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Twenty-five Rules of Investing:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13  |  14  |  15  |  16  |  17  |  18  |  19  |  20  |  21  |  22  |  23  |  24  |  25 

Editor's note: As a special bonus to TheStreet.com readers, we have compiled an updated version of Jim Cramer's "Twenty-Five Rules of Investing," from his book, Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World.

 

 

Giving Up on Value Is a Sin

Jim Cramer

 

 

Rule 20

 

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. I recall an interview I did a year or so ago with the CEO of Superior Industries (SUP - news), a wheelmaker for auto companies. At the time, its stock was at a 52-week low. It had a big short position. It was getting lumped in with ne'er-do-well companies.

And I asked 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 didn't want to wait until the cycle turned to get the profit that most certainly would come to those who waited for Superior. That's because it was cheap and good. It was cheap because it sold at book value; it was good because it had plenty of business.

Or take the situation I see developing in banks like J.P. Morgan (JPM - news) and PNC (PNC - news). 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 16 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 Dodge (PD - news) or U.S. Steel (X - news) 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 EMC (EMC - news) and Cisco (CSCO - news) and Sun Micro (SUNW - news) don't qualify. They are expensive, not cheap. They don't represent value ... at these prices.

 

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on Mad Money at 6 p.m. & 11p.m. ET weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order any of Jim Cramer’s books including his latest endeavor Stay Mad For Life:  Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer). While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

TheStreet.com has a revenue-sharing relationship with Traders' Library under which it receives a portion of the revenue from Traders' Library purchases by customers directed there from TheStreet.com.

 

 

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