Expert: Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp - 7/11/2006

Question
Hello Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp'

Thank you in advance for your response! Have been reading as much as I can about investing in stocks. My initial enthusiasm has been replaced by a subdued reality on just how hard it is. Mainly I'd like to know when investigating a promising company to buy stocks, what exactly in the "yahoo finance website" do you focus in on.  I'm talking about the left side three bottom areas of "income statement" , "balance sheet" and "cash flow"? If one is not accountant oriented it can be very confusing pertaining to buying stocks> glennzip01@yahoo.com  

Answer
I never use yahoo, too many errors. I use http://www.hoovers.com and have all the documents delivered to me in writing. This is the only way I would consider investing in stocks, if they send the hard copy paperwork. I would read over the 10-k and the 10-Q. I would trust no site and the information posted on these sites.

I also never recommend that a person gets into stocks, unless they have at least 10 different stocks or more. For most people, they would be better off investing in a good mutual fund. I would suggest you going to the local library, and reading in the Morningstar book for mutual fund information.

Dr. Joseph deBeauchamp