January 19th, 2010 | 
Author: Does anyone use any interesting homemade investing strategies with success?
I’m always thinking of interesting things to do – like placing money in a company every time you have a good experience with their service or product (as long as there is room for growth), investing in the companies with the best consumer ratings, buying a variety of products and investing in the company that makes the best one (such as shavers, for example), etc.
Does anyone exercise any of their own simple homemade ideas like this?
Someone suggested once writing down all of the products you use on a daily basis. For example, "I woke up and took a shower. I used Suave shampoo and Axe bodywash" etc. See how many products you use that are actually made by the same company (Unilever in the above example). Sometimes you don’t realize how often you’re buying products from the same company until you actually write it down on paper. And if you carry it through to the workplace it may result in even more surprises. But, if you work for a large company and they consistenly use products from a specific manufacturer, that can be enlightening also. Kind of an extension of what you’re already doing. Other than that I like using stock screeners and primarily try to find value stocks. Reading 10-K’s is tedious but it’s probably the most objective way to find out what a company’s financials, risk factors, etc really are. I find the risk factors most interesting. One of the keys is to find a company whose products/services/image cannot be easily replicated. Reading about a what a company sees as threats to its future may alert you to a huge pitfall that you hadn’t thought of yourself. I also like to listen to conference calls. Again, boring but revealing. Also not exactly a homemade strategy.
Posted in Success Strategies
Here’s my strategy:
Rule 1: Never lose money.
Rule 2: Never for rule 1.
Hope that helps
References :
One of the most successful mutual fund managers of all time used that approach–Peter Lynch. He was into retail stocks especially and used to ask his wife and kids which stores they liked best to shop in and then would think about buying those stocks. It worked very well for him.
However, I have to confess that I do not tend to follow that strategy a great deal. But it did work for him. He has written several books on his methodologies. You might see if your library has any.
References :
Someone suggested once writing down all of the products you use on a daily basis. For example, "I woke up and took a shower. I used Suave shampoo and Axe bodywash" etc. See how many products you use that are actually made by the same company (Unilever in the above example). Sometimes you don’t realize how often you’re buying products from the same company until you actually write it down on paper. And if you carry it through to the workplace it may result in even more surprises. But, if you work for a large company and they consistenly use products from a specific manufacturer, that can be enlightening also. Kind of an extension of what you’re already doing. Other than that I like using stock screeners and primarily try to find value stocks. Reading 10-K’s is tedious but it’s probably the most objective way to find out what a company’s financials, risk factors, etc really are. I find the risk factors most interesting. One of the keys is to find a company whose products/services/image cannot be easily replicated. Reading about a what a company sees as threats to its future may alert you to a huge pitfall that you hadn’t thought of yourself. I also like to listen to conference calls. Again, boring but revealing. Also not exactly a homemade strategy.
References :