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Hi everyone,
I (21M) recently started investing, mostly through stock picking, and got incredibly lucky with a few picks, such as AMD and Alphabet. After making some money, I decided I should actually learn about the thing I had basically been gambling on.
The more I learn, the more I realize how difficult it is to find stocks that are genuinely undervalued and, more importantly, to distinguish a good investment thesis based on solid fundamentals from one based on speculation.
I really enjoy researching companies and picking individual stocks, so I'm genuinely curious:
Are there people here who have consistently outperformed the S&P 500 for 10+ years through individual stock picking?
If so, I'd love to hear about your approach. What do you think gives you an edge? How do you evaluate whether a stock is actually undervalued, and how do you keep yourself from confusing luck with skill?
And for those who have been doing this for 10–20+ years: do you think active stock picking can realistically outperform the market over the long run, or is a low-cost S&P 500 index fund still the best choice for the vast majority of people?