"Price is what you pay, value is what you get"  - Charlie Munger


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

Woodstock for capitalists 2008 blog
http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/blogs/post.aspx?App=Berkshire&postid=2512990&t1=1209873669
"A shareholder asked how one can correct one's mind set away from
a crowd mentality. Mr. Buffett said to read and re-read Ben
Graham's The Intelligent Investor. He specifically said that
chapters 8 and 20 are most poignant, but that the lessons from the
book are as relevant today as they were when he first read Graham's
book when he was 19 years old. He also said there are basically
three lessons to take away from the book: (1) Think of stocks
as owning parts of a business, (2) Use the market to serve you
rather than instruct you, and (3) Always require a margin of
safety when investing. In today's environment, these principles are
critical, and I especially think the second one is important to
remember, as, in my opinion, it can help investors tune out the
rampant noise in the market, helping them improve their
investment temperament over time."

Updates from the annual meeting
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=10307649
"Qwest Center Omaha is filled to the rafters with Berkshire
Hathaway shareholders. More than 30,000 people were expected to hear
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger talk about the holding company
that includes brand names like Benjamin Moore paints and Dairy
Queen ice cream stores."

Interview  with Warren Buffett
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24427633/site/14081545
"CNBC's Becky Quick sits down with Warren Buffett to discuss the
upcoming shareholder meeting, which starts Friday night and runs
through Monday. Buffett refers to the annual event as
"Woodstock for Capitalists.""

Warren Buffett deal interview
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24352706/site/14081545/
"I think we're in a recession. I mean, a recession is defined in
a certain way by the National Bureau of Economic Research, but I
think it's defined by the man in the street a little
differently than whether there have been two quarters of reported
(negative) GDP growth. And incidentally, when GDP growth is below 1% a
year it's really falling on a per capita basis because our
population increases about one percent. So even though the National
Bureau uses an absolute figure, it's up one-tenth they don't count
that as a recessionary quarter, but the GDP per capita has gone
down in a quarter where the gain is half a percent or something
of the sort. We are in a recession, unless you want to stick
strictly to the technical definition, which I really don't think
has much meaning to the fellow who has lost his job or is facing
a money-market fund that isn't paying him out, or whatever it
might be."

Meet the Buffetts
http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/meet-the-buffetts_home/
"Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting happens May 3rd in Omaha
and, once again, the company's billionaire chairman and CEO, Warren
Buffett, will be in the spotlight. Last year, NBR brought
viewers an interview with Buffett. This year, anchor Susie Gharib
interviews Buffett's three children to find out what their father
taught them about money and business."

New advice from on high
http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/04/29/croesus-chronicles-buffett-oped-cz_rl_0430croesus.html
"Everyone will be delighted to hear the details of the minority
interest in the Mars-Wrigley candy giant that was made public
this week. They will hang on to every hint of the future for
Berkshire's huge position in railroad stocks (already profitable) and
its staged acquisition of Marmon Group, which owns and leases
94,000 rail cars that must be used to carry the increasingly
valuable coal from coast to coast. Think replay of 19th century
railroad magnate here without the watered down stock and internecine
battles with ruthless competitors." [I was uncertain about
linking this one because of its focus on capital gains. Include
dividends, which have historically been a major source of profits for
stock investors, and the record of past returns improves
dramatically.]

Pay the taxman by midnight or else!
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/wealthyboomer/archive/2008/04/30/t-day-pay-the-taxman-by-midnight-or-else.aspx
"Today of course is T-day in Canada: the annual tax filing
deadline. If you owe the Canada Revenue Agency income taxes for
calendar 2007, the penalty and interest clock starts ticking at
midnight: the moment April 30th turns into May 1st. If the CRA owes
you there is less urgency but if you have a refund coming, the
sooner you file your tax return the sooner you can cash the cheque
and put your money to work."

Warren Buffett - in 1974
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/04/30/warren-buffett-profile-invest-oped-cx_hs_0430buffett.html
"Stay dispassionate and be patient is Buffett's message. "You're
dealing with a lot of silly people in the marketplace; it's like
a great big casino and everyone else is boozing. If you can
stick with Pepsi, you should be OK." First the crowd is boozy on
optimism and buying every new issue in sight. The next moment it
is boozy on pessimism, buying gold bars and predicting another
Great Depression."

Fee-only must mean just that
http://www.nationalpost.com/story-printer.html?id=478110
"Canadian financial planners should eliminate the ambiguity by
scrapping the phrase "fee-only" when charging fees computed as a
percentage of client assets. Instead, they should use the term
"asset-based," which is far less confusing for clients."

House prices decline
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agQQsnDV3HII&refer=home
"House prices dropped 2.6 percent in February from a month
earlier, after a 2.4 percent decline in January, the S&P/Case- Shiller
report showed. The figures aren't adjusted for seasonal
effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes
instead of month-to-month. The group's 10-city composite index, with a
history back to 1987, fell 13.6 percent in the 12 months ended
in February, also the most on record. Nineteen of the 20 cities
in the index showed a year-over- year decrease in prices for
February, led by a 23 percent slump in Las Vegas and a 22 percent
decline in Miami. Charlotte was the only area showing a gain with
a 1.5 percent increase. Compared with January, homes in all 20
areas covered dropped in value."

Economy in a recession, will be worse than feared
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-04-28-buffett-recession_N.htm
"'This is not a field of specialty for me, but my general feeling
is that the recession will be longer and deeper than most
people think,' Buffett said. 'This will not be short and shallow.' 'I
think consumers are feeling gas and food prices,' he added,
'and not feeling they've got a lot of money for other things.'"

One guy who has seen it all
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120916592206646195.html?mod=psp_mostpop
"Today's trouble, the 89-year-old Mr. Bernstein says, is worse
than he has seen since the Depression and threatens to roil
markets into 2009 and beyond -- longer than many people expect."

Mars agrees to buy Wrigley
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aItpBAev9JAw&refer=home
"The purchase will be financed with $11 billion from Mars, $4.4
billion from Berkshire and $5.7 billion from Goldman Sachs Group
Inc. Berkshire will also buy a $2.1 billion stake in the Wrigley
unit once the purchase is completed."


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*
========================================== === === === === === ======
Biovail (BVF)                               5   5   3   5   5    5
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                      3   4   4   1   5    5
National Bank of Canada (NA)                3   4   5   4   5    5
CIBC (CM)                                   2   4   5   4   5    5
Royal Bank (RY)                             4   3   4   5   5    5
BCE (BCE)                                   5   3   4   5   5    5
TransCanada (TRP)                           3   4   3   4   5    5
Telus (T)                                   4   4   4   5   5    5
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                   3   3   3   1   5    5
Husky Energy (HSE)                          4   2   3   4   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
========================================== === === === === === =====
Biovail (BVF)                               5   5   3   5   5   0.7
Thomson (TOC)                               5   5   2   2   4   1.9
BCE (BCE)                                   5   3   4   5   5   1.9
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                      3   4   4   1   5   2.4
Royal Bank (RY)                             4   3   4   5   5   3.1
Husky Energy (HSE)                          4   2   3   4   4   3.2
Telus (T)                                   4   4   4   5   5   3.2
National Bank of Canada (NA)                3   4   5   4   5   3.4
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                   3   3   3   1   5   3.4
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)                  4   3   3   2   4   3.5
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/valueratio.shtml 

Graham Stocks                              P/E P/B P/D   G$   dG$(%)
========================================== === === === ====== ======
ACE Aviation (ACE.B)                        5   5   0   93.22 381.03
MDS Inc. (MDS)                              5   5   0   47.34 134.37
Thomson (TOC)                               5   5   4   55.77  48.79
Biovail (BVF)                               5   5   5   16.15  31.62
Nova (NCX)                                  5   4   3   35.98  31.14
Magna Cl.A (MG.A)                           4   5   3  104.30  30.45
Petro Canada (PCA)                          5   4   2   60.51  17.71
BCE (BCE)                                   5   3   5   41.35  10.70
Weston George (WN)                          4   5   4   51.49   3.19
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/graham.shtml 

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

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Books for Stingy Investors

Value Investing: A Balanced Approach
by Martin J. Whitman

Value Investing encourages investors to cast off the tyranny of
earnings and to focus instead on balance sheets and book values.
Well-capitalised firms can withstand an occasional headwind and
can be excellent values provided that they are bought for
reasonable prices. Safe and cheap are the driving factors for value
investors. Although Whitman's prose is occasionally a bit dry, his
useful ideas makes Value Investing well worth reading.
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471398101/


Stock Research From Dan Hallett & Associates

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http://www.rotheryreport.com/ 

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  Average Capital Gain    Average Holding Period
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http://www.rotheryreport.com/store/store.shtml

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



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ISSN 1499-2795 Copyright Dan Hallett and Associates Inc., 2008.
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
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