I really hate investment advice threads, because unless you paint the WHOLE picture, which no investor in their right mind is going to do, you can only give part of the picture, which can be misleading.
That said, a key to stock analysis is understanding sector rotation. There's no way to make money if NO ONE knows about a stock, because the very nature of the stock market is that it only goes up if a lot of people BUY it. How is that going to happen if no one knows of it?
You want stocks that are on people's radars... that for whatever reason are not hot today, but are in fact the hottest stocks when their sector gets the attention (they are watched).
Every sector has darlings, because they lead, they are the best, but today, their sector is out of favor, or because the economy has caused their profits to drop... like oil and XOM. Like Intel/AMD and computer sales. Like Windows and MSFT. Like chemicals and DOW/CE. Etc etc.
You buy the best when everyone else hates them, you will do well.
The tendency is to buy the ALREADY hot sectors/stocks, because they are the ones hyped... that's a gamble, because there's no way to know ahead of time if their best is still to come, or behind them... and because they've been hot for so long, they tend to be fairly valued already. I avoid the GOOG, AAPL, etc for that reason... they DO have room to run, but I'm not buying any til they each announced a 4:1 split.
Also, I think they're being held back by their pricing... everyone who was in the market in 2000 likely still panics when considering stocks that over $100... how many people remember Qualcomm at $400 (it did split, but the prices are still shattered)? I won't go near another $400 stock in this lifetime, but that's just me. Those prices bring back the nightmares of loss of 90% market value over a few months time.
I'd rather woop over a $1 gain on a $30 stock than a $5 gain on a $500 stock. Which is more $$?