you have to know yourself firs

You have to know yourself first before you know stocks. What is your strength. Some people make profit by timing market, such as most well-known ID here. Some people make profit by stock picking, like me. I have strong confidence on my stock selection skill, but I do not think I am able to timing the market for most of the time, so I choose to trade in my way. I had the biggest one day gain while overall market was down big. You see, it is important to do what you believe the most.
Good luck.