History shows that the stock market has been and can be beaten by those brave folks willing to buck the momentum herd and focus on fundamentals. The roster of those who are capable of delivering and sustaining market-beating investing results includes legends like Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch, and Bill Miller. Time and time again, the folks who can beat index trackers like Vanguard Total Stock Index
My friend and colleague Philip Durell has studied these masters, their strategies, and their successes, and now he's sharing that knowledge with you. As the lead analyst for Motley Fool Inside Value, Philip's selections have dramatically outpaced the market's return since the newsletter's inception a little over a year ago. He has done so by profiling global stalwarts like diversified manufacturing giant 3M
Why value wins
The reason Philip's selections have so utterly trounced the market is simple. He, like the value greats that came before him, selects strong companies that are going through short-term tough times. Consider the saga of air conditioning giant LennoxInternational
It sounds crazy, but such things happen all the time. In fact, at just about the same time that Lennox was bottoming out, Philip dug up long-term-care pharmaceutical services company Omnicare
The market is an emotional roller coaster. When things are going well for a company, its stock can get priced as though the good times will last forever. When things are going poorly, the market often overreacts on the downside, pricing an otherwise solid firm as though its days are clearly numbered. Some would say that such irrational panic may be hitting tax preparation giant H&R Block
With an objective understanding of the worth of a business, confidence that the market will eventually sort itself out, and enough patience to wait out the process, value investors have beaten the market time and time again. At Inside Value, we're confident that history will repeat itself, and value will once again prevail.
Opportunity
knocks
Just after the market closes this afternoon, another issue of Inside Value will be released, and two more companies will join our list of potential market-beating, value-priced investments. Take a 30-day free trial now, and be among the first to discover what they'll be. With your trial, you'll also have access to everything we've ever published. You'll be able to take a look at our updated value chart for all Inside Value's previously chosen companies and pick through past issues to decide for yourself how much value remains in those previous selections. Click here to begin your free trial and start your journey toward replicating the market-thrashing success of history's greatest value investors.
This article was originally published on Sept. 14, 2005. It has been updated.
At the time of publication, Fool contributor and Inside Value team member ChuckSalettaowned shares of Omnicare and Lennox. Omnicareand 3M are current Inside Value selections. The Fool has adisclosure policy.