the advice to do your homework is bad advice. ther eis nothing you can learn that would have any predictvie value. not because youre dumb, but because the marketplace is fairly efficient. you cannot outsmart it and make money, because any bits of informationyou might gather pales in comparson to the information gatehred digested and acted upon by all of the investors in the marketplace in arriving at the price of a stock, like citibank. if you coul “do your homework” and somehow be smarter than everyone else, you would, in short, be a freaking miracle! now, homework might make you feel better ina placebo type way about things, and if the general trend is upa nd buying and holding work, then homework is good in that limited sense. but you’d do as well throwing darts at the stock page of the wall st j as you would “doing your homework” the chimps throwing darts do betetr than mutual fund manager in most tests.
dont waste your time reading sec disclosure docs. read dailyreckoning. keep your money in cash till you find something you believe in.
i got the 2nd highest grade in securities regulation at my fancy law school, but my personal investment record is not overwhelming. however, i’ve never lost money ina igven year. however, i havent made much either. i am scaredycat.
never listen to anything cramer has to say; he’s nuts, or an idiot, or just an entertainer, but should be completely ignored.
i stand by gold. but not for you yet; you have to find your own way.
