This question is around Chapter 14 in the Intelligent Investor (Stock Selection for the Defensive Investor). I've read the chapter and I've read blog posts about it. I'm confused. What's confusing me is the lack of specifics when reviewing a company's income statements and balance sheets.
For example, #3 in Graham's book -- Earnings Stability -- states that "Some earnings for the common stock in each of the past ten years."
Okay, how does one find that? If I look at the income statement for AAPL for example, there are eight fields for EPS
(e.g., Diluted EPS Excluding Extraordinary Items, Basic Normalized EPS, Diluted Normalized EPS, and more). Witness:
Which one should I be looking at?