Copycat investing.

Picking stocks/funds for investing is neither an art nor a science. It is voodoo. For those of us with non-finance and non-investment related full-time jobs, it is time consuming to research stocks and get the story straight on any one particular stock. It is easier instead to peek into the portfolio of a seasoned investor and see what they are up to and try to mimic or learn from that.

While trying to know what Warren Buffet's portfolio looks like, I stumbled upon StockPickr. It lists the portfolios of many famous investors and Wall St. veterans. It also lists what stocks some mutual funds hold.

Copycat investing should be prudent and make common sense. A few things to remember are

• It is important to note "when" the investors got in on the stock. Timing is everything. If Buffet got in on a stock X when it was $60 and today the stock is $100, you are kinda late to the party. Move on to the next stock.


• You also want to know if the investor is "long" or "short" on the stock. Don't go long on a stock that Carl ICahn is shorting. That is like swimming against the tide!.


• Also you should still get to know the underlying reason why the investor got in on the stock, because when that reason ceases to exist, you should bail out of the stock before the seasoned investor does (which is very difficult). Usually, when a a big player sells his position in a stock, there is a sell off and you don't want to be riding that downward slope.