Is researching companies and having strategies a waste of time?

I believe research is never a waste of time—not in war, in business, in life. Victory goes to the prepared.

An educated guess is preferable to a random shot.

Enough research should theoretically give you a better than 50% shot in the long run.

Not at all! Not only will you find out things that help you make a decision, but you’ll impress the hell outta the interviewers. I was a personnel professional for a number of years and so few people actually research the company that it’s like a breath of fresh air when they can talk intelligently about the company in their interview. This definitely did NOT hurt their chances of being hired! : )

I assume you are talking aobut investment strategies, right.
Sure it helps. Look how much of the company is held by the top dogs and how much they are paid. Are they making decisions that are best for the company or themselves? Is the company investing in products that have a future? Are they establishing technical centers in countries that will steal their information?
If the numbers seem out of whack to you, let your conscience and intuition be your guide.
A monkey will be 50% right. See if you can beat him.

There are statistical patterns to picking stocks and picking horses. This is were an aptitude for statistics is helpful, as well as the patience to do the analysis needed; it’s work. If it was easy, everyone would be making money. A book that you might find interesting is “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” by Burton J. Malkiel. It’s in it’s 9th edition. An interesting read on behavioral investing.

Ooops! Sorry! I thought you were talking about a job search! [ blush ]

It depends on whether you like this kind of thing or not.

If you don’t, then just pick a few of the big ETF’s and put money into them.

I don’t think it’s a waste to learn new things, but there any number of topics that may be of interest. Picking stocks is more of an art than a science, and it takes effort and talent to be successful. If it’s something you enjoy anyway, then it’s probably worthwhile.