- 1). Look at the two-year price chart for stocks you are considering buying. Only invest in those stocks that are on their way up in price, not on the way down. The trend is your friend when it comes to stock market investing. Professional traders operate on the assumption that a trend will always continue until it stops. You just hope the upward trend doesn't come to a stop the minute you decide to jump in. As long as you buy a stock that is on a long-term upward trend, you are all but guaranteed of ultimately selling your shares for more than they cost.
- 2). Look at the company's financial report before buying its shares to make sure it has had consistently growing profits. You can do this by going to the Yahoo! Finance website, typing the ticker symbol of the company in the search box and then clicking on "financial statement," which is found on the left side of the page. You want to compare the company's net income and gross sales for a particular quarter with the same quarter the previous year. One of the strongest traits of the most successful companies is that they offer a superior product and have steadily increasing sales and profits.
- 3). Prepare to wait it out for the long term after you have found a stock that meets all of the above criteria. The definition of long term may differ for different investors. In the investment world, longterm is generally considered at least six months, but could extend to decades. Stock market analysts have cited historical return data that shows stocks of solid companies are more likely to appreciate in value the longer investors hold them. Patience can be a virtue when it comes to successful stock market investing.
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