Why are Russian stocks so cheap?

[John Hjorth]

Post by Scott - to me, absolutely brilliant post by Scott, thank you! - in the "Berkshire - cheap?" topic [my emphasis & underlining here]:

 

I don't get the bad reaction to alwaysdrawing. I agree with a lot of the points brought up, and think people are being too harsh. I don't see anything offensive about that contra view of Berkshire, part of which is similar to what I've expressed in the past. Berkshire is a great company but I'm not sure it's a great investment anymore, either, and sold my shares after the tax reform run-up.

 

I might buy them back at some point because a lot of its businesses are "old reliable" and there is a place for that in a portfolio, but for me, doubtful to be a "core holding" on account of I like stuff that's a bit higher octane than Berkshire but with much better growth profiles. I see Berkshire as an occasional "role player" for my "team" of stocks, but not something I would build my franchise around. I could see it playing a bigger role for others, though, depending on their risk tolerance and what they're trying to do.

 

One thing that I don't think a lot of investors appreciate is what sort of role a stock will play in their portfolios. Are its traits complementary to the stocks you already have or does adding it weaken the portfolio even if the stock itself is seemingly underpriced. It's something I have been thinking about more lately. I own Markel for similar reasons, it adds value for me because it's not another Google or Amazon or Facebook.

 

 

Edit:

 

Please try to invert it with regard to outliers. Please try intellectually to apply it, relative to your own actual personal investment style.

[Lance]

I'm bumping this topic up, in case there is just some traction to the SBRCY topic in the investment ideas forum going forward. [Which there right now not seems to be.]

 

Especially for Lance [, if you read this]: Are you still invested in this space?

 

Hi John -no, I sold SBRCY at a slight gain well before the big run up.  The only Russian stocks I hold now are Gazprom and MBT - not that I necessarily like either of them here, but am content collecting the dividends until/if they run up.

 

Thanks

Lance