Price Sales Price Cash Flow implied return to P E ratio dividend yield Net Margin ROE and Debt Capital The industry comparable data is most useful for relatively homogeneous industries Zacks large number of industry classifications over 200 helps to insure comparability between companies Working with Expanded Company Reports The Expanded Company Reports displayed in your browser give you the access to the company s fundamental data insiders data and company s general information Snapshot Reports e 101 102 Snapshot Reports Accessing Expanded Company Reports To run an Expanded Company Report follow these steps 1 Click the Snapshot button at the Research Wizard main menu 2 At the Company Reports menu type a ticker symbol into the Enter Ticker box 3 Check the Expanded Company Reports radio button select a report from the reports pull down menu and click OK 4 Your default browser will be launched and the report will be displayed To switch between your browser and the Research Wizard clic
123. n gt operator and click the Add Operator button 5 Inthe Calculation Expression data entry box type 15 i76 gt 15 Screening Examples e 81 82 e Screening Examples 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 From the Operator Category select Logical and highlight the And operator and click the Add Operator button From the list of categories select the Ratios category and then the P E sub category From the Items list select the P E ratios using EPS Actuals category and highlight the P E using 12 month EPS item Double click the item it will be added to the Calculation Expression data entry box i76 From the Operator Category select Comparison and highlight the less than lt operator and click the Add Operator button In the Calculation Expression data entry box type 25 i76 lt 25 From the Operator Category select Logical and highlight the And operator and click the Add Operator button From the Categories list select EPS and then Actual sub category From the tems list select the 12 Month trailing and highlight the 12 month EPS before NRI item Double click that item to be added to the Calculation Expression data entry box i34 From the Operator Category select Comparison and highlight the greater than gt operator and click the Add Operator button In the Calculation Expression data entry box type 0 i34 gt 0 so that final calculation expression will look
124. n button to add the expression to the Expression Calculation box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Using Rank Functions Uniform or Histogram Ranking in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using either Uniform or Histogram Ranking follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date fi 92 fi 1 03 20 From the Function Category list click Rank and then select the desired Uniform or Histogram ranking Full Universe Industry or Sector from the Function Name list At the Additional Parameters menu select a ranking order ascending or descending from the Rank Order pull down menu and type the number Working with Calculation Expressions e 51 of fractiles defau
125. n currently placed on the Clipboard at the insertion point in the Screening Criteria table and replaces any selection This command is available only if you have cut or copied a criterion e Delete permanently removes the criterion from the Screen Definition e Insert puts in the criterion currently placed on the Clipboard between the criteria at the insertion point in the Screening Criteria table This command is available only if you have cut or copied a criterion item Screening Basic Steps e 17 Tip 18 e Screening Basic Steps To get the edit menu in the Screening Criteria table right click your mouse inside the Screening Criteria table Modify Edit Screen Menu The screening criterion can be a database item or a calculated item This will determine the additional edit options Modifying Database Item 1 Open the screen definition you want to edit The Screening Criteria table will fill up From the Screening Criteria table highlight the item you want to modify and double click it or right click your mouse on that item to bring up the Edit menu and select the Modify option The Screen By dialog box will appear In the Screen By menu modify the parameters for your screen and click OK Modifying Calculated Item 1 Open the screen definition you want to edit if the calculation expression was build using database that is not currently active you will be prompted to switch to that database The Scre
126. nd then select the View Edit Active Tickers command from the Portfolio menu or click the View Edit Ticker List button The Ticker List dialog box appears Click the Add List button In the Look in box click the drive and folder that contains the Ticker List you want to add In the folder list double click the folders until you open the folder that contains the Ticker List you want Double click the Ticker List you want to add The ticker lists will be combined Working with Portfolios e 31 Working with Calculation Expressions Understanding Calculation Expression User Defined Calculations With the Research Wizard you can create your own screening or reporting items using the Calculation Expression function The Research Wizard provides a comprehensive set of operators and functions that you can use to create custom items and complex calculations To build a calculation for screening select the Screen by Calculation Expression command from the Screen menu alternatively you can click the Screen by Calculation Expression button To use a calculation in the report select the Add Calculation Expression command from the Report menu alternatively you can click the Add Calculation Expression button 3 Calculation Expression x Calculation Expression referred in the report as Sales to Average Working Capital 180 i88 i88 1 i89 i89 1 72 Categories Leverage Net sales
127. ndustry Sector or Research Wizard 4 0 Screening Basic Steps e 15 Tip 16 e Screening Basic Steps S amp P 500 select it from the pull down menu and then specify the method of aggregation mean median 4 Next choose an operator from the operators pull down menu and click OK 5 The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section Each screening item will also be added to the Report Definition table 6 Torun the screen click the Run Query button To add a screening item with the mouse highlight that item in the Items section and right click your mouse Select the Screen by Database Item command from the menu Using Historical Search Option in Screening When an item in a database has more then one period associated with it the Screen By dialog box has a special check box Historical Search The Historical Search option allows you to screen on several data periods In addition you can specify whether you want the specific conditions to be met in Every or Any time period Saving Screens You can save your screen definition for the later use To save a screen definition after executing a series of screens follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Save Screen Definition command 2 The Screen Definition dialog box will appear In the File Name box type a name for the saved screen and then click Save The screen definition will be saved in a file with t
128. ng calculation expression using the X Industry Aggregate function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date a1 0672000 i Select the X Industry Aggregate category from the Function Category list and then desired aggregated from the Function Name list and click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as 44 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 6 7 Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports X Industry Aggregate To add a calculated item to the report usin
129. ng in the calculation expression or using the Choose and Click Method For both options the calculation expression is displayed in the Calculation Expression data entry box 32 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Creating Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculated item follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight an item to be used in the calculation If the item has several time periods select the period from the pull down menu If you want to simply add the item click the Add Item button If necessary use additional operators If you want to use a function proceed to the Function Parameters selection and click lt Select the item number and period will be shown Function Parameters ltem Date fig2 1103 20 K Next select highlight the desired Function Category and select the function from the menu Some functions will have additional parameters that you will need to specify Click the Add Selected Function button when done Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as When the expression is complete click OK The Screen By dialog box will appear Specify your screening criteria and click OK
130. nizing the report you will be able to sort on up to three additional items If you selected two levels of organization you will be able to sort on up to two additional items Sorting Reports You can sort your reports based on the contents of two or more columns When you sort the Research Wizard rearranges the report based on the sort order you specify You can sort reports in ascending 1 to 9 A to Z or descending 9 to 1 Z to A order based on the contents of one or more columns To sort the report follow these steps AJ 1 From the Data menu select the Organize Sort command or click the Organize Sort button The Organize Sort dialog box will be displayed 2 Select the first sorting item in the Sort by box and the sort order ascending or descending 3 If the column you specify in the Sort by box has items that have identical values for several companies example Zacks Rank of 1 you can sort the values further by specifying another column in the first Then By box If there are duplicate items in the second column you can specify a third column to sort by in the second Then By box the Research Wizard allows for sort on up to four items 4 Click OK Running Existing Reports To run an existing report follow these steps 1 From the Report menu select the Open Report Definition command The Report Definition dialog box will appear Saved reports usually appear in zir inputs folder and have extension rpd
131. nsus specify completed fiscal year FO current fiscal year F1 next fiscal year F2 completed fiscal quarter QO current fiscal quarter Q1 or next fiscal quarter Q2 gt Price Change choose for the last week 4 weeks 12 weeks 24 weeks or Year to Date YTD Changing Additional Alerts Parameters You can set a new defaults for the additional Alert Parameters such as Fiscal Period Last Days Next Days and Top Bottom number To change Alert Parameters follow these steps 1 From the Tools menu click Options 2 The Options dialog box will appear Click the Alert Parameters tab and enter new parameters Portfolio Alert Parameters Fiscal Period Q1 Current Quarter v Last Days 0 Next Days 30 Top Bottom so 3 Click OK Alert Report Categories Broker Recommendations Category Average Recommendations This report displays an average recommendation for each stock in your portfolio or universe To compute the average recommendation Zacks uses a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents a Strong Buy and 5 represents a Strong Sell In addition to the average recommendation this report shows the number of Strong Buy Buy Hold Sell and Strong Sell recommendations for each stock Average Recommendations vs Industry This report compares the average broker recommendations rating for each company in the portfolio with the average broker recommendations rating Alerts
132. o the report using the Sector Aggregate Functions 1 From the Report menu select the Add Calculation Expression command or click the Add Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression dialog box will be displayed Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date 192 1103 20 K Select the desired aggregate from the Function Name list and click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table 48 e Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Available Sector Aggregate Functions e SecSum Calculates the Sector Sum value for the companies in the X Sector e SecMed Calculates the Sector Median value for the selected item for the companies in the X Sector e SecMean Calculates the Sector Mean value for the selected item forthe companies
133. ot Map charts you can graphically evaluate the attractiveness of the companies within the active universe based on the items in your screen or report definitions Based on the numerical values of each report item the companies are ranked on each item using the Full Universe Uniform Rank function they are ranked into 100 fractiles equal number of companies in each fractile The individual scores are then combined into the Composite Rank the Composite Rank of the company is equally weighted average of individual ranks per each item The final score is then interpreted using a color scheme the most attractive companies are colored in green and the least attractive are colored in red The neutral is represented by white The X Y Scatter Plots option produces a scatter plot of two database items A scatter plot is useful in determining the relationship between two numerical variables It is constructed simply by plotting the response Y variable vertical axis against the explanatory X variable horizontal axis Hot Maps Specifying Hot Maps The Hot Map option allows you to graphically view the attractiveness of the companies within the active universe The Hot Maps can be run only after displaying the results of a screen or a report The Hot Maps are not available for all data items To use the Hot Map feature after displaying the results of a screen or report follow these steps 1 From the Graphics menu select the Hot Maps comm
134. ou want to edit The Report Definition table will fill up 2 Highlight the item you want to delete 3 From the Report menu select the Edit Report Definition command and select the Delete option Tip To get the Edit menu in the Report Definition table right click your mouse inside the Report Definition table Insert Edit Report Menu This command is available only if you have cut or copied a report item In the Report Definition table click where you want the item to appear To add the item to the report from the Report menu click Edit Report Definition command and select the Insert option Tip To get the Edit menu in the Report Definition table right click your mouse inside the Report Definition table 26 e Report Writing Basic Steps Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Clearing Report Definition To Clear both Screening Criteria and Report Definition Tables 1 From the Screen menu select the Clear Criteria command or click the Clear Criteria button 2 The message Would you like to clear the Report Definition will appear Click Yes 3 Both the Screening Criteria and the Report Definition tables will be emptied To Clear the Repot Definition Table Only 1 From the Report menu select the Clear Report Definition command 2 The Report Definition table will be emptied Sorting and Organizing Reports You can manipulate the information displayed in your reports using the Sort and Organize options Th
135. panies in the M Industry using Uniform Rank SecOrdRank Classifies companies in the Sector using Ordinal Rank SecHstRank Classifies companies in the Sector using Histogram Rank SecUnRank Classifies companies in the Sector using Uniform Rank Moving Average Use this option to perform the following functions MovingSum Calculate the sum of the values over the specified period for the data item MovingMean Calculate the mean value over the specified period for the data item MovingLo Calculate the lowest value for the specified period for the data item MovingHi Calculate the highest value for the specified period for the data item Miscellaneous Use this option to perform the following ChkNA Produces 0 if item has N A or 1 if item is not N A NaTo0 item Shows a value of the item when item is not N A If the item is a N A show 0 FiscM i2 Creates calculations using fiscal year end month 38 Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 e FiscD i2 Creates calculations using day in the fiscal year Custom Aggregates Ranks Use this option to perform the following e AllAgg Allows to select a certain aggregate for the full universe e AllWtAv Calculate a Weighted Average for all companies in the database universe using any specific item e GrAgg Calculate a Group specific aggregate e SpGrAgg Calculate special agg
136. pecifies the fourth period of the item ix Today i7 Today Refers to the first period Note that the data in this period may be N A i7 4 Lag item 7 by four periods for each data point ix 4 i7 4 Lead item 7 by four periods for each data point ix R 2Q i27 R 2Q Specified the two quarterly periods before the most recent period with non N A value of item ix Recent i7 Recent 3W Specifies a period that is 3 weeks before the 3W most recent period with non N A value of the item ix Today i7 Today 15D Refers to a period that is 15 days before the 15D first period ix Today i7 Today 5M Refers to a period that is 5 months before the 5M first period ix Date i7 12 1998 SPAL Refers to the data for SPAL for the 12 1998 Ticker period Useful in relative calculation using SPAL or an Index ticker ix Today 2Y Sales Today 2Y Specifies a period that is 2 years before the i80 Today 2Y first period Item Frequency Codes The items in Zacks databases can have the following frequency codes Calendar Frequencies Fiscal Frequencies D Daily business days only F Fiscal Quarterly W Weekly Friday end Y Fiscal Annual M Monthly a Q Calendar Quarterly Po A Calendar Annual Other Frequencies E Event frequency A special frequency in which a non periodic date is assigned to the item Split adjustment factor for stock splits and dividends which occur on spe
137. perators pull down menu select the greater than gt operator In the Compare to section choose Group 5 From the Group pull down menu select X Industry as the group and select Median as the aggregate Leave the default 1 00 value in the coefficient box the default coefficient of 1 00 represents the Industry median and click OK Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 6 fi Screen By x nd X Next 3 5 Years Est EPS Growth yr p z jx Industry Median x bd ji 00 Compare to C Value Number Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 OK Cancel The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Next search for companies with the estimate increases above 3 7 10 11 12 From the list of Categories select the EPS category and then the Estimate Revisions sub category From the tem list choose the Estimate Revisions Last 12 Weeks category and highlight the Change F 1 Est 4 Weeks item Double click the Change F 1 Est 4 Weeks item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear From the operators pull down menu select the greater than gt operator In the value entry box type 3 and click OK i Screen By x And S
138. plus other revenue from main business Liquidity amp Coverage 80 Sales mil 3 Yr lines in millions Valuation 83 Cost of Goods Sold mil 3 Yr Margins 207 Eamings Bfr Int Tx Dep amp Am EBITDA 3 Yr 206 Earnings Before Int amp Txs EBIT 3 Yr 84 Pretax Income mil 3 Yr 85 Net Income Reported mil 3 Yr Recent X Tick 105 Cash Flow mi 3 Yr ike Fiscal Year Estimates 12 Month Trailing Fiscal Quarter Estimates x 155 Sales 12 months mil 6 Qtr xl Add Item Operator Category Operator Function Category Function Name Function Parameters Item Date lt Select Abs Absolute Value Comparison Exp Exponential Function Logical LogN Natural Logarithm Misc r Log10 Base 10 Logarithm Sart Square Root Sector Aggregate Trun Truncate Rank Moving Average Add Operator Misc Custom Agar Ranks Add Selected Function OK Cancel Calculation Expression window Building Calculation Expression Basics The Calculation Expressions are built by selecting items time periods operators and functions from the corresponding menus of the Calculation Expression window As you select items operators and functions and enter constants to build your expression the formula for the expression will be displayed in the Calculation Expression data entry box There are two techniques for creating a calculation expression the Direct Method manually typi
139. provide you with the most convenient way to analyze Zacks data The data is organized into several categories Each category contains individual items available for screening and reporting As you select an item from its corresponding category a brief item s description will be displayed in the item description box above the items and categories In addition the item s frequency quarterly weekly etc and number of periods 3 6 9 etc available will be shown Selecting Databases The Current Market database DBCM DBS is Research Wizard s default database To select another database follow these steps 1 From the File menu select Open Database 2 At the Zacks Databases menu choose a database by highlighting its name Zacks Databases Ea DBCM Current DBZHE Monthly Historical DEDA Fundamental Annual DBDQ Fundamental Quarterly DBCMHIST Weekly Historical DBDP Historical Daily Prices DBWP Historical Weekly Prices ZBT_PRI Backtesting Primary ZBT_SEC Backtesting Secondary AGGIND X Industry Aggregates AGGSEC Industry Aggregates DBQUOTE Delayed Quotes aa Cancel Zacks Databases menu 3 Click OK Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Available Zacks Databases The following is a list of available Zacks databases DBCM Current Market database containing quarterly and annual consensus EPS estimates market data fundamental data
140. ptions on the Modify menu are available for all types of items These options include Column Name Alignment and Column Format Other options become enabled when the item used in a report has more then one data period or is a calculated item These options are Time Period and Calculation To aid in your work the database name and the item s number or a calculation expression are also noted at the Modify Column dialog box 63 Modify Column iof x DBQUOTE i6 Column Name Column Format Last Line 1 H H0 000 Trade Line 2 Alignment Default Left Justif Center Justify Modify Column options will depend on the item Column Name used to change the item s name If the item s name is long you can use two lines for the name Alignment used to change the item s position within the column By default all items are Right Justified Column Format used to change the way numbers are displayed the first format shown on the list is the default format Report Writing Basic Steps e 23 24 e Report Writing Basic Steps Input Format Result 21366 8457 0 21367 21366 8457 0 0 21366 8 21366 8457 0 00 21366 85 21366 8457 0 000 21366 846 21366 8457 0 0000 21366 8457 21366 8457 0 21 367 21366 8457 0 0 21 366 8 21366 8457 0 00 21 366 85 21366 8457 0 000 21 366 846 21366 8457 0 0000 21 366 8457
141. r than gt operator In the value entry box type 15 and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Next click the Run Query button to run the screen and view the companies that meet our criteria Using Historical Search Option The Historical Search option allows you to screen on several data periods In addition you can specify whether you want the specific conditions to be met in Every or Any period In this example you will screen for companies that had a positive pre tax income Every year for the past three years We will be using DBCM item 84 Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 ina From the Categories list select the Income Statement category From the tems list select the Annual category and then highlight the Pretax Income mil item Double click the Pretax Income mil item or select the Screen by Database Item command from the Screen menu or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear Check the Historical Search box Using the corresponding pull down menus select the desired time periods and the option Every year From the operators pull down menu choose the greater than gt operator In the value entry box type 0 and click OK fi Screen By xi And X tax Income mil Annualy 1999 1997 Compare
142. r the coming 90 180 days Company Type The company type is based on its Market Cap and Price Book ratio Market Cap Price Book lt 800 mil Small lt 1 75 Value gt 3500 mil Large gt 3 5 Growth gt 800 mil and lt 3500 mil Mid gt 1 75 and lt 3 5 Blend Business Description A brief business description is provided beneath the summary table Broker Recommendations Data and Charts The Average Broker Recommendation is highlighted and the number of analysts who have revised their opinion of the stock up or down in the past four weeks is noted The recommendations which are updated continuously based on information Zacks receives from brokerages firms are broken into five categories Strong Buy Buy Hold Sell Strong Sell The convenient histogram format allows you get a quick feel for both the number of analysts actively following the stock and their opinions about the stock s relative attractiveness Price Volume Data This section of the report includes data indicating the stock s price range over the last 52 weeks as well as year to date price change for the stock and its performance relative to the S amp P 500 The average daily trading volume for the last 20 trading days is also provided Expected Return Market Risk Implied Return The stock s implied return is calculated by adding a stock s current dividend yield to its estimated long term EPS growth rate The implied
143. reening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the Sector Aggregate function follow these steps 1 Research Wizard 4 0 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Working with Calculation Expressions e 47 Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters ltem Date a1 06 2000 i Select the Sector Aggregate category from the Function Category list Select the desired aggregate from the Function Name list and click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog box will appear Specify the screening parameters and click OK The Calculation Expression will be added to the Screening Criteria table Adding Calculation Expression to Reports Sector Aggregates To add a calculated item t
144. regates for Group e GrOrdRank Calculate Ordinal Rank in Group e GrUnRank Calculate Uniform Rank in Group e GrHstRank Calculate Histogram Rank in Group Calculation Expression Math Using Math Functions in Screening Calculation Expression To create a screening calculation expression using the Math function follow these steps 1 From the Screen menu select the Screen By Calculation Expression command or click the Screen by Calculation Expression button The Calculation Expression window will appear Select highlight the item to be used in the calculation When the selected item has more than one period of data you can also select a specific time period from the time period pull down menu above the Add Item button At the Function Parameters menu click the lt Select button The selected item s number and time period will appear in the Function parameters data boxes Function Parameters Item Date a1 06 2000 i From the Function Category list click Math From the Function Name list select the desired Math function Example Abs Absolute Value and double click that function name or click the Add Selected Function button The calculation expression will appear in the Calculation Expression data entry box Example Abs i41 06 2000 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK The Screen by dialog
145. rowse button Options Ed Default Database a Local Directory Cancel Screening Basic Steps e 9 10 e Screening Basic Steps 3 At the Zacks Databases menu select a database from the list and click OK 4 Atthe Options menu click OK again Resetting Default Database When in the process of working with several databases you can quickly switch to the default database by selecting the Reset Database command from the File menu Zacks Database Concepts The Research Wizard operates on a proprietary Zacks database structure Conceptually Zacks database consists of a set of time series items for a set of companies Each time series has a calendar daily weekly monthly quarterly or annual or fiscal fiscal quarterly or fiscal annual frequency and is maintained for a fixed number of periods of that frequency As an example month end closing prices Item 6 in the Zacks Current Market databases DBCM have a calendar monthly frequency and are maintained for 13 periods 13 months In addition to the dated frequencies two non periodic frequencies may be included in a database An item may have an X frequency whereby no date is associated with the data or an E frequency where each data item has a specific non periodic date associated with it One vitally important characteristic of a Zacks database is the END DATE This date indicates a database update date The dates associated with every element
146. s Description amp Management Discussion Reports e8 103 Business Descriptions Reports ccccceeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeecaeeeeeeeeeenees 103 Management s Discussion and Analysis Reports ccccccceeeeeeeeeeetees 103 Insider Trading RePOMt cccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeteccaaeeeeeeeeeteeenaaaes 103 Link to Integrated Company Analysis cccceeeeeeeeeecneeeeeeeeeeeeenaaeeeeeeeeeteeenaaaes 104 Appendix 105 List of Zacks Sector and Industry Designations c cccceeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeetaees 105 Zacks X Expanded Sector Groups cccceecceeeeeeeeeecccneeeeeeeeeeeeseneeeeeees 105 Zacks M Medium Industry Groups 2 ccceceeeeeeeeeecceneeeeeeeeeteesnneeeeeees 105 Zacks X Expanded Industry Groups ccceeeeeeeeeceneeeeeeeeeeeeeenneeeeeees 106 Glossary of Terms 107 iv e Contents Research Wizard 4 0 Introduction Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Overview The Research Wizard is a powerful equity screening program ideal for identifying new buying opportunities monitoring your portfolios and backtesting for performance The Research Wizard may be used to e Perform interactive screening to explore market distributions and find companies for investment consideration e Run pre defined screens to generate and keep current list of possible new companies of interest e Examine the fundamental characteristics of curr
147. s to be used in the moving calculation in the Number of Intervals box Additional Parameters m Number of Periods L 6 Click the Add Selected Function button to add the expression to the Expression Calculation box 7 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as Click OK 9 The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available Moving Functions There are several moving transformations available e The Moving Sum Calculates the sum of the values in the specified period for the data item Example MovingSum5 i6 when item 6 has the following values for the specified five periods 71 59 88 69 31 65 94 69 38 will produce 335 51 Usable for items with multiple periods only e The Moving Mean Calculates the mean value over the specified periods for the data item Example MovingMean5 i6 when item 6 has the following values for the specified five periods 71 59 88 69 31 65 94 69 38 will produce 67 1 as their mean Usable for items with multiple periods only e The Moving High Calculates the highest value for the specified periods for the data item Example MovingHi5 i6 when item 6 has the following values for the specified five periods 71 59 88 69 31 65 94 69 38 will produce 71 the highest value over the five periods Usable for items with multiple periods only e The Moving Low Cal
148. search Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Specifying Alerts Parameters Before running a report you need to specify the parameters set of companies for your report specific portfolio or full universe Some of the reports will also include additional options Alert Parameters Selecting Portfolio Alert Reports default portfolio is Myportf txt You can select a new portfolio by following these steps 1 From the Alert Parameters section click the Portfolio radio button 2 Atthe Portfolio selection section click the Browse button 3 The Open Portfolio dialog box will appear In the Look in box click the drive and folder that contains the file 4 In the folder list double click folders until you open the folder that contains the file you want 5 Double click the portfolio file you want to open or click Open To specify a new default portfolio follow these steps 1 From the Tools menu click Options The Options dialog box will appear 2 Click Portfolio tab The current Default Portfolio will be shown Portfolio Alert Parameters Default Portfolio C AZIR Ports DJIA txt roy OK Cancel 3 At the Default Portfolio section click Browse 4 The Default Portfolio dialog box will appear In the Look in box click the drive and folder that contains the file 5 In the folder list double click folders until you open the folder that contains the file you want Double click th
149. search Wizard display to access the Company Reports menu At the Company Reports menu type a ticker symbol into the Enter Ticker box i Company Reports Enter Ticker am Zacks Company Snapshot Expanded Company Reports Integrated Company Analysis Print Snapshot for Active Tickers Cancel _ Select the Integrated Company Analysis radio button and click OK ICA will open in a separate window To switch back to the Research Wizard click the Research Wizard button on your Windows taskbar Guided Tour e 7 Screening Basic Steps 8 e Screening Basic Steps Overview of Research Wizard Screening Process The Research Wizard screening capabilities provide a powerful tool for examining the fundamental characteristics of your current holdings or searching for potential valuable additions to your portfolio With the Research Wizard you can perform interactive screening to analyze market distribution and find companies that can serve as potential candidates for investments The Research Wizard also allows you to explore the Zacks databases of over 6 500 stocks using over 600 pre defined items or an unlimited number of your own custom calculations Once your criteria have been specified you can save them for the future use with the updated data or run a series of backtest to see how these strategies have performed in the past Screening Menu The Research Wizard layout is organized to
150. search Wizard display to access the Alert Reports menu To run an Alert report follow these steps 1 Select a report from the report categories 2 Specify if you want this report for a portfolio or a full universe all available companies in Zacks database 3 Select any additional parameters when applicable 4 Click the Run Report button to display the report Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Tol Snapshot Snapshot Quick Start Guide Click the Snapshot button from the Research Wizard display to access the Company Reports menu To run a company report follow these steps 1 At the Company Reports menu type a ticker symbol into the Enter Ticker box Specify the report type Zacks Company Snapshot or Expanded Company Reports by selecting the corresponding radio button If you specified the Zacks Company Snapshot option just click OK to display the report If you specified the Expanded Company Reports option select a report from the reports pull down menu and then click OK The report will be displayed in your browser window To switch back to the Research Wizard click the Research Wizard button on your Windows taskbar Link to Integrated Company Analysis If you have the Zacks product Integrated Company Analysis ICA you can have an instantaneous link to that module To access ICA from the Research Wizard follow these steps 1 3 4 Click the Snapshot button from the Re
151. ta entry box 6 Enter the name for the calculated item in the entry box labeled Calculation Expression referred in the report as 7 Click OK 8 The Calculation Expression will be added to the Report Definition table Available Miscellaneous Functions e Fiscal Month FiscM Allows you to create calculations using the fiscal year end month Could be used in creating time weighted calculations Example 12 FiscM i2 i49 FiscM i2 i59 i49 12 will create a Time Weighted 12 Month Forward Looking Estimate where item 49 is F 1 Consensus Estimate share and item 59 is F 2 Consensus Estimate share e Fiscal Day FiscD Allows you to create calculations using the number of days into the company s fiscal year Could be used in creating time weighted calculations Example 365 FiscD i2 i49 FiscD i2 i59 i49 365 will create a Time Weighted 12 Month Forward Looking Estimate where item 49 is F 1 Consensus Estimate share and item 59 is F 2 Consensus Estimate share e Check N A Allows you to select or display all tickers in your active universe with N A s for a given data item this operation produces 0 if item has N A or 1 if item is not N A Example ChkNA i41 when item 41 has a value for ticker A as 5 and value for ticker B as N A for the specified period this operation will assign O for ticker B and 1 for ticker A e Convert N A to 0 Converts an NA data point to a 0 value Shows a va
152. ter Screening After finding the universe that matches your criteria you can save the list of companies that passed your screen in a Ticker List To save companies after running a screen as a Ticker List follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the Save Tickers as List command or click the Save Ticker List button 2 The Save Ticker List dialog box will appear and the default folder for the Ticker List files will be shown zir ports To save the file in a different folder specify that drive in the Save in box or double click a different folder in the folder list 3 In the File name box type a name for the Ticker List 4 Click Save Tip To save tickers as portfolio while a the report output menu select Save Tickers as List command from the Data menu 20 e Screening Basic Steps Research Wizard 4 0 Report Writing Basic Steps Research Wizard 4 0 Tip Working with Reports The Research Wizard allows you to create multi company reports that combine Zacks database items and your own calculated items The Research Wizard also includes several sample reports The reports have extension rpd and are located in the zir inputs folder Creating New Reports There are two ways to create a report in the Research Wizard You can display items used in your screening definition or you can select items for your portfolio Ticker List When you build the screen definitions in the Research Wizard the screening
153. the name and location of the portfolio Click Save Creating Reports There are two ways to create a report in the Research Wizard You can display items used in your screening definition or you can select items for your portfolio Ticker List Creating Reports for Existing Portfolio To create a report for the existing Ticker List follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the Open Ticker List command or click the Open Ticker List button and choose the Ticker List The Screening Criteria table will show the Ticker List name and the number of companies in it 2 To add a database item to your report select that item from the Items section and click the Add Item to Report button alternatively from the Report menu choose the Add Database Item command The added item will appear in the Report Definition table 3 To save the report for future uses select the Save Report Definition command from the Report menu 4 The Report Definition dialog box will appear and the default folder for the report files will be shown usually zir inputs To save the file in a different folder click a different drive in the Save in box or double click a different folder in the folder list Guided Tour e 5 6 e Guided Tour Tip 5 In the File name box type a name for the report all reports have extension rpd and click Save To add an item to your report with the mouse highlight that item in the Items
154. tial surprises are then normalized divided by the Standard Deviation of Consensus and ranked This rank is determined as Most Accurate Consensus Consensus Estimate Standard Deviation of Consensus The higher the Surprise Rank the more there is a potential for a surprise Additional information provided by this report includes quarter end month number of estimates for each company and expected report date Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Predicting Next Surprise Most Recent Analysts This report forecasts potential EPS surprises in the next several days you can specify the number of days 5 30 60 etc This report predicts surprises by exploiting the difference between the most recent analysts EPS consensus and the general consensus estimate on a quarterly basis The expected surprise in this report is calculated as Most Recent Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate x100 The potential surprises are then normalized divided by the Standard Deviation of Consensus and ranked This rank is determined as Most Recent Consensus Consensus Estimate Standard Deviation of Consensus The higher the Surprise Rank the more there is a potential for a surprise Additional information provided by this report includes quarter end month number of estimates for each company and expected report date Standardized Unexpected Earnings The important surprises are those associat
155. to 1999 7 1997 X Value Number MV Historical Search Every Group Industry Sector S amp P 500 OK Cancel The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section It will also be added to the Report Definition table Examples of Advanced Screening and Reporting Calculating New Items Using Existing Database Items Suppose you want to include the Sales to Average Working Capital ratio in your report for a portfolio You can create this item using the DBCM items 80 Annual Sales 88 Annual Total Current Assets and 89 Annual Total Current Liabilities Working Capital is calculated as the difference between the current assets and current liabilities To create an average Working Capital we will use the average Total Current Assets and the average Total Current Liabilities To create the Sales to Average Working Capital ratio using the Direct Method manually typing in the calculation expression follow these steps 1 2 Select a Ticker List first From the Report menu select the Add Calculations Expression command or click the Add Calculations Expression button The Calculation Expression window will be displayed Type the following formula in the Calculation Expression data entry box i80 i88 i88 1 i89 i89 1 2 Screening Examples e 79 Tip 80 e Screening Examples 4 Click OK 5 The calculated item will be added to the Report Definit
156. tock prices move before during and after such events Stock prices may respond as long as 90 days after these events Alert Reports give you time to take action for a positive result J Alert Reports x Tools Broker Recommendations r Most Accurate Consensus B Average Recommendations C Full Universe B Average Recommendations vs Industry B Change in Average Recommendations geeni wl Sse 20g B Change in Analyst Recommendations B Top Analyst Recommendations Estimates Revisions Portfolio B Recent Consensus EPS Revisions CARESSLOC PORTS Myportittt ial B Recent Analyst EPS Revisions EPS Surprise B Reported EPS Surprises B Expected Report Date B Pred Next Surp Most Accurate Fiscal period O1 Curent Quarter B Pred Next Surp Most Recent B Standardized Unexpected Earnings B Today s Reported EPS Surprises Upside Potential E WEE B Most Recent Consensu Price Action E Price Changes B Intraday Price Changes Bun Report Alert Reports menu ccurate Conse Using Alert Reports To run a report follow these steps Va 1 Select the Alerts button from the Research Wizard menu to access the ae Alert Reports menu Next select a report from the report categories Specify if you want this report for a portfolio or a universe Select any additional parameters when applicable 4 Click the Run Report button to display the report 88 e Alerts Re
157. u or click the Screen by Database Item button The Screen By dialog box will appear Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 Tip Tip 3 In the Screen By menu enter the parameters for your screen and click OK The screening item will appear in the Screening Criteria table below the Categories and Items section Each screening item will also be added to the Report Definition table 4 Torun the screen click the Run Query button To add a screening item with the mouse highlight that item in the Items section and right click your mouse Select the Screen by Database Item command from the menu How to Save Tickers After Screening After finding the universe that matches your criteria you can save the list of companies that passed your screen in the Ticker List To save companies after running a screen as a Ticker List follow these steps 1 From the Portfolio menu select the Save Tickers as List command or click the Save Ticker List button 2 The Save Ticker List dialog box will appear and the default folder for the Ticker List files will be shown zir ports To save the file in a different folder click a different drive in the Save in box or double click a different folder in the folder list 3 In the File name box type a name for the Ticker List 4 Click Save To save companies as a portfolio at the report output menu from the Data menu click Save Tickers As List At the Ticker List dialog box specify
158. ulates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the S amp P 500 SPMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the S amp P 500 XIndustry Aggregate Use this option to calculate aggregate values of the data item for the companies in Zacks X Industry Aggregate values may then be compared to individual values to create relative comparisons N A values are excluded from the calculations XIndSum Calculates the Sum value for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry 36 Working with Calculation Expressions Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 XIndMed Calculates the Median value for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndMean Calculates the Mean value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndMktWtAv Calculates the Market Weighted Average for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndHi Calculates the highest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XindLo Calculates the lowest value for the selected item for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry XIndNum Returns the Number of Companies in the Industry in the Full Universe XIndStdDev Calculates the Standard Deviation for the selected item for the companies in the X Industry Mindustry Aggregate Use this option to calculate aggregate values of the d
159. urns are forward looking that is the return value for the week 6 11 1999 represents the return that would be earned during the week from 6 11 1999 to 6 18 1999 These returns are unweighted in other words the return for the portfolio is the arithmetic mean of the returns for individual companies in the portfolio Backtesting e 63 64 e Backtesting Calculation Total Return of Portfolio TotRet PrChMean DivYldMean nWeekBt 52 where PrChMean Average of i120 1 wk or i11 4 wk or 113 12 wk or i15 24 wk for active universe DBCMHIST and DivYldMean Average i26 for active universe Benchmark Total Return the return of the benchmark for the period shown Excess Return of Screen the return of the portfolio less the return for the benchmark return for the period shown Average average value of each of the columns Up Markets average for those rank dates where the benchmark return was positive Displays number of periods Down Markets average for those rank dates where the benchmark return was negative Displays number of periods Annualized Return calculated as the average return raised to the power 52 Holding Period in Weeks Calculation 1 Average of TotRet 1 gop NLSSKEN 190 Research Wizard 4 0 Graphics Research Wizard 4 0 Overview With the Research Wizard Graphics option you can produce several special charts Hot Maps and X Y Scatter Plot With the H
160. ween the general consensus estimate and the most accurate analysts EPS consensus for the fiscal period The most accurate EPS consensus is computed by ranking the analysts historical performance Zacks methodology for identifying the most accurate analysts is based on computing the historical errors of an analyst Analysts with the smallest errors are considered to be the best analysts The analysts Alerts e 95 96 e Alerts are ranked based on a historical average of their errors with the smallest errors being the best The most accurate quarterly consensus is computed by ranking the average of the analysts absolute errors for the last two quarters The criteria for annual analyst EPS accuracy is the average number of month end forecasts during the past four years when the analyst s annual EPS absolute forecast error was less than the absolute consensus error for the year The expected surprise in this report is calculated as Most Accurate Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate Consensus Estimate x100 The potential surprises are then normalized divided by the Standard Deviation of Consensus and ranked This rank is determined as Most Accurate Consensus Consensus Estimate Standard Deviation of Consensus The higher the Surprise Rank the more there is a potential for a surprise Additional information provided by this report includes fiscal period end month number of estimates for each company and exp
161. welve months Market Capitalization Industry company type current dividend rate and Dividend Yield 12 month sales growth rates for sales EPS and dividends for the past five years and Zacks Performance Ranking i Zacks Company Report Ea Exit Print Zacks Company Report as of 01 17 00 Next EPS Report Date 04 21 00 LUCENT TECH INC lu NYSE Industry TELECOM EQUIP Type Large Growth Rec Price P Mkt Cap Div Rate Yield Sales 12Mo SIs Gr EPS Gr Div Gr Zacks Rank 53 38 42 4 163540MM 0 08 0 1 37314 MM 16 49 3 Buy Lucent Technologies Inc is one of the world s leading designers developers and manufacturers of telecommunications systems software and products The Company is a global market leader in the sale of public telecommunications systems and is a supplier of systems or software to most of the world s largest network operators They are also a global market leader in the sale of business communications systems and in the sale of microelectronic components for communications applications to manufacturers of communications systems and computers PriceVolume Data EPS PE and Growth Rates YNT BUY 0 5 52 WkHigh 82 28 FY EPS PE EPSGr Low 48 00 999Act 1 22 532 42 Broker PriceChg YTD 29 Q9MOEsSt 1 51 35 4 24 Recommendations YTD Rel 29 9 01 Est 1 83 291 22 il Avg Diy Vol 32558 O0Okast S r TTT 4955 ia Exp RetumiRisk Next 3 5Yr Est 23 Impl Ret Yid Gr
162. would raise the value of item to the power n For example the expression i5 2 when item 5 is equal to 54 25 would be interpreted as 54 25 and will produce 2 943 06 A user specified constant raised to the power of an item n i would raise n to the value of item For example when the value of item 136 is equal to 2 19 the expression 2 i136 would be interpreted as 2 and will produce 4 58 SELECT operator To select alternative item for a calculation if a given item is N A Use the Select operator lt gt or lt Shift Backslash gt as follows i5 i6 This expression will use the value of item 5 unless it is N A in which case it will use the value of item 6 Calculation Expression Function Categories There are nine function categories available when building a calculation expression They are Math Use the following functions to manipulate or combine items e Abs Calculates the absolute value i e value without its sign e Exp Calculates the value of a constant e raised to the specified Working with Calculation Expressions e 35 power LogN Calculates the natural logarithm Log10 Calculates the base 10 logarithm Sqrt Calculates a square root Trun Truncates a data item value to the lowest integer by removing the decimal or fractional part of the number Universe Aggregate Use this option to perform calculations using all companies in the Zacks database Aggr
163. y 2 Hold 3 Sell 4 Strong Sell 5 Last EPS Surprise Calculated as Act EPS Q Last Est Q0 Absolute value of Last Est QO x 100 Estimate Revisions Change F 1 4 Week Percent change in mean EPS estimate for the current fiscal year over the last four weeks Calculated as Est EPS F1 current Est EPS F1 4 weeks ago Absolute value of Est EPS F1 4 weeks ago x 100 Growth EPS Projected Next Year F1 F0 Estimated EPS growth for one year using consensus estimate of current fiscal year divided by EPS of last completed fiscal year actual if reported consensus if not EPS is before NRI Growth EPS Projected Next 3 5 Yrs yr Mean estimate for long term 3 5 year annualized EPS growth as of the last completed week PEG Ratio PEG Ratio P E to expected EPS growth using next fiscal year estimates and projected earnings growth A PEG of 1 0 means that a stock is trading in line with its projected growth rate P E using F 1 estimate Price Earnings ratio using current fiscal year estimated earnings and current price Current Yield Current dividend yield EZ Screen 6 Screening Criteria The pre determined criteria are as follows e Top 10 of the Full Universe 10 percent of the total number of companies e Top 25 of the Full Universe 25 percent of the total number of companies e Top 50 of the Full Universe 50 percent of the total number of compan
164. y large Source The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia 1995 Delimited Text File Type A text separated by tab characters commas or spaces Exponential Function Expressions in the form of e x Item A data element in a Zacks database An item may contain alphanumeric or numeric data Look Ahead Bias The data bias referring to the use of data in a backtest that was not in reality available to the analyst at the time the backtest assumes Recent Specifies the period with the first non N A value of the item Screening A process of selecting companies that meet your selected criteria Survivor Bias Also survivorship bias refers to a database that conations only presently existing companies and no companies that are no longer in business through the bankruptcy or liquidation Taskbar The taskbar is the bar on your desktop that has the Start button on it Buttons representing programs currently running on your computer appear on this bar Glossary of Terms e 107
165. zed completed quarterly periods specified as 06 2000 03 2000 12 1999 etc Selecting the first calendarized period 06 2000 will pull companies with fiscal quarters ending Research Wizard 4 0 Research Wizard 4 0 on or before June however this data will not necessarily be from period 1 as explained next If companies have fiscal quarters that ended in July and August that would be the period 1 however selecting period 6 2000 will show April Quarter end data or period 2 for April July and October FYE companies and will show May Quarter end data or period 2 for companies with May August and November FY end months You can specify your screen or report choice as 1 2 8 etc to align data by the same period To add multiple periods you can also use option Today meaning period 1 and Today nQ Periods specify number of quarterly periods to go back Example using Annual Items On October 4 2000 DBCM item 80 Annual Sales will have the first calendarized choice as 1999 Selecting the first calendarized option 1999 will select period 2 data for companies with the FY ending between January 2000 September 2000 To view the period 1 for those companies use option Today For companies with FY ending in October December the calendarized option 1999 will select period 1 data since their FY have not ended as of the beginning of October You can specify your screen or report choice as 1 2 3 etc to a

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