This month we have some excellent content.

Matt Bajkowski, an AAII intern and CI writer, interviewed John Bajkowski, president of AAII. You might notice a similarity in the last names, and you would be correct to assume they are related (Matt is John’s son).

Matt asks John some of our traditional “10 Questions,” regarding his favorite investment books, his best and worst investment and favorite financial software. But he also asks how the term “computerized investing” has changed over time, which John is more than qualified to answer, considering he was a previous editor of Computerized Investing.

Another article in the September CI edition is also written by Matt. He summarizes a research paper written by Melanie Fein titled, “Robo-Advisors: A Closer Look.” Fein’s study examines whether robo-advisers do in fact provide personal investment advice, minimize costs, and are free from conflicts of interest, as most of them claim. She also evaluates whether robo-advisers are able to uphold a fiduciary standard to their clients. It is a fascinating paper, and Matt did an excellent job of summarizing it.

Last but most definitely not least, AAII member Stanley Rodak wrote a very comprehensive article regarding intrinsic value and created an accompanying Excel spreadsheet for readers to download and use. Stanley’s extensive research and analysis really shines through in his work.

Intrinsic value represents the “true worth” of an asset. There are many models that can be used to calculate an asset’s worth, but in this case, Stanley used a discounted cash flow analysis model. His article covers what the intrinsic value of a stock is, why free cash flow is important, and the steps in performing discounted cash flow analysis. He also gives a detailed explanation of how to use the spreadsheet he designed and the formulas that were used within Excel to make it happen.

Special thanks go to Stanley Rodak for all of his hard work.

Computerized Investing is interested in incorporating more articles from AAII and CI members. If you have a “computerized” topic you’d like to write about (software review or analysis, website analysis, online research, spreadsheet, comments about your favorite investing tool, etc.) please contact me at CI@aaii.com.