XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language, "...permits the automatic exchange and reliable extraction of financial information across all software formats and technologies...[and] enhances the usability and transparency of financial information. I recall someone commented on Om Malik's site that it would be great if someone created something like this...well, here it is already in development.
And, as Jonathan Rochelle of XL2web already commented earlier on this site, his company thinks there is an opportunity in distributing quantitative research via current browser technology.
XBRL could be really useful. Not only will an analyst be able to input data immediately and accurately, he will be able to sift and sort between models, overlay different assumptions and forecasts, all in an instant compared to the hours it now takes for a few associates to do this job now. Models and formulas that Damodaran and those Excel geek geniuses post can be pulled together and used much more easily.
Stephen,
XBRL is no longer a theoretical research solution, but is here now. A free equity analysis and valuation application that uses XBRL files is here: the SavaNet XBRL Reader (available for download from www.savanet.net). Through the XBRL Reader's File Manager, users can access a large library of company 10-K filings in XBRL format. (We expect to have the entire Nasdaq 100 available by the end of November.)
As a former Wall Street equity analyst and hedge fund portfolio manager, I was frustrated by the lack of detailed financial information available in a standard format, so my company embraced XBRL and developed the SavaNet XBRL Reader. It uses the extremely detailed information available in an XBRL file to perform at a previously unavailable level of analysis and valuation. While it is targeted towards professional analysts, it is freely available and thus accessable to high-end individual investors.
Check it out, you will be impressed. Let us know what you think and post any questions you might have.
Eric P. Linder, CFA
President, SavaNet, www.savanet.net
Posted by: Eric P. Linder, CFA | October 31, 2005 at 02:26 AM