myinvestingnotes.blogspot.my (Bullbear Buffett Stock Investing Notes)

Keep INVESTING Simple and Safe (KISS) ****Investment Philosophy, Strategy and various Valuation Methods**** The same forces that bring risk into investing in the stock market also make possible the large gains many investors enjoy. It’s true that the fluctuations in the market make for losses as well as gains but if you have a proven strategy and stick with it over the long term you will be a winner!****Warren Buffett: Rule No. 1 - Never lose money. Rule No. 2 - Never forget Rule No. 1.

Showing posts with label Fima. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

****What differentiates winners from losers in a stock market: Qualitative Variables

What differentiates winners from losers in a stock market? Some may religiously follow the recommendations of a ‘hit’ stock broker. And some may even dig a bit deeper to know about the stock and the company they plan to invest in by going through the earnings and valuations multiples. But the real winners could still be a league ahead of such investors. That’s because they keep an eye on the qualitative variables. Let’s look at them:

People

This is the most important variable. You should know both the promoters and the professional managers who run the company. If the business is managed by a first-generation entrepreneur, check if the promoter is professionally and technically qualified to run the business. Of course, this is not a necessary condition and one has to exercise judgment. If the management consists of professionals, look at their employment history to understand their track record. For instance, before setting up HDFC Bank’s operations in 1994, Aditya Puri was a successful country head of Citibank in Malaysia.

The management thinking can be best understood by reading the management discussion and analysis mentioned in the annual report. One can start with reading three year’s annual reports. This will allow you to compare the management analysis from past reports with what really transpired in the following year. The next important thing that will help you is the corporate governance details in the annual report.

“Management’s intentions towards the minority shareholders must be carefully understood,” advises Kunj Bansal, chief investment officer of Sanlam SMC India. If the business has just been sold, the promoters collecting a non-compete fee does not bode well for smaller shareholders. Some investors find buy back programmes done at suppressed stock prices and unrelated diversifications detrimental to the minority shareholders.

Management actions in the past while handling surplus cash can be good signalling device. One quantitative element that comes handy is the quantum of management compensation. One can look at payout to the management as a percentage of the net profit and decide if the management is fair.

Related party transactions

Good companies do business with related parties at fair market prices. The same is disclosed in the annual report for the benefit of the shareholders. Few related party transactions, along with high transparency, is an indicator of a good business. Promoters’ presence in the same business through a privately-held entity is a clear dampener as the investor in the publicly-listed entity runs the risk of promoter placing the ‘cream business’ in the privately-held entity.

Business model

Simply put, it means where and how the company earns its bread and butter. You have to figure out what products the company produces or markets. Five Ws — who, when, where, what, why — will help you understand the raw materials that go in, the time and skill set required, the risks faced by the company and probably all those variables that can influence your returns as a shareholder. During tech boom of 2000, investors poured in their hard earned money into hundreds of dotcom companies.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/savings-centre/analysis/What-differentiates-winners-from-losers-in-a-stock-market/articleshow/6404286.cms

Related:
Read how a company used its large cash reserve:
Review of Fima Corp's Earnings
http://whereiszemoola.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-of-fima-corps-earnings.html

Fima Corp

Here is a good review of the historical data of this company over the years by Ze Moola:
REVIEW OF FIMA CORP'S EARNINGS
http://whereiszemoola.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-of-fima-corps-earnings.html

Also read:
http://whereiszemoola.blogspot.com/2010/08/hey-this-blog.html

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My 18 points guide to Successfully compounding your money in Stocks

Be a good stock picker.
Think as a business owner.
Always look at value rather than the price. Do the homework.
Buy and hold is alright for selected stocks.
Compounding is your friend, get this to work its magic.
Mr. Market is there to be taken advantage of. Do not be the sucker instead. BFS;STS.
Always buy a lot when the price is low.
Never buy when the stock is overpriced.
It is alright to buy when the selected stock is at a fair price.
Phasing in or dollar cost averaging is safe for such stocks during a downtrend, unless the price is still obviously too high.
Do not time the market for such or any stocks.
By keeping to the above strategy, the returns will be delivered through the growth of the company's business.
So, when do you sell the stock? Almost never, as long as the fundamentals remain sound and the future prospects intact.
The downside risk is protected through only buying when the price is low or fairly priced.
Tactical dynamic asset allocation or rebalancing based on valuation can be employed but this sounds easier than is practical, except in extreme market situations.
Sell urgently when the company business fundamental has deteriorated irreversibly.
You may also wish to sell should the growth of the company has obviously slowed and you can reinvest into another company with greater growth potential of similar quality. However, unlike point 16, you can do so leisurely.
In conclusion, a critical key to successful investing is in your stock picking ability.

http://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-18-points-guide-to-successfully.html

11 Lessons From Peter Lynch

Peter Lynch taught me:

1. Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.
2. Never invest in any idea you can’t illustrate with a crayon.
3. Over the short term, there may be no correlation between the success of a company’s operations and the success of its stock. Over the long term, there’s a 100% correlation.
4. Buying stocks without studying the companies is the same as playing poker – and never looking at your cards.
5. Time is on your side when you own shares of superior companies.
6. Owning stock is like having children. Don’t get involved with more than you can handle.
7. When the insiders are buying, it’s a good sign.
8. Unless you’re a short seller, it never pays to be pessimistic.
9. A stock market decline is as predictable as a January blizzard in Colorado. If you’re prepared, it can’t hurt you.
10. Everyone has the brainpower to make money in stocks. Not everyone has the stomach.
11. Nobody can predict interest rates, the future direction of the economy, or the stock market. Dismiss all such forecasts and concentrate on what’s actually happening to the companies in which you’ve invested.

Lynch’s advice had a profound effect on my stock market approach. He taught me that investment success isn’t the result of developing the right macro-economic view or deciding when to jump in or out of the market. Success is about researching companies to identify those that are likely to report positive surprises.

Capital Expenditure

A great company with a Durable Competitive Advantage will have a ratio of Capital Expenditures to Net Income of less than 25%. Less is better.

Capital Expenditures are expenses on:
- fixed assets such as equipment, property, or industrial buildings
- fixing problems with an asset
- preparing an asset to be used in business
- restoring property
- starting new businesses

A good company will have a ratio of Capital Expenditures to Net Income of less than 50%.

A great company with a Durable Competitive Advantage will have a ratio of less than 25%.

Less is better.

Benjamin Graham's 113 Wise Words

The true investor scarcely ever is forced to sell his shares, and at all times he is free to disregard the current price quotation. He need pay attention to it and act upon it only to the extent that it suits his book, and no more. Thus the investor who permits himself to be stampeded or unduly worried by unjustified market declines in his holdings is perversely transforming his basic advantage into a basic disadvantage. That man would be better off if his stocks had no market quotation at all, for he would then be spared the mental anguish caused him by other persons' mistakes of judgement."

Philip Fisher's Wise Words

"The refusal to sell at a loss, while completely natural and normal, is probably one of the most dangerous in which we can indulge ourselves in the entire investment process.

More money has probably been lost by investors holding a stock they really did not want until they could 'at least come out even' than from any other single reason. If to these actual losses are added the profits that might have been made through the proper reinvestment of these funds if such reinvestment had been made when the mistake was first realized, the cost of self-indulgence becomes truly tremendous."

(Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits)

The Ultimate Hold-versus-Sell Test

Here is the overriding primary test, followed by observations on why it is so critically important:

Knowing all that you now know and expect about the company and its stock (not what you originally believed or hoped at time of purchase), and assuming that you had available capital, and assuming that it would not cause a portfolio imbalance to do so, would you buy this stock today, at today's price?

No equivocation. Yes or no?

Answers such as maybe or probably are not acceptable since they are ways of dodging the issue. No investor probably buys a stock; they either place an order or do not.

Here is the implication of your answer to that critical test: if you did not answer with a clear affirmative, you should sell; only if you said a strong yes, are you justified to hold.

Some thoughts on Analysing Stocks (KISS)

Ideally a stock you plan to purchase should have all of the following charateristics:

• A rising trend of earnings dividends and book value per share.
• A balance sheet with less debt than other companies in its particular industry.
• A P/E ratio no higher than average.
• A dividend yield that suits your particular needs.
• A below-average dividend pay-out ratio.
• A history of earnings and dividends not pockmarked by erratic ups and downs.
• Companies whose ROE is 15 or better.
• A ratio of price to cash flow (P/CF) that is not too high when compared to other stocks in the same industry.

Margin of Safety Concept: Stocks should be bought like groceries, not like perfume

The high CAGR in the early years of the investing period, due to buying at a discount, tended to decline and approach that of the intrinsic EPS GR of the companies over a longer investment time-frame.

Chapter 20 - “Margin of Safety” as the Central Concept of Investment

A single quote by Graham on page 516 struck me:

Observation over many years has taught us that the chief losses to investors come from the purchase of low-quality securities at times of favorable business conditions.

Basically, Graham is saying that most stock investors lose money because they invest in companies that seem good at a particular point in time, but are lacking the fundamentals of a long-lasting stable company.

This seems obvious on the surface, but it’s actually a great argument for thinking more carefully about your individual stock investments. If most of your losses come from buying companies that seem healthy but really aren’t, isn’t that a profound argument for carefully studying any company you might invest in?

myinvestingnotes.blogspot.my (Bullbear Buffett Stock Investing Notes)

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

****What differentiates winners from losers in a stock market: Qualitative Variables

Fima Corp

All equity security investments present a risk of loss of capital

The Ultimate Hold-versus-Sell Test

Some thoughts on Analysing Stocks (KISS)

Benjamin Graham

Sell the losers, let the winners run.

Investment Style

Warren Buffett

Political and Economic News

Interesting Blogs