Stay with stocks which have at least one big edge: 5 largecap stocks for medium- to long-term investors

While making long term investing decisions, one needs to look at many things like what are the trends in an industry, financials of the companies and many others. But one thing which is extremely important to be looked at is whether the company has a strong advantage and edge over other players in the industry. Something which will help it out perform when the going gets tough for the industry. This is important, because whether we like it or not, every industry does face rough weather, it could be due to external factors or internal reasons or macroeconomic challenges. For example, the IT sector is facing headwinds these days, 4 years back it was real estate which was plagued with many issues. Today, in a good time for the real estate sector, which is the best performing stock ? A company which had a track record of meeting the deadline or commitment for delivery. So, for long term investment look beyond what is visible in numbers.