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

To: E_K_S who wrote (44425)	9/20/2011 7:53:18 PM
From: Paul Senior	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78516

EKS, I note many utilities hitting new highs today. I will just step up on my soapbox one more time: It is amazing to me that so many people use the S&P as their index and their bogey. "I beat the S&P (500) by such-and-such for so-and-so many years". That's what people want to say. When in fact, the S&P has done rather poorly, and poorly compared to utility indexes. "Everybody" wants to say they beat the 500 -- the "best" or "strongest" or "largest" or "most well known USA" companies: the S&P. And nobody who wants to claim any expertise as a stock picker or financial advisor wants to say they compare themselves to a "dull/prosaic" utility index. Or for heaven's sake have to be put in a position where they have to admit they can't even consistently beat some widows/orphans utility index. And given that many funds/advisors can't beat the S&P, or only beat it by very little, it's my opinion, that if somebody says or presumes or intends to be a good stock picker, they might get a dose of reality if they compare themselves to what utility stocks have done over any five year, ten year, or longer period. Utilities have just been very very good ltb&h stocks, dividend stocks, and short-term trading stocks. Too bad for me, I came to this knowledge late in life.