An integral aspect of fundamental analysis involves performing what many would call “ratio analysis”. This involves calculating a number of different industry standard ratios and comparing them to various benchmarks. The benchmarks can be the ratios of other competitors, industry average ratios, or industry “rules-of-thumb”. There’s no set procedure for performing ratio analysis because it all depends on the type of company you’re analyzing – certain industries have industry specific ratios. Regardless, this article will give you an overview of some of the standard ratios and what they may tell us about a company.

In this article I’ll group ratios into four categories used to evaluate the different facets of a company’s performance and overall condition: liquidity, operating performance, leverage, and equity valuation.

The Benjamin Graham number that I have mentioned In a few articles and use in my Dividend Stock Analysis is not a very popular formula. It has even been said that it doesn't paint a good picture of a value stock.. In fact, at any given time, there are not many stocks on the TSX that will actually be under the Graham number. Of course, with the current market situation, just about every stock should be close if not below the Graham number, due to the dramatic fall of stock prices. For anyone who does not know, Benjamin Graham is considered the Grandfather of Value investing. His methods and ideas have been used as a cornerstone or building block of just about every value based investor since he published his book, "The Intelligent Investor". Another thing to note, is that Benjamin Graham is said to have been the mentor of investing great, Warren Buffett.

As everyone keeps trying to call the bottom of the market, it may be helpful to go over some of the more useful, yet likely least understood, leading indicators for the markets. These so called “leading indicators” may not have been traditionally considered good predictors for equity market performance, but each has been very good at telegraphing recent market performance, and will likely be important indicators to watch for any indication that the market is turning the corner.

The Yen-Euro Currency Cross Rate

Well shut my mouth. The market did tank right after the FOMC announcement, (took them long enough to get it out today) but from positive territory, and bounced back out of negative where it remained at a modest gain until the coolest double top ever formed and in the last ten minutes the markets became negative. What a ride!

Magnets don't just attract steel... fertilizer too!

Is Uranium One in the cross-hairs of another company? Last week we saw some unusual trading in the shares of UUU, which has sparked a number of rumors that another competitor or global mining giant has its eyes set on acquiring the company.

Uranium One (TSE: UUU) is a Canadian based uranium miner with operations in Kazakhstan, South Africa, Texas and Wyoming. They also have assets in Australia and other parts of the US, but the bulk of their production comes out of Kazakhstan.

Over the past year UUU has been a disastrous investment for anyone who was long. UUU is down over 80% since making its highs last spring/summer (see chart below).

I am not, nor do I believe I ever will be, a natural gas trader. It’s an extremely volatile commodity that depends heavily on the weather. However, from a long-term perspective, I do believe a trend is emerging. The world is demanding more and more energy every year. Furthermore, the world is beginning to demand clean energy (see my previous Oil & Natural Gas article). Renewable resources like wind, hydro electric, and solar power are all great, but they simply aren’t robust enough (or cheap enough) to meet global energy demands. Energy sources like uranium and natural gas are much cleaner than crude oil and coal. But if you’re like me and don’t have the stomach to trade natural gas, then I’d suggest you look at some of the gas weighted equities listed on the TSX – and there are a bunch.