How many times have you heard of someone who invested in a stock just based on a rumour or the latest tip only to see them get burnt in the stock market? Or maybe it wasn’t a rumour or a tip but the latest, most fashionable stock that the media was covering then… which duly tanked the moment you bought in?

Well, guess what? You only have yourself to blame.

You can’t blame anyone or anything for your investment gone bad if you didn’t perform your due diligence before you put your money in. Like how you need to check the engine, brakes, gear shift, etc on a pre-owned car before you plonk fifty grand on it and speed 90 mph down the freeway, similarly you have to do your checks before you invest any grand sum into any stock. If not, the results could be the ...