Rule No. 20: Giving Up on Value Is a Sin

Editor's note: Jim Cramer's new book, Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World, is available in selected bookstores now. As a special bonus to RealMoney readers, we will be running Cramer's "Twenty-Five Rules of Investing." For more about the new book and to order it, click here. Today, we present Cramer's twentieth rule of investing. Read more about his rules:

1. Pigs Get Slaughtered
2. It's OK to Pay the Taxes
3. Don't Buy All at Once
4. Buy Damaged Stocks
5. Diversify to Control Risk
6. Do Your Homework
7. Don't Panic
8. Buy Best-of-Breed
9. Defend Some Stocks
10. Don't Bet on Bad Stocks
11. Don't Own Too Many Names
12. Cash Is for Winners
13. No Woulda, Shoulda, Couldas
14. Expect Corrections
15. Watch Bonds
16. Don't Subsidize Losers
17. Check Hope at the Door
18. Be Flexible
19. Quit When Execs Do

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Patience is a virtue -- giving up on value is a sin.

I see so many people throwing in the towel on companies that have real assets and real worth just because they aren't working now, and it angers me. The other day I interviewed the CEO of Superior IndustriesSUP, a wheelmaker for auto companies. Its stock is at a 52-week low. It has a big short position. It's lumped in with companies like General MotorsGM and DelphiDPH.

And I ask myself, "Why sell that one? It's already down so much, it has a clean balance sheet, it can make acquisitions, buy back shares, do so many things." But people don't want to wait until the cycle turns to get the profit that most certainly will come to those who wait for Superior. That's because it is cheap and good. It's cheap because it sells at book value; it's good because it has plenty of business.

Or take the situation I see developing in banks like J.P. MorganJPM and PNCPNC. If the Fed doesn't tighten forever -- which it won't -- at a certain point, the value in these banks will be realized. Great brands, great branches.

But no one cares.

At any given moment, I like to have a portfolio of what's working now and what will work in the future. I think that after seven tightenings, you have to start thinking that the Fed will have an impact and when it does, the Fed will be through. When the Fed is through, you are going to want to own the financials. I think they are a lot easier to own now than Phelps DodgePD or U.S. SteelX are.

It takes patience. Most don't have it. If you don't, frankly, I think you should let someone who has patience run your money. You don't deserve to.

And by the way, stocks like EMCEMC and CiscoCSCO and Sun MicroSUNW don't qualify. They are expensive, not cheap. They don't represent value ... at these prices.

	1.	Pigs Get Slaughtered		2.	It's OK to Pay the Taxes
	3.	Don't Buy All at Once		4.	Buy Damaged Stocks
	5.	Diversify to Control Risk		6.	Do Your Homework
	7.	Don't Panic		8.	Buy Best-of-Breed
	9.	Defend Some Stocks		10.	Don't Bet on Bad Stocks
	11.	Own Fewer Names		12.	Cash Is for Winners
	13.	No Regrets		14.	Expect Corrections
	15.	Know Bonds		16.	Don't Subsidize Losers
	17.	No Room for Hope		18.	Be Flexible
	19.	Quit When Execs Do		20.	Patience Is a Virtue
Check back for more of Cramer's Rules