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Strategies & Market Trends : Graham and Doddsville -- Value Investing In The New Era -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (177)	4/16/1998 7:28:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Respond to of 1722

<< All the old rules are out the window! >> [From another thread:] << SEEK +9 5/8 to 44 1/8 (was 12 in January) CMGI +8 5/8 to 94 1/2 (was 30 in January) NSCP +6 3/16 to 25 15/16 (was 17 three days ago) YHOO +6 3/4 to 125 (was 60+ at end of Feb.) XCIT +8 1/4 to 91 1/4 (was 50 in late March) LCOS +6 7/8 to 78 1/2 (was 45 at 1st of April) All the old rules are out the window! Got out of SEEK at 14. Damn. >> Excellent documention of the fact all the common sense is out the window. However, none of the old rules are out the window. The political/economic/technological context in which the rules must be applied has changed, the difficulty of measuring fundamentals has increased, but the rules are the same: the economic value of an asset is the present value of the profit it will earn for its owners. There will always be a market for pipe dreams (e.g., the popularity of Lotto). But there is no reason to fault oneself for being an investor instead of a gambler.

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (177)	4/16/1998 10:01:00 PM
From: Freedom Fighter	Respond to of 1722

> Forget issues of current value and pricing. How many of the DJIA > stocks would you feel comfortable buying IF the price were right? Only a few. I would limit my investments to only those companies that: 1. I expected to grow at an above average rate (expanding value). If there is no expansion in the value, and the market recognition of the current value comes only after several years, your compounded annual return can still be poor. Of course this concept requires that you have investment experience prior to the 90's. Now, the market recognizes value that isn't even there immediately if not sooner. 2. No technology because the value can disappear before the market recognizes the value that you invested based on. These two rules will eliminate some wonderful opportunities but they will eliminate a lot of bad investments also. In general, in a typical market environment you can find plenty enough of investments to be fully invested without leaving yourself open to either of the above disappointments.

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (177)	5/1/1998 3:49:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

<< All but MO, which eventually will be sued by everyone in the world. >> (Cont'd) Friday May 1 6:31 AM EDT Tobacco research arms targeted for shutdown NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco has filed a petition seeking to shut down the Tobacco Institute and the Council for Tobacco Research USA, two tobacco-funded research entities. Vacco, who filed the petition in state court in Manhattan on Thursday, said the two tax-exempt entities were created ostensibly to provide the public with honest research and information but instead served as propaganda arms for the industry. "CTR, disguised as a legitimate research organization, and the Tobacco Institute together fed the public a pack of lies in an underhanded effort to promote smoking and addict our kids," Vacco said. "By allowing tobacco industry lawyers to determine, or at least participate in, supposedly independent research, and influence public disclosure of its findings, CTR acted with total disregard for the law that entitled them to form as a not-for-profit," Vacco said. Vacco's petition argued that the two entities acted in a "persistently fraudulent and illegal manner by using their tax-exempt status to advance the efforts of the for-profit tobacco companies." Vacco said he filed his petitions to dissolve the research entities after major tobacco companies said they would not participate in proposed federal legislation to deal with tobacco litigation and reduce underage smoking. The attorney general was criticized this week by health groups and in a New York Times editorial for allegedly using publicly funded anti-smoking television commercials as free election-year advertising. The criticism focused on a $150,000 spot paid for by the state Department of Health in which Vacco is seen lecturing about the risks of teen-age smoking as he stands beside a photograph of a young child. Both Vacco and the Department of Health have denied the allegations.

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (177)	5/12/1998 4:00:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Respond to of 1722

MO has all the characteristics of a classic Buffett stock, except for the fact that it will eventually be sued by practically everyone in the world. For example: Tuesday May 12 12:39 PM EDT Guatemala sues tobacco companies in US HOUSTON (Reuters) - Guatemala filed suit in the United States against a handful of tobacco companies that dominate the country's cigarette market, seeking the recovery of costs for treating smoking-related illnesses, the law firm representing the country said on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges the defendants "conspired for decades to conceal scientific and medical information about the health risks" of their products, the law firm said. The companies named in the suit are Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Philip Morris Companies, the Liggett Group, B.A.T. Industries, British American Tobacco Co., and Batus Holdings. Claiming to be the first country outside the United States to sue American tobacco companies, Guatemala's Attorney General Acisclo Valladares Molina filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The suit, filed by the law firm Fleming, Hovenkamp & Grayson, P.C., also names as defendants The Tobacco Institute and the Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A. The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants violated the provisions of the U.S. Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Guatemala, without giving exact figures, requests in the suit triple the amount of damages that it claims it suffered as a result of the defendants' alleged actions. A statement from the law firm, which also represents Louisiana and Georgia in cases against tobacco companies, claims that two of the defendants control most of the Guatemalan cigarette market. Philip Morris has more than 70 percent market share through its Tabacalera Centroamericana subsidiary, S.A. Also, British American Tobacco Co., parent of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., has more than 20 percent market share through its Tabacalera Nacional, S.A. subsidiary. Attorney George Fleming said the tobacco industry, which has been ensnared in a host of multi-billion dollar lawsuits in the United States, must take responsibility for the health care expenses that have come from tobacco products that "...continue to kill and injure untold millions of Guatemalan citizens."