No One Ever Told Us That: Money and Life Lessons for Young Adults

CHAPTER THIRTY

DOING STOCK RESEARCH

Many of you work in large offices full of people. My own office is on two floors in a city high-rise building. We have more than 140 employees, and they range in age from 22 to 83, all of them consumers of lots of things. For some years if I wanted to do any market research, whether personal or for clients, I'd wander the halls and talk to people who work with me. On a personal note, I'll ask 25 people, different ages, about favorite TV shows. I got The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and the early Glee from this source. I've also gotten best farmers’ markets, best picture framers, the best hospital gift shop, and the best place to buy special honey. I believe in face-to-face opinions from people I know and have built up trust in from hours of shooting the breeze about the stuff of life. Websites are anonymous; searching is quick but opinions are so random. Boots on the ground are my greatest source of intel. And I have recourse if their ideas prove wrong. I can see them in person. Nobody likes a bum steer, or to be told in person that your honey tastes a bit like bear.

As for making money in the stock market, one of my prejudices in picking companies to invest in is finding those companies with strong balance sheets and debt that is relatively small or controllable, companies that cannot be squeezed when tough times arrive. Because they always do arrive. When they do, I want the companies I own not to be over leveraged. This means having too much debt. ...