Recently, Morningstar interviewed Amit Wadhwaney at Third Avenue Management (TAM) and Wadhwaney discussed one of his Canadian holding - Viterra. This interview piqued my interest in Viterra, and I spent some time digging through the annual reports of Viterra and Wadhwaney’s letters to shareholders to understand his investment thesis. Upon investigation, I found that Viterra fits TAM’s “safe and cheap” investing framework perfectly. In this case study (it is much longer than most articles on this website, but it is a case-study), I want to use TAM’s investment in Viterra to show how safe and cheap investing works and highlight how it differs from other value investing methodologies.

It seems to be commonly accepted that value investors spend their time searching the 52 week low list for new investing candidates. There are some highly respected and successful value fund managers that use this exact approach (which I am not discrediting). However, I would like to submit an opposing technique – we are contrarians after all. Generally we think of value names in those companies that are experiencing internal or external setbacks – things like economic downturns, net losses, legal problems, etc. Yet there are companies that are humming along just fine, but the market simple hasn’t put a premium on its shares. I disagree that a company needs to be hitting its lows for it to be cheap. In fact, it’s very possible that a poorly performing stock may indeed by overvalued. As value investors we are trained to ignore the market’s volatility and short-term think to look beyond the noise for bargains. But there are times when the market can provide clues that we should at least acknowledge, if not take advantage...................

full Story: http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=96476

Most investors wouldn't give a fund described as "relatively prosaic, dull, conservative" a second glance. That, however, is exactly how John Neff described the Windsor Fund that he headed for more than three decades. And while his style may not have been flashy or eye-catching, the returns he generated for clients were dazzling--so dazzling that Neff's track record may be the greatest ever for a mutual fund manager.

We strongly believe value investing has an edge over other approaches in this kind of market, where hysterical market plunges open up unprecedented opportunities for deep-value investors. With the seesaw motions of the last few weeks, adopting the tenets of value investing is more important than ever.

Last year we conducted a survey on value investing. We compiled, categorized and ranked almost 2,000 responses from readers like you, and we're happy to present you with four of the most frequently asked questions about value investing...along with our answers.

Full Story: http://investinganswers.com/a/demystifying-value-investing-answers-your-top-4-questions-1219

Last week, I spoke at a special conference on value investing at the beautiful Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX.

Virtually every stock market investor talks about “recognizing value.” I’ve found that interest in value investing ebbs and flows depending on the market. No one wants to overpay for a stock, or keep holding one if the price gets nutty.