The Most Essential Secret to Successful Investing

by: Graham Summers August 29, 2008 | about stocks: SKF / XLF    

Graham Summers

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What is THE most important aspect of investing?

It’s not the ability to read a balance sheet. Nor is it recognizing trading patterns. In fact, this particular quality isn’t even specific to investing; it’s essential to any skill.

I’m talking about patience.

From an action standpoint, investing is boring. Unless you’re a day trader, it’s very much a waiting game. After all, buying or selling an investment requires nothing more than a click of the mouse. A couple seconds and you’re done. The rest of the time (99%) you’re doing nothing.

Well, not quite nothing; you’re actually patiently ignoring information.

Every day investors are bombarded with information about the financial markets. Whether it’s the TV, internet, newspaper, or even radio, multiple media outlets spew forth theories and updates about what’s happening every second of every day.

Almost all of this is pure noise. Financial journalists make their living reporting on events. Sometimes this entails making events appear significant… when they’re not. Or even worse, sometimes they get the entire story wrong—like the recent braying that inflation is under control because oil fell from $145 to $115.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to put down journalists. Many of them do a terrific job of reporting on intricate developments in a timely manner. But sometimes writing a story involves creating a narrative based on events that aren’t statistically significant. I’m talking about explaining why the market moved a quarter of a percent, for example.

Your best bet, as an investor, is to ignore 90% of everything you hear about financial markets. It sounds very simple. But it is not. We as humans are not designed to sit still. We want to be doing something, not sitting around waiting for our money to appreciate. In actuality, waiting takes tremendous discipline.

Look at financials stocks for instance.

I first suggested shorting financials to readers of my advisory service International Wealth Advisory in late January 2008. We bought the UltraShort Financials Proshares (SKF) an inverse fund that returns 2X the inverse of the Financials ETF (XLF). Thus if the Financials ETF fell 5%, SKF rose 10%. If the Financials ETF fell 20%, SKF rose 40%. And so on.

Thanks to the worsening credit crisis and slew of write-downs we were up nearly 30% on the position in a little over a month. Then the Bear Stearns deal happened. As you probably recall, what followed was a two-month rally lead by financials stocks. One after another the Wall Street CEOs came forward announcing that the “worst is over.” Financials stocks rose 20%. But did we sell and panic?

Nope.

The Bear Stearns deal didn’t change anything about the state of financials’ balance sheets. It didn’t magically create capital to cover losses. And it certainly didn’t improve credit conditions for Wall Street banks. All it did was move a bunch of mortgage-backed junk on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. The rally that followed was driven entirely by sentiment, not an actual improvement in the fundamentals for financial stocks.

So we held on.

Come May, investors began to discover the truth, that Wall Street CEO’s claims “the worst was over” were a load of bunk. One by one financial firms began announcing larger write-downs and missing earnings estimates. Everyone from AIG (AIG) to American Express (AXP) reported dismal results. And financial stocks tanked.

We ended up closing out our position for a 51% gain in mid-July. Being patient nearly doubled our return—our original gain, if you’ll recall, was 30% in February. By focusing on fundamentals, ignoring the hype, and keeping our wits about us, we pocketed a beautiful gain.

And we did it by doing nothing but being patient.

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This article has 23 comments:

  •  
    Aug 29 05:11 PM
    And your patience will be rewarded again if you invest now. The financial's will again be hammered in the near term. Check my site for more information.

    Richard
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 29 05:12 PM
    Yeah, but what have you done for yourself lately besides toot your own horn?
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 29 06:29 PM
    Investing should be a wonderful thing. But with your stupid, unstable banking/financial system and the regulations you pile on top of it in a stupid attempt to fix it and the welfare system you build to mitigate the damage it causes, and the wars that that sometimes leads to, don't be surprised if people buy gold and bury it in the garden.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 29 06:31 PM
    Patience is not a secret, so what is? You talk about your returns, can you back it up?
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 29 08:01 PM
    So why was patience a virtue several months ago, yet selling your position such a good idea now? Has something changed in the fundamentals, or are you ignoring your own advice?
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 29 08:04 PM
    >>>I first suggested shorting financials to readers of my advisory service International Wealth Advisory in late January 2008. We bought the UltraShort Financials Proshares (SKF) an inverse fund that returns 2X <<

    And you are bragging about this??? Most smart money shorted financials in 2007, not 2008.

    >>>We ended up closing out our position for a 51% gain in mid-July. Being patient nearly doubled our return—our original gain, if you’ll recall, was 30% in February<<<

    Your definition of patience must be different from mine and Buffett's. 6 month is not patience. 6 year is.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 29 08:44 PM
    I still believe that DD (due diligence) is by far the most important tool for successful investing, but patience to stick with a strategy and remain committed is nearly equal in the same respect.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 12:48 AM
    And they actually use 2 different indices.. may have some components in common. But not the same...

    SKF
    UltraShort Financials ProShares (the Fund) seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the financial services industry of the United States equity market. Component companies include regional banks; United States-domiciled international banks; full line, life and property and casualty insurance companies; companies that invest directly or indirectly in real estate; diversified financial companies, such as Federal National Mortgage Association, credit card issuers and investment advisers; securities brokers and dealers, including investment banks, merchant banks and online brokers, and publicly traded stock exchanges. The Fund takes positions in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, should have similar daily return characteristics as –200% of the daily return of the Index. The Fund’s investment advisor is ProShare Advisors LLC.

    XLF
    Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Financial Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes financial service firms with diversified business lines ranging from investment management to commercial and investment banking. The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to invest in a portfolio of stocks that seek to replicate the Index. The Fund’s investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 09:33 AM
    long,short,patience,et... society can survive for too long not producing anything but shuffling papers.the light at the end of the tunnel may be the train coming at you.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 09:49 AM
    if you go on Richard Wending s site everything has a SELL recommendation. And if I keep on reading this site one day, I am sure,
    he will recommend that you SELL your wife and your kids.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 11:52 AM
    can you short sell wife & kids?
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 12:15 PM
    like your humour notsosmart but if one day I decide to sell my wife it won t be a short sale it s gone to be a long term investment. By the way I always enjoy your 2 cents on this site.
    tipster
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 12:51 PM
    thanx user 138602
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 01:52 PM
    call me tipster notsosmart easier to remember that numbers.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 04:35 PM
    Why do so many married men hate their wives? Why get married in the first place? Just wondering..
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 05:21 PM
    I wish to thank LTrader for comments on SKF. For a long time, I wanted to know how SKF mimics double-reverse action. In particular, I wanted/want to know its portfoilio -- LT's comment suggests that it covers a lot of stocks, much more so than I suspected. Would appreciate a specific listing of major holdings in SKF.
    The initial poster talks about "patience," which, in my view, is irrelevant. The key issue is the ability to process information -- when incoming info suggests that the time is right, whether during the same day or several decades later, it is time to close out position. One poster mentions Buffett -- I read that he held onto a Chinese oil company for many years and sold it when he felt the time was right (and, indeed, it was so). He apparently processed the incoming info correctly.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 05:53 PM
    Only thing to remember is that if equities are increasing on average in the long term then one needs to be realistic and take profits at some point with short ETFs etc... Yes financials are having their ups and downs but with all the talk of 12 to 18 months for a housing bottom wouldn't a real estate short like SRS make more sense and be an easier target to hit?
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 30 07:32 PM
    DJUSFN Index as of 8-21-8

    COMPANY NAME TICKER WEIGHT PCT USD CLOSE
    1 Bank of America Corp. BAC 6.757242546 29.29
    2 JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM 6.46833016 37.00
    3 Citigroup Inc. C 4.820591867 17.49
    4 Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 4.562249708 28.92
    5 Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS 2.884323198 158.25
    6 U.S. Bancorp USB 2.659698222 30.43
    7 American International Group Inc. AIG 2.463343492 20.80
    8 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. BK 2.03726929 35.34
    9 American Express Co. AXP 1.941650277 37.43
    10 Morgan Stanley MS 1.907419583 37.40
    11 VISA Inc. Cl A V 1.686019021 74.57
    12 Wachovia Corp. WB 1.629088301 14.90
    13 Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. MER 1.584148638 24.41
    14 Prudential Financial Inc. PRU 1.570227358 70.78
    15 State Street Corp. STT 1.431293443 66.26
    16 Travelers Cos. Inc. TRV 1.312732641 42.88
    17 AFLAC Inc. AFL 1.304073646 54.25
    18 Allstate Corp. ALL 1.263689724 45.32
    19 PNC Financial Services Group Inc. PNC 1.22179253 69.78
    20 MetLife Inc. MET 1.121796183 51.18
    21 Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW 1.090186719 22.87
    22 Simon Property Group Inc. SPG 1.063251026 94.02
    23 Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. HIG 0.979198541 61.15
    24 CME Group Inc. Cl A CME 0.943731394 341.99
    25 Northern Trust Corp. NTRS 0.870142859 78.19
    26 MasterCard Inc. Cl A MA 0.869420314 243.32
    27 Chubb Corp. CB 0.86918327 46.37
    28 ACE Ltd. ACE 0.840844281 49.89
    29 Marsh & McLennan Cos. MMC 0.837517258 32.37
    30 Franklin Resources Inc. BEN 0.811716468 99.51
    31 BB&T Corp. BBT 0.784104135 28.09
    32 Capital One Financial Corp. COF 0.779677797 41.29
    33 T. Rowe Price Group Inc. TROW 0.763489037 58.07
    34 Loews Corp. L 0.739172374 41.21
    35 SunTrust Banks Inc. STI 0.715834016 40.48
    36 Vornado Realty Trust VNO 0.70682898 97.03
    37 Lincoln National Corp. LNC 0.634945596 48.36
    38 AON Corp. AOC 0.624865996 46.79
    39 ProLogis PLD 0.592989486 44.68
    40 Boston Properties Inc. BXP 0.591559927 98.22
    41 Equity Residential EQR 0.581989072 42.41
    42 Progressive Corp. PGR 0.578322423 18.01
    43 Public Storage PSA 0.560472969 86.12
    44 Principal Financial Group Inc. PFG 0.537603613 44.20
    45 INVESCO Ltd. IVZ 0.495613979 25.25
    46 Ameriprise Financial Inc. AMP 0.486088258 43.22
    47 Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. LEH 0.484241853 13.73
    48 NYSE Euronext NYX 0.45326908 39.89
    49 Hudson City Bancorp Inc. HCBK 0.437159586 17.92
    50 Unum Group UNM 0.423635515 24.16
    51 HCP Inc. HCP 0.414671853 34.87
    52 Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. REIT PCL 0.399107266 45.76
    53 Moody's Corp. MCO 0.391127932 36.88
    54 Kimco Realty Corp. KIM 0.389043118 35.03
    55 Avalonbay Communities Inc. AVB 0.381688217 98.11
    56 Annaly Capital Management Inc. NLY 0.380569549 13.98
    57 Nymex Hldgs Inc. NMX 0.361568691 81.41
    58 Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. HST 0.353097944 13.39
    59 Fifth Third Bancorp FITB 0.346295384 13.97
    60 SLM Corp. SLM 0.338633056 14.33
    61 Genworth Financial Inc. Cl A GNW 0.327892077 14.97
    62 Discover Financial Services DFS 0.322001307 14.59
    63 Ventas Inc. VTR 0.306822479 44.06
    64 Safeco Corp. SAF 0.306350355 67.46
    65 General Growth Properties Inc. GGP 0.304782198 23.94
    66 IntercontinentalExchan... Inc. ICE 0.303837923 85.57
    67 Regions Financial Corp. RF 0.300877622 8.55
    68 Assurant Inc. AIZ 0.286326267 57.41
    69 Legg Mason Inc. LM 0.278970674 39.77
    70 M&T Bank Corp. MTB 0.275345366 69.19
    71 New York Community Bancorp Inc. NYB 0.265293277 15.39
    72 Torchmark Corp. TMK 0.265011459 58.29
    73 NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. NDAQ 0.256939303 32.17
    74 KeyCorp KEY 0.253521142 10.91
    75 SL Green Realty Corp. SLG 0.24992666 84.76
    76 Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. AXS 0.248917678 33.38
    77 TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. AMTD 0.246018342 20.12
    78 Everest Re Group Ltd. RE 0.240726899 81.49
    79 Health Care REIT Inc. HCN 0.232450373 51.13
    80 Equifax Inc. EFX 0.231625732 35.29
    81 Willis Group Holdings Ltd. WSH 0.229971979 32.01
    82 AMB Property Corp. AMB 0.225411448 45.48
    83 Fannie Mae FNM 0.217894226 4.40
    84 Macerich Co. MAC 0.217469156 57.47
    85 Sovereign Bancorp Inc. SOV 0.216467863 8.78
    86 Federal Realty Investment Trust FRT 0.215474734 72.44
    87 Cincinnati Financial Corp. CINF 0.212233573 27.60
    88 BlackRock Inc. BLK 0.2108581 210.60
    89 Brookfield Properties Corp. BPO 0.207139948 20.12
    90 Regency Centers Corp. REG 0.206309324 58.88
    91 Comerica Inc. CMA 0.20566527 26.90
    92 Janus Capital Group Inc. JNS 0.205161157 24.69
    93 Eaton Vance Corp. EV 0.20426285 35.00
    94 UnionBanCal Corp. UB 0.198155409 73.34
    95 PartnerRe Ltd. PRE 0.19090502 69.49
    96 Developers Diversified Realty Corp. DDR 0.188734883 31.21
    97 Affiliated Managers Group Inc. AMG 0.186480696 90.66
    98 Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL 0.186168116 69.35
    99 Markel Corp. MKL 0.182941773 363.00
    100 Washington Mutual Inc. WM 0.182551389 4.10
    101 Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Co. PHLY 0.182308974 59.45
    102 Duke Realty Corp. DRE 0.177276843 24.05
    103 Rayonier Inc. REIT RYN 0.171313196 43.16
    104 W.R. Berkley Corp. WRB 0.170989388 22.94
    105 White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. WTM 0.170843808 434.00
    106 Liberty Property Trust LRY 0.17020295 36.26
    107 Marshall & Ilsley Corp. MI 0.169532741 13.79
    108 XL Capital Ltd. Cl A XL 0.168579594 18.67
    109 Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. ARE 0.166761648 103.33
    110 RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. RNR 0.165446918 50.66
    111 Nationwide Health Properties Inc. NHP 0.165133342 33.85
    112 SEI Investments Co. SEIC 0.162556519 22.98
    113 Apartment Investment & Management Co. AIV 0.162156043 35.69
    114 St. Joe Co. JOE 0.162097609 34.91
    115 UDR Inc. UDR 0.161558773 24.80
    116 National City Corp. NCC 0.158759904 4.88
    117 Federated Investors Inc. FII 0.157487576 32.44
    118 Essex Property Trust Inc. ESS 0.149647819 115.84
    119 Raymond James Financial Inc. RJF 0.149601457 30.21
    120 Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. CFR 0.149492253 53.41
    121 People's United Financial Inc. PBCT 0.14421564 16.63
    122 Fidelity National Financial Inc. FNF 0.143374455 13.13
    123 Zions Bancorp ZION 0.14032905 25.91
    124 HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. HCC 0.139724524 24.02
    125 Digital Realty Trust Inc. DLR 0.135857598 44.40
    126 Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. WDR 0.134883634 30.90
    127 CIT Group Inc. CIT 0.134543211 9.47
    128 Huntington Bancshares Inc. HBAN 0.131947519 7.11
    129 Commerce Bancshares Inc. CBSH 0.130332942 43.89
    130 Realty Income Corp. O 0.129426859 25.31
    131 Camden Property Trust CPT 0.128743714 48.26
    132 CapitalSource Inc. CSE 0.128558387 11.75
    133 Mack-Cali Realty Corp. CLI 0.128521096 38.66
    134 Bank of Hawaii Corp. BOH 0.12835932 52.18
    135 BRE Properties Inc. BRE 0.126614981 48.91
    136 Valley National Bancorp VLY 0.126419506 19.84
    137 Taubman Centers Inc. TCO 0.125268756 47.03
    138 Synovus Financial Corp. SNV 0.124499002 8.98
    139 Weingarten Realty Investors WRI 0.123600629 31.40
    140 MBIA Inc. MBI 0.123509838 10.49
    141 Protective Life Corp. PL 0.123341047 35.00
    142 CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. Cl A CBG 0.122675889 13.47
    143 Senior Housing Properties Trust SNH 0.122522262 21.62
    144 Douglas Emmett Inc. DEI 0.122279538 22.40
    145 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG 0.120977156 25.96
    146 Nationwide Financial Services Inc. Cl A NFS 0.120220292 51.45
    147 Old Republic International Corp. ORI 0.119374712 10.20
    148 StanCorp Financial Group Inc. SFG 0.119301399 48.08
    149 Hanover Insurance Group Inc. THG 0.119154272 45.64
    150 Brown & Brown Inc. BRO 0.111767479 19.48
    151 American Financial Group Inc. AFG 0.108339722 28.19
    152 Freddie Mac FRE 0.106301385 3.25
    153 Hospitality Properties Trust HPT 0.105605711 22.23
    154 Associated Banc-Corp. ASBC 0.1023701 16.97
    155 Jefferies Group Inc. JEF 0.101550825 17.59
    156 Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. AHL 0.100148048 26.69
    157 Lazard Ltd. LAZ 0.099571416 41.95
    158 First Horizon National Corp. FHN 0.097827374 10.41
    159 Highwoods Properties Inc. HIW 0.097069639 33.80
    160 City National Corp. CYN 0.09530281 47.50
    161 BioMed Realty Trust Inc. BMR 0.094463483 26.18
    162 Alleghany Corp. Y 0.092845984 308.45
    163 Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings Ltd. AWH 0.092604899 37.82
    164 First American Corp. FAF 0.092341168 22.51
    165 Fulton Financial Corp. FULT 0.091617756 10.44
    166 Forest City Enterprises Inc. Cl A FCE/A 0.0911697 27.52
    167 Corporate Office Properties Trust OFC 0.091118896 38.00
    168 Astoria Financial Corp. AF 0.09048733 20.49
    169 SVB Financial Group SIVB 0.090167125 55.03
    170 Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. PTP 0.089439349 36.11
    171 Potlatch Corp. REIT PCH 0.089434316 45.27
    172 Popular Inc. BPOP 0.088063991 6.82
    173 Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. ENH 0.087797174 32.46
    174 BancorpSouth Inc. BXS 0.087624665 22.43
    175 Washington Real Estate Investment Trust WRE 0.086993292 34.77
    176 IPC Holdings Ltd. IPCR 0.086957379 32.06
    177 Home Properties Inc. HME 0.085131517 52.75
    178 TCF Financial Corp. TCB 0.085014866 14.00
    179 Entertainment Properties Trust EPR 0.084858087 54.73
    180 HRPT Properties Trust HRP 0.083884146 7.35
    181 National Retail Properties Inc. NNN 0.082909477 22.44
    182 Conseco Inc. CNO 0.082219759 8.79
    183 Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. HRH 0.082106431 44.37
    184 GLG Partners Inc. GLG 0.081576987 8.12
    185 First Niagara Financial Group Inc. FNFG 0.081349233 14.65
    186 ProAssurance Corp. PRA 0.080252495 53.43
    187 TransAtlantic Holdings Inc. TRH 0.079741294 59.82
    188 Kilroy Realty Corp. KRC 0.07877876 47.54
    189 Wilmington Trust Corp. WL 0.078525482 23.05
    190 Knight Capital Group Inc. Cl A NITE 0.077691531 16.37
    191 AMBAC Financial Group Inc. ABK 0.075840419 5.22
    192 Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. JLL 0.075835785 47.22
    193 American National Insurance Co. ANAT 0.075745332 95.12
    194 Brandywine Realty Trust BDN 0.075092771 16.99
    195 Washington Federal Inc. WFSL 0.074042406 16.89
    196 Westamerica Bancorp WABC 0.073525377 50.05
    197 FirstMerit Corp. FMER 0.073415325 19.40
    198 Erie Indemnity Co. Cl A ERIE 0.073077478 45.06
    199 Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. MRH 0.071636448 16.11
    200 Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. HR 0.071486832 27.86
    201 Zenith National Insurance Corp. ZNT 0.070729297 37.49
    202 Reinsurance Group of America Inc. RGA 0.070494142 47.49
    203 Post Properties Inc. PPS 0.069654785 31.19
    204 NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. NAL 0.068948146 13.42
    205 Prosperity Bancshares Inc. PRSP 0.068761933 30.73
    206 CBL & Associates Properties Inc. CBL 0.068471986 20.40
    207 Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. MAA 0.067881485 51.09
    208 International Bancshares Corp. IBOC 0.067706579 25.01
    209 Mercury General Corp. MCY 0.06715793 50.41
    210 Whitney Holding Corp. WTNY 0.066613964 20.32
    211 Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. SUSQ 0.066424196 15.26
    212 Investment Technology Group Inc. ITG 0.065681414 29.85
    213 Selective Insurance Group Inc. SIGI 0.065324914 24.13
    214 E*TRADE Financial Corp. ETFC 0.064360561 3.00
    215 Colonial BancGroup Inc. CNB 0.063964977 6.26
    216 DCT Industrial Trust Inc. DCT 0.063714891 7.33
    217 Hancock Holding Co. HBHC 0.062411988 47.23
    218 Max Capital Group Ltd. MXGL 0.060898009 25.51
    219 Phoenix Cos. Inc. PNX 0.060193321 11.02
    220 Old National Bancorp ONB 0.057991735 17.24
    221 Webster Financial Corp. WBS 0.055629958 20.94
    222 RLI Corp. RLI 0.055456516 56.29
    223 United Bankshares Inc. UBSI 0.054902333 25.16
    224 Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc. ELS 0.054381652 47.97
    225 Delphi Financial Group Inc. Cl A DFG 0.054157046 25.70
    226 Unitrin Inc. UTR 0.053579816 23.18
    227 First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. FR 0.053065112 23.66
    228 First Midwest Bancorp FMBI 0.053033193 21.56
    229 optionsXpress Holdings Inc. OXPS 0.052899213 22.33
    230 F.N.B. Corp. FNB 0.050910356 11.71
    231 LaSalle Hotel Properties LHO 0.049578679 24.50
    232 BOK Financial Corp. BOKF 0.048693589 42.75
    233 Cousins Properties Inc. CUZ 0.048445207 21.83
    234 Cathay General Bancorp CATY 0.046650805 18.66
    235 AmeriCredit Corp. ACF 0.046547008 8.03
    236 Trustmark Corp. TRMK 0.046388641 18.15
    237 Diamondrock Hospitality Co. DRH 0.043417189 8.97
    238 MGIC Investment Corp. MTG 0.043141789 6.82
    239 Franklin Street Properties Corp. FSP 0.04287128 13.24
    240 Assured Guaranty Ltd. AGO 0.042457958 14.08
    241 Provident Financial Services Inc. PFS 0.041586491 14.66
    242 iStar Financial Inc. SFI 0.041287819 6.09
    243 Lexington Realty Trust LXP 0.041122415 14.19
    244 East West Bancorp Inc. EWBC 0.039568767 12.40
    245 Umpqua Holdings Corp. UMPQ 0.039389696 12.98
    246 Colonial Properties Trust CLP 0.039137018 18.59
    247 National Financial Partners Corp. NFP 0.037816808 18.91
    248 Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust PEI 0.037748775 18.96
    249 First Bancorp (Puerto Rico) FBP 0.03624118 9.28
    250 Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. SHO 0.036225051 13.94
    251 Trustco Bank Corp. TRST 0.036191113 9.62
    252 Sterling Bancshares Inc. SBIB 0.036082848 9.71
    253 Park National Corp. PRK 0.034725728 60.64
    254 MF Global Ltd. MF 0.032341249 6.56
    255 Pacific Capital Bancorp PCBC 0.031938997 13.53
    256 Forestar Real Estate Group Inc. FOR 0.031885108 19.29
    257 Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. BEE 0.031732089 8.43
    258 Piper Jaffray Cos. PJC 0.030372273 31.99
    259 Horace Mann Educators Corp. HMN 0.030212051 14.69
    260 United Community Banks Inc. UCBI 0.029556892 12.28
    261 UCBH Holdings Inc. UCBH 0.028184876 5.04
    262 Redwood Trust Inc. RWT 0.027904295 18.09
    263 PacWest Bancorp PACW 0.026823445 20.18
    264 Wintrust Financial Corp. WTFC 0.02575099 21.72
    265 Sterling Financial Corp. (Washington) STSA 0.02500639 9.56
    266 SWS Group Inc. SWS 0.02471293 17.61
    267 Dime Community Bancshares DCOM 0.024619424 15.82
    268 Felcor Lodging Trust Inc. FCH 0.024049501 7.66
    269 South Financial Group Inc. TSFG 0.023367582 6.33
    270 Frontier Financial Corp. FTBK 0.022196507 9.33
    271 Maguire Properties Inc. MPG 0.018915558 10.10
    272 RAIT Financial Trust RAS 0.017759791 6.14
    273 Newcastle Investment Corp. NCT 0.017578836 6.58
    274 Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. CRBC 0.014227986 3.70
    275 Radian Group Inc. RDN 0.013474375 3.31
    276 PMI Group Inc. PMI 0.013224041 3.22
    277 Provident Bankshares Corp. PBKS 0.011128544 6.95
    278 Amcore Financial Inc. AMFI 0.008520269 8.29
    279 Guaranty Financial Group Inc. GFG 0.007951227 4.52
    280 Anchor Bancorp Wisconsin Inc. ABCW 0.006889084 7.10
    281 Downey Financial Corp. DSL 0.002181842 1.93
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  •  
    Aug 30 11:04 PM
    Most important aspects of investing:

    1. The 'WHY": due diligence

    2. The 'WHEN Part 1': technical analysis helps pin-point best entry point.

    3. The 'PLAN': stick to it with patience, as the author states.

    4. The 'WHEN Part 2': knowing when to sell is vitally important to vindicating the act and effort of patience.
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  •  
    Aug 31 01:18 AM
    Thanks, L Trader, for the allocation of DJUSFN. Is SKF allocation the same? If so, I will continue holding, and add on dips.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Aug 31 11:17 AM
    The DJUSFN Index (Dow Jones Financial) is used for:

    SKF (BEAR 2x)
    UYG (BULL 2x)

    Enter the ticker and read the profile for the details.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Sep 01 11:50 PM
    Good article, especially the critique of financial journalism.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Sep 06 12:05 AM
    srs shorts commercial real estate, & i have tracked since april, range 80-100, with 104-114 for about 2.5 weeks in june.
    Reply | Link to Comment
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