Thoughts on Investment Philosophy
Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice. As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please consult with your professional investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

I just spent some time commenting up and down my good fellow-blogger and internet friend, Roger Nusbaum, on his blog, Random Roger's Big Picture. Roger is a professional and has a far broader knowledge base than I do about the broad range of investment opportunities. Drop by his blog and take a look!

What I wanted to spend just a moment or two commenting on is the entire concept of building a portfolio. Each stock I look at is just a building block in a bigger picture. Sometimes I like to refer to my stocks as if they were each race horses in a whole team of racing horses. I am merely concentrating on the strongest horses (stocks) and hoping that if they have won in the past, they shall continue to win. When a stock falters, out it goes. And my loyalty to any particular stock only goes about as far "as you could throw it."

I guess there are a few things that I base everything that I do on. First of all, that earnings are the key determinant of stock price. That earnings growth is key to price appreciation and that revenue growth is the best way to guarantee that earnings growth can continue.

This consistency in earnings growth is such a key to my entire strategy. In many ways, this is a reflection of management. Great management can result in great earnings over time. But I do not look to judge management. I just wait for the earnings to present themselves and I follow that trail.

Next thought is the "passive investor". Or you could call it the "Zen" of investing...which is most likely not a great interpretation of Zen. I am certainly no expert in Buddhism :).

But what I mean is sort of like putting your ear to the ground and listening. Letting stocks tell you what you need to do. Watching the lists of top percentage gainers to find strong stock possibilities. Watching how your own stocks are doing to give you the signals that let you know whether to be moving stock from cash to equities or vice versa. Observation is so much more important than "thinking".

Even within your portfolio, I try very hard to sell my losers quickly and my gainers slowly. That bias is critical in building a great portfolio. Also, by listening to your stocks, that is by noting whether they are acting healthy (reaching sale-points on gains), or sickly (selling at 8% losses or retracing gains), this information will let you know whether you should be adding new stocks to your portfolio, or pulling in your horns and sitting on your hands, as I like to say, and letting your cash build.

I like to be, as much as possible, a bottom-up investor. How do I do that? For me, I like to wait for the stock to present itself, inviting me to purchase it! Like watching horse racing (which I haven't done in YEARS), if I were to be buying a race horse, I would like to buy a horse that is winning some races. You don't buy 'em cheap that way. But you can buy the best.

If you are a bottom-up investor and find a stock years before other investors are talking about it, you may actually purchase it cheaper. However, my momentum style in stock selection requires other investors to be enough aware of a stock that their acquisition of shares pushes the stock higher that day!

These are just a few thoughts to ponder this weekend. Please send me your own comments and questions, either here or at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com. If any of you have used any of my thoughts and ideas, I would love to hear from you and hear how they worked out.

Regards to all. Especially my fellow-blogger Roger!

Bob