I\u2019ve been publishing the Zen Ten list each December since 2008.\u00a0<\/strong>I pick my favorites and stick with them all year \u2013 no trading.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nBefore I reveal my new stock picks for 2025, a quick review of last year\u2019s picks is in order. Table 1 has the details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table 1. 2024 Zen Ten Performance<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n![\"Top](\"https:\/\/www.zeninvestor.org\/the-zen-ten-my-top-picks-for-2024\/aspect-ratio: "\\"Zen")
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\nAs you can see, my 2024 picks handily outperformed the benchmark VTI. I don\u2019t cherry-pick the start and end dates, I use the actual start and end dates for all securities, including VTI, based on the date I published the list.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Why you should pay attention to this list<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nI have been trading and managing money for 30 years. I’m still a stock picker at heart, but now I only do it for my own account, my family, and for consulting clients who ask me to pick stocks for them.<\/p>\n
I do not claim to have a special gift for spotting the next Google or Amazon. I don’t have a crystal ball. I\u2019m skilled, but it takes more than skill to get the results I get – it also takes a little bit of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’ve managed to beat the market by an average of 4.3% per year over the past 10 years. Since I began using this list with clients in 2000, I\u2019ve beaten the market by an average of 9.3% per year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table 2. My full track record back to 2000<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nMy winning record isn’t all down to luck. I do have a system, and it’s been working since 2000. The problem, of course, is that any system can stop working at any time and without warning. I’ll explain how my system works in a minute, but first take a look at the results of my picks from 2000 (the first year I used them with client money) through 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\nIn addition to skill and some hard work, my success with picking stocks is also due to a strict methodology that I follow – no matter what. I don’t just throw darts at the Wall Street Journal<\/em> stock tables. There’s a method behind what I do. But anyone who beats the market repeatedly, as I have done throughout my career, must have some kind of an edge. My edge is my methodology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMy Methodology<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nNow let’s move on to the issue of how I arrive at my stock picks. For the past ten years, I have published a list of stocks that I thought would be solid performers over the following 12 months. Finding these stocks is a matter of filtering the universe of available stocks using three different criteria. Here’s a quick review:<\/p>\n
Starting with a universe of roughly 8,000 stocks, I first screen for the ones that are rated 1 or 2 by Zacks Investment Research.<\/a> This screen is all about earnings – growth, positive surprises, and upward revisions. This narrows the list of candidates to about 1,300 names.<\/p>\nNext, I cross-reference the Zacks list with\u00a0LSEG StarMine<\/a> top-rated stocks. The StarMine screen looks for top scores in Value, Quality, Earnings Growth, and Financial Stability. This complements the earnings focus of the Zacks screen. The list of candidates that pass both of these screens is now down to about 900.<\/p>\n
Before I reveal my new stock picks for 2025, a quick review of last year\u2019s picks is in order. Table 1 has the details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table 1. 2024 Zen Ten Performance<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\nAs you can see, my 2024 picks handily outperformed the benchmark VTI. I don\u2019t cherry-pick the start and end dates, I use the actual start and end dates for all securities, including VTI, based on the date I published the list.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Why you should pay attention to this list<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nI have been trading and managing money for 30 years. I’m still a stock picker at heart, but now I only do it for my own account, my family, and for consulting clients who ask me to pick stocks for them.<\/p>\n
I do not claim to have a special gift for spotting the next Google or Amazon. I don’t have a crystal ball. I\u2019m skilled, but it takes more than skill to get the results I get – it also takes a little bit of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’ve managed to beat the market by an average of 4.3% per year over the past 10 years. Since I began using this list with clients in 2000, I\u2019ve beaten the market by an average of 9.3% per year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table 2. My full track record back to 2000<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nMy winning record isn’t all down to luck. I do have a system, and it’s been working since 2000. The problem, of course, is that any system can stop working at any time and without warning. I’ll explain how my system works in a minute, but first take a look at the results of my picks from 2000 (the first year I used them with client money) through 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\nIn addition to skill and some hard work, my success with picking stocks is also due to a strict methodology that I follow – no matter what. I don’t just throw darts at the Wall Street Journal<\/em> stock tables. There’s a method behind what I do. But anyone who beats the market repeatedly, as I have done throughout my career, must have some kind of an edge. My edge is my methodology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMy Methodology<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nNow let’s move on to the issue of how I arrive at my stock picks. For the past ten years, I have published a list of stocks that I thought would be solid performers over the following 12 months. Finding these stocks is a matter of filtering the universe of available stocks using three different criteria. Here’s a quick review:<\/p>\n
Starting with a universe of roughly 8,000 stocks, I first screen for the ones that are rated 1 or 2 by Zacks Investment Research.<\/a> This screen is all about earnings – growth, positive surprises, and upward revisions. This narrows the list of candidates to about 1,300 names.<\/p>\nNext, I cross-reference the Zacks list with\u00a0LSEG StarMine<\/a> top-rated stocks. The StarMine screen looks for top scores in Value, Quality, Earnings Growth, and Financial Stability. This complements the earnings focus of the Zacks screen. The list of candidates that pass both of these screens is now down to about 900.<\/p>\n
![\"Top](\"https:\/\/www.zeninvestor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Zen-Ten-2024.png\" "\\"Zen")
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\nAs you can see, my 2024 picks handily outperformed the benchmark VTI. I don\u2019t cherry-pick the start and end dates, I use the actual start and end dates for all securities, including VTI, based on the date I published the list.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Why you should pay attention to this list<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nI have been trading and managing money for 30 years. I’m still a stock picker at heart, but now I only do it for my own account, my family, and for consulting clients who ask me to pick stocks for them.<\/p>\n
I do not claim to have a special gift for spotting the next Google or Amazon. I don’t have a crystal ball. I\u2019m skilled, but it takes more than skill to get the results I get – it also takes a little bit of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’ve managed to beat the market by an average of 4.3% per year over the past 10 years. Since I began using this list with clients in 2000, I\u2019ve beaten the market by an average of 9.3% per year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table 2. My full track record back to 2000<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nMy winning record isn’t all down to luck. I do have a system, and it’s been working since 2000. The problem, of course, is that any system can stop working at any time and without warning. I’ll explain how my system works in a minute, but first take a look at the results of my picks from 2000 (the first year I used them with client money) through 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\nIn addition to skill and some hard work, my success with picking stocks is also due to a strict methodology that I follow – no matter what. I don’t just throw darts at the Wall Street Journal<\/em> stock tables. There’s a method behind what I do. But anyone who beats the market repeatedly, as I have done throughout my career, must have some kind of an edge. My edge is my methodology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMy Methodology<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nNow let’s move on to the issue of how I arrive at my stock picks. For the past ten years, I have published a list of stocks that I thought would be solid performers over the following 12 months. Finding these stocks is a matter of filtering the universe of available stocks using three different criteria. Here’s a quick review:<\/p>\n
Starting with a universe of roughly 8,000 stocks, I first screen for the ones that are rated 1 or 2 by Zacks Investment Research.<\/a> This screen is all about earnings – growth, positive surprises, and upward revisions. This narrows the list of candidates to about 1,300 names.<\/p>\nNext, I cross-reference the Zacks list with\u00a0LSEG StarMine<\/a> top-rated stocks. The StarMine screen looks for top scores in Value, Quality, Earnings Growth, and Financial Stability. This complements the earnings focus of the Zacks screen. The list of candidates that pass both of these screens is now down to about 900.<\/p>\n
I have been trading and managing money for 30 years. I’m still a stock picker at heart, but now I only do it for my own account, my family, and for consulting clients who ask me to pick stocks for them.<\/p>\n
I do not claim to have a special gift for spotting the next Google or Amazon. I don’t have a crystal ball. I\u2019m skilled, but it takes more than skill to get the results I get – it also takes a little bit of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’ve managed to beat the market by an average of 4.3% per year over the past 10 years. Since I began using this list with clients in 2000, I\u2019ve beaten the market by an average of 9.3% per year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table 2. My full track record back to 2000<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nMy winning record isn’t all down to luck. I do have a system, and it’s been working since 2000. The problem, of course, is that any system can stop working at any time and without warning. I’ll explain how my system works in a minute, but first take a look at the results of my picks from 2000 (the first year I used them with client money) through 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\nIn addition to skill and some hard work, my success with picking stocks is also due to a strict methodology that I follow – no matter what. I don’t just throw darts at the Wall Street Journal<\/em> stock tables. There’s a method behind what I do. But anyone who beats the market repeatedly, as I have done throughout my career, must have some kind of an edge. My edge is my methodology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMy Methodology<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\nNow let’s move on to the issue of how I arrive at my stock picks. For the past ten years, I have published a list of stocks that I thought would be solid performers over the following 12 months. Finding these stocks is a matter of filtering the universe of available stocks using three different criteria. Here’s a quick review:<\/p>\n
Starting with a universe of roughly 8,000 stocks, I first screen for the ones that are rated 1 or 2 by Zacks Investment Research.<\/a> This screen is all about earnings – growth, positive surprises, and upward revisions. This narrows the list of candidates to about 1,300 names.<\/p>\nNext, I cross-reference the Zacks list with\u00a0LSEG StarMine<\/a> top-rated stocks. The StarMine screen looks for top scores in Value, Quality, Earnings Growth, and Financial Stability. This complements the earnings focus of the Zacks screen. The list of candidates that pass both of these screens is now down to about 900.<\/p>\n
My winning record isn’t all down to luck. I do have a system, and it’s been working since 2000. The problem, of course, is that any system can stop working at any time and without warning. I’ll explain how my system works in a minute, but first take a look at the results of my picks from 2000 (the first year I used them with client money) through 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\nIn addition to skill and some hard work, my success with picking stocks is also due to a strict methodology that I follow – no matter what. I don’t just throw darts at the Wall Street Journal<\/em> stock tables. There’s a method behind what I do. But anyone who beats the market repeatedly, as I have done throughout my career, must have some kind of an edge. My edge is my methodology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now let’s move on to the issue of how I arrive at my stock picks. For the past ten years, I have published a list of stocks that I thought would be solid performers over the following 12 months. Finding these stocks is a matter of filtering the universe of available stocks using three different criteria. Here’s a quick review:<\/p>\n Starting with a universe of roughly 8,000 stocks, I first screen for the ones that are rated 1 or 2 by Zacks Investment Research.<\/a> This screen is all about earnings – growth, positive surprises, and upward revisions. This narrows the list of candidates to about 1,300 names.<\/p>\n Next, I cross-reference the Zacks list with\u00a0LSEG StarMine<\/a> top-rated stocks. The StarMine screen looks for top scores in Value, Quality, Earnings Growth, and Financial Stability. This complements the earnings focus of the Zacks screen. The list of candidates that pass both of these screens is now down to about 900.<\/p>\nMy Methodology<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n