The stock market is a good destination for direct cash investments. Not only does it provide rapid growth for your investments, but it also provides you with the facility to liquidate them on a short notice. Overall, investing in a company's stock is quite a good and favorable deal. However, the investment should be chosen wisely, only after thorough analysis of a company's balance sheets. In order to reap rich benefits from these investments, you also need to keep an eye on the entire stock market. Concept of Investing in Stocks A stock, which is also known as a common stock, is fractional equity of a company. The total stock is divided into shares (in some cases other securities such as bonds and debentures are also used), which are purchased, owned and traded by shareholders. The market value of a certain stock or share depends upon the total demand and share availability. More demand and less availability leads to price rise. The increase in demand is also caused as a result of factors such as fantastic performance of the company. The company, based upon profits and revenue, pays its shareholders a reward or an interest for their investment. This reward is known as a dividend. Thus, on the whole, you can earn money in two ways; by enjoying a dividend annually or by selling the stock when its market value rises substantially. From the viewpoint of an investor you will have to look out for two important types of stocks, namely, the stock of a very well performing company, that has a good revenue and profit or a popular stock that has an increasing market demand. These are the very stocks to buy now, at low price and sell at a higher price, in future. How to Find the Best Stock In order to find some of the really good stocks to invest in, all you will have to do is study some financial and business features of the company. Here are some leads.

• The first thing that I would like to suggest is, check the revenue and profits of the company, from reliable sources. Fortune 500 is a very reliable source that lists the turnovers of companies on an annual basis and you can find all the information about the best stock to invest in. Similarly, the annual reports of those companies and the websites of stock exchanges also have similar resources.
• The past performance, past annual reports and former market prices of the shares, should be thoroughly analyzed, as they depict the usual behavior of the company and thus, it becomes quite easy to foresee what the upcoming performance might depict.
• Next off, reading the annual report of the company and analyzing the asset and liabilities also tends to provide a clear picture about the profitability of the business. In doing so, also consider the subsidies, recent acquisitions and interests of the company, as they too contribute to the revenue substantially.
• Lastly, analyze the fields in which the company conducts business. This is the most important part, as you will really get to know how the business is projected. As mentioned above, more profitable the business, more will be the demand for the share, and more will be your yield. A profitable business also indicates a very good dividend projection.

Best Stocks to Invest in 2012 Choosing the best stock to invest can be a difficult task, let's face it, its like walking into a candy shop, too many choices, and we don't know what is going to taste really good and really bad. So we go by color and smell and some other similar factors. The case of stock markets is same, you need to lead up to the choices. Here are some company names that would serve to be really good leads, and could prove to be some of the best stocks for 2012. With the help of these companies, you can easily take up the research of their competitors, suppliers, related companies, customers, etc. A good starting point for stock research is Google Finance. Here are some top stocks to invest in.

Sector	Best Stock to Invest in 2012
Basic Industries	OLIN Corp., Eldorado Gold Corp., Yamana Gold Inc., HB Fuller Co., P H Glatfelter Co., Greif Inc., P H Glatfelter Co, Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co., Georgia Gulf Corporation, Pfizer Incorporated, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eastman Chemical Company, DuPont, Dow Chemical Company, BASF
Biotechnology	Biogen Idec Inc., Cephalon Inc., Celgene Corporation
Capital Goods	Illinois Tool Works Inc., Dover Corp., Starrett LS Co, Briggs & Stratton Corp., A. O. Smith Corporation, Compass Diversified Holdings
Consumer Durables	SNAP On Inc., Genuine Parts Co., AutoZone Inc., Polaris Industries Inc., Eaton Corp., Gentex Corp.
Consumer Non-Durables	Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Proctor and Gamble, Coca Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Molson Coors Brewing Co, Delta Apparel Inc., Anheuser Busch Inbev ADR Rep 1 Ord Shs, Fomento Economico Mexicano ADR Representing 10 Units of Ord, Hanesbrands Inc., Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., Kraft Foods Inc., Philip Morris International Inc., Reynolds American Inc., Whole Foods Market Inc., The Kroger Co.
Consumer Services	Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Dun and Bradstreet Corp., American Eagle Outfitters Inc., 99 Cents Only Stores, Ross Stores Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Nathan S Famous Inc.
Energy	Atlas Pipeline Partners LP, Alliance Holdings Gp LP, Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP, Hallador Energy Co., Ecopetrol SA, Imperial Oil Ltd, Legacy Reserves LP, Kayne Anderson Energy Development Co., Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP, Vanguard Natural Resources LLC, Regency Energy Partners LP, Shell, Chevron Corporation, Reliance Petrochemicals
Finance	Atlantic American Corp., Berkshire BanCorp. Inc., American Express Co., Blackrock Inc., Amtrust Financial Services Inc., Equity One Inc., Delphi Financial Group Inc., C&F Financial Corp.
Healthcare	Medtronic Inc., Cerner Corp., Idexx Laboratories Inc., LInc.are Holdings Inc., Medtronic Inc., Rti Biologics Inc., QLT Inc.
Public Utilities	American Electric Power Co Inc., Nortel Inversora SA, Atlantic Power Corp., ALLETE Inc., American States Water Co, Chesapeake Utilities Corp., DTE Energy Co, Entergy Corp.
Technology	Apple Inc., AVX Corp., Ansys Inc., CA Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Crown Castle International Corp., International Business Machines Corp., SPS Commerce Inc., Qlogic Corp., OSI Systems Inc., Google Inc., Baidu.com Inc., Yahoo! Inc., SINA Corp., AOL Inc., Intel Corporation, Texas Instruments Inc., Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.
Transportation	Landstar System Inc., International Shipholding Corp., Grupo Aeroportuario ADR Reptg 10 Ord Shs Series B, Union Pacific Corp., Kansas City Southern

All the included companies are the best stock investments for 2012, due to several of their features, strengths and merits, which include focus on sales and high cash flow. Please note that making a strong and focused analysis of the stocks and related markets of these companies is absolutely necessary, as the markets are subject to change, every now and then. Under any circumstances, the website, nor the writer of this article are responsible for any loss caused during any of your transactions. Only base your decisions on your personal research.