You have to keep your priorities straight, if you plan to do well in stocks. - Peter Lynch

more than eight hundred thousand Americans file for personal bankruptcy every year.

Understand the nature of the companies you own and the specific reasons for holding the stock. (“It is really going up!” doesn’t count.)

If the p/e of Coca-Cola is 15, you’d expect the company to be growing at about 15 percent a year, etc. But if the p/e ratio is less than the growth rate, you may have found yourself a bargain. A company, say, with a growth rate of 12 percent a year (also known as a “12-percent grower”) and a p/e ratio of 6 is a very attractive prospect.