Have right tools for the job to help craft success

I asked my neighbor Jack how he is able to make such lifelike carvings of animals from big chunks of wood.

"It's not that difficult, probably a lot like what you do, except you don't use a saw and need to measure twice and cut once," Jack said with a grin. "You just get the right materials, use the right tools, and be patient. Doesn't hurt to have some experience, of course."

"Thanks, Jack," I said, thinking that not only did he explain how simple(?) it was to create a 3-foot-tall eagle from a section of tree trunk that was so heavy it had to be taken off the delivery truck with a winch, but he had also given me the topic for this column. What a guy.

Tools, that's really what this column is about when you get right down to it. I've written about tools to use in balance sheet and income statement analysis, such as price-to-earnings ratios, price earnings ratios relative to earnings growth rates, price-to-book, debt ratios, etc.

These are all tools that successful investors use to determine which issues are most attractive for purchase. I've also written about tools for determining when to sell, for most investors the most difficult part of the investment equation.

Last column I discussed the advancing vs. declining issues relative to the indices, a tool for external measurement that relates to overall market realities rather than individual issues.

If you are employing that particular tool, you know that the market has finally begun to broaden, attracting investors to many undervalued mid- and small-cap stocks. So much so that Oct. 25 we issued our first Investment Alert since 1994. (Copies are available through SBJ.)

Here's another tool