Wallace, I've been the YPF promoter on this board, now down over 10 points from where I bought it. This is just the whole "avoid foreign stocks" issue. Telebras, Deswell, New Holland. It doesn't matter the country. If it's not the US, or even if it is in some cases, then valuation doesn't matter. People just don't want to be there.
After having a personal-worst 5% down day a few weeks ago, I'm down nearly 5% today. I haven't bought hardly any new stocks for four months. Many of mine are down 50% and they keep falling. Every time the market crashes like this, I check my portfolio to see if for once I am outperforming to the downside, and so far this year I have yet to do so. Last year I did it only by being up to 50% cash. Today with the market down 3%, I thought, with how beaten down my stocks are and with a moderately differentiated portfolio of value stocks with fat yields, I have to be down less than that. Checked my portfolio and instead I'm down 50% more than the market. Are any value investors having any luck out there? Is anyone finding a margin of safety that is protecting them. Cash doesn't really count. I'm just looking for someone with a portfolio of value stocks that is mostly invested and still is outperforming the market this year on big down days.
Anyone interested in discussing what a margin of safety is? Value has lost big the last decade, and in the three real tests (90-91, last fall, and this summer) value stocks have done much worse than the indexes.
Mike |
