FOOL SCHOOL
Where To Get Ideas For Shares

February 18, 2002

Where can't you look for shares? The world around us is full of companies and, where there are companies, there are shares. Look closely at how your own individual life is supported by the products around you. Look at what you use in your job, what your company produces, what your competitors produce, what you use in your leisure hours (you do have some, we hope), and what your family uses. How could the product be improved? What's the competition like? Does one company do it better than all the others? If so, why? Might it make a good investment? Looking for shares to invest in is primarily about keeping your eyes open and thinking about the world around you.

The business sections of newspapers are also teeming with investment ideas. It might seem a bit dry at first but, after a while, keeping up with the daily soap opera of the business world can be interesting as well as profitable. The newspapers give a round up of market news, company results and other announcements. Many of them also have a comment section where they look at particular situations in more detail. There are countless websites, including the Motley Fool, which deliver similar information. Make sure that you don't rely on the conclusions reached (newspapers, websites and other pundits don't tend to have a track record of being right more than wrong!), but use the information to develop your own ideas. You can even use filters to get a shortlist of shares based on certain characteristics.

As you think more about investments, you'll want to compare notes with others. Let them pick holes in your arguments and repay them by picking holes in theirs. Before you know what's what, you'll be leading the conversation at dinner parties with statements like "yah, Orange have the brand strength to dominate the mobile world". Mind you, assuming that you want to continue receiving dinner party invitations, you might want to conduct your research in more suitable surroundings.

That's where websites like the Motley Fool come in. As well as discussions about investing strategies, there are ongoing discussions about most of the notable companies on the stock market. Why not join in? Even if you don't fancy posting a message yourself, there's a vast amount of information and comment for you to look at. Remember, though, you're looking for ideas to follow up with your own research, not for straight tips.