Thursday, October 31, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Jason Zweig's Three Commandments of Investing
The First Commandment: Thou shalt take no risk that thou needst not take.
Always ask yourself: Is this risk necessary? Are there safer alternatives that can accomplish the same objective? Have I studied the pros and cons of each before settling on this choice as the single best way to achieve my goal? Unless you ask, do not invest.
The Second Commandment:
Thou shalt take no risk that is not most certain to reward thee for taking it. Always ask yourself: How do I know this risk will be rewarded? “Most certain to reward thee” does not mean that there is zero chance that you will not be rewarded. It does mean, and must mean, that you are highly likely to be rewarded. What is the historical evidence, based on the real experience of other investors, to suggest that this approach will actually succeed? During the periods in the past when it hasn’t worked – and every investment in history has gone through such dry spells, regardless of what the hypesters might tell you – how big were the losses? Unless you ask, do not invest.
The Third Commandment:
Thou shalt put no money at risk that thou canst not afford to lose. Always ask yourself: Can I stand to lose 100 percent of this money? Have I analyzed not merely how much I will gain if I am right, but how much I can lose and how I will overcome those losses if I turn out to be wrong? Will my other assets and income be sufficient to sustain me if this investment wipes me out? If I lose every penny I put into this idea, can I recover from the damage? Unless you ask, do not invest.
Source:
Zweig, Jason. The Little Book of Safe Money: How to Conquer Killer Markets, Con Artists, and Yourself. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. Print.
Always ask yourself: Is this risk necessary? Are there safer alternatives that can accomplish the same objective? Have I studied the pros and cons of each before settling on this choice as the single best way to achieve my goal? Unless you ask, do not invest.
The Second Commandment:
Thou shalt take no risk that is not most certain to reward thee for taking it. Always ask yourself: How do I know this risk will be rewarded? “Most certain to reward thee” does not mean that there is zero chance that you will not be rewarded. It does mean, and must mean, that you are highly likely to be rewarded. What is the historical evidence, based on the real experience of other investors, to suggest that this approach will actually succeed? During the periods in the past when it hasn’t worked – and every investment in history has gone through such dry spells, regardless of what the hypesters might tell you – how big were the losses? Unless you ask, do not invest.
The Third Commandment:
Thou shalt put no money at risk that thou canst not afford to lose. Always ask yourself: Can I stand to lose 100 percent of this money? Have I analyzed not merely how much I will gain if I am right, but how much I can lose and how I will overcome those losses if I turn out to be wrong? Will my other assets and income be sufficient to sustain me if this investment wipes me out? If I lose every penny I put into this idea, can I recover from the damage? Unless you ask, do not invest.
Source:
Zweig, Jason. The Little Book of Safe Money: How to Conquer Killer Markets, Con Artists, and Yourself. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. Print.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Stocks Selling for Less Than Book Value on July 30, 2013
Out of more the 1500 U.S. Stocks looked at in the Value Line Investment Survey today, these are currently selling at below book value. They are sorted by Earnings Predictability (high to low) and Long-term Debt (low to high). This is a list for educational purposes only.
| Company | Ticker | Stock Price | Book Value per share |
| Unum Group | UNM | $ 31.56 | $ 31.92 |
| Reinsurance Group | RGA | $ 67.90 | $ 93.47 |
| Ingram Micro 'A' | IM | $ 22.81 | $ 24.02 |
| Black Box | BBOX | $ 28.53 | $ 29.89 |
| ManTech Int'l 'A' | MANT | $ 29.10 | $ 31.46 |
| Protective Life | PL | $ 43.42 | $ 59.07 |
| Speedway Motorsports | TRK | $ 19.64 | $ 20.71 |
| First Niagara Finl Group | FNFG | $ 10.73 | $ 12.98 |
| Aircastle Ltd. | AYR | $ 17.78 | $ 19.81 |
| Lincoln Nat'l Corp. | LNC | $ 41.36 | $ 55.17 |
| Atlas Air Worldwide | AAWW | $ 44.79 | $ 48.57 |
| Rowan Cos. plc | RDC | $ 34.93 | $ 36.48 |
| MetLife Inc. | MET | $ 48.87 | $ 57.12 |
| Amedisys, Inc. | AMED | $ 11.50 | $ 14.55 |
| Invacare Corp. | IVC | $ 16.81 | $ 19.47 |
| Central Garden & Pet | CENT | $ 7.49 | $ 9.88 |
| Astoria Financial | AF | $ 12.58 | $ 13.15 |
| Hanover Insurance | THG | $ 54.00 | $ 58.59 |
| Assurant Inc. | AIZ | $ 52.70 | $ 65.92 |
| CNA Fin'l | CNA | $ 34.21 | $ 45.71 |
| Prudential Fin'l | PRU | $ 78.73 | $ 83.31 |
| Corinthian Colleges | COCO | $ 2.42 | $ 6.63 |
| Annaly Capital Mgmt. | NLY | $ 11.69 | $ 15.85 |
| Cross Country Health. | CCRN | $ 5.93 | $ 6.77 |
| Layne Christensen | LAYN | $ 20.12 | $ 20.83 |
| PharMerica Corp. | PMC | $ 14.79 | $ 15.01 |
| Susquehanna Bancshs. | SUSQ | $ 13.78 | $ 13.90 |
| Kemper Corp. | KMPR | $ 35.46 | $ 36.98 |
| Wintrust Financial | WTFC | $ 41.19 | $ 44.18 |
| Telephone & Data | TDS | $ 26.96 | $ 37.16 |
| Cliffs Natural Res. | CLF | $ 18.38 | $ 32.51 |
| Hutchinson Techn. | HTCH | $ 5.49 | $ 7.02 |
| Monster Worldwide | MWW | $ 5.91 | $ 7.92 |
| Amer. Greetings | AM | $ 19.07 | $ 21.33 |
| Ruby Tuesday | RT | $ 7.84 | $ 9.00 |
| U.S. Cellular | USM | $ 40.25 | $ 45.24 |
| Pantry (The), Inc. | PTRY | $ 12.34 | $ 14.02 |
| Pengrowth Energy | PGH | $ 5.80 | $ 8.19 |
| Peabody Energy | BTU | $ 16.40 | $ 20.29 |
| RealNetworks, Inc. | RNWK | $ 7.79 | $ 9.70 |
| UTStarcom Holdings | UTSI | $ 2.69 | $ 4.53 |
| Furniture Brands | FBN | $ 3.25 | $ 6.81 |
| Affymetrix Inc. | AFFX | $ 3.88 | $ 3.90 |
| Perry Ellis Int'l | PERY | $ 21.04 | $ 24.22 |
| First Commonwealth | FCF | $ 7.46 | $ 7.49 |
| Walter Energy | WLT | $ 10.94 | $ 33.98 |
| Arch Coal | ACI | $ 4.01 | $ 16.78 |
| NRG Energy | NRG | $ 27.53 | $ 31.82 |
| Career Education | CECO | $ 3.69 | $ 9.12 |
| Imation Corp. | IMN | $ 4.60 | $ 9.33 |
| Mercury Systems | MRCY | $ 10.39 | $ 11.21 |
| West Marine | WMAR | $ 11.42 | $ 11.72 |
| Tecumseh Products 'A' | TECUA | $ 11.17 | $ 13.98 |
| Photronics Inc. | PLAB | $ 8.29 | $ 9.73 |
| Schnitzer Steel | SCHN | $ 25.70 | $ 41.04 |
| RadioShack Corp. | RSH | $ 2.74 | $ 6.01 |
| Eagle Bulk Shipping | EGLE | $ 3.97 | $ 35.71 |
| SkyWest | SKYW | $ 15.36 | $ 26.78 |
| Genworth Fin'l | GNW | $ 13.37 | $ 33.61 |
| Avid Technology | AVID | $ 6.30 | $ 10.80 |
| Electro Scientific | ESIO | $ 12.01 | $ 13.07 |
| AngioDynamics | ANGO | $ 12.16 | $ 15.09 |
| EarthLink, Inc. | ELNK | $ 6.28 | $ 7.00 |
| Genco Shipping | GNK | $ 2.15 | $ 24.09 |
| NII Holdings | NIHD | $ 7.77 | $ 13.50 |
| Loews Corp. | L | $ 46.12 | $ 49.25 |
| Bank of America | BAC | $ 14.83 | $ 20.24 |
| Gladstone Capital | GLAD | $ 8.88 | $ 8.97 |
| Kelly Services 'A' | KELYA | $ 19.68 | $ 19.92 |
| Alpha Natural Res. | ANR | $ 5.37 | $ 33.80 |
| Regions Financial | RF | $ 10.18 | $ 10.63 |
| Alcoa Inc. | AA | $ 8.03 | $ 12.32 |
| Piper Jaffray Cos. | PJC | $ 33.13 | $ 48.20 |
| Phoenix (The) Cos. | PNX | $ 43.00 | $ 193.67 |
| OM Group | OMG | $ 31.75 | $ 37.82 |
| Amer. Capital, Ltd. | ACAS | $ 13.68 | $ 17.49 |
| Everest Re Group Ltd. | RE | $ 130.86 | $ 131.78 |
| Apollo Investment | AINV | $ 8.24 | $ 8.55 |
| Legg Mason | LM | $ 34.90 | $ 40.59 |
| E*Trade Fin'l | ETFC | $ 14.69 | $ 17.14 |
| Popular Inc. | BPOP | $ 32.96 | $ 39.34 |
| U.S. Steel Corp. | X | $ 18.77 | $ 24.10 |
| Hartford Fin'l Svcs. | HIG | $ 31.41 | $ 50.51 |
| SunTrust Banks | STI | $ 35.14 | $ 37.59 |
| Amer. Int'l Group | AIG | $ 46.50 | $ 66.38 |
| Capital One Fin'l | COF | $ 68.72 | $ 69.56 |
| Morgan Stanley | MS | $ 27.76 | $ 30.70 |
| Citigroup Inc. | C | $ 52.66 | $ 61.28 |
| Tellabs, Inc. | TLAB | $ 2.26 | $ 4.51 |
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