Color Coding

As I have mentioned before, I color code a number of things on my spreadsheet. I am changing one color. For things like negative growth I will still use red, but for low growth I will use a dark purple. This will show a difference between low and negative growth.

I mostly color code things like growth in Revenue, EPS, Cash Flow, Book Value and Net Income on my spreadsheet. Red is for negative growth. Purple is for growth lower than 3%. Blue is for moderate growth which for me is from 3% to below 8%. Green is for good growth which I define at 8% and above. This is so I can easily get a sense on how good or bad growth is for a company.

Other color coding can be for dividend growth where red is generally used for dividend declines. I use blue for caution when dividend growth is very low. For dividends you want dividend growth to be at least at the rate of inflation.

I sometimes use red as a "red flag", blue for caution and green for good on other ratios or calculations. I will still use mauve for estimates or things I am not sure of. Also, for growth I will use mauve to show that I do not have a Total Growth or IRR growth for a standard 5 or 10 years.

On my other blog I am today writing about Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (TSX-ENF, OTC-EBGUF) ... learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.