It's bad because the majority of people who invest their own money invest without enough information about the company. Finance is almost deliberately obfuscated to keep retail investors out, and unless you have the time and the knowledge, it's going to be difficult to make decent returns unless you're investing in mutual funds, ETF's, etc.
Disclaimer - founder of http://capp.io and this is basically what we found in our market research.
Depends on the size of the company, IME. Small to mid-caps can be very transparent. To add extra protection, buy at the lower end of the market cycle or when the sector of the stock is out of favor.
No idea. I think investing is advanced enough that you typically need somewhat complex jargon and data to actually make money - over time it's basically become an old boys club and no-one's really trying to make it accessible to regular investor.
Disclaimer - founder of http://capp.io and this is basically what we found in our market research.