Portfolios awash with red ink

Portfolios awash with red ink
John Collett
December 14, 2011

Ups and downs … the share price of many blue chips have fallen in the past decade.

More than 1 million Australians became the owners of shares - many for the first time - in the 1990s when the government off-loaded institutions such as the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas, and mutuals such as the NRMA and AMP were privatised. The shares were often free or heavily discounted.

These new, accidental shareholders have held on to their shares in the belief that blue chips will outperform the market over the long term.

But analysis by Lincoln Indicators of the performance of some of the most widely held shares shows the price of many is well down on 10 years ago.

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Tough decade for popular stocks

Tough decade for popular stocks.

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The chief executive of Lincoln Indicators, Elio D'Amato, says inertia can be costly.

''At the end of the day, it [investing in shares] is about picking good companies rather than thinking that every demutualisation is going to be a winner,'' he says.

As the table shows, AMP, Qantas and Telstra have lost varying amounts of their share value. The best performers include biopharmaceutical company CSL and the Commonwealth Bank.

While the table shows only share-price changes, many of the companies have paid good dividends over the years. The total return (share price appreciation plus dividends) can be much higher than the change in share prices alone suggest.

CBA

The Commonwealth Bank is by far the best performer. The first tranche of shares was listed in 1991 at $5.40. CBA shares are now trading at about $50 and, on that price, have a cash yield of 6.4 per cent, fully franked. D'Amato says the bank's shares are in the ''buy'' zone. ''CBA is definitely the preferred bank for us at the moment,'' he says.

TELSTRA

Telstra, with its 1.4 million shareholders, is likely to have the largest number of small shareholders of any listed Australian company. The first tranche of Telstra shares was floated in 1997 at $3.30, which is close to today's share price. But when its dividends are taken into account, shareholders will be ahead.

The same cannot be said of those who bought Telstra in subsequent floats. Those who bought shares in ''T2'' in 1999 paid $7.40, while ''T3'' shares in 2006 cost $3.60.

Still, many analysts think that with a dividend yield of about 8.7 per cent, fully franked, the telco is still worth holding and perhaps even adding to.

CSL

Apart from CBA, the other good performer has been CSL. D'Amato says CSL is a ''great company'' with a ''global brand that is growing''. The dividends are relatively small, with a yield on current prices of 2.5 per cent and franking levels of just 4 per cent. But shareholders won't be too fussed about that, given that the CSL share price has doubled from $16 to $32 over the past decade.

AMP

AMP has been one of the real under-performers among big, widely held, stocks. It has a share price of about $4, compared with about $12 a decade ago. However, many analysts are positive on the stock, saying the company will improve its market share and make cost savings with its recent acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific.

But AMP is not on the list of stocks that Austock Securities' senior client adviser and strategist Michael Heffernan believes long-term investors should hold.

His preferred picks include Telstra, CBA, BHP Billiton, Woolworths and Wesfarmers. ''In my book, they are all good companies, with a good spread of industry sectors,'' he says.

BALANCE

For those with only a handful of shares, the obvious industry sector most likely missing from their portfolios is resources. Those looking to diversify their portfolio could add BHP Billiton, D'Amato says.

''If you believe most growth in the world is going to come from Asia in the next three decades, BHP is a must have,'' he says.

How to sell shares you no longer want

The easiest and cheapest way to dispose of small parcels of shares is through company buybacks. These are usually ''off market'', with the price paid being the average share price during a fixed period. Usually, no brokerage is charged.

However, small shareholders tend to miss out on buybacks, either because they don't pay attention to company information or don't act on the offers. Elio D'Amato says some companies have frequent small-parcel buybacks and shareholders should contact companies directly to find out about them.

''If you have got a holding of under $500, it really does not end up being that economical holding a small parcel and having to account for it, and the time that should be spent monitoring it,'' he says.

The cheapest way to sell shares ''on market'' is through an online broker. Online trades start about $15 for casual users; it's a little less for those who trade regularly. Selling shares through a broker over the phone costs a bit more and full-service brokers typically charge $60 a trade.

The worst option is to take up the deals of dubious operators who offer to buy the shares for far less than their market value. D'Amato says many holders of small parcels of shares are vulnerable to such offers because they don't know how the market works or where the shares can be sold. ''It only takes a little bit of research to check what the shares are really worth,'' he says.

The share price can be checked at the ASX website (asx.com.au) by entering the company name or three-letter ticker code, or by phoning the company directly. ''When it comes to direct offers to buy shares, the only ones you can really trust are those that come from the companies themselves,'' D'Amato says.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/money/investing/portfolios-awash-with-red-ink-20111213-1orwu.html#ixzz1geRSnfLi

Investing: You Don't Have to Learn the Hard Way

Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.  -  Elbert Hubbard    All of us have heard the expression that experience is the best teacher.  Like many old expressions, you must be careful how you interpret its meaning.  In reality, the best way to learn is by observing the past successes and failures of others.  Our own lifetime is limited.  By utilizing the knowledge gained by others, we can determine the financial strategies most likely to succeed without wasting the time and effort required by our own trial and error experiences.  A logical place to start our observations is to review the investment guidelines used by some of the most successful stock market investors of all time.  Their guiding principles, based on decades of experience, should be thoroughly tested against most of the conditions any stock market investor is likely to encounter.  The following brief biographical sketches summarize the wisdom provided by five super successful stock investors:  Benjamin Graham, 1894 - 1976.  Benjamin Graham, considered one of the fathers of modern stock market investing, achieved a 17 percent average annual return on his stock market investments from 1929 to 1956.  This is extraordinary, considering that the time period from 1929 to 1945 included the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression, and represented one of the most difficult time periods in economic history to make money in the stock market.  Graham argued that the distinction between investment and speculation was an important one that was often misused by financial professionals.  Graham felt that investors should concentrate on the task of locating the stock of companies with sound financial standing that was priced well below the value of the company, irregardless of the general outlook of the economy or the stock market.  By applying these principles to select a diversified group of stocks and by maintaining a long-term approach, the investor separated himself from the speculator and would eventually be rewarded.     Warren Buffett, 1930 to present.  Warren Buffett is probably the most successful stock investor of all time.  Solely due to his stock picking abilities, on any given day Buffett is either the richest man in America or one of the richest men in America.  From 1957 to the present (over 40 years!), Buffett has achieved an average annual return of more than 25 percent per year on his stock investments.  However, Buffett did not achieve this enviable record using some complicated investment strategy or by borrowing money to magnify his investment returns.  Instead, some simple, familiar themes begin to emerge when you study his investment philosophies.  Buffett buys stock in what he calls franchise companies - companies that produce products that society needs or wants.  He buys these stocks with the intent of never selling them.  He meticulously studies each business of interest, and only buys the stock of companies in sound financial condition that can be purchased well below his assessment of their intrinsic value.  Buffet only buys stocks of companies that he understands.  Some of his largest stock investment returns have been made in household names like Capital Cities/ABC, Coca-Cola, and The Washington Post.  Anne Scheiber, 1894 - 1995.  Anne Scheiber is probably unknown to most people.  However, her accomplishment of creating a $20 million estate by investing in the stock market over approximately 50 years makes her a very successful amateur investor.  There is some debate over her true investment return over the 50-year time span, but it appears that it probably ranged between 12 and 17 percent per year.  Scheiber learned by reviewing the tax returns of wealthy individuals during her career as a tax auditor with the Internal Revenue Service that stocks were a proven way to get rich in America.  Her investment strategies were simple: invest in companies that create products that you know and admire, continue to invest, never sell stocks you believe in, and keep informed of your current investments.  In fact, Scheiber's top ten stock investments before she died included such well known companies as Coca-Cola, Exxon, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.  National Association of Investment Clubs (NAIC), 1940 to present.  NAIC is probably the best, well kept secret for the individual stock market investor anywhere.  NAIC is a national organization that anyone can join that assists individual investors and investment clubs by providing investment education.  Over the years, NAIC has developed an investing philosophy that can be used by anyone to identify a diversified group of growth stocks that are selected to double in value in five years.  The national annual average return for the stocks owned by thousands of investment clubs associated with NAIC throughout America have frequently outperformed stock market averages for the past 30 years.  Peter Lynch, 1944 to the present.  Peter Lynch may be the most widely recognized stock market investor.  From 1977 to 1990, Lynch piloted the now famous Magellan Mutual Fund to an amazing 29 percent average annual return.  He is the author of several popular books, appears as a guest speaker on numerous television programs, and is a columnist for several magazines.  Lynch's investment philosophy and advice for others is simple: invest in what you know, ignore the advice of others (including professional investors), ignore market fluctuations, and look for companies undiscovered by professional investors.  These biographical sketches should convince you that anyone, regardless of background or training, can succeed in the stock market.  Individual investors can compete head to head with professional investors and, more importantly, investment principles between successful individual and professional investors are often very similar.  Considering the complexity of the stock market, it is surprising that so many common threads run through these widely diverse, but successful, stock market investors.  These common threads or guidelines for stock market success can be summarized as follows:       ·        Invest for the long term       ·        Diversify your investments       ·        Invest regularly       ·        Avoid market forecasting       ·        Know what you are investing in. What could be easier?  The financial community seems to always make things more complicated and confusing than they need to be.  Never confuse sophistication with success.  Simple, proven strategies followed religiously often produce superior results.   http://www.mind-like-water.com/Rogue_Investor/RI_Articles/Rogue_Investing/RI_HardWay.html

Building Wealth Through Stock Market Investments

Sound Investment Strategies Which Will Stand Out All The Time:
 
It is sad to say that the majority of investors like to listen to tips from all sources instead of doing their own homework prior to investing. Even fund managers conveniently buy shares listed in the top actives of the day. Thus fund managers of yesteryear lost heavily when their shares  dropped heavily, and unit trust holders also lost heavily.

Wise investors must follow the following steps before deciding to buy any share in the market if they want to avoid heavy losses when the market collapses. They are as follows:

1) Has the company been making money for the past 3 years out of the lst 5 years at least.

2) Has the company been paying consistent dividends for the last 5 years as you can manufacture profits, but you cannot manufacture cash to pay out the dividends if the accounts are phony.

3) Is the dividend yield based on the share price which you intend to buy has a yield of at least 4%, i.e. if the share you are buying is $1,000, you must get at least $40 in dividend even consider it as a safe investment. If not, don't buy at all. 

If this passes the above 3 guidelines, you are reasonably assured that it is an investment grade share and not a speculative buy. It will automatically eliminate some 80% of all shares listed on stock markets throughout the world.  

You must read the latest Annual Report and analyse the Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Statement, etc. If you don't even bother to do this, you deserve to lose money as there is no such thing as a free lunch. 
Initially all will make money when the market is going up, and when the market collapses, some 90% of them will be losing money. Remember this, if it is really so easy to make money, nobody will be working today. All of us will just be buying shares to be rich. Alas, this is just a pipe dream.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/building-wealth-through-stock-market-investments.htm

Crises Equal Opportunities - History Makes Money

 
What $10,000 invested at times of various historical calamities would be worth today?
 
In 1962, the missile crisis brought us close to World War III.  At that time, if you had invested $10,000, the value today would be $156,661.
 
In 1965, we bombed North Vietnam and were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin.  The value of $10,000 invested then would now be worth $109,602.
 
In 1968, there was a six-day war in the Middle East and five days of rioting in Detroit, the value of $10,000 invested then would now be worth $87,429.
 
In 1980, Iran was holding American hostages, the value of $10,000 invested then would now be worth $48,700.
 
The recession in 1982 caused the market to hit 730 in August and by February the following year the market was up 57 percent to 1150.
 
On October, 1987, the country saw the most severe drop in market history.  $10,000 invested at the bottom of the market on October 20 would be worth approximately $24,000 today.
 
These down markets caused by crises events are opportunities only if you have cash available to seize the opportunity of the moment of the down markets.  If you are caught fully invested in stocks when these events occur and your quality stocks go down, ride them out and stay fully invested as the market always recovers and given time, eventually heads to new record highs.


http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/history-makes-money.htm

Essence of Successful Investment

Common stocks should be purchased when their prices are low, not after they have risen to high levels during an upward bull-market spiral.  Buy when everyone else is selling and hold on until everyone else is buying - this is just more than a catchy slogan.  It is the very essence of successful investment.
 
History shows that the overall trend of stock prices like the overall trend of living costs, wages and almost everything else is up.  Naturally, there have been and always will be dips, slumps, recessions and even depressions, but these are invariably followed by recoveries which carry most stock prices to new highs.
 
Assuming that a stock and the company behind it are sound, an investor can hardly lose if he buys shares at the bottom and holds them until the inevitable upward cycle gets well under way.
The wise investor realizes that it is no longer possible to consider the stock market as a whole.  Today's stock market is far too vast and complex for anyone to make sweeping generalized predictions about the course the market as such will follow.
 
It is necessary to view the present day stock market in terms of groups of stocks, but it is not enough merely to classify them as, say, industrials or aircrafts, and so on.  This is an era of constant and revolutionary scientific and technological changes and advances.  Not only individual firms, but also entire industries must be judged as to their ability to keep pace with the needs of the future.
 
The investor has to be certain that neither the products of the company in which he invests nor the particular industry itself will become obsolete in a few years.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/essence-of-successful-investment.htm

Simple Stocks Purchase Principles

Get-rich-quick schemes just don't work.  If they did, then everyone on the face of the earth would be millionaire.
 
This holds true for stock market dealings as it does for any other form of business activity.
Don't misunderstand me.  It is possible to make money and a great deal of money in the stock market. But it can't  be done overnight or by haphazard buying and selling.
 
The big profits go to the intelligent, careful and patient investor, not to the reckless and overeager speculator.   Conversely, it is the speculator who suffers the losses when the market takes a sudden downturn.
 
The seasoned investor buys his stocks when they are priced low, holds them for the long pull rise and takes in between dips and slumps in his stride.
 
"Buy when stock prices are low, the lower the better and hold onto your securities," a highly successful financier advised me years ago, when I first started buying stocks.
 
"Bank on the trends and don't worry about the tremors.  Keep your mind on the long term cycles and ignore the sporadic ups and down..."
 
Great numbers of people who purchase stocks seem unable to grasp these simple principles.
 
They do not buy when  prices are low. They are fearful of bargains. They wait until a stock goes by and up and then buy because they feel they are thus getting in on a sure thing. Very often, they buy too late just before a stock has reached on of its peaks. Then they get caught and suffer losses when  the price breaks even a few points.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/simple-stocks-purchase-principles.htm

Don't Worry About the Market

A worry free wealth building strategy is to invest long term in the stock market.
 
Why?
 
Because history have proved that to profit from this simple, well known strategy, it doesn't matter in the short term if the market is going up or down.  You win either way.  There is absolutely nothing to worry about.
 
Once you commit to the "don't worry" attitude, you'll chuckle as you notice how many people worry, every day, unnecessarily, over which direction the market is moving.  "What a relief, the market  is having a good day" and "Oh no, the market is down" are frequently heard, but in reality, you have virtually no relevance if you are investing for the long term.
 
What is there to worry about?
 
By implementing the "pay yourself first" strategy, by investing a predetermined percentage, such as 10  percent of your income to yourself, you virtually guarantee that, over time, you'll amass a small fortune.  You simply put the money in, month after month, and leave it there.
 
If the market is going up, your investment is worth more money.  

Congratulations, you  win.
 
But if the market is going down, your next investment will afford you the luxury of purchasing more shares of stock at a lower price.  Congratulations, you win again!
 
As always, your external success begins with your attitude toward life.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/dont-worry-about-the-market.htm

Dividend Paying Stocks have lower downside risk

In a down market, a defensive stock is sought after by investors as it is a safe haven to park money while still earning a steady dividend income at the same time.   Defensive stocks are usually companies that have huge cash piles and are likely to pay out good dividends to investors even if the share price had slipped lower.
Stocks paying significant dividends have less downside risk than other stocks as long as the dividend isn't threatened.  Of course, the biggest advantage of dividend stocks is that you get paid just to hold them.
Contrast that to the usual situation where the only way you make money on a stock is by selling it someone else at a higher price. That doesn’t mean that dividend stocks won’t go up in price.  Some studies show that dividend payers actually outperform non-dividend stocks in total return.
Stocks with solid dividend prospects don’t go down as much as other stocks, because when they start fading, the resulting rise in dividend yield attracts more buyers.  Dividend yield is the estimated dividend payouts over the next 12 months divided by the price you pay for the shares.  For example, if a company share price is $100 and a dividend of $6 per share is paid, the result is a 6% dividend yield.
The top-yielding stocks now are frequently real estate investment trusts, or REITs. REITs invest in real estate such as apartments, shopping centers, office buildings, and storage facilities. They tend to specialize in one or two of the areas. Because of their legal make-up, they are required to distribute virtually all of their earnings to the shareholders.
The dividend strategy is safest if you have a diversified portfolio. You essentially create your own little mutual fund. You also need some time, at least five years, to give the strategy a chance to produce results.
A company has to have cash to pay dividends.  Unlike earnings figures, it can't be manipulated because it's actual cash paid to shareholders.
However, dividend-paying stocks tend to lag when the market is rising sharply, but the dividends act as a cushion when stock prices are falling.
One of the basic rules of life also applies to successful investing -- success is highly dependent upon a combination of hard work, intelligence, and honesty.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/dividend-paying-stocks-have-lower-downside-risk.htm

Stocks Vs Unit trust or Mutual Funds

This question about stocks vs unit trust or mutual fund is a very broad one and it very much depends on your personal goals, as to which is better for you.
The first obvious difference between stocks and unit trusts is that for stocks, you have to do your own research in order to select which stocks to buy and sell, whereas for unit trusts you delegate the management of capital to the unit trust manager.
What this obviously means is that if you intend to buy/sell stocks on your own you will need to allocate a significant portion of your time into researching stocks and keeping an eye on your investments, and if you wish to manage a large portfolio this may take up a considerable amount of time. People who have full-time jobs in non-finance related industries may have difficulty devoting the amount of time necessary to produce a reasonable return on their investments. Heck, even those in finance industries are unable to find time to manage their own money. Indeed, deciding to plunge into stocks can be a costly experience especially in the early years when one has not gained the critical amount of knowledge and experience. The learning curve is steep and the costs involved in learning lessons, also called your 'tuition fee' can involve a significant hit to your capital base.
Thus the obvious alternative is to either let the money sit in the bank account or in fixed return securities (an option which I think is far underrated) or to delegate your capital into the hands of a investment manager. This presents another set of problems because now you have to evaluate the competence of the unit trust managers, and you also have to beware that you do not pay excessive charges. Furthermore, it is a well known fact that most money managers underperform the stock market indices despite the fact that investing in index funds involves much lower charges, since they are passively managed.
My answer to the question is that both stocks and unit trusts are good, depending on whether the investor is able to develop the competence and devote the time into learning about them and to evaluating their chosen vehicle of investment. Learning how to analyse individual stocks will involve learning how to analyse financial statements, competitive strategy, valuation and a whole host of other investment analysis tools. Learning how to evaluate unit trusts will require an understanding of macroeconomics and the various unit trust strategies (global macro/sector rotation/country analysis etc.)
In otherwords, it doesn't matter which approach you choose, if you want satisfactory results, you have to do your homework.
So, where does that leave the investor who does not have much experience or knowledge of investing and does not have the time to devote into acquiring it?
My answer is index funds. Yes. These are lovely since they outperform 2/3s of all actively managed funds over the long run. They involve low management fees and can give you peace of mind, as long as you are dedicated to investing for the long run (5+ years or more) and have the discipline to follow a simple saving/investment plan.
But of course, most people like to get their hands dirty and like the feeling of being in charge of their destiny - few want to be simply 'above average', they want to make lots of money.
Well, that is possible. If you have the brains, balls, and hardwork, you might be successful as an investor. But many have tried and have just ended up as mediocre underperforming investors who would have been better off just sticking their money in the index funds.
Which kind of investor are you? What risks are you willing to take?
That's a question only you can answer. 

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/stocks-vs-unit-trust-or-mutual-funds.htm

A True Success Story Of a Shrewd Investor

From time to time, new paper features stories of shrew investors of modest income who surprised their friends and relatives by leaving substantial fortunes accumulated in the stock market.  A close study, of these cases usually reveals that careful timing and patience, rather than any mysterious secret or fantastic luck, were the explanation of the success story.  Students of the stock market are indebted to the Chicago newspapers for coverage, early in February, 1955, of the story of Miss Ida Mighell of Aurora, Illinois.  Miss Migehell had died on January 1 1955, at the age of eighty-six and left an estate appraised at just under two million dollars.  Even close friends had assumed that her income had consisted of the salary, or pension, of a Chicago school teacher plus income from a twelve thousand dollar inheritance received forty-five year before.
 
She also owned real estate, government bonds, and some local or thinly traded stocks.  It is immediately apparent that not all of Miss Mighell's selections have been outstanding growth situations, such issues as Westinghouse Air Brake, Kennecott, and Pennsyvania Railroad have failed to keep pace with the Dow Joes averages and even the portfolio's third largest holding, American Telephone and Telegraph did not raise its dividend for  thirty-six years.  A few highly  profitable transactions more than offset an equal number of mediocre of poor deals in Miss  Mighell's account, as has been the case in the experience of most successful investors.
 
It is unfortunate that information regarding the cost prices and purchase dates of Miss Mighell's stocks is not  available,  but we can reasonably surmise that many items were originally purchased many years ago and swelled the fund with their dividends.  For example, the odd amounts of Consolidated Natural Gas, Mission Corporation, and Mission Development Company were in all probability, received as dividends on Standard Oil of New Jersey held in the 1930's.  The mere factor of compound interest has done much to increase this fund, the elderly  spinster with a modest standard of living probably reinvested all of her after-tax dividend income in recent years.
 
It is also quite apparent from Miss Mighell's choice of stocks that liberal income was not her principal criterion of selection.  Most of the larger holdings, such as  Standard Oil of New Jersey, Westinghouse Electric, Union Carbide, and Chicago Corporation, have been quite conservative in their payouts through the years and have been consistently reinvested a substantial percentage of their  profits.

Miss Mighell apparently did not aim to get rich in a hurry.  There is not a  single electronic or space age stock in the portfolio, and oil stocks are of large companies.  Although many American fortunes have been created by buying common stocks of "infanct industries" and holding them until they grow to maturity, it is notable that all of the larger holdings in the Mighell portfolio were stocks of companies which were already dominant factors in established industries in 1914, when this shrewd lady first began to invest.  No spectacular new listings of the post World War II era are included.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/a-true-success-story.htm

The Average Investor Is Better Off Trading Long-Term

By Arthur, The Stock Investor Home
Investor are often reminded by the stockmarket that their shares value can go up (the bull) as well as down (the bear).  That is why people who tried to time the market can never beat it.  It is also the number one reason why people who tried to time the market will only end up losing money again and again.
 
One of the best time study was to "sell in May" and keep away from the market.  This is a method which was once used by traders and coined by the Hirch organization who publish the Stock Traders Almanac.  What they published was a fascinating stat that says that since 1950, if you invested $10,000 in the market at the beginning of November and held it to April of every year, you would have $536,000 currently. If you had done the same thing but invested from May to October, you would actually have a loss of $236.  You might want to give this time study investing method a tried but at your own risk.
 
Study have shown that for the average investor who have a full-time job on hand, they are better off investing for the long-term and ignore the short-term volatility of the share market.  Remember, short-term volatility is only importance to short-term investor.  As long you as you keep your long-term financial goal in mind and average the number of shares in good and bad time, the average long-term investor are going to perform much better than any short-term trader.
 
The secrets to consistently outperform any stock market indices no matter where you lived is very simple.  Since 1925, common stocks have generated an average annual rate of return of around 9-10 percent versus 3-5 percent for government bonds.  In addition, stocks have been one of the only investments that have consistently outpaced inflation over time.
 
Time is the best way to ride out any volatility.  Time have repeatedly show you that the stock market share value will recover and your share prices will once rise again.  That is why Warren Buffett favourite holding period for stock is FOREVER.  To benefits from the test of time, you must select your company stock carefully for investment.  Go for large companies such as Coca-Cola which you know that it will be around for many centuries.  Diversify your stock investment to not more than 10 companies.  Diversification works only if your don't OVER diversify.
 
No one in the stock investment world can consistently out-perform or beat the market.  Successful investor DO NOT tried to beat the market.  What they do is to keep their long-term financial goal in mind and invest using Fixed Cost Averaging, Time Diversification, and Investment Fund Diversification in Large Companies listed on stock exchange.
 
Don't bother to listen to any financial news, all they do is to constantly keep you in fear.  They are in the business of providing the financial buzz, they are not in the business to educate you to become a better stock investor.
 
To conclude, always keep your investing method simple.  Make used of the time tested formula and invested a fixed amount monthly.  Let the power of time and compound interest do it magic tricks for you.

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/the-average-investor-is-better-off-trading-long-term.htm

Meet MR. Market - Your Servant Not Your Guide

"Mr. Market" was a character invented by Ben Graham to illuminate his students minds regarding market behavior.  The stock market should be view as an emotionally disturbed business partner, Graham said.  The partner, Mr. Market, shows up each day offering price at which he will buy your share of the business or sell you his share.  No matter how wild his offer is or how often you reject it, Mr. Market returns with a new offer the next day and each day thereafter.  Buffett says the moral of the story is this:  Mr. Market is your servant, not your guide.

In March 1989, as the stock market soared, Buffett wrote:
"We have no idea how long the excesses will last, nor do we know what will change the attitudes of the government, lender and buyer that fuel them.  But we know that the less prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we should conduct our own affairs."

In the last years of the twentieth century, Berkshire's price nose-dived, kicked off the diving boards by investors irrational exuberance over anything technology or Internet related, problems with the General Re acquisition, rumors of Buffett's ill health and his inability to live up to his past brilliance.  In mid-1998, Berkshire was selling at a high of $80,000; by March 2000, it was selling for almost half that much.  Buffett wrote in the 2001 annual report:

"Here's one for those who enjoy an odd coincidence:  The Great Bubble ended on March 10, 2000 (though we didn't realize that fact until some months later).  On that day, the NASDAQ (recently 1,731) hit its all-time high of 5,132.  That same day, Berkshire shares traded at $40,800, their lowest price since mid-1997."

Nevertheless, during the dark days, Berkshire's book value increased, albeit by a small amount.  And by 2005, Berkshire's share price had more than recovered.  Buffett, however, lamented that he had not captured more profits when some of his permanent holdings were wildly overpriced.

"I made a big mistaked in not selling several of our larger holdings during the Great Bubble.  If these stocks are fully priced now, you must wonder what I was thinking four years ago when their intrinsic value was lower and their prices far higher:  So do I."

When conditions are reversed, how can an investor be sure that a stock that is undervalued by the market eventually will rise?

"When I worked for Graham-Newman, I asked Ben Graham, who then was my boss about that.  He just shrugged and replied that the market always eventually does.  He was right:  In the short run. [the market is] a voting machine, in the long run, it's a weighing machine."

"The fact that people will be full of greed, fear or fully is predictable.  The sequence is not predictable."

"The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves."

Written by:
Warren Buffett Speaks - Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor : Janet Lowe

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/shares/meet-mr-market-your-servant-not-your-guide.htm

Through investing, even a tramp can become a millionaire...

Published in Investing on 31 March 2010

Through investing, even a tramp can become a millionaire...

Earlier this week, news emerged of a remarkable man who managed to amass a sizeable fortune while living rough.

Curt Degerman, from the Swedish town of Skellefteå, died of a heart attack 18 months ago at the age of 60. Local people knew Degerman as a tramp that scraped together a living by collecting scrap metal and food and drink cans for recycling. For 40 years, he lived a solitary existence, rummaging through bins for recyclables and eating leftovers from fast-food restaurants.

However, after his death, it emerged that "Tin Can Curt" was an avid reader of the financial pages and an astute investor. By reading Dagens Industri -- the Swedish equivalent of theFinancial Times -- in his local library, Degerman invested his collected deposits carefully. On his death, his fortune was estimated at more than £1.1 million.

A predictable family feud

Somewhat inevitably, news of Degerman's secret wealth sparked a family feud among his relatives. Degerman's Will left his estate to a cousin who visited him often. However, another cousin contested the Will on the basis that his father, Degerman's uncle, was the legal heir.

A Swedish judge urged the feuding heirs not to waste their money on legal fees and, instead, reach a private arrangement, which they have now done.

What's in a tramp's portfolio?

Apparently, Degerman was an academic child, but dropped out of education and mainstream society in his late teens following personal problems. So, how had he invested his money -- and what can we learn from him?

Degerman clearly knew that investing in businesses produces the best long-term returns, as the majority of his portfolio was in stock market-listed companies. Also, he knew about tax planning, because his share portfolio (worth £731,000) was held in a Swiss bank account. Degerman also saw gold as a shrewd investment: his safety-deposit box held 124 gold bars worth £250,000.

Despite never spending any money, Degerman also had £4,300 in his current account and a further £275 of spare cash at home. Thus, despite not needing any cash, he kept some liquidity at hand, perhaps to fund his next share purchase?

Other 'wiser misers'

To me, this is a familiar tale of a 'wiser miser' who amasses considerable wealth but has no interest in spending it. Similar stories of eccentric millionaires emerge frequently, often revealed by a generous charitable donation on death.

For example, in the Motley Fool UK Investment Guide, we told the tale of Anne Scheiber, a childless New Yorker who died in 1995 at the age of 101. From working as an auditor in the US Internal Revenue Service, Scheiber noticed that the very wealthy kept a large proportion of their fortune in stocks and shares.

Despite having never earned more than $4,000 a year, this recluse turned her modest income and a $5,000 nest egg into a $22 million portfolio of blue-chip businesses. On her death, Scheiber generously donated her entire estate to New York City's Jewish Yeshiva University to establish scholarships for disadvantaged female students.

Likewise, investment genius Warren Buffett lives a simple life. Despite his personal wealth of $47 billion, placing him third on the Forbes Rich List, the 79-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway cares nothing for possessions.

In her brilliant biography of Buffett, The Snowball, Alice Schroeder describes how Buffett still lives in the modest house he bought in 1957 for $31,500. The Sage of Omaha also drives a 20-year-old car and only replaces appliances when beyond repair.

For Buffett, the important thing is to live by his own 'internal scorecard' -- the set of values and beliefs by which he measures himself and by which he wishes to be measured. Hence, just like Anne Scheiber, his friend Bill Gates of Microsoft and other tycoons, Buffett is a philanthropist. Indeed, he intends to leave his entire estate to charity.

In summary, by cutting your expenses to the bone and investing a large proportion of your take-home pay in big businesses (perhaps via a low-cost index tracker), you too could amass a sizeable fortune. However, I don't recommend taking this to extremes by living as a vagabond!

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2010/03/31/the-tale-of-the-millionaire-tramp.aspx

The Ultimate Buy and Hold Investor: Anne Scheiber

Written by Tracey

May 3, 2007 07:30 AM

Anne Scheiber, who died in 1995 at the age of 101, became an investing legend after her death.

She took $5,000 in the 1940s, invested it in the stock market, and when she died was worth $22 million. Not shabby.

How did she do it? Patience. Discipline. And investing in the best companies in America. From Time Magazine:

By the time she retired from a $3,150-a-year auditor’s job at the Internal Revenue Service in 1943, she was already investing her $5,000 savings account in a stock portfolio. During her career reviewing other people’s assets, she had noticed that most who left substantial estates had accumulated their money through common stocks. So Scheiber, who had earned a law degree and passed the Washington bar exam before joining the irs, studied the stock markets with the same precision that she had applied to reviewing tax returns.

Fond of movies, she first invested in Hollywood studios, including Universal and Paramount, and kept a tally of their attendance rates. She also bought stock in about 100 blue chips and large franchise corporations, such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and drug companies like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Schering-Plough. Her investments grew quickly, says William Fay, her stockbroker for 25 years. “After World War II, stocks really took off. While $5,000 sounds like a nominal amount, it could have increased fivefold in five years,” says Fay, who retired from Merrill Lynch two years ago. At Scheiber’s death, her portfolio had increased more than 4,000 times. Especially profitable were 1,000 shares in Schering-Plough that she had originally bought in 1950 for $10,000; by 1994 they had grown to 60,000 shares worth $4 million.

You think you can’t do it. Why not? She did.

If you hold the stock market long enough, you’ll make money. As it turns out over the last 100 years- you would have made a lot of it.

Her strategy? From Time:

Her strategy was simple: don’t worry about daily market fluctuations; reinvest dividends; hang tough.

Too many investors spend too much time obsessing over 50 cent increments in their stock price. They look at their portfolios on-line daily (sometimes hourly or several times an hour.) They fret over one 20% drop (or have a “sell” order if the stock does ever drop that much.) They don’t look to invest for the long haul- which is ten years or more.

The question to be asked, however, is: if what Anne Scheiber did seems so easy (who doesn’t know the top 50 stocks in the country right now? What if you put $100 into each tomorrow?)- where are the other Anne Scheibers?

It turns out that discpline and patience are rare attributes. Not many investors have it (or they’d all be as rich as she was.)

You can learn those skills.

Interestingly, on various websites that repeat her remarkable story, they don’t get it right. They say things like she was a billionaire when she died (um…no.) Another one said she invested a little here and there. Um…no. And others act like she didn’t know what she was doing (according to Time Magazine she actually attended shareholder meetings and asked questions.)

Just because she was a “little old lady” when she died at age 101, doesn’t mean she was clueless.

She made more money than many on Wall Street.

She proved it doesn’t take fancy insider information. It doesn’t take buying the next “great” thing (she bought established companies.) It does take buying companies that make money and holding them.

Afraid it’s too late for you because you’re, gasp, old? She was no youngster herself- beginning when she was well into middle age.

What’s your excuse?

http://traceysmarketupdate.com/2007/05/03/the-ultimate-buy-and-hold-investor-anne-scheiber/