"Value stocks are about as exciting as watching grass grow. But
have you ever noticed just how much your grass grows in a week?"  - Christopher Browne


New @ StingyInvestor


Tumbling the valuations
http://www.advisor.ca/advisors/investments/marketinsights/article.jsp?content=20090127_205121_46788
"I staggered into this December's CFA conference on Equity
Research and Valuation Techniques in desperate need of a tonic. The
great crash was in full swing and once-mighty companies had
crumbled under the mountainous weight of dodgy debts. Here's what some
of the leading lights of the industry had to say about these
troubled times."


Stingy Links
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/articles/articlearchive.shtml

A 10-year stretch that's worse than it looks
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/business/07charts.html?_r=1
"Over the 10 years through January, an investor holding the
stocks in the S.& P.'s 500-stock index, and reinvesting the
dividends, would have lost about 5.1 percent a year after adjusting for
inflation, as is shown in the accompanying chart. Until now, the
worst 10-year period, by that measure, was the period that ended
September 1974, with a compound annual decline of 4.3 percent."

Move over, subprime
http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13061713
"Rotten as Alt-A loans are, worse may be to come. As unemployment
in America heads towards 8%, even strongly underwritten loans
will go bad. Bankers are growing increasingly anxious about the
$1.1 trillion of prime mortgage loans and securities, much of
which they held on to themselves, assuming it to be bombproof."

Longleaf Q4 2008
http://www.longleafpartners.com/pdfs/AnnualReportLetter02.06.09.pdf
"Academicians Eugene Fama and Kenneth French recently published a
study that found that value stocks have declined two years in a
row only five times: during the Great Depression in 1929-32; at
the beginning of WWII in 1939-41; during the Arab oil embargo
of 1973-74; when the Internet bubble popped in 2001-02; and now
as the housing bubble deflates. Following the four prior periods,
stocks snapped back by an average of 60% in the next 12
months."

Ultimate bargain-hunter never had it so good
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8667131a-f47f-11dd-8e76-0000779fd2ac.html
"While Mr Buffett's October letter alluded strictly to a decision
to add stocks to his personal investment account, the search
for a higher return than what cash provides is a strategy he has
embraced recently at Berkshire, too. 'I'll follow the lead of a
restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then
advertised: "Put your mouth where your money was",' Mr Buffett wrote.
'Today my money and my mouth say equities.'"

Banker bashing gives cover to bigger culprits
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_reilly&sid=akQHGe4jT8fs
"The problem is this game of pin-the-blame-on-the-banker gives
cover to those who deserve a far greater share of the blame for
this crisis -- the people whose job it was and is to set the rules
of the game and keep things from getting out of hand."

Using the price-to-book ratio
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/feb2009/pi2009025_030749.htm
"Price-to-book ratios have been studied extensively, with some
studies suggesting a low price-to-book can lead to a strong stock
price rise in the future."

Value investing comes back into vogue
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7b523338-f47f-11dd-8e76-0000779fd2ac.html
"The celebrated value investor Warren Buffett stepped back on to
the investment trail this week as his parent company Berkshire
Hathaway injected SFr3bn ($2.6bn) in fresh capital into the
struggling insurer Swiss Re. The deal, which will pay Buffett hefty
annual interest and give him the right to raise his stake at an
attractive price, is a sign that the billionaire investor has not
lost his appetite for financial stocks."

Are dividends in dire straits?
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/feb2009/pi2009025_786134.htm
"Many companies, especially banks, have had to slash or eliminate
payouts. How low will dividends go?"

Stumbling on entitlement
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303634.html
"For the American public, Daschle became the latest symbol of
everything that is wrong with Washington -- the influence-peddling
and corner-cutting and sacrifice of the public good to private
interest. Now that this system has let them down, and left them
poorer and anxious about the future, people are angry about it
and no longer willing to accept the corruption of the public
process and the whole notion of public service."

The death of equity
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/02/05/52099/the-death-of-equity/
"Global equities have returned -29% this decade, compared to 80%
from government bonds. We.ve seen two 50% equity bear markets in
just five years. This combination of miserable returns and
extreme volatility has led some to pronounce that, after 50 years,
the cult of the equity is dead."

Fish shares and sharing fish
http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/guest-column-fish-shares-and-sharing-fish/
"With their lasting stake in the fishery, and through their close
bonds of community, the Seri have approximated the sole owner:
they have managed their resource for sustainable yield rather
than short-term gain, and today, Infiernillo Channel harbors the
richest shellfish beds in the region. The narrow channel is easy
for the Seri to patrol. By contrast, the tribe's other
fisheries, on the opposite side of Isla Tiburon, are open to the sea and
therefore difficult to monitor. Consequently, those waters have
remained accessible to all. And, as you might have predicted,
the shellfish populations there have collapsed to levels
comparable with other locations in the Gulf. The two sides of Isla Tiburn
are thus like a case-control study in the benefits of secure
ownership of a fishery."

Buffett's metric says it's time to buy
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/04/magazines/fortune/buffett_metric.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009020409
"Is it time to buy U.S. stocks? According to both this 85-year
chart and famed investor Warren Buffett, it just might be."

19 million U.S. homes vacant in 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKufqJK9j1cY&refer=home
"A record 19 million U.S. homes stood empty at the end of 2008
and homeownership fell to an eight-year low as banks seized homes
faster than they could sell them. The number of vacant homes
climbed 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period a
year ago, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a report today. The share
of empty homes that are for sale rose to 2.9 percent, the most
in data that goes back to 1956. The homeownership rate fell to
67.5 percent, matching the rate in the first quarter of 2001."

IBM to move laid off workers to India
http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/outsourcing/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000389
"The climate is warm, there's no shortage of exotic food, and the
cost of living is rock bottom. That's IBM's pitch to the
laid-off American workers it's offering to place in India. The catch:
Wages in the country are pennies-on-the-dollar compared to U.S.
salaries. Under a program called Project Match, IBM will help
workers laid off from domestic sites obtain travel and visa
assistance for countries in which Big Blue has openings. Mostly that's
developing markets like India, China, and Brazil."

Life at Wal-Mart
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/01/life-at-walmart.html
"The picture above is of me, finishing my shift at the world.s
largest retailer. How did I move from being a senior writer at
Wired magazine to an entry-level position in a company that is
reviled by almost all living journalists? It started when I read
Nickel and Dimed, in which Atlantic contributor Barbara Ehrenreich
denounces the exploitation of minimum-wage workers in America.
Somehow her book didn.t ring true to me, and I wondered to what
extent a preconceived agenda might have biased her reporting.
Hence my application for a job at the nearest Wal-Mart."

Uncharted waters
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13047559
"The net result is that the market is pricing in a pretty severe
outcome. American dividends more than halved between 1929 and
1931, but that was an extreme low; they have increased more than a
hundredfold in nominal terms since then. According to Mr Long,
the market is not expecting any dividend growth after 2010. Even
in the depression, dividends more than doubled between 1931 and
1936. Figures from Britain, which date back to 1900, show that
the biggest single fall in payouts was in 1919, when dividends
fell 47%, but they more than doubled the following year. So the
outlook for dividends, as reflected in swap prices, is
historically unprecedented."

California delays payments
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/02/news/economy/california_budget_crisis/index.htm?postversion=2009020216
"Running short of cash, California has started delaying $3.5
billion in payments to taxpayers, contractors, counties and social
service agencies. . . . And because of California's financial
woes, credit rating agencies are taking a dim view of the state.
Moody's warned in mid-January it might downgrade California's
general obligation bond rating because of its budget and liquidity
problems. If this happens, it will become even costlier for
California to borrow." [California and bust!]




Tip Sheet
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/tipsheet.shtml

Unwanted Partners
http://www.ndir.com/SI/strategy/tipsheet/02-05-2009-Unwanted-Partners.shtml
Don't forget fees, taxes, and inflation when investing.  If
you do, you might not earn much over the long run.

Dividend Downturn
http://www.ndir.com/SI/strategy/tipsheet/02-02-2009-Dividend-Downturn.shtml
Dividend investors better hope that we're not in for a repeat
of the early 1930s.

Dividend Growth
http://www.ndir.com/SI/strategy/tipsheet/01-30-2009-Dividend-Growth.shtml
Big Canadian dividend growth stocks

Low PE10 Stocks
http://www.ndir.com/SI/strategy/tipsheet/01-30-2009-Low-PE10-Stocks.shtml
Canadian value stocks with low P/E10 ratios

Canadian Losers
http://www.ndir.com/SI/strategy/tipsheet/01-30-2009-Canadian-Losers.shtml
James Montier's screen for shaky stocks applied to Canada




DOW 30 Value Screens
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy.shtml 

High Dividend Yield Stocks                   P/E P/B P/S P/D Yield
============================================ === === === === =====
General Electric  (GE)                        5   4   4   5    5
Pfizer  (PFE)                                 2   4   2   5    5
Alcoa  (AA)                                   0   5   5   5    5
EI DuPont  (DD)                               3   2   4   5    5
AT&T  (T)                                     2   4   2   5    5
Verizon  (VZ)                                 1   3   3   4    4
JP Morgan Chase  (JPM)                        1   5   2   4    4
Caterpillar  (CAT)                            5   2   5   4    4
Merck  (MRK)                                  5   2   1   4    4
Kraft  (KFT)                                  2   3   3   4    4
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/dogs.shtml 

Value Ratio Stocks                           P/E P/B P/S P/D  VR
============================================ === === === === =====
General Electric  (GE)                        5   4   4   5   0.5
Caterpillar  (CAT)                            5   2   5   4   1.1
Pfizer  (PFE)                                 2   4   2   5   1.4
EI DuPont  (DD)                               3   2   4   5   1.6
Merck  (MRK)                                  5   2   1   4   1.7
Chevron  (CVX)                                5   4   4   3   1.8
AT&T  (T)                                     2   4   2   5   1.9
American Express  (AXP)                       5   4   3   4   1.9
Verizon  (VZ)                                 1   3   3   4   2.4
3M  (MMM)                                     4   1   2   3   2.8
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/valueratio.shtml 

Graham Stocks                            P/E P/B P/D   G$   dG$(%)
======================================== === === === ====== ======
Bank of America  (BAC)                    3   5   1   21.20 245.85
General Electric  (GE)                    5   4   5   19.93  79.57
Walt Disney  (DIS)                        4   5   1   30.54  57.00
Chevron  (CVX)                            5   4   3  107.23  43.16
American Express  (AXP)                   5   4   4   23.59  31.54
JP Morgan Chase  (JPM)                    1   5   4   35.37  28.00
Pfizer  (PFE)                             2   4   5   16.63  12.06
Caterpillar  (CAT)                        5   2   4   36.83  10.67
AT&T  (T)                                 2   4   5   28.70  10.03
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/graham.shtml 



S&P/TSX60 Value Screens
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy.shtml 

High Dividend Yield Stocks              P/E P/B P/S P/C P/D Yield*
======================================= === === === === === ======
Nova (NCX)                               5   5   5   5   5    5
Biovail (BVF)                            1   2   1   2   5    5
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                   3   4   4   2   5    5
CIBC (CM)                                0   3   2   0   5    5
National Bank of Canada (NA)             4   4   4   0   5    5
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                3   3   3   5   5    5
Royal Bank (RY)                          3   3   3   4   5    5
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)               4   4   3   5   5    5
BCE (BCE)                                4   4   3   4   5    5
Sun Life (SLF)                           2   5   4   3   4    4
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/dogs.shtml 

Value Ratio Stocks                       P/E P/B P/S P/C P/D  VR
======================================== === === === === === =====
Nova (NCX)                                5   5   5   5   5   0.0
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                    3   4   4   2   5   0.9
BCE (BCE)                                 4   4   3   4   5   1.0
National Bank of Canada (NA)              4   4   4   0   5   1.1
Petro Canada (PCA)                        5   5   5   4   3   1.2
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)                4   4   3   5   5   1.3
Husky Energy (HSE)                        5   2   3   4   4   1.4
Royal Bank (RY)                           3   3   3   4   5   1.4
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                 3   3   3   5   5   1.5
Telus (T)                                 3   3   3   4   4   1.6
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/valueratio.shtml 

Graham Stocks                            P/E P/B P/D   G$   dG$(%)
======================================== === === === ====== ======
Nova (NCX)                                5   5   5   34.98 1658.0
Teck Cominco Limited (TCK.B)              5   5   0   39.92 654.54
Petro Canada (PCA)                        5   5   3   81.89 177.20
Inmet Mining (IMN)                        5   5   1   71.72 174.68
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM)          5   4   2   78.53 155.81
Talisman Energy (TLM)                     5   4   2   25.53  99.33
Nexen Inc. (NXY)                          5   4   2   35.29  91.25
Canadian Tire (CTC.A)                     4   5   2   67.40  67.98
BCE (BCE)                                 4   4   5   40.86  63.56
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                    3   4   5   52.27  63.08
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)                4   4   5   64.69  62.55
Canadian Pacific Rail (CP)                4   4   3   64.82  62.08
Magna Cl.A (MG.A)                         2   5   3   60.07  60.71
Agrium (AGU)                              5   3   1   75.35  60.35
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ)          4   3   1   71.42  57.21
National Bank of Canada (NA)              4   4   5   55.91  53.44
Husky Energy (HSE)                        5   2   4   45.22  49.54
Sun Life (SLF)                            2   5   4   35.92  42.55
Manulife (MFC)                            3   4   4   29.44  38.67
Suncor Energy (SU)                        4   3   1   35.33  38.62
Encana (ECA)                              4   3   4   78.05  38.61
Telus (T)                                 3   3   4   43.91  28.13
Royal Bank (RY)                           3   3   5   40.15  27.41
Bombardier Cl.B (BBD.B)                   4   1   3    4.16  19.91
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                 3   3   5   36.11  18.09
Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL)              3   2   0   14.13   9.72
TransCanada (TRP)                         2   3   4   35.69   5.53
CN Railway (CNR)                          3   2   2   47.00   1.45
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/graham.shtml 

*Notes: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/notes.shtml 


Switch to the HTML version if the tables aren't formatted properly.
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/cgi-bin/email.cgi 



Books for Stingy Investors

A Random Walk Down Wall Street
by Burton G. Malkiel

Take a random walk down Wall Street and you'll learn a great deal
about market history and current market theory. This book
provides an excellent introduction to the markets and gives readers a
good grounding in the efficient market hypothesis. Along the
way Malkiel makes a very strong case for indexing but even active
investors will find a great deal of useful information in his
book.
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393325350/


Stock Research From Dan Hallett & Associates

The Rothery Report
http://www.rotheryreport.com/ 

The Rothery Report provides research on select deep-value stocks in
North America. Discover overlooked and undervalued stocks in quarterly
investment reports which provide detailed analysis of Canadian and
U.S. stocks.  Weekly email news and additional updates keep
subscribers informed about new opportunities and developments.

Rothery Report Performance (03/31/2001 to 12/31/2008)
  Average Capital Gain    Average Holding Period
          26.5%                   2.3 Years

Learn More
http://www.rotheryreport.com/store/store.shtml

Subscribe Today
http://www.rotheryreport.com/store/order.shtml 



If you'd like to suggest The Stingy News to a friend, please point them to:
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/cgi-bin/email.cgi

Please visit the StingyInvestor website at
http://www.stingyinvestor.com
To (un)subscribe please use our email centre at
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/cgi-bin/email.cgi
Email comments or questions to
info@stingyinvestor.com
Refer to legal & conflict of interest disclaimers at
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/legal.shtml 
Privacy Policy 
http://www.ndir.com/SI/legal/privacy.shtml 
We do not rent or sell our email list to third parties.

ISSN 1499-2795 Copyright Norman Rothery, 2009.  All rights
reserved. The securities mentioned in this report are not appropriate
for all investors. Consult your professional investment advisor before
making any investment decision.  While all reasonable effort is made
to ensure the accuracy of information and data contained herein,
accuracy can not be guaranteed. Past performance is not a good
predictor of future performance.  Results are not guaranteed and we
assume no liability whatsoever for any material losses that may occur.
No compensation for suggesting particular securities or financial
advisors is solicited or accepted.  The information in this
newsletter, and in its related website, is not intended to be, nor
does it constitute, financial advice or recommendations.  Investing in
stocks can be risky and may result in substantial losses.  Norm or
related-parties may have an interest in the securities mentioned.