It is essential to address the elephant in the room. Should you even buy single stocks? Take a look at this article on leaving investing to the professionals to think about the reasons you may want to skip buying stocks and instead invest in index funds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Warren Buffett just won a 10-year bet that the S&P 500 would outperform hedge funds, which are run by full-time investment professionals. Over the last 15 years, 92.2% of large-cap funds underperformed compared to the S&P 500. In mid-cap and small-cap funds, only about 5% of fund managers beat the markets.
If these people, who spend their entire professional career in the stock market, can’t beat the markets, why do you think you can do better? I have a small portfolio of single stocks. I use techniques I learned, earning two finance degrees to decide if I should buy or sell shares. But even with my background, I still have some big losers in the portfolio. Think very hard before you rush to invest in single stocks. In most cases, investing in index funds is a better decision.
That said, if you do want to get into the world of buying single stocks, these stock picking services can help you get off to a better start in finding those undervalued stocks that are poised to make your portfolio pop.