Investors should never own just one stock. As a thought exercise, however, there's one clear winner.

Let's address the elephant in the room: The idea of buying and holding just one stock is something I would never do, and frankly, the thought seems absurd to me. My portfolio is composed of dozens of stocks, as it provides me with a level of safety and diversification that lets me sleep at night. Even if one of my largest positions falls 30% or 40% (and they have), my entire portfolio only loses between 1% and 2%. I can't imagine a scenario where I would limit myself to one stock, and I recommend building a portfolio of 15 to 20 stocks at a minimum.

That said, and purely as a thought exercise, if I were to hold only one stock, it would have to meet certain criteria. I would want a c

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