NormR

Thread title got me going. Looking for all the P/B<0.1 stocks out there. It's "net net" time. ;D There are more with P/B<1.1 which seems a bit generous for many value investors. ;D

THE BIGGEST URBAN LEGEND IN FINANCE

How quickly do you swap out your stocks? Do you change them all once a year (100% turnover), twice a year (200%), or per perhaps once every 5 years (20%)?

I don't know your style well enough, what's the average turnover on your portfolios? (Not looking for a precise answer)

I had a good laugh at the VIC bump/volume. Not saying it's a bad stock, just questioning the blind followers leaping in right away. :o

Vegetarians, from the other point of view

I eat at my mom and dad's and take home leftovers a couple times a week. ;) Mooching! ;)

And I thought I was frugal, ;D , where do you live?

Oh Sanj, it's better to switch off the TV to avoid being infected. After all, when did you last get a good bit of actionable advice from TV? ;D Oh just a sec, I missed the part about him doing a Kevin O'Leary. ::)

James Grant has been at it for decades. 8) Mind you, I enjoy his scribblings. The bear case can interesting because it might highlight areas/problems that you've not thought about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QTfNEDgusQ?fs=1

Doh! :'( :'( :'(

Hyping it as a dividend stock is, IMHO, disingenuous. It might be a good value but not on account of the dividend. But more importantly, good investors seek out reasons why they might be wrong and not why they are right.

It recently cut its dividend by ~50%. Less than fantastic for dividend investors ...

I credit him with killing the EMH/CAPM for me. After spending chapters on building up the theory he included a plot of beta vs return than showed the theory to be wrong - and not by just a little bit. It didn't seem to stop him much, but, for me, when theory meets reality, reality wins.

Yup, a good one! 8)

Humm, why 110% and not 100% of book?

Consider using Norbert's Gambit. Pick a crosslisted stock. Say, Royal Bank. Buy X shares in Toronto in CAD, quickly sell the same X shares in New York in USD. CAD->USD for the cost of the commissions/spread/timing. (Reverse for USD->CAD) Generally a good deal for larger amounts. Welcome to the wide world of arbitrage. :) Depending on the broker, you may have to call them to make sure they journal over the shares from the CAD to USD account properly.

I agree with this point. Berkshire could suffer if the other guys get in ...

The CBOE is where real men gamble and buy their bacon at the same time. 8)

They obviously don't see you as a customer yet. ;) But keep in mind that many people seem to be content to pay 2.5%/yr for an investment advisor. (At least in Canada.) 2.5% on a $50,000 portfolio is $1,250. The % fee quickly scales down for larger portfolios. $1.2k/$100k= 1.2%, $1.2k/$500k = 0.24%. So, not unreasonable for moderately sized portfolios when compared to fund fees. (I only having a passing familiarity with the site. So I can't comment on the value provided for the money. But I've seen a few good things from them.)

You're going to have to define smart/IV to get good responses. It seems to me that some of the private equity guys have been smart in taking whole firms private, levering them up to get back their investment, and then selling back into the market.

Oh, thank you for the kind words. (Since I was asked via PM, here's the link for the curious www.ndir.com)

I second this. I might make a trade or two a year. Some years (2008-2009) there were many trades. Other years, none at all. I've held some might good investments for over a decade. Quick action is not a requirement.

I liked the book, but it did scream survivorship bias. (That is, how many other people following the same strategy failed? You might be looking at 1/10 or 1/100 success rate.) Nonetheless, good for a business book if you keep this in mind. (Warning, I've a low bar for business books. One good idea is enough for me. But may business books fail on this count ...)