Toolkit gives several options for projecting Sales and EPS growth on a Stock Study. Those options can be set for all stocks in the Preferences (first image), and then also individually re-set for an individual stock (second image)

While Toolkit shows options in the Preferences and in the individual SSG to allow for a projection to start from the Last Annual data, Last Quarterly data, or the End of the Trend Line, the projection line will always be drawn as if it is coming from the last full fiscal year.

This is actually due in large part to the original design of the SSG form created by Better Investing. The form was originally intended to measure only from the end of a year.

Since we know that some members like to calculate a projection from the end of quarter or the end of the trend line, we wanted to keep those options available, while at the same time continuing to follow the guidelines for the way the SSG forms were designed.

To that end, Toolkit 6 is designed to figure out the end point of a projection line, based on the growth estimates you enter, and then adjust the starting point up or down slightly on the year end vertical, so that the projection passes through the point where it would have started from if it were not anchored to the year end line.

The best way to see an illustration of this is to find a company that has had a significant change in earnings or sales between the end of the previous year and the current quarter, then adjust the settings for the SSG to see the projection line move up or down. To enable this setting for individual stocks:

1. Go to OPTIONS > PREFERENCES.
2. On the Preferences Window, choose the STOCK STUDY tab, and put a check mark in SHOW TREND LINE OPTIONS.
3. Click OK to close the Preferences window.

Now, the next time you open an SSG, and click on the main part of the SSG, or on the ADJUST GRAPH button, you will see a new button, START PROJECTION. Click this to adjust the settings for the individual stock to start the projection either from the end of the year, end of the trend line, or end of the quarter. Making a change here will only change the individual stock, so you can experiment a bit to see how these settings change the lines on the SSG.

Following are three images showing the difference in the projection line for a stock when the setting is changed from Annual, to Quarterly, and Trend Line, without changing the growth rate percentage.