[WellManicuredMan]

Originally Posted by Duchesse

I too have approx. 25-30 stocks in my portfolio at any given time. I didn't start with so many, I started with 15 I researched and over time I picked more. I find that my approach as a turtle (the race between the tortoise and the hare) is exactly as you said. I make a little money or I break even. I began investing in the stock market 4years ago. I buy dollar cost averaging at Sharebuilder and I have some DRIPS.

At first I thought I was spreading myself too thin, but I wanted to diversify and keep my losses to a minimum. I was SCARED of the stock market, so I stayed with real estate, bonds, mutuals (hate 'em), and Money Markets for years.

At first my portfolio had no depth, any gains were small, since I only had on average 5-20 shares of each. My goal was income and growth. Most of my picks are dividend paying bluechips and about 7 growth stocks on the Nasdaq (msft, intc, siri,payx, sbux). I've been at this for about four years now and I am starting to see positive result from this approach. I agree with all of you. You must do your research, you must be realistic, and you can't be greedy or you will LOSE.

In my humble opinion, if you are conservative you won't make a lot of money but you won't lose alot either.

If you are only going to be conservative and don't gain or lose a lot, then wouldn't it be easier to buy an index fund or one of those life cycle / target retirement funds from T Rowe. Price, Vanguard, and Fidelity? I really like Vanguard's Target 2045 fund.