Most investors are aware of the usual stock market investing risk factors, such as falling profits, dividend cuts, police investigations, etc. But it pays to stay alert for more subtle signs of coming problems. Here are 3 hints that a company could soon be facing big trouble.

(How to spot hints of trouble in your stocks is just one of the strategies we cover in our free report, “Stock Market Investing Strategy: Pat McKeough’s Conservative Investing Guide for Making Money & Cutting Risk.” Click here to download your copy now.)

1. Strong reactions to outside criticism: When outsiders criticize a company’s accounting and the criticism is unjustified, most corporate insiders simply ignore it. But if insiders have something to hide, they may squawk loudly — that is, threaten to sue critics of their accounting practices, in hopes of shutting them up.
   
   It mostly pays to avoid stock market investing in companies that attract accounting criticism, but all the more so when insiders react with outrage and lawsuit threats. You probably won’t miss much profit by staying out, but you’ll avoid some of the market’s worst disasters.
2. Too much focus on corporate prestige: When companies pay to name buildings after themselves, or build excessively costly head offices, it may mean they are pursuing prestige at the expense of profit.

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3. The middle-age-crazy syndrome: Many public companies are run by middle-aged males who reached these high-paid positions by working hard, marrying young and generally putting career ahead of their family and personal lives.
   
   In mid-life, all too many are overwhelmed by a desire to make up for fun they’ve missed. Some go on to achieve a healthy balance in their lives, possibly following a divorce and remarriage. Others divorce themselves from business reality. They take on foolish business risks, at great cost to themselves and their shareholders.
   
   Hypothetical example: If the chief executive of, say, a steel plant, announces that the company is going into feature film production, you have to wonder if he has uncovered some great new secret of making money in films, or if he simply wants a socially acceptable way of meeting actresses.

Successful investors stay alert for hints of troubles in their stocks. By the time dividends and earnings disappear (or the police arrive), it may be too late to get out without a big loss.

As a member of TSI Network, you may have already seen “Stock Market Investing Strategy: Pat McKeough’s Conservative Investing Guide for Making Money and Cutting Risk.” If you haven’t yet read this new free report, click here to download your copy today. I’d also encourage you to share this report with a friend by forwarding this email to them.