>>54202359
> But, it's really hard to value companies
I completely agree. I gave up on the idea of me being able to value them. I mean, if you think about it, fund managers do exactly that: analyze numbers and build models. And yet most of them can't beat S&P500 despite them being professionals.
I think it's kinda insane to assume that you will be able evaluate a company in few evenings based on public information only. And don't forget about macro conditions changing constantly. Even manufacturing companies you mentioned are very complex if you consider how many things influence their profitabiliy such as raw materials prices, labour quality and availability, regulatory stability, competition, balance sheet health, consumer trends + cycles, stability of their partners (suppliers + clients), rogue board members trying to sink the company, And at the end of the day you must predict how those things will change going forward to evaluate if it's worth buying shares of this company. Shit is fucked.
I gave up on an idea of me being able to evaluate all this. Nowdays I just look at most basic things:
- balance sheet
- cash flow
- revenue growth YoY + MoM (earnings can be deceiving if company is reinvesting in a smart way)
- quality of the product + website
- commodity prices + situation if this is a commodities company
I also diversify a lot. I rarely have a position that goes over 2% of the total value of my portfolio. This way I'm protected from the fallout of my misinformed decissions. I also started buying more ETFs, so far they are performing pretty well so maybe this is the way to go for a retard like me.