Analyst reports are written by by securities analysts employed at major brokerage houses, banks, and investment firms. They study various industries, markets, and companies in their area of interest and write detailed research reports regarding their stock value for investors. The analyst reports provide financial forecasts, earning estimates, and make buy, sell, and hold recommendations but one should exercise caution when using this information for investment decisions as some analysts may be under pressure to be bullish. Listed below are resources for locating analyst reports:

Seeking Alpha is a provider of stock market opinion and analysis from blogs, money managers and investment newsletters.

As it relates to investments, Beta is a statistical measure of the relative volatility of a stock, fund, or other security in comparison with the market as a whole. The beta for the market is 1.00. Stocks with betas above 1.0 are more responsive to the market, but are also more risky investments. Stocks with a beta below 1.0 tend to move in the opposite direction of the market.