Patent ID: 8433636

Claim:
A system for analyzing a security, the system comprising: a processor; an input module configured to cause a graphical user interface to be rendered on a user's client machine, the interface including a graph of stock price versus trading dates, with price being indicated on a first axis and trading dates being indicated on a second axis, the interface being configured to input a first trading date by a user interacting with the graph and actuating on the graph in a location, along the second axis, representing the first trading date, the interface being configured to input a second trading date by a user interacting with the graph and actuating on the graph in a location, along the second axis, representing the second trading date; a return decomposition module configured to compute, using the processor, shareholder return between the first trading date and second trading date, and to decompose the shareholder return into: zero growth earnings yield, earnings and yield growth, capital needs for growth, change in price-earnings ratio, and timing differences; and an output module configured to display the decomposition on the user's client machine in the form of a chart.