What do investors need to take into consideration or look out for before buying an individual stock?

The first layer of research will be to look at the Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet.

Income Statement wise, I will like to see their topline and bottomline grow.

Cash Flow Statement wise, I like positive operating cash flow that increases every year. I also look at the Free Cash Flow by deducting CAPEX from Operating Cash Flow. A positive FCF will be recommended.

Balance Sheet wise, I like companies with net cash position. This means that the cash on hand is more than the debts they have.

This forms the first layer of research. If all things are good, I will proceed to the second layer of research to know more about companies in the sense what's up with the company and the industry it is in, whether the industry itself is growing annually etc.

Tough question here. But to simplify it for you, below are some of the considerations I ask myself before buying an individual stock:

1. Look at the macro environment
   -Is it a sustainable business for the future? Does it align with future trends (eg 5G, IoT, Cloud Computing, Cashless Payment, AI etc)

2. Look at the sector it is in
   -How much potential does this sector have? Is it a competitive market?

3. Look for economic moat

• Does this company have a narrow/wide moat which makes it hard for newcomers to join? (High Barriers to Entry)
  -How sustainable is the moat?

4.Look at its balance sheets (Fundamentals)
-Is this company in a loss/breakeven/profit
-In debt? Or cash rich?
-ROE >10%?

• How leveraged is this company?

Once you have identified a suitable business, you can then do this:

5. Determine it's intrinsic value

• 1 thing that will always be a fact is EARNINGS, EARNINGS, EARNINGS. With earnings growth + free cash flow, you can then determine the intrinsic value of this business using the DCF model. (Can be found and calculated easily online)

Once done, set a target price and put it on your watchlist, once it hits your target price, go ahead and buy it! This is called due diligience and you should be happy holding this company for at least 5 to 10 years if done properly.

Hope this helps!