You shouldn't just pick a stock - you should do your homework.

The junior high schools and high schools of America have forgotten to teach one of the most important courses of all. Investing.

The list of qualities (an investor should have) include patience, self-reliance, common sense, a tolerance for pain, open-mindedness, detachment, persistence, humility, flexibility, a willingness to do independent research, an equal willingness to admit mistakes, and the ability to ignore general panic.

Imagine if you borrowed your parents' car without permission and ran it into a tree, how much better you'd feel if you were incorporated.

Hold no more stocks than you can remain informed on.

People who want to know how stocks fared on any given day ask, "Where did the Dow close?" I'm more interested in how many stocks went up versus how many went down. These so-called advance/decline numbers paint a more realistic picture.

Visiting stores and testing products is one of the critical elements of the analyst's job.