Excerpts from
THE SINE WAVE INVESTORtm
February 2012 (No. 96)
GREAT THOUGHTS FROM GREAT INVESTORS
Michael
Mauboussin, author and Chief Investment Strategist at Legg Mason Capital
Management, will pick up in his next book (due out late 2012) where he left off
in Think Twice....
SWI: What are your main investment themes for the next 12 months?
Mauboussin: Subscribers Only
TRANSACTIONS
* Sine Wave II Portfolio - I'm still using the "---" method to buy and sell, and
it's working well. The Dow climbed pretty steadily through January and I sold 6
ETFs for healthy gains.....
EARNINGS
* --- - ---'s 4th-quarter profits were crimped by higher material costs, adverse
currency movements, a slowdown in Europe, and floods in Thailand. Earnings per
share declined to 20 cents a share versus 30 cents a year ago. --- gained market
share for the third year in a row and expects industry sales to rise in the
coming year. Investor sentiment seems to be improving, so I may stick with ---
if it rises steadily - Reconsidering
TIDBITS
* Freedom Watch (Unreasonable Search and Seizure) - The passage of the National
Defense Authorization Act cannot go unremarked. The new law allows the
indefinite military detention in undisclosed locations of individuals on U.S.
soil, without trial or assistance of counsel. Legal experts disagree whether or
not the provisions apply to U.S. citizens. The law's intended targets are people
who have 'substantially supported' certain terrorist groups or 'associated
forces'. Government officials have called good-hearted, law-abiding Tea Partiers
"terrorists" and 'associated forces' is not defined, leaving the law's potential
reach unknowable. There's so much controversy over this law, that I wanted to
look at it and decide for myself what it means. But when I tried to look at the
actual text, Public Law 112-81 was not available on the Government Printing
Office website. When I examined the enrolled bill (passed by both Houses and
signed by the President), the key section (1021) was missing on the Library of
Congress website. What's going on here? And whatever happened to the 4th
Amendment constitutional guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure? What
happened to habeas corpus, the right of U.S. citizens to demand we not be
indefinitely detained, but produced in court? Didn't we fight the Revolutionary
War over such matters? An awesome power has been created. Do you trust your
government to use it "properly"? I don't, not when the reach of the law seems
deliberately shrouded in mystery.
DISCLAIMERS
The opinions expressed
herein are subject to change without notice.
The factual representations
contained herein are drawn from sources believed to be reliable but accuracy or
completeness cannot be guaranteed.
etc.