Remember that all our goals is finite so, your investment goal is to maximize your returns while lowering risk.

The only I see that valued investors can do this is to answer yourself these questions regarding the companies that you are about to purchase.

The list is not exhaustive but it is a good start.

1. What businesses are the company involved in ?
2. Can the company make money in the long term ?
3. Does the company has a track records in increasing EPS and DPS ?

4. Does the company have low or no debt?
6. Would you be using the product and services of this company 20 years from now ?
7. Is the company share prices undervalued at current prices ?

This is no rocket scientist questions but if you take the care to answer them, you would be ahead of every investor in town and be the top 5% elite value investor.