Gemstones are first judged for their color and unlike diamonds not their brilliance or cut. This is even more true for emerald, rubies, and sapphire because they are rarely cut with American style meet point faceting techniques. This technique uses diagrams where the facets meet at a point and produce the best light return for a particular species of gemstone based on the refractive index.  Almost all rubies, emeralds, and sapphires are cut commercially less concern for light return but rather maximize the yield of the expensive rough stones. Generally commercial cut stones are polished to 14K diamond grit or less. Most custom cut stones will be polished to a minimum of 50000 diamond grit. Modern oxides are in common use by custom cutters and provide a polish similar to 100K diamond grit.

One mistake that gemstone buyers make when looking at well cut stones is to be dazzled by the brilliance while forsaking the color. Never forget the color! Color is the number one criterion for judging colored gemstones. Our eyes naturally gravitate to the brilliant gemstone on the counter but brilliance will make light colored stones appear better than reality. Turn the stone on its back or look at it from another angle to get a better idea of the actual body color of the gemstone without the cut affecting your perception. Brilliance or “fire” is important but should never outweigh color. Color is always the highest percentage of cost in any colored gem. After you’ve found a few gems with the best color then go and judge them for clarity, cut, and brilliance. You don’t need to sacrifice brilliance or clarity but it should not be the first aspect to look for.

If you try to determine the top stock picks, there is undoubtedly many different things to think about. You can find the info you need in different ways, some of these ways are slow and some are fast but somehow you need to get access to the valued information you need. Any way you can you need to get hold of that extra bit of knowledge to succeed with your investment aims and get rich.

When looking for the best stocks for your investment, detailed research is crucial; don’t rush this part of the investment process. This patience and focus combined with quality info, will lead you to get the success that people dream about in the business of stock investing. Any investment needs to be backed by solid research and quality information. One strategy favored by some investors is putting all your research skills and effort into hot penny stocks.

A great option in today’s financial climate is to invest in recession-proof sectors and companies. By such companies we mean companies that people still need even if the economy is heading for tough times. These companies include pharmaceutical companies (medicine is required even in bad economic times) and there are more companies like this with products that are still needed and that will always have customers no matter how hard the “credit gets crunched”. Some may call this cynical but you are concerned about the best way to invest money in a recession and not what looks nice or not (let’s call this stock market for dummies in a recession).

Certain fundamental bits of advice always ring true when investion in stocks and it holds true for both penny stocks and other stock. These evergreen truths will guide you safely through some of the most dangerous stock trading waters. One fundamental rule is that you should only invest money that you are willing to lose, never invest money that is needed for your daily life or money you hold for your children even if you belive your research is fail safe. Any investment money should be earmarked specifically for this purpose.

One strategy that allows you to take some of the largest profits on small cap stocks and penny stocks, involves you using software (or receiving tip-offs from a software) to make your pick of which stock you feel is the most profitable in your money making aims. Follow one of the links in this article for a powerful stock picking service.