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

An important key to investing is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets.

All the time and effort people devote to picking the right fund, the hot hand, the great manager have, in most cases, led to no advantage.

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.

If you go to Minnesota in January, you should know that it's gonna be cold. You don't panic when the thermometer falls below zero.

A price drop in a good stock is only a tragedy if you sell at that price and never buy more. To me, a price drop is an opportunity to load up on bargains from among your worst performers and your laggards that show promise. If you can't convince yourself "When I'm down 25 percent, I'm a buyer" and banish forever the fatal thought "When I'm down 25 percent, I'm a seller," then you'll never make a decent profit in stocks.

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