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

To: James Clarke who wrote (2543)	11/27/1997 3:52:00 PM
From: jeffbas	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 78615

<< at less than 50% of very real book value >> I just took a look at latest 10Q balance sheet. It looks like well over 100% of book value is in fixed assets. I have no idea what used steel plants are going for these days, but years ago when there was too much capacity they were not worth much. Also commodity producers do and should carry low P/E's on earnings. Be careful. As an example, I own some shares of CALM, the largest company in the country in the commodity business of egg production. It is "laying" there at less than 5 times last fiscal year earnings, and maybe 5-7 times current fiscal year earnings - probably flat or down - and nobody wants it.

To: James Clarke who wrote (2543)	11/27/1997 4:06:00 PM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78615

James: WHX. Okay bv is real per your analysis. Yet,stock has sold for 1/2 book value (on avg) 6 of past 7 years. One year it sold at bv. Okay, sell when horse can walk - I can see that. Just seems like horse limps (at 1/2 bv) much more than it walks (on avg.) Okay, stock has earned $2 per share couple of times. Each time pe was (avg) at 5. My point is: based on past averages, stock is about where it has been and regardless, not worth putting 20% of portfolio on. Your point is that it will trade above averages and when it does walk, you'll sell. If it does then you've gone on - learned from and built upon what Graham says. My point is that Graham says - in Everything I've read about how he operates - you should buy a package of these type stocks. Now if/when WHX moves to 20 and you retire from the profits, I will still be saying (in addition to saying I admire your courage and bemoaning my own lack) that to my ears, something is/was not sounding good about it: Somehow I associate these words together (esp. on this thread)-- Graham, Value, Prudence. To my mind you've got the Value right, but you've missed the Prudence. JMO, Paul.