What is your strategy to picking stocks?

I don't have a specific strategy for picking single stocks, because I don't believe this is a smart financial process. Picking single stocks is very risky, and the statistics show that it's very difficult for the average person with several single stocks to even match the stock market average (~10%). I would recommend instead investing in a few good mutual funds, where each one has hundreds of different companies in them. I have picked mutual funds that have been open a LONG time, like 20 or 30 years, and that have historical returns that equal or better the market average. This method of investing isn't as interesting and flashy as picking single stocks, but in the long run will achieve a much more reliable balance of risk and return.