#3 should be the best if you are actually knowledgeable. The problem is a lot of people are basically fooling themselves into being knowledgeable. There is a lo

#3 should be the best if you are actually knowledgeable. The problem is a lot of people are basically fooling themselves into being knowledgeable. There is a lot of dumb randomness in stocks but over a longer term stock prices tend to somehow follow underlying economic realities. But, sadly, the stock market is a merciless test proctor. You may do all the work you think is necessary, you may research until the cows come home and you may still be wrong because you read things that were biased, you did not look at things in the proper perspective, there was some important discovery somewhere that changed the industry, geopolitics, etc. So even if you are planning on doing your own research you should be well diversified. Also, do not listen to experts! The stock market is one of the few fields where "experts" will intentionally try to mislead you. Always try to get primary material, or as close to primary material as possible. And do not fool yourself into thinking that reading a bunch of secondary expert articles, or listening to Cramer or other experts is doing research. That's like hoping to become a paleontologist by watching friends.