Value maps: Finding value in markets that are expensive

Based on traditional measures of value such as price-earnings ratio (PE) many stocks are at present either way over valued or are faring very poorly. The rapid expansion of Internet and technology companies has made surfing stock markets much more hazardous. What investors need is a new guide, a more visual way to assess markets. The main idea of this chapter is to demonstrate how maps can be designed for finding value in stock markets. "Value Maps" presents self-organization maps of vast amounts of data on company and stock performance most of which is derived from traditional measures for assessing:growth and value of companies. This chapter which extends the applications in [1] provides maps for finding value among the largest companies, the best performing companies, those that have improved the most, and those that based on traditional measures have excellent value attributes. The data was selected from over 7150 stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Exchange (AMEX) and the NASDAQ, including American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of foreign companies listed on US exchanges. Hence the maps in this chapter provide guidance not only to American companies but also companies of world class whose stock,can easily be bought and sold without brokerage accounts on every continent. The Value Maps in this chapter are models for how company and market information could be treated and represented in the future.