Here's the problem that individual investors face when investing in the stock market, in a nutshell:
We all want to beat the market, but the market is dominated by investment banks staffed by legions of professional investors, whose sole purpose in life is to beat the market. Professional investors study stocks 24/7 -- and get paid to do it -- whereas for most individual investors, our stock market research must be crammed into a few hours at the end of a long workday, or on weekends.
How in heaven's name is a poor, lone individual investor to beat those odds?