Frequently Asked Questions

Data:

When are Guru Portfolios updated?

What is the source of financial data and when are they updated?

What is Real Time Picks?

Does GuruFocus data cover my country's markets?

Where do you get your information/data?

Where are you getting your economic indicator information?

General:

When was GuruFocus.com started? What is the background?

What if I want to contact GuruFocus?

Where do you get the information about stock purchases/sales of these investors?

How accurate is the information on GuruFocus.com?

What are the dates on GuruFocus.com?

How often do you update the information on GuruFocus.com?

What services do you provide?

What are Micro Cap, Small Cap, Mid Cap, Large Cap and Mega Caps?

If I think some other investors should be added to GuruFocus.com as “gurus”, what should I do?

Can I advertise on GuruFocus.com?

How can I report a bug or request an added feature?

I’m not sure how to use GuruFocus’ tools or features. Where do I start?

Membership:

What should I do if I forget my password?

Does my username and password change if I upgrade to Premium Membership?

What should I do if I don't want to receive email newsletters or update notifications anymore?

How can I change my username or password?

Premium Membership: premium

How much does GuruFocus Premium Membership cost?

How do I sign up GuruFocus Premium Membership?

How do I pay my GuruFocus Premium Membership?

If I signed up online, assuming a credit card payment, would I get immediate access?

How do I update my payment information?

How do I cancel my GuruFocus Premium Membership?

What are the features that are for Premium Members only?

Why I cannot access premium features even I know I have a Premium Membership?

Will I receive an invoice once I sign up for the Premium Membership?

Investing:

Can I invest based on the information on GuruFocus.com?

When was GuruFocus.com started? What is the background?

GuruFocus.com was founded in 2004 by Dr. Charlie Tian. A value investor at heart, Dr. Tian felt that he would make a lot fewer mistakes investing if he were to select stocks from the ones that have been researched by the best investors in the world. He also found reading the commentaries and shareholder letters of those investors to be a great way of learning from them. Furthermore, he discovered that learning how the best investors invest is a great way to generate investment ideas.

GuruFocus.com is a value-investing oriented website. We think that value investing is a winning strategy for the long term. We do not encourage short-term trading.

GuruFocus.com is owned by GuruFocus.com, LLC, a Texas Limited Liability Company located in Plano, TX. GuruFocus.com is not a broker, a dealer, or a registered investment adviser. GuruFocus.com is engaged in the business of financial news, commentaries, and publishing.

What if I want to contact GuruFocus?

The best way to contact GuruFocus is byusing the "Contact Us" page. We always respond within a few hours unless we feel the questions are unrelated. .

If you want to write to us, please use this address: GuruFocus.com, PO Box 513, Allen, TX 75013

You can also contact us by email: gurufocus (at) gurufocus.com (of course, replace at with @, and remove all spaces).

Where do you get the information about stock purchases/sales of these investors?

It takes a tremendous amount of work to collect the information from all of the various sources. The information is processed and analyzed, and the results are published on GuruFocus.com

How accurate is the information on GuruFocus.com?

While we try to make the information as accurate as possible, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information we publish. We do find mistakes occasionally, and sometimes they are brought to our attention by our visitors. The information sources we use are sometimes unaudited.

Trade prices stated are estimates. When an exact date is not available, the trade date shown is the last day of the quarter in which the trade occurred. The reports of Real Time Picks typically have a 1-2 week lag time following the trade dates. With the others reports there is typically a 1-4 month lag between the trade date and the time it is published on GuruFocus.com.

What are the dates on GuruFocus.com?

For the reports of Guru Purchases/Sales, the date given indicates the end of the quarter in which the trades occurred. The price range indicates the range of prices during that quarter.

For the reports of Guru holdings, the dates are the exact. The number of shares shown is the total number of shares held by the Guru on that date.

How often do you update the information on GuruFocus.com?

The information is updated almost daily. For a particular “guru”, his Real Time Picks are updated whenever there is new information, which can happen at any time; we generally report new information within 1-2 weeks after the trades are made. His quarterly purchases/sales are updated once per quarter. There is usually a 1-4 month delay between the time a trade is made and the time it is published on GuruFocus.com.

The information about stock picks is usually updated within 24 hours from when it becomes available. The information of each quarter usually becomes available in the second month of the following quarter. Sometimes you will notice that certain information on GuruFocus.com may be 4-5 months old. That is because more recent information has not been made publicly available yet. It is likely that new information will be published very soon if the information on GuruFocus.com is 4-5 months old.

What services do you provide?

We have great capabilities and technologies in tracking stocks, mutual funds, and most hedge funds. Currently we have three levels of memberships. If you have specific needs, please contact us. We will let you know if special arrangements or accommodations can be arranged. We may charge data processing fees for the services we provide.

What are Micro Cap, Small Cap, Mid Cap, Large Cap and Mega Caps?

Companies are categorized according to their market capitalization. Micro Caps are companies with a market value of less than $300 million. Small Caps are valued at between $300 million and $2 billion, Mid Caps are valued at between $2 billion and $10 billion. Large Caps are valued at between $10 billion and $200 billion. And finally, Mega Caps are valued at $200 billion or above

If I think some other investors should be added to GuruFocus.com as “gurus”, what can I do?

If you think some other investors should be included in GuruFocus.com, please contact us. As a matter of fact, some of the gurus in the Hall of Fame have been suggested by our visitors. We will consider your suggestions, and include them if their performances justify inclusion.

Can I advertise on GuruFocus.com?

Absolutely. You are welcome to contact us for advertisement opportunities. However, we do not accept ads with adult contents, drugs, or other content we deem to be inappropriate.

I’m not sure how to use GuruFocus’ tools or features. Where do I start?

The best way to become familiar with the website is by working through our Tutorials. The tutorial page can also be accessed in the drop-down menu under the “Home” tab in the menu bar.

Under the “Tutorials” headline are several five-minute videos that explain the basics — using the Interactive Chart, reading the 10-year financials, etc. The webinar archive includes hour-long videos with more in-depth concepts, such as how to value stocks or invest like Benjamin Graham.

If you are unsure if GuruFocus is suitable for your investment needs, submit a support ticket to reach our staff.

How can I report a bug or request an added feature?

Please submit a support ticket through the “Contact Us” button at the bottom of the website, and detail the problem or feature you’d like to see on the site. If reporting a bug, state the operating system and browser you are using, and if applicable, attach a screenshot.

What should I do if I forget my password?

A new password will be emailed to you if you fill your registered email address in the "Forget Your Password?" option in the login page, and click submit.

Does my username and password change if I upgrade to Premium Membership?

No. Your username and password stay the same if you upgrade to Premium Membership, but you will be able to access all Premium Features.

What should I do if I don't want to receive email newsletters or update notifications anymore?

You can opt out of the email list by unsubscribing here.

How can I change my username or password?

You can change your password after you login, click here. You cannot change your username, but we can change it for you to the ones that are used by others. Contact us to change username.

How much does GuruFocus Premium Membership cost?

The US membership is $499/year. Additional fee applies if you subscribe more regions such as Europe, Asia, Canada etc. For more information go to Membership Levels.

How do I sign up for a GuruFocus Premium Membership?

Go to the secured link https://www.gurufocus.com/membership/upgrade.php to sign up for GuruFocus Premium Membership.

How do I pay my GuruFocus Premium Membership?

You can pay directly online with a credit card (Visa, Master Card, American Express or Discover). We also accept Paypal and payments by check. If you would like to pay with check, please please make the check payable to "GuruFocus.com", and send it to:

GuruFocus.com, P.O.Box 260555, Plano, TX 75026-0555

If I signed up online, assuming a credit card payment, would I get immediate access?

Yes!

How do I update my payment information?

Follow this secure link.

How do I cancel my GuruFocus Premium Membership?

Go to the contact us page and send your request of cancellation through the online form. If you cancel within the trial period, you will not be charged.

What are the features that are for Premium Members only?

Go to membership page and compare the access areas of different levels of memberships.

Why I cannot access premium features even I know I have a Premium Membership?

This usually happens when you have two accounts with GuruFocus.com, and you logged into the free account instead of the premium account. Please logout, and login again into the Premium account.

Will I receive an invoice once I sign up for the Premium Membership?

Your invoices will be emailed to you once the payment is processed at the end of the trial period or renewals.

Can I invest based on the information on GuruFocus.com?

Investing based on the information on GuruFocus.com is at your own risk. For details please see the Terms of Use.

When are Guru Portfolios updated?

In general, Gurus are required to report their portfolios 45 days after the end of each quarter. But some of them release their portfolios earlier. You can check the status of the updates here.

What is the source of financial data and when are they updated?

Intraday quotes for US stocks are from QuoteMedia. The raw financial fundamental data comes from Morningstar, and then we perform calculations to get the valuation metrics. The analyst estimate data comes from both Refintiv and Morningstar, with priority given to using Refinitiv data first.

In general, for U.S. companies that report financials to the SEC, our data vendor typically delivers the data within 2 business days for companies with a market capitalization greater than $800 million and within 4 business days for companies with a market capitalization less than $800 million. For companies not reporting to the SEC or non-US companies reporting to the SEC, financial data is typically delivered within 10 business days.

Where do you get your information/data?

Guru portfolio transactions: For gurus that report to the SEC, stock trades and portfolio holdings come directly from SEC filings, which primarily include Form 13F (institutional investment managers with $100+ million market value must file within 45 days of the last day of each quarter), Schedule 13D (5%+ shareholders must report changes within 10 days), and N-PORT (U.S. mutual fund portfolio holdings). International mutual fund data is obtained from local authorities or company websites.

Company financials: All raw company fundamental data is sourced from Morningstar, an investment research firm that receives data from the SEC for U.S. companies and each country's regulatory authority for foreign companies.

Analyst estimates: Analyst estimate data is sourced from both Refinitiv and Morningstar, with priority given to Refinitiv data.

Where are you getting your economic indicator information?

Our economic indicator data is sourced from FRED. Although the data uses the FRED® API, our product is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

What is Real Time Picks?

"Real Time Picks" reports the stock purchases and sales that Gurus have made within the prior 2 weeks. The report time lag can be as short as 3 days after the date of the transaction. If a Guru makes purchases / sales of companies in which he owns a greater than 5% stake, SEC regulations require him to report that trade within 10 days. Some Gurus report their purchases / sales within 2 days. Real Time Guru Picks keep you more closely informed. The list is here.

Does GuruFocus Data Cover Non-US markets?

Yes, GuruFocus data cover Asian, European, UK/Ireland, Canadian, Australia/New Zealand, Latin America, African, and India/Pakistan markets as well as U.S. market. All the screeners and valuation tools work in the same way as the U.S. market. You can check out our detailed data coverage here. You can also browse the detailed list of stocks that we cover here.