Stock-Picking Strategies: Conclusion

This tutorial introduces some of the most popular stock-picking strategies – from growth and value investing, to CAN SLIM and Dogs of the Dow. Here's a quick recap:

• Most of the strategies discussed in this tutorial use the tools and techniques of fundamental analysis, whose main objective is to find the worth of a company, or its intrinsic value.
• In quantitative analysis, a company is worth the sum of its discounted cash flows. In other words, it is worth all of its future profits added together.
• Some qualitative factors affecting the value of a company are its management, business model, industry and brand name.
• Value investors, concerned with the present, look for stocks selling at a price that is lower than the estimated worth of the company, as reflected by its fundamentals.
• Growth investors are concerned with the future, buying companies that may be trading higher than their intrinsic worth but show the potential to grow and one day exceed their current valuations.
• The GARP strategy is a combination of both growth and value: Investors concerned with 'growth at a reasonable price' look for companies that are somewhat undervalued given their growth potential.
• Income investors, seeking a steady stream of income from their stocks, look for solid companies that pay a high but sustainable dividend yield.
• CAN SLIM analyzes these factors of companies: current earnings, annual earnings, new changes, supply and demand, leadership in industry, institutional sponsorship and market direction.
• Dogs of the Dow are the 10 of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) with the highest dividend yield.
• Technical analysis, the polar opposite of fundamental analysis, is not concerned with a stock's intrinsic value, but instead looks at past market activity to determine future price movements.

No matter which approach you take, it’s important to do your homework: Take your time and learn everything you can about your chosen method – read books, attend webinars and consult with a financial advisor, to name a few – before risking money in the market. The investors who are the most successful tend to take a very systemic approach to the markets, using a specific strategy they understand completely and follow precisely.