From: leona@Happy-Man.com (Leona_Troese)
Subject: Solid Value #715 -- Irving Wolfe's Commentary of early August
Followup-To: sender
Keywords: solid value commentary wolfe
Reply-To: Leona_Troese@Happy-Man.com
Organization: Happy Man Corp., Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 16:27:05 GMT



Copyright 1992 Happy Man Corp., Vashon, WA 98070-7399, 1 206 463 9399
One hard copy may be made for individual, personal use only.

What follows is Irving Wolfe's column, Commentary, from the most
recent issue of _Solid Value._  

Permission to distribute it via Usenet is hereby granted.

Because Solid Value's heart is its tables of Best Buys and 
former-Buy followups, this free distribution of Irving Wolfe's 
Commentary should be interesting to some Usenet readers without 
making subscriptions less valuable to those who actually invest in 
stocks for profit.  

=====

You will again find my very brief discussion of any new Best Buys -- 
it looks like there will be some -- on a last-minute insert in this 
issue.  I am pleased at our increasing usefulness, as a properly 
skittish stock market digests current news and sometimes 
over-reacts, creating attractive bargains.  

Given increasing evidence from buying intentions and pre-announced 
layoffs that the economy will remain weak as both consumers and 
businesses become more conservative in their spending, I find it 
hard to believe that the stock market's price-level, which remains 
inflated despite the boost in values caused by lower interest 
rates, will long endure.  A search of our database using techniques 
similar to those we use to find Best Buys, but opposite in 
direction, uncovered this short list of over-priced, financially 
strapped companies.  If you happen to own these shares, none of 
which were recommended by us, we suggest that you sell them:  Armco 
Incorporated, Caterpillar Inc., Chock Full O'Nuts Corp., Clark 
Equipment Company, Commercial Intertec, CRSS Inc., Deere & Company, 
John Wiley & Sons, Media General Corp., Toro Company, UAL 
Corporation, Westinghouse Electric.  This is not a sell-short list; 
one of the stocks, Chock Full, cannot even be borrowed because the 
well known investor, Mario Gabelli, is buying it aggressively.  
(Mr. Gabelli's strategy of buying illiquid assets at a discount, 
regardless of poor earnings and financial weakness, seems much 
better suited to the inflationary boom that appears to have ended 
than to the current unwinding of these excesses.)  

Protective Sales 

Our "protective" sales are sales of still-undervalued shares, 
because their value or the company's financial strength is falling 
rapidly.  The one that generated the loudest outcry from our 
readers was that of Community Psychiatric Centers in issue 704 at a 
price of 14 1/2.  In part, this was because Community Psychiatric 
was a "core" portfolio company, one we expect to own for its 
long-term growth.  We had also recently described the company's 
business in a story.  The protective sale did protect us from a 25% 
decline, most of which will still be yours, after commission 
charges, if the shares do become a Buy again in this issue.  

-- 
 Leona_Troese@Happy-Man.com      Happy Man Corp. 206/463-9399 x109
 4410 SW Pt. Robinson Rd., Vashon Island, WA  98070-7399  fax x108
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