Dan, I think the Japanese Webs, EWJ, are a bargain, though not as big a bargain as they were where I bought my first third. I prefer the smaller cap stocks, but there really isn't any good way to play them in a diversified portfolio.
An 8 PE isn't bad, but for highly cyclical cos. like autos, it also isn't a world beater. Whenever I start to think that US auto cos are cheap, I always remember that they don't really make very good products. They are sort of the Packard-Bell of the auto industry. I think Ford's products, across the board, are better than GMs (ex the Toyota Corolla based Prism and the Saturn, which I never figured out how they could make so well), but they certainly lag the big 3 Japanese producers in quality and reliability. Even some of the European cars are better. So, I usually don't buy these cos. I have a thing for quality in the products of the cos I own. That isn't always smart, because as the secret motto at Chrysler says, "crap sells." -g- MB |
