Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jurgis Bekepuris who wrote (10356)	4/16/2000 3:32:00 PM
From: Michael Burry	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 78512

Jurgis, your position is clarified, and I agree. When the market really falls, I go for quality. As the non-tech market has fallen sharply over the last 6 mos, I've already been doing that, slowly phasing out of my Graham mode and into my Buffett mode. Last night, I finished compiling a list of techs that I would like to own. I see one, Symantec, that is interesting to me at current prices, and then only because I know it pretty well from legal inside info. The pharms are not near where I would buy yet. TSG I am buying Monday. I was trying to buy it below 34 Friday but never could. DNB I own. RAL I just don't "get" yet. But on the whole Jurgis, I'm with you. I don't believe you're on the wrong thread. Mike

To: Jurgis Bekepuris who wrote (10356)	4/16/2000 7:41:00 PM
From: James Clarke	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78512

Wow - Jurgis, great post. That is something to think about hard. I bought some RAL Friday not down a whole lot, but I also bought a very low quality stock because it is a net-net (GTSI). If the stocks you mentioned were anywhere close to my buy range, I wouldn't have done that, but as you said, they're not. I have considered this question and probably go half and half - as extreme bargains emerge, buy them, but keep some cash in reserve to buy the great ones when they come in. I kind of look at my holdings in REITs, Homestake Mining, and in Tice's Prudent Bear fund as "better than cash" - i.e. REITs and Homestake may go up, Prudent Bear will definitely go up if things get ugly enough to pull Merck and Coke into my price range. Then I reverse the trade.

To: Jurgis Bekepuris who wrote (10356)	4/20/2000 1:32:00 AM
From: Michael Burry	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78512

Today, I did buy Symantec as my first pure tech holding since Oracle and Apple. Only in one of my portfolios, in which the owner wants to be more aggressive. But I did buy it. The reason I am attracted to it is that they are not only a growing tech company at a reasonable multiple well below their 5-year sustainable growth rate, but like my Apple and Oracle picks last year, they are not being recognized for two big things: 1)Many still think of Norton Utilities and its second-banana Antivirus product. It has expanded into much more than that, and dominantly. There is much growth left and it is not Y2K or PC dependent. It doesn't seem that this is priced into the stock, for whatever reason. 2)Cost controls at the company are excellent. The company is just about the only tech player in Silicon Valley who does not think money is water to be thrown on every fire. Very little excess. The company works from a tight working capital base, keeping minimal inventories and tight credit with customers. After I bought, the company beat estimates by 10 cents. I was hoping it would fall lower so I could get a chance to add it in some other portfolios, but it does not look like that will happen. Here's hoping for another Nasdaq crash. Mike