value opportunity

Growth Expectations and Searching the Bargain Bin
photo shows a pair of binoculars sitting on their case

I’m familiar with someone known to venture out on sunny weekend mornings to wander local garage sales. Their first target, wherever they stop, is usually to the area marked “FREE.” This is the stuff that the sellers don’t want so badly they wouldn’t even bother with a price tag.

My acquaintance is a bargain hunter. They know that there’s a chance they find something that can be repurposed or reused, that could bring them value far beyond the cost of finding it.

We here at 228 Main spend much of our research time searching for bargains, too. Occasionally, this takes us to Mr. Market’s version of the “FREE” table—things that seem so undervalued by most investors, we may get rewarded. These opportunities get to a point where things can’t possibly be as bad as people are saying (no guarantees, mind you).

But as we’ve been growing, our thinking on this has stretched a little. Sure, we still dig for the bargains of old, but we are also looking at things that our fellow bargain hunters might call “overvalued.”

When a stock is labeled as “overvalued” (by us, the financial news outlets, Wall Street…), typically the labeler is leaving out the “right now” part.

Since we’re investors, aimed at the long haul, the “right now” part is less interesting to us. Instead…

  • How long does “right now” last?
  • Is the price fair right now knowing that we’re buying for the next 3–5 years?
  • Are we paying a reasonable price for the next… however many years of future growth?

Again, we can’t promise that future growth pans out, but a good story, an intriguing product mix, and some competent management are all things we’re considering for these growth-y companies. It’s exciting.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this, or anything else, please email us or call.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Growth Expectations and Searching the Bargain Bin – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found at https://www.228Main.com/.

Backward Measures of Risk

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Our investing experience over the last two years vividly demonstrates the problem with confusing volatility and risk.

After years of relative stability, a certain security plunged by more than 80% in a few months. The standard model of risk would have you believe that the security was relatively safer at the high price level. And the more the price declined, the riskier it became—according to the standard methods.

Value investors seek the bargains. To them, the lower the price, the better the deal. This is exactly the opposite of the standard model of risk.

The rest of the story is that the security turned on a dime at the low point, and rose back to its original level in the following months. At the very point the standard model of risk viewed this investment in the worst light, it was preparing to embark on a rise of more than 400%.

There is a good reason why people (including professionals) confuse volatility with risk. In the short term, volatility IS risk. If you have wealth to pay the bills due within a few days, you cannot afford to have the value bouncing around from day to day. If it goes the wrong direction, you might not have enough money to pay the bills.

Therefore, whether volatility is risk depends on the time horizon. In the short term, volatility is risk. In the long term, perhaps volatility is opportunity, not risk. We work hard to understand your time horizon so we can get this right for you.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this in more detail, or have other things on your agenda, please email us or call.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

Value investments can perform differently from the market as a whole. They can remain undervalued by the market for long periods of time.

This is a hypothetical example and is not representative of any specific investment. Your results may vary.