Worth's Greatest Stock Picks of All Time: Lessons on Buying the Right Stock at the Right Time

Learn How to Pick the Right Stock at the Right Time

The momentum of the bull market spoiled us all—buying stock, any stock, was an almost surefire way to make a mint. Now, in a time of turbulent markets, stock picking has become a mixture of science and high art. With thousands of stocks to choose from, how can investors determine which ones will be future winners?

We all know there’s a time to buy and a time to sell every stock, but when is the right time? Timing stock buys so that you catch upward momentum is not luck, and Randy Jones shows you how to hone your buying and selling skills by striving to analyze the factors that made winners of the great stocks in the past. Why was AT&T a great stock pick in the 1920s, Polaroid a winner in the ’40s, Xerox in the ’50s, Teledyne in the ’70s, and Intel in the ’90s? The potential of these stocks was in plain sight—for those who knew how to read the signs. And perhaps as important is understanding the signs of decline and knowing when to sell.

Randy Jones analyzes twenty-five of the greatest stocks of all time, providing a framework for evaluating their strengths that can be used for future selections, including:

• Linking great management and bottom-line profits: Who were the faces behind AIG, GE, and IBM that led to profitability, and what was it about these people’s management skills that made their companies so great?
• Pathbreaking products: Polaroid, Xerox, and Amgen show that products that often seem to be overnight sensations were instead developed over many years, giving investors plenty of lead time to discover their potential as great investments.
• The innovative business model: Avon, McDonald’s, and Dell reveal that understanding how a company makes money helps you to understand its strengths and vulnerabilities.
• Investing during bad times: For some companies, such as Coca-Cola, Schlumberger, and Chrysler, nationwide economic downturns can actually be advantageous.

Worth’s Greatest Stock Picks of All Time has invaluable lessons for anyone in the market today.

W. Randall Jones (editor in chief of Worth® magazine) is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Worth Media LLC, the parent company for Worth®, the financial lifestyle publication for wealthy, active investors. Randy is also the voice of the ABC News Radio program A Minute’s Worth, syndicated daily to 4,600 ABC radio affiliates, as well as a frequent commentator on numerous television shows, including The Today Show, CNBC’s Power Lunch and Business Center, CNN’s Business Unusual, and Fox News programs. He resides in Manhattan and Bronxville, New York. Julie M. Fenster has written several books on personal finance and business history.