Barel Karsan: Value Investing

Stopping In The Name Of Losses!

Saj Karsan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:20:00 -0400

Stop-loss orders are often recommended to investors of all types, especially those who aren't always watching the market. read more »

Profits On The Horizon

Saj Karsan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:59:00 -0400

Nu Horizons ( NUHC ) is a distributor of hi-tech electronic components. The stock dropped 25% in one day last week when a key supplier, Xilinx, cut Nu Horizons as a distributor in order to streamline Xilinx's distribution network. Xilinx's products accounted for over 30% of Nu Horizons'
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Revenue Spikes

Saj Karsan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:25:00 -0400

If a company has been able to grow its revenues over the last several quarters, it may be a sign of strong future growth. However, investors should be careful not to assume that future growth is a fait accompli , or that revenues will even stabilize at current high levels. While we've o
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Bad Times Are Good Times

Saj Karsan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:17:00 -0400

We've seen how some companies don't take quite as big a hit as do others during recessions , based on the cyclicality of the respective businesses. But surprisingly, some companies actually see business conditions improve during recessions. As an example, consider Daily Journal Corp.
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Influence: Chapter 3

Saj Karsan — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:32:00 -0400

Value investors believe that Mr. Market's mood swings offer them excellent opportunities to buy low and sell high. But how does an investor avoid becoming Mr. Market rather than taking advantage of him? Influence , by Robert Cialdini , helps us understand the fac
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Influence: Chapter 2

Saj Karsan — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:27:00 -0500

When The Company Values Itself

Saj Karsan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:57:00 -0500

Most investors in the market focus on earnings and earnings growth. As value investors, however, we spend a lot time valuing company assets , since earnings can be volatile whereas many types of assets (e.g. cash, trusted receivables, real-estate, re-usable inventory) can provide a
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Take UNDER

Saj Karsan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:08:00 -0500

When outside bidders are vying for control of a company, management and shareholders of the target will often hold out for a sufficient premium to the current price. After all, if shareholders can sell their shares right now for a certain amount, they should get more if they actually
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Forecasting Forecasts

Saj Karsan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:42:01 -0500

We spend a lot of time reading forecasts. The financial news media is rife with new articles every day that take a position on the near-term future of inflation, interest rates, and stock prices. But are these forecasts of any use? James Montier, an author on the topic of behavioural fina
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An Uphill Battle

Saj Karsan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:18:00 -0500

As previously discussed, value investors can benefit from investing along with other value investors. But the presence of another value investor as a major shareholder does not guarantee that a company will be run in a shareholder-friendly way. Sometimes, management and board practices ca
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