Reinvest all earnings, dividends and capital gains. Your money grows faster if earnings are reinvested and compounding of your money is at work for you. Buy companies whose sales and earnings are increasing at a rate faster than the industry in general. These stocks should have good prospects for continued growth and to be stronger, larger companies five years from now. Invest in different industries.
Diversification helps spread both risk and opportunity.
A cool 100 shares of Intel, a company that had a sizable operation a few miles away in Folsom and one that members felt they knew something about. Most of the club members either had a friend or relative working there or had followed the stock in the past. As Tom O'Hara, one of the principals starting the NAIC more than 50 years ago, notes, everyone interested in the stock market wants to find the key to consistently profitable investment. The NAIC believes in long-term investing and encourages investors to study the fundamentals of a company. It's a lesson that the WISE Gals club is learning and one that can help all individual investors.