Musings about purchases

Walgreens is at $44.67 up $1.52 from my purchase price.  Things I have learned in the year since I started purchasing individual stocks.  I bought AAPL during this past Christmas and New Year.  Apple gets a lot of attention from the media.  I bought apple probably at an average price of $340.  $348 if you include the fee to purchase.  Now it is at $320.  AAPL is my biggest loser.  I heard some say that the stock is undervalued and should go to $500.  Again, lots of attention paid to Apple.  I am keeping the stock in hopes that it may resurge.  But, it could easily trend south.  Is Steve Jobs not coming back?  I just read an article in Fortune about the company environment.  Wow, no mercy for the weak.  Reminds me of my days at AK Steel.  I will never buy stock in that company.  Another dog I have is Boise Inc. trading under ticker symbol BZ.  I purchased based on the numbers only, not knowing much about the company which I think makes paper products.  Lesson learned here:  Smaller, less well known companies are also dangerous.  In another case I purchased Generac, a generator manufacturer.  I had an opportunity to use their product and found it powerful for its size (kind of like a Honda generator) and cost effective (less expensive than Honda).  And I am able to compare it to a number of other portable generators on the market.  Generac trading under symbol GNRC made it through this most recent six week downturn without much of a hiccup.  I want to do some investigation on the company that makes the Makita product.  Over a year ago I purchased a used drill set from a friend.  And I use them both every day.  In my opinion, these drills blow away any DeWalt product I owned.  They now sell at only $216 at Home Depot.  I almost want to buy another set because I know they are a great value.  Those are the kinds of companies I want to invest in.