8 Tips on Investing The Third Avenue Way

In a recent report by Third Avenue Value, Ian Lapey discussed the philosophy which has led to Third Avenue's investing success. Here are eight tips from that report, that you might find helpful:

1. "Focus on the balance sheet and readily ascertainable net asset value."
2. "Only invest in common stocks issued by companies with strong financial positions."
3. "Focus on the long term."
4. "Worry about investment risk, not market risk."
5. "Do not try to pick the bottom."
6. "Avoid industries in secular decline."
7. "Own the fulcrum security [in a company's capital structure]."
8. "Pay close attention to a management team's long-term track record and incentives."

For more on each, click over to read a paragraph going into more detail on each. And then, having done that, I wish you the best in applying them for profit!

Marty Whitman Retires

Chuck Jaffe generously praises Marty Whitman in this short piece on his decision to step down from managing the Third Avenue Value Fund.

While I disagree with parts of it, Jaffe accurately identifies Whitman's admirable long-term track record--and the three words that Whitman's style boils down to: "safe and cheap."

The whole thing's worth a read, even for those of us who have been following the fund for some time and give Ian Lapey more credit than Jaffe seems to.