Portfolio Guardian vs FastGraphs: which one do you use first?
FastGraphs is a visual valuation tool beloved by value investors. It overlays a company's earnings history with its stock price, creating a visual representation of whether the stock is trading above, below, or at its historical earnings-justified valuation. The "normal P/E line" shows where the stock should be trading based on historical earnings multiples. When the price drops below that line, the stock appears undervalued. When it rises above, it appears overvalued.
What Portfolio Guardian adds
Portfolio Guardian's methodology is conceptually aligned with what FastGraphs shows visually, but applied at scale. PG looks at whether a company's valuation (measured by price-to-sales) is compressed relative to its own history during similar fundamental conditions. FastGraphs lets you see this for one company at a time, manually. PG runs it across 6,000+ companies automatically.
How the workflow fits
If you love FastGraphs for its visual clarity on individual stocks, PG can narrow the universe for you. Instead of manually checking companies one by one hoping to find one trading below its normal valuation line, you can browse PG's list of Matched setups and then use FastGraphs to review the valuation picture in detail.
PG is the wide-angle lens. FastGraphs is the close-up. Use PG to find which part of the market to zoom into, then use FastGraphs for the detailed view.
See which stocks have a detected setup. Download Portfolio Guardian, free on iOS and Android.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is FastGraphs strongest at?
It is strongest at visual valuation on a company-by-company basis. FastGraphs gives you a detailed close-up once you already know which stock you want to inspect.
What does Portfolio Guardian add before FastGraphs?
It tells you which companies are worth pulling up in that visual valuation workflow. Portfolio Guardian can narrow the field before you do the manual close-up work.
Why use Portfolio Guardian with FastGraphs?
Because they work at different scales. Portfolio Guardian can find the setup across thousands of companies, and FastGraphs can help you visually inspect the valuation picture after that.
Portfolio Guardian is a research and analysis tool operated by Scydex Ltd. Scydex Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Portfolio Guardian does not provide investment advice, recommendations, or solicitations to buy or sell securities. All data is for informational purposes only. Past performance of any signal, cohort, or classification does not guarantee future results. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Always conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.
Portfolio Guardian is available as a free download on iOS and Android.
