To be a successful investor, a fair amount of homework has to be done. First off, there's plenty to learn on the tricky subject of accounting . There's also much to absorb on the subjective topic of valuation too. Of course, then you have to get up to speed with different industries and the companies themselves. Keeping tabs on a variety of companies and their products is no mean task.
Trouble is, investing is a competitive activity.
There are thousands of other full-time investors who are all digging for the latest information on your company's potential too. In this respect, the greater resources of the large investment institutions make life difficult for ordinary Fools. And even with plenty of time, effort and experience to hand, there's no guarantee you'll outperform anyway. But perhaps the most damning evidence highlighting dreary Foolish stock picking comes from our own real money portfolios. Both of these portfolios are managed by full-time TMF writers, each of whom put in a lot of effort and research into their stock picks.