Stocks – Informed Investing
At some point in your investment journey, you will want to consider stocks. Stocks historically delivered the highest average returns of any investment category over the long run. Making them an important part of most investment strategies.
A good start with stocks is periodically investing in ETFs. An ETF lets you invest in a whole basket of companies at once. Spreading your risks. They are a popular and accessible way to invest, even with small amounts.
As you grow more confident, you might want to explore individual stocks — picking specific companies you believe in and understand. That is where our stock analyses come in. We break down real companies in plain language, looking at what they do, how they are performing and what the numbers say.
One important note — we are not here to tell you what to buy or sell. What we do is give you as much relevant, clear information as possible so you can make an educated decision. Your investment story is yours to write.
Investing in Individual Stocks
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, you might want to take it a step further and invest in individual companies. This means picking specific stocks you understand and believe in, rather than spreading your money across a whole basket through an ETF.
It takes more time and research, but it can also be a rewarding way to learn how businesses actually work — and to invest in companies you genuinely care about.
A warning here is in place here; investing in individual stock can be risky. A stock can lose a large part of its value over a single event. Disappointing quarterly results, a competitor stealing customers, a CEO stepping down, a war breaking out, or any number of other surprises. Sometimes a stock never fully recovers. With an ETF, your risk is spread out and the ups and downs are smoothed.
Whatever you do, don’t blindly listen to the online and offline “gurus”. They make money by looking successful and might get things right plenty of times. But even gurus will make mistakes and lose money. Do your own homework, and only buy stocks actually understand and believe in.
To help you get started, we break down individual stocks in our Stock Analyses section — looking at what a company does, how it’s performing, and what the numbers actually mean. Remember, we’re not telling you what to buy. We’re simply giving you the information to help you decide for yourself.