Stock Analysis

See the "anal" in there. Yeah, you have to be very uptight when you analyze stocks.

But what does stock analysis even really mean? In what form are you analyzing? Fundamentals? Charts? Crystal ball?

Over time, most experts agree that the best valuation metric for stocks over time is their earnings. But...what year's earnings? This year's? Last year's? The earnings three years from now? And what does the company actually do? What does it do that's hard? What does it do that people value and will pay for? Is it in a growth industry, or is it selling paper pulp? How's the company valued relative to the overall market? Are its profit margins going up or down? What will it be doing in n years?

And on and on and on (and on) it goes. That's what the trade is all about. And if you're good, you get paid highly. So, um, go for it.