"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


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

The naked truth about tax shelters
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20070908/STCESTNICK08
"There's no shortage of promoters in Canada today who are happy to provide
tax opinions on their strategies, written by reputable legal and
accounting firms, and may even provide other evidence supporting the tax deductions
or credits being claimed. The problem? Those opinions and that evidence
is not worth the paper it's written on if the strategy should have been
registered as a tax shelter with Canada Revenue but wasn't. If you're
considering a tax strategy that's being marketed by a promoter, it's just as
important to ask for a legal opinion on whether the strategy is defined to be
a tax shelter (if no TSIN has been applied for) as it is to read the tax
opinion on the strategy itself."

Warren Buffett MBA Talk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfuXKpMFUjc&mode=related&search=
See Warren's address to MBA students on You Tube in 10 parts.

Dividend deluxe
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20070908/STMAIN08
"Brace yourself for this because it's powerful stuff. If you buy the shares
of a dividend grower today, in a decade you could be enjoying a
tax-efficient flow of income with a double-digit yield. Bonds and guaranteed
investment certificates offered double-digit yields back in the early 1990s, but
it's hard to see that happening again any time soon. Income trusts
commonly offered double-digit yields at one time, but mainly the weaker names do
today. Anyway, few trusts offer the same level of blue-chip quality as
the best dividend growers."

Debugging Wall Street's funky math
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/06/magazines/fortune/eavis_level3.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007090710
"In the first half of the year, most Wall Street firms awarded themselves
large profits from assets that are rarely traded and difficult to price,
according to numbers contained in the brokerages' recent financial
statements. But, with markets seizing up since the end of June, those assets could
be even harder to value, potentially prompting investors and regulators to
question Wall Street's earnings."

Index investing isn't passive
http://behaviouralinvesting.blogspot.com/2007/09/something-boglehead-wouldnt-want-you-to.html
"Just for the record, Bogleheads are die-hard devotees of index investing.
Occassionally someone will mistake my criticisms of much of the active
management industry for support of the Bogleheads' position. However, this
isn't the case. In fact I reject pretty much all the foundations that index
investing is built upon (see Chapter 35 of Behavioural Investing). The
only exception is that the Bogleheads are quite right to point out the
importance of minimising costs."

Persistence of myths
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300933_pf.html
"The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a
flier to combat myths about the flu vaccine. It recited various commonly
held views and labeled them either "true" or "false." Among those identified
as false were statements such as "The side effects are worse than the
flu" and "Only older people need flu vaccine." When University of Michigan
social psychologist Norbert Schwarz had volunteers read the CDC flier,
however, he found that within 30 minutes, older people misremembered 28 percent
of the false statements as true. Three days later, they remembered 40
percent of the myths as factual. Younger people did better at first, but
three days later they made as many errors as older people did after 30
minutes. Most troubling was that people of all ages now felt that the source of
their false beliefs was the respected CDC."

Confessions of a credit-card pusher
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/sep2007/db2007094_967042.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives
"Politicians and college administrators are growing increasingly concerned
about the damage that credit-card debt is causing students, and they're
trying to crack down on some of the card companies' practices. They're
limiting marketing on some campuses and trying to restrict the size of credit
lines extended to students. Earlier this year, the state legislatures in
Texas, Oklahoma, and New York moved to clamp down on credit-card marketing
to college students"

Cost of living now outweighs benefits
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30975
"A report released Monday by the Federal Consumer Quality-Of-Life Control
Board indicates that the cost of living now outstrips life's benefits for
many Americans. "This is sobering news," said study director Jack Farness.
"For the first time, we have statistical evidence of what we've suspected
for the past 40 years: Life really isn't worth living."" [Dark humour]

2007 Wesco notes
http://www.tilsonfunds.com/Whitney%20Tilson's%20notes%20from%20the%202007%20Wesco%20annual%20meeting-5-9-07.pdf
"Railroads - now that's an example of changing our minds. Warren and I have
hated railroads our entire life. They're capital-intensive, heavily
unionized, with some make-work rules, heavily regulated, and long competed with
a comparative disadvantage vs. the trucking industry, which has a very
efficient method of propulsion (diesel engines) and uses free public roads.
Railroads have long been a terrible business and have been lousy for
investors. We did finally change our minds and invested. We threw out our
paradigms, but did it too late. We should have done it two years ago, but we
were too stupid to do it at the most ideal time. There's a German saying:
Man is too soon old and too late smart. We were too late smart. We finally
realized that railroads now have a huge competitive advantage, with double
stacked railcars, guided by computers, moving more and more production
from China, etc. They have a big advantage over truckers in huge classes of
business."

The history Of labor day
http://www.forbes.com/home/lifestyle/2007/08/30/labor-day-history-forbeslife-cx_ml_0830mayday.html
"Most of the world marks Labor Day on May 1 with parades and rallies.
Americans celebrate it in early September, by heading to the beach or firing up
the grill. Why the discrepancy? Here's a hint: The answer would have been
a great disappointment to Frederick Engels."


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)                                   3   4   2   5   5    5
National Bank of Canada (NA)                    5   5   4   3   5    5
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                          4   4   3   3   5    5
TransCanada (TRP)                               3   4   2   4   5    5
Royal Bank (RY)                                 4   3   3   2   5    5
CIBC (CM)                                       5   2   4   2   5    5
BCE (BCE)                                       3   3   3   4   5    5
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                       4   3   2   2   5    5
Enbridge (ENB)                                  2   3   5   3   5    5
Transalta (TA)                                  0   4   3   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
============================================== === === === === === =====
Biovail (BVF)                                   3   4   2   5   5   1.7
National Bank of Canada (NA)                    5   5   4   3   5   2.0
CIBC (CM)                                       5   2   4   2   5   2.8
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                          4   4   3   3   5   3.0
Royal Bank (RY)                                 4   3   3   2   5   3.3
Teck Cominco Limited (TCK.B)                    5   3   4   5   4   3.5
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                       4   3   2   2   5   3.7
BCE (BCE)                                       3   3   3   4   5   4.3
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)                      4   4   2   3   4   4.4
TransCanada (TRP)                               3   4   2   4   5   4.4
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/valueratio.shtml 

Graham Stocks                                  P/E P/B P/D   G$   dG$(%)
============================================== === === === ====== ======
MDS Inc. (MDS)                                  5   5   0   40.27  90.77
Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN)                 5   5   0   16.77  44.07
National Bank of Canada (NA)                    5   5   5   59.34  12.40
Magna Cl.A (MG.A)                               4   5   3   95.83   4.05
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/graham.shtml 

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


Books for Stingy Investors

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
by Philip A. Fisher

Fisher takes a qualitative view of stocks and stresses the
importance of intangible aspects of a firm with heavy emphasis on
research and human capital. He also falls into the focused camp of
investors who buy only a few carefully selected stocks and hold
them for long periods. As Warren Buffett's second favourite book
on investing, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits is a must read
for students of the market.
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471445509/


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 06/30/2007)
  Average Capital Gain    Average Holding Period
    Sold Stocks: 74.1%      Sold Stocks: 2.1 Years
    All Stocks: 53.6%       All Stocks: 2.4 Years

Learn More
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., 2007.
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.  A Dan Hallett and Associates Inc.(DH&A)
publication.  DH&A is registered as Investment Counsel in the province
of Ontario. DH&A, or related-parties may have an interest in the
securities mentioned.