Equity mutual funds are the perfect solution for people who want to own stocks without doing their own research.

I don't go near the money and the money doesn't go near me.

Hold no more stocks than you can remain informed on.

If you can follow only one bit of data, follow the earnings - assuming the company in question has earnings. I subscribe to the crusty notion that sooner or later earnings make or break an investment in equities. What the stock price does today, tomorrow, or next week is only a distraction.

In the long run, it's not just how much money you make that will determine your future prosperity. It's how much of that money you put to work by saving it and investing it.

There's a company behind every stock and a reason companies - and their stocks - perform the way they do.

The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game. And that's always been my philosophy.