Industries and Sectors to Research

Hi everyone, I'm an university student interested in finance. I'm starting to learn a lot of finance by myself (models, investment strategies, risks etc). One advice I heard over and over is to try to apply to specific industries/sectors, follow these sectors and become experts at them. So my question is where do I start? What are some sectors good to do analysis for a beginner?

(Also, I'm new to posting here. So if I posted this in the wrong forum or has wrong or insufficient tags, feel free to let me know too)

3 Comments
 
Best Response

Sectors more intuitive to beginners IMO: Consumer Discretionary, Staples, and Information Tech. There are dozens of underlying industries in each but for the sake of learning the drivers, key metrics, and valuation I would start there. You should really know going in what you're genuinely interested in: Apparel, Consumer Goods, Enterprise Software... You can go to Yahoo! Finance and search by industry and there's enough to fill a few lifetimes on there. So there's no shortage of options, so pick what you're interested in because if you pick financials your eyes are going to glaze over adjusting for DVA, evaluating Tier 3 assets, loan-loss reserve releases... Also google 'industry primers' or if you have a buddy at a firm w/ decent sell-side coverage ask him/her to send you some of their client-approved research. This is the way I began when I was teaching myself.. Hope this is helpful.

"Go for a business that any idiot can run – because sooner or later, any idiot is probably going to run it." - Peter Lynch
 

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