If you're like me, you're always on the lookout for promising investments. I often stumble upon interesting companies and attractive stocks when reading online or print articles, or talking with friends. Since I don't have time to immediately research them, I usually just add them to my watch list -- which now sports some 100 companies that have been added over the past few years.
An online watch list works much like an online portfolio. (You can set up portfolios for yourself at many websites -- even at Fool.com, where you'll have to register for free, if you haven't already.) On mine, whenever I add a company, I pretend I've bought one share, at the stock's going price that day. From then on, I'll be able to see how much the stock has risen or fallen in value since I first noticed it. If it was attractive in some ways before, it may well be much more attractive in the future, if I notice that it has fallen, say, 20%.
Without further ado, here are 10 investment ideas from my watch list (I'll follow up with 10 more next week). Please understand that these are not recommendations. I have not researched these too much at all, nor have I invested in any of them. But perhaps some of them will pique your interest enough that you'll want to research them yourself -- or just add them to your own watch list. (By the way, what's on your watch list? Share your ideas with others on our discussion boards.)
First Industrial Realty Trust
TMP Worldwide
McDonald's
Washington Mutual
Smithfield Foods
General Electric
Duke Energy
Tootsie Roll
Merck
Enron (OTCC: ENRNQ). I'm including this company just as a lesson. It's been sitting on my watch list for more than a year. As with the other companies on this list, I read and heard some great things about it. I was impressed. Thank goodness I didn't buy any shares (though I've certainly bought my share of other disasters). It's here to remind you -- and me -- to be sure and research any company you're thinking of investing in as much as you can. And if you don't really understand a company or its business too well, then you might do well to just steer clear of it. (Fool articles on Enron.)
That's it for now. I'll be back next week with 10 more. In the meantime, if you have comments on any of these companies, share them on our discussion boards. Perhaps you'd like to set me straight, or just offer more input on one or more of these investment ideas. If so, we'd love to hear from you.
And for more investment ideas, be sure to check out our Industry Focus 2002 report and The Motley Fool Select. We offer money-back guarantees for both.
Disclosure: If Selena Maranjian were a Spice Girl, she'd be "Anxious Spice." Fortunately, for her sake and yours, she's not a Spice Girl. Selena doesn't own any of the companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.