Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[AKvetch]

Time to buy stocks? A perspective from the NY Post. (Thanks to Smart Money on SI for the link.) AK

http://www.nypost.com/business/53461.htm

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STOCKS ON $ALE!

By ISABELLE SENDER

GIANT DISCOUNT SALE:

Values in the stock market are so good right now that some shoppers, who previously sought sales in shoe shops and used-car lots, are now putting their money to work in the market.
- Helayne Seidman

July 28, 2002 --

Mike Martone is so excited about the great values in the stock market he's talking about selling his car just to raise cash to invest.

He said the recent sell-off, bringing many stocks to prices that haven't been seen in 15 years, made him "much more confident" about putting long-term money into the market.

And Martone, who lives in Rockland County, is truly thinking about the long term. He is only 22 now, so he's got a good 40 years before he will need to tap his investments for retirement income.

Martone is not the only New Yorker who's using the recent market sell-off as an opportunity to get in cheap.

Another investor, who asked that his name not be published, is selling his $400,000 vacation home with plans to use $200,000 of it to add to his existing portfolio of blue-chip stocks.

Although risk-averse investors might consider that move insane, he thinks he's being smart by selling high and buying low. His vacation home has appreciated nicely in the time he's owned it, so now he's swapping it in for cheaper assets.

And stocks are cheap now.

"I've been telling my clients with an investment time horizon of more than five years to think about taking sidelined cash and buy some beat-up stocks," said Nancy E. Frank, a certified financial planner with Frank Advisory Services.

Her own clients - and many, many others - are taking that advice.

"I think long term so I've been continuing to invest these past weeks. I look for the 20- to 30-year rise. And I think now would be a great time to put some more money in the market," said individual investor Kirby Frank, a 36-year-old technology consultant from Atlanta.

What, exactly, are they buying?

For the most part, investors are showing the greatest interest in stocks with strong growth characteristics, which just happen to be available at value prices right now.

"I don't think we're at a bottom, but this could be one of the best buying opportunities for some since the 1970s," noted Rick Wayman, director of research at ResearchStock.com.

Wayman likes value stocks with solid balance sheets such as Huffy Corp. and Cardinal Health.

Every Wall Street guru has a list of stocks that were too expensive a few months ago, but look like great deals now.

For William L. Valentine, president of Valentine Ventures, the list includes Checkpoint Software and American Eagle Outfitters. He believes they are trading at deep discounts to their projected growth.

"Investors are making far too big a deal out of this bear market," said Valentine. "Even someone going into retirement next year probably has 10 or more years before they'll need to convert their bulk savings into an income-producing investment."

In other words, take advantage of the sale prices and buy, buy, buy.