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me and my money

Jim Wallingford, 66.

Jim Wallingford, 66

Occupation

Sales representative

The portfolio

Includes Cameco Corp., Encana Corp., Talisman Energy Inc., Kinross Gold Corp. and TransAlta Corp.

The investor

In his 16 years of investing, Jim Wallingford figures he has made about every classic investing mistake that can be made. Like buying a quality stock and getting off at the next stop – in particular, buying Apple Inc. at $90 (U.S.) and selling at $97. "Nothing like leaving $60,000 on the table," Mr. Wallingford quips.

He's wiser because of the experience, reading lots of books and articles on investing, and taking the Canadian Securities Course. He now writes down his thoughts to bring greater precision to his analyses – and publishes them on seekingalpha.com to get feedback from readers.

How he invests

"I am primarily a 'bargain bin' investor," Mr. Wallingford says. "I look for companies that have been beaten down severely." Then he reads extensively and examines financial statements to assess "the firm's ability to withstand and recover from its current troubles." If the company looks like it can weather the storm, he'll use technical analysis to pick an entry point.

One of his holdings is Kinross Gold. Although its stock is down approximately 75 per cent since the high in 2011, "the fundamentals … remain robust."

Current assets exceed current liabilities by four times, debt is less than 50 per cent of equity, and company operations generated almost a billion dollars in cash over the past 12 months. Proven/probable gold reserves equate to 15 years of production, and are valued at $42 a share.

Best move

Adopting a long-term focus.

Worst move

Back in 2008, he borrowed to buy volatile stocks and the Horizons BetaPro Nymex Natural Gas Bull Plus exchange-traded fund. When he got a margin call, he had to sell out near the bottom.

Advice

"It takes a lot of time and research to be … a stock picker. You have to love the hunt for those stocks that will reward you. For most people, a major index fund is by far their best and safest investment …."

Want to share your strategies? E-mail mccolumn@yahoo.com

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