The worst thing you can do is invest in companies you know nothing about. Unfortunately, buying stocks on ignorance is still a popular American pastime.

It would be wonderful if we could avoid the setbacks with timely exits, but nobody has figured out how to predict them.

Absent a lot of surprises, stocks are relatively predictable over twenty years. As to whether they're going to be higher or lower in two to three years, you might as well flip a coin to decide.

Spend at least as much time researching a stock as you would choosing a refrigerator.

During the Gold Rush, most would-be miners lost money, but people who sold them picks, shovels, tents and blue-jeans (Levi Strauss) made a nice profit.

Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it's doing.

Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon