They want to know where to look for those darling small cap stocks that Fools the world o'er dote upon. In this section, we will profile some screens to help you generate ideas for your portfolio. These are just lists of suggestions that, for the most part, have not received any further research. However, they make an excellent beginning for your own stock research journey. The other two screens show you Rising and Falling margins.
Margins are profit margins, operating margins and gross margins.
All are measures of how much money a company keeps after it pays for different aspects of the production of a product. Gross margins tell you how much is left after you have paid for labor and materials. Operating margins tell you what is left after sales expenses, administrative salaries and expenses, and general non-production overhead. When earnings increase faster than sales, it means that margins are rising and times are good. Companies that are increasing their margins tend to produce the best earnings over time.