12 stock investing rules for the next 40 years  Published: Nov
30, 2012 9:00 a.m. ET   Commentary: In memory of a stock-picking
veteran, ‘Bunting’s Laws’   vinzstudio / Shutterstock.com  Doom
and gloom are filling the air. Some economists and market gurus
warn that we may be going into another recession. Indeed, some
say we may already be in a recession. And what will happen if we
head over the “fiscal cliff”?  At times like this, I think of my
marvelous old friend Dan Bunting, a man who successfully managed
money on behalf of private individuals and institutions for
nearly 40 years.  Along the way, he learned to take most
economic prognostications with a grain of salt. If you listened
too much to economists, he said, you would never invest a penny.
“Just remember,” he used to tell me with a smile, “the economic
fundamentals always look terrible.”  Dan died recently, after a
short illness. The news has me thinking again about Bunting’s
Laws of Investing.  The first time he told me about them was
over lunch, a