The value of good data

Episode notes In this week's episode Allan shares a resource to turbo-charge your company research, an article that provides a bit of perspective on investing in the first quarter of the 21st century, and a fascinating podcast on the mining industry. Allan's update This week Allan has been considering the more practical approach to investing that involves getting to know the product, being a customer, and essentially investing in what you know. As part of his own research he has been looking at IG Group [lse: IGG] and CMC Markets [lse: CMCX], 2 incredibly complex financial trading businesses, and wondering how far this approach can really be applied in practise. Resource of the week When Allan first started seriously looking to invest in individual companies he quickly learned the value of good quality, comprehensive data. Stockopedia Is a data analytics platform, designed for individual investors, the provides all the research tools and company data you could ever need, and much more besides. Article of the week Investing lessons from the past 25 years by Julian Hofmann Is an excellent summary of what has happened to the markets over the first quarter of the 21st century. If you want a nice reminder of the big events, plus a bit of perspective on how investing has changed since the heady days of the 1990s, then this is well worth a read. <h4>Bonus article</h4> In case the article above is hidden behind a paywall, here is a sort Motley Fool article that provides food for thought if you are considering investing overseas. Strong pound, weak dollar: a once-in-a-decade chance to get rich with US stocks? Podcast of the week If you are someone who invests in mining stocks, or just want to know a bit about the current mining scene, then this podcast is a great listen. The Vox Markets Podcast Mining Matters: SP Angel’s John Meyer on Commodities, Capital, and Change 3 JUN 2025 Listen on Apple podcasts here Or you can watch it on Youtube here Support If you want to support the podcast you can: Visit the website over at smallinvestortoolbox.com Follow me on Mastodon or Bluesky Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your platform of choice Buy me a coffee Music and sound effects Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Sound effects from https://quicksounds.com This podcast is powered by Pinecast.