Apprenticed Investor: On Bended Knee

Let's assume you found a stock that meets all of your criteria and fits our checklist. Before you pull the trigger, we need to discuss your relationship with this stock.

That's right, whenever you buy an equity, you enter into a complex relationship -- with the stock, the company, its management, even your fellow shareholders.

Before your purchase, you are still in a flirtatious stage -- you have no history with the stock and therefore no baggage. That's the time -- before you get in too deep -- to lay out some ground rules governing this relationship. ...