Everybody’s looking for it. Like the gold rush from long ago, the modern day gold rush just might be the great stock pick that will allow you to quit your job, send your child to college, or simply take the vacation that you otherwise couldn’t afford. Is it possible to find it or is it something that only the professionals are able to tackle?

Let’s be realistic. If you have put money aside to invest in the stock market hoping to double your money by next year, the odds are against you. Much like playing the lottery, it’s possible but not probably. While sound investing can supplement your income in the short term, getting rich from the stock market happens over time. As long as you understand that, let’s take a look at a couple of ways to find a great stock pick.

First, please don’t blindly take the advice of a friend or read an e-mail. Both of these sources will claim to have the secret. I want to make you a promise: They do not or if they do and it’s based on inside information, that’s illegal and you cannot, by law, use that information. You would be giving the money back, plus penalties.

Of course, friends don’t know any more than you do. If you have a trusted friend who gives you a name, what is acceptable and, in fact, responsible, is to put that stock on your research list. As long as you don’t invest without researching, I will give you my blessing if you want to listen to your friend.

The secret to finding a great stock pick is really no secret at all. You either have to find a small company who has invented the next largely undiscovered thing that will change the world, figure out the next move of the large institutional investors, or buy a quality stock and hold it for 1-5 years. Any three of these methods will work and work well. Of course, two of them are very hard. One is easy.

Finding the small startup company can be difficult because often they aren’t publically traded. (They aren’t a stock yet) Finding the next amazing startup is difficult but there are plenty of sources (many are membership sites) that will help you find these companies.

Finding a great stock pick can also be done by following the big investors. Mutual funds and hedge funds have a very strict set of trading rules that often revolve around technical analysis. Learn about support and resistance levels and you have an idea of what the big names will do. Sadly, it’s a little tougher than you think.

Finally, my favorite! Don’t try to figure out what other people are doing, don’t get the crystal ball out and predict the fate of a company. Find an undervalued, high quality stock, and hold it for the medium term. Often 1-5 years will do it.

If you don’t have the time or don’t feel confident that you can make the best investment choices, consider subscribing to a service like Action Alerts Plus where an expert is doing your research for you and all you have to do is buy and sell when they tell you to execute the trade. My secret is that I don’t have enough time to do all of my research so I let Action Alert Plus do it for me.

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