Investing Basics Mastering stock market basics for successful investing is simple, but it's not easy. One of the big myths of the last bull market since 2003 was that the stock market was essentially a savings account that returned 15 percent per year-at the least. Unfortunately, as many investors discovered when the bubble popped in 2008, things that look too good to be true usually are. Management Effectiveness: Return on Assets (ROA) Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) Return on Equity (ROE) ...