Read financial magazines. They come in every conceivable flavor!
You can find them at any magazine stand (including the grocery store line) and many of them also reside online.

It’s recommended that you choose one or two and subscribe.

Just be aware that each stock has a story…a good one!…or it typically isn’t highlighted in a magazine.

Any good story is only a “hot tip” until you’ve done your research!

We read

IBD rules aren’t based on their personal opinion or Wall Street experts.

IBD built detailed models of all the most successful stocks every year from 1880 to 2005. They analyzed their common characteristic, what factors existed before these very best companies had huge advances and how these factors changed when the stocks topped.

So these rules represent how the market actually works.

If you ignore them and rely instead on personal opinion, feelings or emotions, you are potentially arguing with how the market has functioned for 50 years and you will likely make more costly mistakes.

Rule #1: Consider buying stocks with each of the latest three years earnings up 25%+, return on equity 17%+, and recent earnings and sales accelerating. (Stock Check List SCL).

Rule #2: Recent quarterly earnings and sales should be up 25% or more.

Rule #3: Avoid cheap stocks. Buy stocks selling for $15 to $100 or more.

Rule #4: Learn how to use charts to see exact sound bases and exact buy points. Confine buys to these points as stocks break out on big volume increases.

Rule #5: Cut every loss when it’s 8% below your cost. Make no exceptions so you will avoid any possible huge, damaging losses.

Rule #6: Follow selling rules on when to sell and take profit on the way up. Review "When to Sell and Take Profit".

Rule #7: Buy when market indexes are in an uptrend. Reduce investments and raise cash when general market indexes show five days of increased volume distribution.

Rule #8: Read IBD’s Investor’s Corner and Big Picture. Learn to recognize important tops and bottoms in the market indexes.

Rule #9: Buy stocks with a composite rating of 90 or more and a relative price strength of 85 or higher in IBD SmartSelect Corporate Ratings.

Rule #10: Pick companies with management ownership of stock.

Rule #11: Buy mostly in the top six broad industry sectors in IBD New High List.

Rule #12: Select stocks with increasing institutional sponsorship in recent quarters.

Rule #13: Current quarterly after-tax profit margins should be improving near their peak and among the best in the stocks industry.

Rule #14: Don’t buy stocks because of dividends or P/E ratios. Read a story on the company. Buy the no.1 company in an industry in earnings and sales growth, ROE, profit margins and product quality.

Rule #15: Pick companies with superior new product or service.

Rule #16: Invest mainly in entrepreneurial New America companies. Pay close attention to those with an IPO in the past eight years.

Rule #17: Check into companies buying back 5% - 10% of their stock and those with new management (what is management background)

Rule #18: Don’t try to bottom guess or buy on the way down. Never argue with the market. Forget your pride and ego.

Rule #19: Find out if the market currently favors big-cap or small-cap stocks.

Rule #20: Do a post-analysis of all your buys and sells. Post on charts where you bought and sold.

Evaluate and develop rules to correct your major mistakes. It’s what you learn after you think you know what you’re doing that’s vital.