Controlled Greed.com Portfolio Picks Average -3.1% YTD Through Third Quarter of 2007

As a group, the stocks held this year have an average loss of 3.1% through the first three quarters of 2007. That compares to the S&P 500 being up 7.6% for the same time period, according to WSJ.com. For reasons stated previously, I am now factoring in dividends and returns of capital to shareholders in my results. I don’t believe the S&P 500 result reported on WSJ.com includes dividends.

Here’s how each of the holdings covered on Controlled Greed.com have performed so far this year.

BCE Inc. +48.1%
Fairfax Financial +23.6%
General Motors +21.9%
Nikko Cordial ADR +10.6%
Walter Industries/Mueller Water Products Class B +7.8%
Molson Coors Class B +7.7%
Liberty Media (Liberty Capital/Liberty Interactive) +7.3%
Deckers Outdoor +6.1%
3i Group +5.9%
CBS Class B +3.1%
DirecTV Group -2.6%
ArmorGroup International -11.3%
Comcast Class A Special -14.2%
Mueller Water Products Series A -16.4%
USA Mobility -18.8%
Media General Class A -24.1%
Foot Locker Inc. -26.6%
Aiful Corp. ADR -39.4%
Takefuji Corp. -47.1%

The stock picks averaged +9.95% at the end of the second quarter. To go from that to -3.1% means the last quarter was brutal. My last two stock picks -- Aiful and Foot Locker -- took no time at all to achieve double-digit declines after being purchased. Takefuji has seen the bottom fall out this year. And with Media General, USA Mobility and Mueller Water the hits just kept on coming.

Battered and bruised, I remain cautiously optimistic (taking the long-term view) and wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.

Comments

[Amit Chokshi]

That's tough John but I do this for a living and my fund's performance YTD is down about 2x your loss! It sucks but if you believe in your ideas and have a long term goal the annualized returns can be excellent. Even with the recent drop in August, I have yet to find any highly compelling long-term ideas relative to the stocks I own. I sold BIOS which was a nice double and have been pumping those proceeds into some of my losers. A 15% position in my fund went from 25%+ to -35%. No real reason and prob one of the most compelling ideas in the next 1-3 years. THe issue is getting my partners to be calm (thank god for the 2 year lock up!).

[John]

Amit: Nice to know I'm in such good company! :-) And I agree that even with recent market activity there aren't many bargains out there.