Once you decide you want to learn how to invest actively in stocks, the next step is to understand buying stocks. Why would we buy stocks, how do we understand them and the companies behind them, how do we analyze them, and how do we actually make our purchase?

Our course on how to buy stocks starts with basics: what are stocks, and who we might be as an investor. We then review the different aspects of buying stocks – deciding which stocks to study, analyzing them in more detail, the materials we have to read to understand a stock – before talking about the buying process.

I’ll fill this course with examples from my own investing experience – good buys and bad – as well as examples from famous investors or notable buys. As new posts are available, we’ll include the links here.

Complete this course and you’ll have the framework for how to approach buying stocks, what you would be looking for, and what you need to know to make a purchase.

From there, we’ll have two important related courses – building a stock portfolio; and holding, tracking, selling stocks.

How to Buy Stocks – Posts

• What to know about stocks before buying them
• Finding your investing style
• How to find a stock
  • Peter Lynch Style
  • Screeners
  • Other people’s ideas
  • Random efforts and top-down
• How to evaluate a stock and a business
  • Understanding the business
  • The business fundamentals
  • The valuation
  • The risk vs. the reward and making the case to buy
  • Other factors: Management, price chart, scuttlebutt
• Where to find info on stocks and companies
  • 10-Ks and 10-Qs
  • Earnings Reports & Presentations
  • Earnings Call Transcripts
  • Other public filings
  • Other sources
• What I look for in buying a stock
  • What I look for in a company
  • What I look for in a stock
• Mechanics of buying a stock
• Examples of buying stocks from my experience and from other investors
  • Steelcase