There are stock experts all over the place that are more than willing to throw out a few names of stocks you should own. But why should you follow their advice and why are they recommending them?

Take a look at this 3 page article from Michael Brush on MSN Money about 14 stocks that he says are safe to own right now. It is one of many such articles you can find on the Web on any given day that give you a few stock picks and then outline why they are a good bet right now. But take notice of the last line in italics that is under his piece ( it is displayed below).

So, after doing all that recommending and analysis, it turns out that Mr. Brush does not own any shares of any of those companies he calls safe. I think that’s pretty important. I want to make sure you know I am only using his article as an example of thousands of others like it and I have nothing against Mr. Brush.

Now, stock picks are a tricky thing. If he did own shares of some or all of those companies you might be able to make the case that he is just trying to pump up the stocks he owns. On the other side, since he owns none of them you might say that he isn’t willing to put his money where his mouth is. So either way, anyone who gives stock picks can be in the line of fire for criticism.

Most importantly though, you should know to always look for that type of disclaimer at the bottom of every stock market article you read. On TV and radio you will sometimes similarily hear a stock analyst state whether he (or she) owns any of the stocks they are talking about. It is important to know whether they have a financial position in the stocks they are recommending.

You might wonder whether it is best for an analyst to own the stocks they are recommending or whether not owning any of them is okay. After all, anybody can come on the air and make predictions all day if they don’t matter. If a stock picker recommends Nokia and then it goes down 50% from the time they make the recommendation, who cares right? After all, they personally didn’t lose any money.

The bottom line is that free stock picks are a dime a dozen. You know the saying “you get what you pay for” and with stock picks the same is true. Some will work out and some won’t. The best you can really hope to do is to track different stock analysts and see who you grow to trust. There is no doubt that some are better than others and you might find one that works out better than the rest.

When it comes to investing, there is one thing that you can always count on: a wide range of views. This MSN Money article shows that you can find analysts who totally disagree on whether now is a good time to put money in the market or whether now is the time to pull out. The more you search for opinions, whether it be online or anywhere else, the more you will find that there never is much of a consensus.

In fact, the most scary time is when everyone seems to agree. That is when the opposite often happens. Sometimes for instance, stock analysts will be really negative on the market and it’s immediate future warning anyone who will listen that bad times are here and just ahead. They cite all the political and economic problems saying that the market can’t go higher. It is during those times of pessimism that the market will keep climbing the “wall of worry” and keep going up even though people think it won’t.

So, is now the right time to buy stocks or should you hold off and wait to see what happens? No one knows the answer even if they pretend they do. These experts you see on television look and sound very convincing but so does the knife salesman on late night TV trying to sell you the latest Ginsu knife.

The fact is that know one knows for sure and if you wait to buy, the market may go to 12,000 or 13,000 and you will have missed your chance. Just as likely, if you jump right in, the market may go straight down and you will feel like you are in a stocks for dummies scenario. Rather than time the market, it is best to try to pick the best stocks that are in a good position in relation to their competitors or industry. Picking strong and undervalued companies is usually the best way to build a portfolio that will perform well under any circumstances.

Morningstar is a stock website that is respected and has proven itself, having been started way back in 1984. When you think of stock analysis, research, and opinion, Morningstar is always one of the top names that come to mind. It also is one of the leaders in mutual fund analysis. Anyone wanting to keep up with what the experts think are the best stocks to buy should think about being subscribed to at least their free. Hey, why not? It is free!

There are a lot of stock sites online and Morningstar repeatedly gets rated at or near the top. It has more than 6 million members and they all have quick access to financial data, video analysis and commentaries, portfolio management tools, and stock and fund analysis.

If you are someone looking for good stock picks and analysis, Morningstar is a place you can start as they have both a free membership plan and a premium one as well. By signing up for the FREE membership you will find you have access to some great stock tools and daily stock market news along with a large forum. Also included with your free membership is the archive of video reports and articles which feature news and analysis from the experts.

One of the best things about Morningstar is that they give you investing advice that normal every day people can understand. With your choice of either the free service or a paid membership which is for serious investors, you will suddenly have some insight to the stock market that you won’t get anywhere else.

There is a problem though, and it is that there is so much information out there that you don’t know what to trust and what to pay attention to. Stocks are like horses: you can always find an opinion and someone willing to give you a tip.

As an example, we can use this MSN money article from today that is titled “7 Cheap To Buy Now”. At the bottom of the article it says it comes from David Landis of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. Now the first question is: who is David Landis? The questions go on from there to what are his qualifications, what is his past record, does he personally own any of the stocks, and why only 7 cheap stocks? Why not 10 stocks that are cheap or 20?

There are many such articles that you can find in newspapers, magazines, and online as well as a endless supply of stock “experts” giving their best stocks to buy right now for 2010. But why should you listen to any of them and most importantly, why should you bet your hard earned money on their picks?

The stock market for dummies is what many of these so called gurus think they are dealing with. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people try to become experts and create an illusion of authority which then gives them the ability to sell information or their knowledge and make a living off of it. In the stock market world, there is no shortage of people who have reached “expert” status and make their living by giving opinions.

Regular people often take the advice of these “experts” just because they sound believable and they have no way to check the validity of the expert’s analysis. People like you and I regularily invest hard earned money on stocks they we nothing about just because we read somewhere in an article that it is a good stock pick. Is this really a good way of investing your money?

Opinions are good and it is always a good thing to get as many opinions about anything before you make a decision. Unfortunately in the stock world, I don’t think enough people take the effort to get those other opinions before making a decision to buy a stock or to sell it. This seems a bit strange considering it is real money they are spending.

If you blindly follow the stock picks of these industry insiders and invest your own money, you are doing it at your own risk. In fact, doing what these guys (and some gals) suggest without doing any research on your own is the definition of stocks for dummies. You should never invest your own money without doing your own research and understanding what you are investing in.

The stock market brings out the greed in people and that means that there will always be people trying to make a killing. It only makes sense to look for hot stocks but you must understand the risks of taking other people’s advice when you know nothing of them or the stocks they recommend. Often times these “experts” will have good things to say about many stocks even if the market is in the midst of a terrible bear run.

There are so many stocks from which to choose that there will always be at least a handful of stocks that are doing well even in a bear market. If you are truly able to find the best stocks to buy right now all the time, you will be a very successful investor. However, it is unlikely that you will be able to pull this off by just listening to the advice of the stock pickers you see on television.

Another thing that complicates finding the best stocks to buy right now is that even if you find a hot stock, you will have trouble deciding when the run is over and when to sell. Very few advisers will be able to give you any type of accurate information about when to sell as they are always looking for the next hot stock. So, for anyone looking for hot stock picks, you should be wary of any information you choose to follow because you never know what their true motivation is and whether they have any moeny at stake.