Hi Ptlav Wombat is right , you have to educate yourself , I did by reading books such as ben graham , buffet and the like. I found interesting articles on motleyfool.com , years ago about value investing. Blue chip stocks are not necessarily blue chip in intrinsic value , higher paying dividend stocks are not necessarilly good managed companies as well. I look for companies with a high ROE ( return on equity ) that means companies with management that achieve higher returns on the assets employed in their company. That is not the only investment tool , there is also cash flow amongst others . You should not just pick high ROE companies because there may be other reasons why they had performed so well, maybe they sold some property etc etc etc so their asset based diminished and subsequently their ratio to profits would increase .ie an artificially increased ROE You have to be able to read company annual statements , there are small digest books available in laymans english , you dont have to be an accountant to understand them or a george soros . The trick is to buy good managed stocks that are below their intrinsic value that pay a good dividend , then buy those of them you understand etc . There is no such thing as a set and forget portfolio , you have to be watchful( but not to fixation levels ) as circumstances may change , I do not have any more than 11 stocks as a rule , some of my friends have as little as 5 , thats a comfortable number for me to handle. I cannot give you financial advice as such or what stocks to buy etc and especially not on hotcopper . Wombat is right , have a look at some of these researchers sites , see what they suggest and examine their reasoning to those stocks selected , have an enquiring mind. I dont use funds nor fund managers etc because I like to have control of my funds and destiny , no one handles your money better than you and you will get a lot better I can assure you of that when you research etc..yep, I make mistakes but my risk ratio is low.. Read a book such as buffets on value investing and then get back to me or others , be quick my old grey cells are now diminishing..haha take care Baxter
