Top Investment Lessons From 2006 From Harry Newton:

+ It pays to be optimistic . There are always bears. There are always problems. But we always manage to solve them and move on. That's our nature as Americans.

+ Go with what you know, see and understand. Enjoy the company's products and service? Check out its stock.

+ No one can predict anything. Change is faster than ever. Last year's "hot" area will be dead this year -- e.g. housing, commodities, alternative energy. Hence the only viable strategy for investments you don't control is broad diversification.

+ When in the slightest doubt, say No . When God closes a door, He opens a window. There are always great investments. There'll always be another one. And it will always be better than the one you just said No to, or you couldn't get in.

+ Most investment "professionals" aren't . Listen to them at your peril. All investment "professionals" are trying to sell you something. You don't need a big IQ or a Harvard education to buy a nice suit, rent a corner office and sweet-talk someone into an investment you don't own, or want to own. Salesmen make nice friends. But don't listen to them. God gave you a brain. Use it.

+ Finding investments is the key. No one has the full panoply of real estate, funds, stocks, bonds, commodities and startups. Your flow of deals is critical. The more choices, the more good ones you'll find. Cultivate bird doggers. They know one field and can get you into deals they also invest in. Don't listen to their recommendations outside their field. They're flying blind.

+ Wall Street makes huge monies in fees. You, the customer, are at the bottom of the totem pole and are usually screwed.

+ Vanguard index funds make huge, painless sense. Yup. That's right. They made more money in 2006 than several of my hedge funds.

+ Keep backups. Your life is on a flimsy $100 hard disk. One day soon it will die. I can predict that. Perhaps the only thing.

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