When purchasing stock, what are some key things to look for?

What information would indicate whether a company is a good investment or not?

"Buy low, sell high." That's the old saw. But it does lead to a really pertinent question: What is "Low" and what is High"? In other words, how do you make money instead of losing it -- what's the right time to invest, and in what?

They say, "Buy on rumor. Sell on news."

Whether we're talking about a stock going up or down (and you can make money on either), what this phrase points to about the actual honesty of the stock market is a conclusion you can draw for yourself. The single investor, thanks to leverage and day-trading, has become quite a force in the market. The question, in terms of short and even medium-term stock investment, is 'Which way will the crowd run?' My thinking is that a lot of studying of interest rates and other traditional "market forces" is a waste of time: the bets are in long before from enormous computer-program investors, such as insurance companies, long before you'll get your money in. And that's assuming the Big Boys haven't gotten the word "privately" even more in advance -- and what would you bet on that? So investing with traditional indicators will leave you picking up their scraps, at best, or even on the wrong side of the spike.

My feeling is that if you watch TV and look at print advertising, guaging the appeal of a publicity campaign is as good an indicator as any to guess what the public will buy. Look at what has happened to Target and Apple in the last few years as their advertising has become sophisticated. Or other edgy things from multi-arm companies like LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy). Big fashion designers are also doing a lot in resorts these days: "Fashion" means much more than clothes, and is a powerful force. Starbucks really does little more than MARKET coffee, but very cleverly. We alll know Ford Motor Co. is in trouble: what do you think of their new ad campaign, the relaunching of the 'Taurus' name, and so on?

News is like this, too -- often a one-line statement on national news like "Heating oil will be very expensive this year", or the crash of an airliner manufactured by one company or another sends the commodities market, and even stocks into a frenzy of buying or selling.

So if you're in it for a profit ("Growth", I think it's called), then this something anyone can do if they have a knack. Try to put your finger on the "public pulse". Think the "experts" know more? Well, maybe they do -- but as long as the law allows them to trade and broker the market both, they're not about to tell you what they think, unless your portfolio is big enough to really count for them.

If you're not into betting on horse-races (and I once shared an apartment with a Thoroughbred race-horse trainer and know better than to do that!) -- then Mutual Funds might be a better idea at least to consider, because much of the research is done for you. The multiple stocks and other investment products in a Fund make them generally less volatile, too. Also, you can choose a fund which is based on things like responsible ecological considerations or other socially beneficial criteria if you feel that way, and so keep yourself free of supporting ugly outfits like, say, Dow Chemical, no matter how attractive their publicity becomes.

Or maybe such things don't matter to you: that's absolutely your business -- but it's worth saying that such "Responsible Funds" have performed very well in the last decade. Best of luck!

The stock market is a wild thing. It can go up or down at any point in time. To look into buying a stock i would look at companys i knew about. If you were going to buy apple a couple weeks ago but then you heard that they were going to hand out 100 dollar rebates then it wouldnt be a good idea. But if you would of wanted to purchase microsoft a couple weeks ago that would be a good idea becuase they had a new game that came out that made 175 million dollars in one day. When looking to purchase things in the stock markey just go wiht your best hunch.

Sales/earnings growth, industry group, size, institutional ownership, pe.