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With the stock market performing so poorly this year, many people who have no experience are getting interested in learning about stocks. They have probably heard that is good to buy stocks when they are low and sell them when they are high. With all the bad news of the stock market going down seemingly day after day, these beginners are now becoming interested in getting involved.

Once a beginner learns how to buy a stock, the next step is to try to figure out what stocks to buy. Where does one get that kind of information or opinion? You can get stock pics almost everywhere including magazines, TV shows, radio shows, The Internet and probably many other places as well. One thing is for sure, there is no shortage of opinions.

If you watch the financial TV shows, you will often see segments with the top analysts or “experts” where they give their stock tips. These experts might be asked to analyze certain stocks or to give their own stock pics. It seems to me that most of the time these so called stock market gurus are positive about most stocks. There are exeptions but rarely do you find an analyst come on and say that he would not be buying any stock and that now is not the time to invest.

These stock analysts are often the representatives for their company that the public sees and so they don’t want to be negative. It is so much harder to drum up business with a negative outlook than it is if you have a positive rosy outlook. It seems to me that these analysts are told to go out there and paint the most positive picture you can about the market. For example, “the market might be bad right now but it will turn around and these are the stocks you want to own when it does”.

Learning how to do some of your own research and not listen exclusively to the experts is perhaps the hardest part of investing. If you are going to do things right, you do need to learn how to form your own opinions and research stocks on your own. If you buy every stock a guru says is a winner, you will soon find that they aren’t right much more than someone who picks stocks by throwing darts.

If you are a beginner looking to buy stocks and learn, it is wise advice to proceed slowly and not believe everything you hear. These stock analysts are professional salesman and can make the worst stock in the world look like a screaming buy. It is your money and not theirs so be careful with it.