Investment Strategy II Economics 98 / 198 DeCal Spring 2008 Lecture 7

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Lecture Content

Last Week Introduction to investment strategies Qualitative vs. Quantitative Analysis Fundamental vs. Technical Analysis Value vs. Growth Investing Fundamental Analysis Qualitative Aspects (Understanding the business, competitive advantages, industry, management, etc.) Value Investing Buying stocks that are valued below its intrinsic value Using various financial ratios and measures

Today Growth Investing CAN SLIM C = Current Quarterly Earnings per share A = Annual Earnings Increases N = New Products, Managements, Highs S = Supply and Demand L = Leader or Laggard I = Institutional Sponsorship M = Market Direction

GROWTH INVESTING

Growth Investing Buy stocks that expected to grow quickly in sales and earnings (relative to industry and market) Underlying quality of the business and the rate at which it is growing Usually newer companies, industries, and markets Will usually have a higher P/E. Why?

Growth Investing No automatic formula for determining best growth stocks General guidelines Strong historical earnings growth Strong forward earnings growth Management control of costs and revenues Company efficiency Innovative products / industry

CAN SLIM INVESTING

CAN SLIM Background Developed by William O’Neil Developed from studies on greatest stock winners of all time Provides solid guidelines to prevent subjectivity Combination of growth, fundamental, technical analysis

C = Current Quarterly EPS Bottom line counts - major % increase in current quarter EPS (25% or more) Look for accelerating growth What does this mean? Should be supported by sales growth (revenue) – Why?

C = Current Quarterly EPS Examples Cisco Systems – EPS gains of 150% and 155% in 2 quarters prior to 1467% run-up over next three years AOL – EPS gains of 900% and 283% before rising 557% in 6 months Dell – 74% and 108% before rising 1780% in 27 months in November 1996

Resource for Quarterly Earnings: MSN Money Revenue Figures (Calculate growth rates yourself) EPS Growth Rates (Year over Year) (Eg. Q1 ‘04 vs Q1 ‘05)

A = Annual Earnings Annual earnings growth 25% or more over past 3 – 5 years ROE at least 17% or higher As O’Neil says, "who wants to own part of an establishment showing no growth"? Why is annual growth vs. quarterly growth important?

A = Annual Earnings Example Xerox earnings growth rate 32% before soaring 700% in Wal-Mart 43% annual EPS growth before rocketing 11,200% from 1977 to 1990 Cisco (257%) and Microsoft (99%)

Resource for Quarterly Earnings: MSN Money Annual Earnings Per Share

N = New products, management, highs Takes something new to produce startling advances in price of stock (ideas, products, services, etc.) Apple Abercrombie Cisco Charles Schwab Taser Sunpower

N = New products, management, highs Buy stocks when emerge from consolidations patterns and make new highs (technical analysis) “Buy low, sell high” vs. “Buy high, sell higher”

Sources for “New”

S = Supply and Demand Law of supply and demand determines price of almost everything This is where technical analysis comes into play Want to buy stocks that are being bought by institutions (importance of volume)

Sources for “S”

L = Leader or Laggard Narrow down selection to best industries / sectors of stock market Narrow further by selecting best companies in the industry Best doesn’t mean the biggest or most well-known

L = Leader or Laggard New leaders every cycle Tech, Telecom Real Estate, Energy, Retail 2004-PresentForeign, Commodities Look for companies that withstand downturns in market the best What does this mean? Criteria: Earnings / sales growth, ROE, margins, etc.

A Tool for Industry Research / Rankings: Stockcharts.com Industry Tool

A Tool for Industry Research / Rankings: Investor’s Business Daily

A Tool for Industry Research / Rankings: Prophet.netProphet.net Rank Industries by Performance over Various Periods Click on the chart box to get charts for all companies within the industry

I = Institutional Sponsorship Want to own stocks significantly owned by top institutions Institutions: mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, banks, universities Can account for up to 70% of trading activity

I = Institutional Sponsorship Institutional Investors - Mutual Funds - Hedge Funds - Pension Funds - Educational Institutions - Bank Trusts - Insurance Individual Investors - You - Me - Parents - Uncle Joe

A Tool for Institutional Sponsorship: MSN Money ( Mutual Fund Ownership Ownership Activity Specific Mutual Funds Ownership (with links to fund quotes)

You can be right about everything, but if you’re wrong about where market is heading… Why? M = Market Direction

Importance of following the market It can be done! (Next lecture) Bull market vs. Bear market 33% loss requires 50% gain to break even 50% loss requires 100% gain to break even

M = Market Direction Stay out in cash during bear markets and invest during bull markets In practice: pretty difficult How to do this? (next lecture)

CAN SLIM Overall Strategy Narrow your selection (watch list) of stocks through fundamental analysis Use technical analysis (charts) to determine when to buy into stock and sell out Don’t buy stock just b/c of low price You don’t make money on how many shares you own, but by how much money is invested Do not let small losses turn into large ones (cut losses early)

Walking Through IBD

Homework / Reading Reading: Investopedia. Introduction to Support & Resistance