Talking to clients and colleagues, its striking sometimes that some new investors do fully not realize that they are buying into real companies. I guess its that all the shares traded right now come from large companies whose majority shareholder is the government of Maldives. This does bring about a sense that your investment is protected beyond the constraints of a 'normal' establishment always afraid of the bottom line. Would this sense of security hold true in times of crisis? When do you as an investor start getting concerned about these stocks?
As a stockbroker we learn to understand a company primarily thourough its financials and market performance. A multitude of analytical techniques and ratios can be used to measure all critical aspects such as profitability and find warning indicators that will affect the valuation of the company and therefore the stock price itself. I do not suggest that everybody should try these, but what I do suggest is for serious investors to familiarize themselves with basic aspects of investing, financial reports, stock picking and investment strategies. Making informed decisions not just guided by market sentiment or percieved future profits, setting objectives/targets for investments and understanding risk are neccesary skills of any good investor.
A great place to find comprehenive information on investing is investopedia.com. This site is extremely useful as it is breaks down complex information into simple bits that most people would understand. Browse through it for just about everything to do with investing,learn from tutorials and i highly recommend the stock simulator- an online trading game which mimics a real stock exchange with virtual money.