Most investors would like a "do over."

They look back on certain investments and wish they'd never heard of, much less put money in them. Sure things like your good friend's invention that would make beer in one day from water and weeds. Or your brother's idea of selling real estate on Saturn. Everyone has their own stories. Mine are usually related to private investments in the medical device field or biotech, though I did have one out of Florida that made a "pig" that ran through oil pipelines to check on their safety. After meeting the founder who looked more like a used car salesman that caught a great sale on polyester suits, I should have known better right then. But I didn't.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: If I Could Start All Over Again ...

Comfort Zone Investing: If I Could Start All Over Again ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Investing Ideas in an Unstable Market

Investing Ideas in an Unstable Market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Legg Mason Value Trust manager Bill Miller built his reputation -- and the fortunes of his investors -- by beating the benchmark S&P 500 for 15 years, a streak that ended in 2006.

But since that run ended, the fund has struggled mightily with bad bets on companies like Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC), Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Now Miller's investors are questioning his philosophy, and so is is the legend himself.

A big part of Miller's brilliant track record was his belief in focus investing -- concentrating his bets on a few stocks rather than a bunch. The Legg Mason Value Trust holds just 35 stocks. But according to the New York Times, that strategy is now being reconsidered. Miller said that "The question we are asking ourselves is: Should we think more broadly now about probability, about high-impact events and protecting against them by having broader exposure to the market?"

I seriously doubt that that's the right strategy. Miller is universally acknowledged to be a great stock picker -- diluting his influence by building a portfolio consisting of his 200 best ideas instead of his 35 best sounds like a sure road to mediocrity.

The larger point is this: After a 15-year streak of greatness, Miller has hit a rough patch. Two years of underperformance doesn't change 15 years of greatness, and this is a bad time to consider changing the strategy that led to his track record.

Bill Miller considers move away from focus investing -- why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 May 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Best Buy Inc. (NASDAQ: BBY) has managed to prosper as a big box electronics retailer while many of its competitors -- Circuit City Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: CC) and CompUSA, among many others -- have descended into oblivion. It is universally acknowledged that Best Buy's force of knowledgeable and well-trained employees have been key to that success.

In a recent segment on MSNBC, Ron Mott looked at the company's commitment to diversity and a better understanding of the history of race relations. The company is paying for more than 800 managers to visit the National Civil Rights Museum located at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Interestingly, the company says that programs like this add to its bottom-line by instilling greater pride and awareness in it workforce.

Best Buy workers makes a serious commitment to diversity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Firing of Merrill Lynch CEO is not about race! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Regular BloggingStocks readers know by now that my investment strategies are fairly conservative and relatively coarse. Please don't begrudge me that. Although I don't track my picks in a portfolio, I do mentally track the general performance of the companies I tout, and I believe that overall I've done fairly well.

There are two major differences between my stock-picking efforts and what I perceive to be Warren Buffett's style. First, Mr. Buffett has years of experience that I myself do not have. Second, Mr. Buffett likes to have a greater working understanding of the nature of the businesses he chooses to investment in than I do. I choose my companies of favor with what I call my "big picture" strategy. All that means is that I use a broader view than most of my contemporaries who like to dig right down to the very roots of their picks.

I like to think that my strategy provides solid conservative support, which shall then free an investor to do some aggressive speculating with their profits.

Continue reading Intuitive investing, gut instincts, or how I'm not like Warren Buffett

Intuitive investing, gut instincts, or how I'm not like Warren Buffett originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I could stand to lose about 10 pounds. Some people hint that a good place to start would be right between my ears. Mom says if I swallow my pride, that might have some affect. My manager's boss says shedding some arrogance should lighten my step. Personally, I think I just need to reduce the number of ice cream servings I allow myself before going to bed each week. Couple a reduction in frozen dairy treats with an increase in physical romance (my favorite exercise), and I think a realistic weight maintenance program is possible.

In any case, I picked up some good weight loss tips on the internet. A nice blog post on Slashfood, presented to us by Bob Sassone, outlines some remarkable insight he has come upon by doing some research into the dietary self-help books offered at Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS). What Mr. Sassone has determined is that diversity is the key ingredient to successful weight loss. Diversity, and lots of it, is what the experts are calling for. At least that's the impression you get if you consider their suggestions collectively.

After reading Bob Sassone's thoughts on the matter, I have reaffirmed my own concepts for successful weight management. Don't eat more calories than you reasonably need, get off your butt to do something, eat a variety of healthy foods and have lots and lots of good lively sex.

I'll also throw into consideration the possibility of swallowing my pride and shedding some arrogance ... ummm ... well ... heck , where would be the fun in that?

Barnes & Noble on the web.

Slashfood reveals secrets to investing in successful weight loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Don Imus' boorish behavior would have gotten him fired long ago if he were in any other line of work.

After a firestorm of controversy, CBS Corp.(NYSE: CBS) and General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) MSNBC yesterday decided to suspend the controversial radio host for two weeks for making racially insensitive comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

What would happen to someone at your office who like Imus used the phrase "nappy-headed ho's?" Would people complain? Would the boss talk to them? Would they have a chat with human resources? If they continually showed that type of attitude, would they be fired?

Imus is lucky that he works in the media.

He tried to mend fences by apologizing at an almost Bill Clinton-like rate. He's apologized to the team, apologized to the Rev. Al Sharpton and would probably apologize to any African-American he meets on the street.

This is a pretty big deal.

Media and political bigshots are regular guests on "Imus in the Morning." Publishers send their top authors there to flog their books. It's kind of amusing that these people love Imus and hate his rival Howard Stern when the only difference between them is that Stern actually is witty.

Along with Stern, Imus has inspired a generation of shock jocks and talk show hosts who think that they can say whatever they want, whenever they want on the air. But instead of being provocative, most of them just sound boorish.

Imus is vowing to change the "tenor" of the show. I guess he deserves another chance, or is it the fifth one? I'm not sure.

Don Imus got off easy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.