20 Golden Rules Summary and Analysis

This section is a summary of Lynch's most important lessons learned through two decades of investing.

Get the investor's edge to outperform the experts by investing in companies or industries you know and understand. An amateur can often outperform the professionals by ignoring them. In every industry, an amateur who does a little homework can find great growth companies long before a professional. Never invest in a company without understanding its finances. Never own more stocks than you can handle. An amateur can do quite well owning only five companies.

The key to making money is being patient. Sometimes even a successful company may not see an increased value in its stock for many years. Eventually, though, a successful company will show a long-term gain in value. Long shot stocks, on the other hand, almost always fail. "Hot" stocks...