Professional investors and investment research
companies develop their own strategic investing systems. These
systems, which the developers market to individuals, involve a
set of specific principles or guidelines for choosing and selling
investments. And, while each system is different, they all tend
to rely extensively on either
fundamental
or technical
analysis.
Many investment systems focus on stocks,
but may extend to other types of assets, such as mutual funds
and
convertible
bonds.
Others deal with futures and other derivative investments.
Some have long track records and devoted followers. Others may
be effective only during certain economic periods.
Because they want your business, the proponents
of these systems often provide trial subscriptions to their print
or online materials. If you’re serious about investing on
your own, you may want to check them out. Remember, though, that
none of them can guarantee the results you seek even if you follow
the strategy rigorously.
Two examples of mainline strategic systems
for investing in stock are those developed by Investor’s
Business Daily and Value Line, Inc. An example of a strategic
system for investing in mutual funds is the use of
index funds
advocated, among others, by Vanguard Group founder John Bogle.
Index funds invest in all of the securities in a particular market
index in order to replicate the performance of the index rather
than trying to outperform, or beat, the market.
Gail Dudack,
Managing Director,
Dudack Research Group
Gail Dudack, 
