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November, 2011: 1 6 12 17
Disclaimer - IMPORTANT - Read this first!
Investor's Journal is a diary focused strictly on investments and personal finance issues, primarily from a contrarian and retiree point of view. Follow along with an average guy's failures and successes as he learns, by trial and error, the fine art of value investing.


11/1/11-Since the last entry there have been no stocks followed here which were sold or have had sell signals.

My currently favorite 5 low price to book value assets are CSC; FLXS; HDNG; IBA; and NTE.

My favorite among them is Flexsteel Industries, Inc. (FLXS) (recent price $14.25). It meets Benjamin Graham's bargain stock safety and value criteria.

Flexsteel Industries, Inc. will be added to our nest egg at its market price in early trading today.


11/6/11-Since the last entry there have been no stocks followed here which were sold or have had sell signals.

My currently favorite 5 low price to book value assets are ADPI; BHE; CRV; FLXS; and MT.

My favorite among them is Benchmark Electronics (BHE) (recent price $14.08). It meets Benjamin Graham's bargain stock safety and value criteria.

Benchmark Electronics will be added to our nest egg at its market price in early trading on 11/7/11.

In addition, I have a new asset for our Ben Graham Dividend with Value Portfolio, Walgreen Company (WAG) (recent price $33.17), which has a recent dividend of 2.71%, a dividend payout ratio of 0.26, and debt to equity of 16.23%.

I also continue to like PAAS (recent quote $29.79). In my opinion it is at a low price in relation to its long-term value. I shall be adding more shares of PAAS as well to our nest egg in early trading this coming Monday.

An asset cited above, CRV (recent price $2.71), while probably a bit more risky than the average low price to book value pick suggested here, appears to also have another low price to value Ben Graham criterion in its favor, low price relative to net net asset value. Some of its shares too will be added to our nest egg Monday morning.


11/12/11-Volatility such as we have witnessed in the markets of late can be stressful. Yet it can also of course be profitable as one buys low and sells high. Since the last entry, there have been some good value purchases and also a series of asset sales in the Low Price to Book Value portfolio. I must admit, though, to still being nervous about the short- and medium-term outlook for stocks. Thus I am prone to sell sooner rather than later.

On 11/8/11, our Low Price to Book Value asset, ADPI, purchased a couple weeks earlier, on 10/24/11, was sold for a net gain of 78.90%. Info on both its cost basis and its performance from 10/24/11 through 11/8/11 has been added to the Low P/Bk closed positions spreadsheet, and ADPI was also deleted from the record of Low P/Bk open position holdings.

On 11/8/11 as well, our Low Price to Book Value asset, XRTX, purchased on 6/22/11, was sold for a net gain of 51.92%. Info on its cost basis and its performance from 6/22/11 through 11/8/11 has been added to the Low P/Bk closed positions spreadsheet, and XRTX has also been deleted from the record of Low P/Bk open position holdings.

On 11/10/11, our Low Price to Book Value asset, ASI, purchased on 3/3/10, was sold for a net gain of 50.62%. It has been deleted from the Low P/Bk assets' open positions spreadsheet, and its statistics for 3/3/10 through 11/10/11 have been added to the Low P/Bk closed position record.

Finally, on 11/11/11, our Low Price to Book Value asset, ITI, purchased on 7/13/09, was sold for a net gain of just 4.41%, since it was not performing well even in the recently bullish trend and had already been held for over two years. Info on both its cost basis and its performance from 7/13/09 through 11/11/11 has been added to the Low P/Bk closed positions spreadsheet, and ITI has been deleted from the record of Low P/Bk open positions.

My current top-five low price to book value stocks are: CSC; HIG; JBSS; LNC; and MT.

My new favorite from among them is Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (HIG) (recent price $17.59). It meets Benjamin Graham's bargain stock safety and value criteria.

Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will be added to our nest egg at its market price in early trading on Monday, 11/14/11.


11/17/11-There have been no new sales or sell signals among stocks followed here since the last entry, except that PCCC, purchased not that long ago, was briefly up over 50%. However before I could sell it the market has been in a downward trend, and PCCC was heading south as well.

The lowered prices of late have again brought further bargains to light. My new pick for our Selective Six Percent Portfolio is an example: Meredith Corp. (MDP) (recent price $27.28) is a Ben Graham type asset with reasonably low P/E and D/E and a projected dividend of 5.6% (estimated annual dividend of $1.53 divided by today's closing price of $27.28 = 5.6%), which of course rounds to 6%.

While I continue to be quite concerned about both the Eurozone debt debacle and the lack of constructive action concerning this country's fiscal house, fearing that either of these could before long result in a substantial further downturn in U.S. stocks, I feel that I am in good company to continue investing while equities are on sale, noting that Warren Buffett has been doing so as well with several billions worth of new investments for Berkshire Hathaway during the summer's market slump.

Once markets begin turning around, however, I shall again be a net seller, intending thus to raise our lately diminished reserves to a more comfortable level.


Disclaimer and Disclosure Statement
Much as I'd love it to be otherwise, I receive no payment of any kind for disseminating investment information unless, by some fluke, millions of folks, on the strength of these entries, start buying shares of stock I own, a possibility only slightly less likely than our being destroyed by a large meteorite. Do not follow any suggestions made in Investor's Journal as if I were a professional.

Neither I nor Investor's Journal will be responsible for losses by anyone who obtained ideas from this site.

This diary is intended for personal interest and general information only. You are advised to do your own research (as well as to consult highly compensated professionals) before spending money on anything.

I know of no reason anyone should take my financial musings seriously. At best I am a dedicated amateur providing a bit of investment-related insight and entertainment, at worst an amusing diversion.

My wife, Fran, and I may at times own shares of some of the assets mentioned here. But neither of us receive any benefit from reference to them, unless you count the mutual misery when we get it wrong, or the opportunity to gloat when we get it right.

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