A learning path
- Basics: What is a stock?, What is an ETF?, Index funds, Compound interest.
- Reading a company: How to read financial statements, Revenue growth (TTM and forward), Gross margin, Free cash flow.
- Valuation: P/E ratio (price-to-earnings), PEG ratio, EV/EBITDA.
- Quality: Economic moats, Return on invested capital (ROIC), Balance sheet strength: cash versus debt.
- Process: How to research a company, Stock screening and scoring, Fundamentals checklist.
- Risk: Position sizing, Maximum drawdown, How many stocks should you own?.
Classic books
- The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham: margin of safety and market psychology.
- One Up on Wall Street, Peter Lynch: finding growth in everyday life.
- Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, Philip Fisher: judging business quality.
- The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, John Bogle: the case for index funds.
- Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder letters, free online.
Habits that build skill
- Read one annual report (10-K) a month, starting with companies you know as a customer.
- Listen to a few Earnings reports and calls each season.
- Keep an investing journal: what you bought, why, and what happened.
- Review mistakes without blame. Most lessons come from them.
See also
- What is a stock? A plain-English explanation of what a stock is, how owning shares works, how stock prices are set, and how shareholders make money.
- How to read financial statements A beginner's guide to the three financial statements, the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, and how they fit together.
- Fundamentals checklist A one-page checklist for researching a stock: growth, profitability, balance sheet, valuation, moat and risks, with the metric to check for each.
- Investing FAQ Short answers to the questions new investors ask most, from how much money you need to start to when to sell, with links to the full wiki pages.
Pages that link here: How to research a company
Last updated September 30, 2026. Education only, not investment advice.