The 100 best stocks to buy in 2017

What this book actually teaches

The 100 Best Stocks to Buy in 2017 (2016) by Peter J. Sander and Scott Bobo is an annual investment guide in a long-running series that selects and profiles one hundred publicly traded U.S. companies the authors judge as well-positioned for the following year. The book's methodology combines qualitative business analysis — competitive positioning, management quality, brand durability — with quantitative screening on metrics like dividend yield, earnings growth consistency, and balance sheet strength. The format is consistent across editions: a brief section on the overall market environment and the selection methodology, followed by individual company profiles each running approximately two pages.

The company profiles follow a standardized structure that includes a brief business description, a recent financial snapshot, the authors' thesis for why the stock belongs on the list, and a summary of risks. The selection skews toward established, dividend-paying companies with durable competitive advantages — the kind of businesses that fit a buy-and-hold framework rather than a momentum or growth-at-any-price approach. Several stocks appear across multiple annual editions, which the authors treat as evidence of durable quality rather than staleness.

The practical value of any edition in this series is fundamentally time-limited. The 2017 edition was compiled using data and market conditions from 2016, and the specific stock recommendations reflect that snapshot. Share prices, competitive positions, dividend policies, and the businesses themselves have changed in the intervening years. Readers who pick up a back edition for the specific stock picks are working with information that is years out of date.

What does hold up across editions is the analytical framework: the criteria for what makes a company worth owning — consistent earnings, dividend growth, competitive moat, reasonable valuation — are durable even when the specific picks are not. The book functions as a readable, accessible illustration of how to think about stock selection using fundamental analysis for individual investors who have not yet developed their own screening framework. In that sense, the methodology discussion at the front of each edition has more lasting value than the company profiles.

The weaknesses include the compressed depth of coverage — two pages per company cannot adequately capture the complexity of any publicly traded business, and readers who act on these profiles without additional research are working from an incomplete picture. The series also does not provide a systematic performance record of how the prior year's picks performed, which would allow readers to assess whether the methodology actually generates alpha or simply selects high-quality businesses that perform in line with large-cap benchmarks.

For beginning investors who want an accessible introduction to fundamental stock analysis through worked examples, or for more experienced investors curious about an annual selection as a starting screen, the 2017 edition offers readable business profiles grounded in coherent criteria. The specific picks require independent verification against current data before any investment decision.

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About Peter J Sander

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