Important Stock Picking Criteria?

I have been browsing through caps.fool.com, its a site where thousands of investors discuss and rate stocks. I'm a trust and Investment management major so i understand the basics of the "by the books" ways of judging a company's performance. My biggest issue is not being able to look for up-coming investments. There seems to be alot of talk about valuation. If possible id like for someone to give me an idea of what YOU look at when investing in both short term and long term investments. I haven't reached the courses yet in my curriculum which teach the advanced skills on investment analysis which seems to be what i need. i would apprieciate any help you could give toward giving me some rules, guidelines, #'s that you look for. Investments like PCU (Southern Copper) i look at & do the "Basic Math" and their performance just doesn't match at all with how the stock is acting. The company is just "ok" but the stock is soaring. Any idea how people find stocks like this?
Additional Details
I look at stock performance charts and go "Wow that is exploding"... but then you wait and see that it most of the time comes back down. What im looking is the BEST way to look at companies and narrow down my choices, so that i can get in AHEAD of the explosions, not just riding coat-tails or following others. Thank you so much for any help you can provide me.

interesting. Very interesting. What valuations metrics did you use to judge a company as just "ok".

But this would be a great research: "Does Fundamental Analysis of a stock really help an investor find a good stock?" That would be a good research paper.

There's also a great debate between those who use fundamental analysis (such as you) and those who use technical analysis.

I saw you need to have both to help you get good results.

Let's look at FCX, competitor of PCU.
1. Competitors of FCX are PCU and RTP.
2. They are all in the basic materials/copper area. This area is clearly in bull market mode. Emerging countries such as China need these raw materials to grow!
3. Let's look at valuation:
Company || Forward PE || EV/EBITDA || 5 yr Growth || Yield || MyPEG
a. FCX, 10.61, 12.02, 37.5, 1.4, .24
b. RTP, 11.22, 9.377, 12.7, 1.6, .77
(more info on MyPEG here:
http://techfarm.blogspot.com/2007/06/improved-version-of-peg-ratio.html
)

I look at MyPEG of FCX and RTP and both are less than 1. That's great! MyPEG < 1 is cheap. MyPEG > 2 is very expensive. So that's a good sign.

If we don't trust the growth rates, we can still try to find a low PE, ideally under 20 or 15. The PEs above are under 12, very good.

Also, we look at the technicals:
http://stockcharts.com/charts/gallery.html?fcx

Over a three year period, the stock has been trading above both 200 day moving average.

So, it would seem appropriate to buy a good company with good fundamentals, good thesis, good growth, low valuation, that is trading above the 200 day (and ideally 50 day) moving averages.

through my readings and research, I found that minerals are in bull market mode. I also watched Mad Money show on CNBC hosted by former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer and they mentioned metals were in bull market mode.

Also, using automated screens to find stocks would have found such stocks. (I'm a holder of FCX).

Personally, start researching stocks using the screener at yahoo screener: (finance.yahoo.com. look for Stock Screener on left hand side)
1. Forward PE < 20
2. 5 yr estimated growth > 20
3. stock trading over 200 day moving average
4. stock trading within 0-5% above the 50 day moving average (better buy area)
5. ideally, stock is within 5% of 52 week high.

I've tried several experimental portfolios over the last few months and performance has been good so far, beating the VTI, the Vanguard US Total Stock Market ETF.

If you ever use this method professionally, (whether or not you get famous), make sure you credit me and let me know. :)

For me buying a stock is taming.You take a look @AAV-pays dividend ea.month and below $14 is a good entry point.Check WWAT.ob Good luck!

I look for a stock that has been beaten down recently but for no real reason...or weakness in the overall market. I look to make sure the earnings have been positive and climbing over the past year etc..
I also look to see that the company has a positive EPS number, and I typically glance at what the major shops are rating said company..

I also look at how said company is doing compared to its major competitors..

You are halfway there if you are looking at charts.

Try to correlate past chart patterns with the fundamental news to identify the correct entry points. Chart patterns reflect human behavior, that is why they repeat themselves.

Here is an exercise for you: look at SGMO today and decide if you would buy today and why?

Oh, yes, and forget what they teach you in school.

I have a short term portfolio and a long term one. I look at fundamentals for both but for short term- I keep an eye on the earnings statements and other news that might give me a hint to an upsurge. Then I sell and buy another. I do constant research and my favorite analysis board is http://www.3stocksonfire.com/index.php?ref=8906mc. The premium board on here is where they put their money where their mouth is. They are up 300% since 05. Caution on stocks that soar for no reason- there's usually something behind the scenes and it's likely to fall hard in the short term.

Just look to the stock previous development and history and you analyzing it.

I for one believe that trying to use stock fundamentals as a selection criteria can miss lead you. Companies have been known to provide miss leading information and the insiders make their trades prior to what the public hears. All the moves on a stock are shown with the open,close,high,low and volume data. Read up on technical analysis. You can narrow your screens by selecting stocks that are within a sector which have started an uptrend. I use the yahoo group ComputerProgramPicks. Best of luck to ya. Having luck is executing with a prepared mind.

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