"I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful
when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful."  - Warren Buffett


Stingy Links
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/articles/articlearchive.shtml

Morgan Stanley, Lone Star stick taxpayers on defaults
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aveyF_JnvjSo&refer=home
"The public's bill for maintaining foreclosed properties abandoned by
lenders and investors may reach as much as $50 billion this year, according to
Peter Sepp, vice president of the National Taxpayers Union in Alexandria,
Virginia. The U.S. Congress is considering various bills to help cover
some of the costs to towns and cities for securing and policing the empty
homes, Sepp said."

Investing is about stacking the odds in your favour
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20080308/STBUYSIDE08
"I go to the office in search of one thing. An asymmetric bet. In other
words, an investment or business strategy where, in my judgment, there is
limited downside if it doesn't work, and big upside if it does. That is an
investment manager's Holy Grail. In searching for such a situation, you
won't see an investment professional buying a 'risk-free' investment, other
than a government bond. That's because 'risk-free' or principal protected
securities, are an asymmetric bet in the wrong direction. The odds are
stacked against the purchaser."

Same price, but fewer tax returns
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/326335
"QuickTax Standard for 2007 includes two returns for Canadians with more
than $25,000 in income, compared with five returns in previous years."
[Consider UFile instead]

Curve balls raise red flags for CRA
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20080306/RCESTNICK06
"When filing your tax return this year, be aware that your past tax filings
may have an impact on whether the CRA will accept this year's filing
position. Consistency can be a good thing."

Preparing for a 'real estate apocalypse'
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/326567
"The year has not been off to a great start. In figures released last week,
a blustery February knocked existing home sales down by 11 per cent for
the month, while residential building permits were down by a significant 47
per cent in January. Growing uncertainty over the U.S. economy, where
housing values have plummeted in some states, has also cast a long shadow
over the Toronto market."

TFSAs could spawn untaxed pensioners
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/wealthyboomer/archive/2008/03/05/tfsas-could-supplant-rrsps-and-spawn-future-generation-of-untaxed-pensioners-hamilton-says.aspx
"The Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) announced in last week's federal
budget could become so popular that within 30 years they could supplant RRSPs
and create a generation of senior citizens that pay no income tax at all,
says actuary Malcolm Hamilton, worldwide partner with Mercer's, the
pension consultants."

Third Avenue Funds Q1
http://www.thirdavenuefunds.com/taf/documents/shareholderletters/aboutus-letters-08Q1.pdf
"Obviously, I feel good about TAVF.s investment in MBIA. The Fund ought to
do well under almost any scenario. By any objective standard, the MBIA
investments are attractive ones with the insurance subsidiaries deserving of
an AAA-Stable rating. Yet, there exists a sense of discomfort due to the
dangers of Rating Agency subjective considerations and capricious
regulators."

Gates no longer world's richest man
http://www.forbes.com/home/billionaires/2008/03/05/buffett-worlds-richest-cx_mm_0229buffetrichest.html
"Warren Buffett is the richest man on the planet. Riding the surging price
of Berkshire Hathaway stock, America's most beloved investor has seen his
fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago.
That massive pile of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill
Gates, who was the richest man in the world for 13 straight years."

Home economics
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2008/03/10/080310ta_talk_surowiecki
"Even without lending and borrowing excesses, though, our high rate of
homeownership would likely create problems as the economy slows. To recover
from recession, economies need prices to fall until they reflect genuine
supply and demand. With certain kinds of assets, like stocks, these
adjustments take place quickly, sometimes viciously so. Buying and selling houses,
though, is a far slower process. The good thing about this is that housing
prices never suffer crashes on the scale that you sometimes see in the
stock market. The bad thing is that it can take a long time for housing
prices to reflect reality. Homeowners, as economists have shown, tend to
remain unreasonably optimistic about the value of their homes, and they hate to
drop their asking price. As a result, existing-home sales in the U.S. are
now at a nine-year low."

Warren Buffett on Squawk Box part 1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23444496
"Buffett says there's been a lot of de-leveraging, and there's still more
to come. In many cases, the de-leveraging is happening at crazy prices.
People who were out on a limb are having the limb cut off."

Warren Buffett on Squawk Box part 2
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23445235/site/14081545/
"Becky asks why he thinks U.S. now in a recession. He replies he sees lots
of indicators, including sales at his businesses and the reduction in
people's net worth. He's sure there is a recession, not sure how far it will
go."

Warren Buffett on Squawk Box part 3
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23445880/site/14081545/
"Joe Kernen asks about recent purchases of Glaxo and Sanofi? Why? Buffett
says he made the decision to buy those stocks and that with drug companies
he knows less specifically about those companies than, say, a candy
company. Hard to make a bet on a specific drug company based on a drug that
might be in the pipeline. "If you have a group" of drug companies, you'll
"probably do OK." Would he buy a domestic drug company? Yes, but he does like
earnings coming from abraod than earnings coming from the United States.
Most big drug companies in the U.S. do get a lot of their profits from
overseas."


S&P/TSX60 Value Screens
http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy.shtml 

High Dividend Yield Stocks                     P/E P/B P/S P/C P/D Yield*
============================================== === === === === === ======
Biovail (BVF)                                   5   5   3   5   5    5
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                          4   5   5   1   5    5
CIBC (CM)                                       2   4   5   5   5    5
National Bank of Canada (NA)                    3   4   4   5   5    5
Royal Bank (RY)                                 4   3   4   5   5    5
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                       4   3   4   2   5    5
Telus (T)                                       3   4   4   5   5    5
BCE (BCE)                                       3   4   4   5   5    5
Shaw Comm Cl.B (SJR.B)                          2   2   2   4   5    5
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)                      4   4   3   2   4    4
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/dogs.shtml 

Value Ratio Stocks                             P/E P/B P/S P/C P/D  VR
============================================== === === === === === =====
Biovail (BVF)                                   5   5   3   5   5   0.6
Thomson (TOC)                                   5   5   2   2   4   1.6
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                          4   5   5   1   5   1.6
Royal Bank (RY)                                 4   3   4   5   5   2.6
National Bank of Canada (NA)                    3   4   4   5   5   2.7
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)                       4   3   4   2   5   2.7
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)                      4   4   3   2   4   3.0
BCE (BCE)                                       3   4   4   5   5   3.1
Telus (T)                                       3   4   4   5   5   3.2
Husky Energy (HSE)                              4   2   3   3   4   3.5
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/valueratio.shtml 

Graham Stocks                                  P/E P/B P/D   G$   dG$(%)
============================================== === === === ====== ======
ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. (ACE.B)              5   5   0   93.24 318.12
MDS Inc. (MDS)                                  5   5   0   47.14 177.44
Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN)                 5   5   0   18.41 134.81
Thomson (TOC)                                   5   5   4   55.80  64.41
Magna Cl.A (MG.A)                               5   5   3  104.37  46.48
Biovail (BVF)                                   5   5   5   19.59  45.25
Bank of Montreal (BMO)                          4   5   5   50.39  16.91
Petro Canada (PCA)                              5   4   2   54.03  15.55
Sun Life (SLF)                                  4   4   4   49.26   9.27
Talisman Energy (TLM)                           5   3   2   18.22   6.11
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (CTC.A)       4   4   2   66.09   3.72
Canadian Pacific Rail (CP)                      4   4   2   70.18   3.62
More Info: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/graham.shtml 

*Notes: http://www.stingyinvestor.com/SI/strategy/notes.shtml 

Switch to the HTML version if the tables aren't formatted properly.
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Books for Stingy Investors

The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham & Jason Zweig

Follow Warren Buffett's advice and read "by far the best book on
investing ever written". The latest edition provides the full
text of Graham's original work and supplemental chapters with more
modern commentary from Money Magazine editor Jason Zweig. I
like to read this book every few years and would probably benefit
by reading it even more frequently.
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060555661/


Stock Research From Dan Hallett & Associates

The Rothery Report
http://www.rotheryreport.com/ 

The Rothery Report provides research on select deep-value stocks in
North America. Discover overlooked and undervalued stocks in quarterly
investment reports which provide detailed analysis of Canadian and
U.S. stocks.  Weekly email news and additional updates keep
subscribers informed about new opportunities and developments.

Rothery Report Performance (03/31/2001 to 12/31/2007)
  Average Capital Gain    Average Holding Period
          45.2%                   2.4 Years

Learn More
http://www.rotheryreport.com/store/store.shtml

Subscribe Today
http://www.rotheryreport.com/store/order.shtml 



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ISSN 1499-2795 Copyright Dan Hallett and Associates Inc., 2008.
All rights reserved. The securities mentioned in this report are not
appropriate for all investors. Consult your professional investment
advisor before making any investment decision.  While all reasonable
effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information and data
contained herein, accuracy can not be guaranteed. Past performance is
not a good predictor of future performance.  Results are not
guaranteed and we assume no liability whatsoever for any material
losses that may occur.  No compensation for suggesting particular
securities or financial advisors is solicited or accepted.  The
information in this newsletter, and in its related website, is not
intended to be, nor does it constitute, financial advice or
recommendations.  Investing in stocks can be risky and may result in
substantial losses.  A Dan Hallett and Associates Inc.(DH&A)
publication.  DH&A is registered as Investment Counsel in the province
of Ontario. DH&A, or related-parties may have an interest in the
securities mentioned.