Q&A: Soldier of Misfortune

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt available exclusively at TheStreet.com from an interview originally published by Value Investor Insight.

"There are only two types of companies," says money manager (and RealMoney.com contributor) Arne Alsin. "Those with problems and those that are going to have problems."

Alsin, who started Alsin Capital Management in 2001 after winding down a successful family money-management business, isn't the pessimist that statement implies. "I just wait for premier companies to temporarily falter and disappoint," he says. "I'm an opportunist."

Investors today are overreacting more than ever to short-term influences, Alsin says, creating plenty of opportunity to find deeply discounted bargains. ...