How Your Daily Routine Can Inspire Investing Ideas

Not sure which stocks might be a good investment fit for you? Overwhelmed by how many listed companies there are and unsure of how you might possibly narrow your choices?

Digging into your daily routine may present you with all kinds of inspiration on your investing journey, ranging from specific company products to companies that provide services that get your through your day — like utilities, transportation or even your go-to restaurant for takeout on the way home. Here's what we mean:

Brrriiinngg! That's your brand-name alarm clock (or smartphone alarm) getting you up and at it. Step one for those with good hygiene like you: A squirt of toothpaste on the all-important toothbrush — you know, the tried-and-true brands you may have been using for years. Ditto for your soap, shampoo and creams.

Making your way to the kitchen, you may be presented with another whole menu of investing ideas. Mmmm, how good is that first cup of coffee? (or milk, orange juice or tea - whatever gives you that early morning boost!) How about that toast, bagel or your favourite cereal?

As you leave home, you may hop in your car (quite likely made by a company you've already put a lot of trust into!), fill up on gas if necessary and head to your office. Your computer, printer, the software programs you're working in, and irresistible websites you're surfing while procrastinating (shh, we're not telling), may all offer investments opportunities.

Phew, it's lunchtime already! You might grab a sandwich at the local grocery store — possibly owned by a publicly listed company — or head to a local fast-food chain. Checking your personal messages on your smartphone may present you with a message from your significant other to swing by hardware or drugstore on your way home. It's rare that a big-box store isn't listed on a major stock exchange.

On the way home and stuck in traffic? Take a good look around and you may notice a variety of transportation options around you. Vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trains, etc. could all offer investment ideas for you. Check out that train going by. Is it carrying passengers? Cargo? You may see some specific goods and products on board that are making their way across the country by rail.

After-dinner activities can offer similar inspiration. Think of your screen-watching options — whether online, television or at a movie theatre — or maybe you're heading to the gym.

While loving, or being loyal, to certain products doesn't guarantee a successful investment, it can be a good way to generate broad ideas and get thinking about your investing choices. Just by virtue of being a functioning human and everyday consumer, you're giving yourself a starting point. Who knew you'd been doing your research this whole time?

Now it's time to dig deeper— explore that coffee or toothpaste brand to see if it's a good investment for you. Understand the bigger picture. Learning about an industry could be a good start, as one investor did because of cheese. Then, narrow things down and consider what investment might suit your goals and portfolio.

Stock selection strategies and stock screeners can help you consider a number of criteria to determine if an investment is right for you. Fundamentals — such as the stock price compared to its earnings (P/E ), dividend yield and a company's cash flow, for instance — can be useful when making an investment decision. Technical analysis, which takes into account a stock's past price movements, market activity, prices and volume, can also be helpful. Making comparisons with similar stocks and reading research reports can be good, too, to offer an extra confidence boost.

An interesting exercise can be running a detailed quote on a company you interact with in your everyday life. Look back over a longer-term horizon — maybe since you started using that product — to see how you would have fared had you invested at that time. The result may surprise you!

*This article was updated to add a video on August 24, 2018

*The title of this article was changed on August 29, 2018