A method for choosing stocks that starts with picking individual companies and then looking at the industry and economy to see if there is any reason an investment in the company should not be made. 

In the industry life cycle curve or company life cycle curve, the point where the industry or company moves from the growth phase (accelerating growth) to the expansion stage (decelerating growth). This crossover point is very important because the price-earning ratio will adjust downward once the market realizes the growth rate has slowed down. 

Cycles that are created because of economic growth, competition, availability of resources, and the resultant market saturation of the particular goods and services offered. The stages are development, growth, expansion, maturity, and decline. 

Dominance of an industry by one company. Monopolies are not common in the United States due to antitrust laws, but they do exist by government permission in the area of public utilities. 

Industries that have few competitors. Oligopolies are quite common in large, mature U.S. industries such as automobiles, steel, oil, airlines, and aluminum. The competition between companies in an oligopoly can be intense, and profitability can suffer as a result of price wars and battles over market share. Increasingly, oligopolistic industries are facing international competition, which has altered their competitive strategies. 

Companies in pure competition do not have a differentiated product and they compete intensely. 

An investment strategy that refers to the practice of moving in and out of various industries over the business cycle. As the business cycle moves from a trough to a peak, different industries benefit from the economic changes that accompany the business cycle. 

Investors who follow the bottom-up approach to selecting stocks. They pick an individual stock and then merely check it out against the industry and economy. 

A method for choosing stocks that goes from the macroeconomic viewpoint to the individual company.