BMW Method Stock Screener Charting Tool

Download here. Updated 8/20/2007.

Note: By downloading and using this program, you expect that no guarantees of data accuracy are made and actually expect to possibly find discrepancies from 10-K filings, etc.

MSN has changed their data format. Get the latest version to work with MSN.

New! version 2.0 includes

• All new drawing engine - no more Office Excel dependence
• 14 year fundamental data instead of 10 year
• OHLC price display
• Pushpins for drawing your own CAGR lines
• Inclusion of revenues in fundamental data
• Crosshair mouse display for showing price values
• Ability to configure charting defaults
• Status and progress tracking of ticker requests
• Print and Print Preview
• Average multiple (i.e. P/E) calculation

This tool draws custom charts using data pulled from various financial websites, including Yahoo!, AdvFn, Morningstar, MSN MoneyCentral, and SmartMoney.com. The historical stock prices are charted over a long term horizon and may be visually compared to underlying fundamentals such as revenues, earnings, dividends, book value, and cash flow.

The analysis and presentation of the data is based on the collective wisdom of The Motley Fool's BMW Method Discussion Board and documented on websites BMW Method Home and especially Mike Klein's BMW Method Screen.

Historical earnings per share are plotted alongside price. High, low, and average estimated earnings per share are shown for the next two fiscal years.

Pre-Requisites and Installation

The Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 must be installed. Download it here.

To install the BMW Stock Screener tool, simply download here, extract all files, and run StockScreen.exe.

Primary Parameters

To draw a chart, first fill out the primary parameters.

• Symbol - Enter the stock ticker. Note that some websites use different formats which can cause problems (i.e. Berkshire Hathaway's BRK-A versus BRK.A).
• From date - Enter the starting date.
• To Date - Enter the end date.
• Source - Enter the data source. To use split-adjusted closing prices, use MSN. To use split- and dividend- adjusted closing prices, use Yahoo!. Be careful when using dividend-adjusted closing prices and comparing prices against fundamentals. This has the effect of making historical prices look cheaper compared to fundamentals, since fundamentals are only split-, and not dividend- adjusted.
• Method - Enter the regression method.
• Least Absolute Deviation - Attempts to plot a line minimizing the sum of the distance of each point from the line.
• Least Squares - Plots a line minimizing the sum of the distance of the squares of each point.
• Least Absolute Deviation Median - Experimental; Attempts to plot a line where exactly half of the data points are above the line and half are below.
• Interval - Enter the sampling interval (Days, Weeks, Months, or Years). Note that not all sampling intervals will be honored by the source website.
• Multiple - Enter the multiple used for plotting per-share fundamentals (earnings, dividends, book value, cash flow)
• Chart! Button - Use this button to draw the chart.

If you change any of the primary parameters, you must manually redraw the chart for them to take effect.

View Parameters

Before or after a chart is drawn, you can change the view parameters.

• Scale
• Linear - Plot using a linear scale
• Logarithmic - Plot using a logarithmic scale
• Price Display   (New in version 2.0)
• OHLC - Plot using open/high/low/close display (MSN only)
• Line - Plot using line display
• Per Share Fundamentals
• None
• Earnings Per Share - Plot fiscal year EPS for the past 14 years, TTM EPS for more recent quarters, and estimated EPS for the next two fiscal years
• Revenues Per Share - Plot fiscal year revenues per share for the past 14 years and TTM revenues per share for more recent quarters   (New in version 2.0)
• Operating Cash Flow Per Share - Plot fiscal year operating cash flow per share for the past 14 years and TTM operating cash flow per share for more recent quarters
• Free Cash Flow Per Share - Plot fiscal year FCF per share for the past 14 years and TTM FCF per share for more recent quarters, where FCF = Operating Cash Flow - CapEx
• Book Per Share - Plot fiscal year book (equity) per share for the past 14 years and TTM book per share for more recent quarters
• Plot Average Per Share Item - Ignores the multiple setting and instead calculates an average multiple. Note that insane multiples can be calculated for inconsistent or especially low earnings.   (New in version 2.0)
• Dividends - Plot historical dividends per share.

If you change any of the view parameters, the chart is automatically refreshed.

Sliders

Horizontal and vertical sliders can be used to "zoom" into various areas of the chart by modifying the minimum and maximum values along the horizontal and vertical axis.

Statistics

For each chart drawn, useful statistics are compiled.

• Average CAGR - This is the Compounded Annual Growth Rate along the average regression line.
• Current CAGR - This is the Compounded Annual Growth Rate along a line going from the start of the average regression line to the most recent closing stock price.
• RMS - This is the number of standard deviations the most recent closing stock price is away from the "average" stock price.
• Return Factor - This is the return assuming the price immediately returned to the "average" stock price.
• Average Multiple - The average multiple (i.e. P/E) over the period for which fundamental data is available.   (New in version 2.0)
• Price - The most recent closing stock price.
• +2 RMS - This is the dollar amount of the average price + (2 x standard deviation).
• +1 RMS - This is the dollar amount of the average price + (standard deviation).
• -1 RMS - This is the dollar amount of the average price - (standard deviation).
• -2 RMS - This is the dollar amount of the average price - (2 x standard deviation).
• <per share item> x <multiple> - This is the dollar amount of the selected per share fundamental times the entered multiple.
• Dividends - This is the current trailing dividend yield.

Mouse Tricks

The mouse crosshair pointer will automatically track the date and price for you. Use the right mouse button to switch tracking between the left and right scale.

Click anywhere on the chart to make a pushpin. Two pushpins make up a pair and draw a CAGR line.

For example, draw a chart for JNJ and switch to the revenues plot. Notice how straight-line the revenue growth is? We can easily estimate the CAGR of that line by using a pair of pushpins to produce a chart similar to the following.

DJE 7/29/2007