Five Guru-Inspired Bargains for Any Market

In his latest article for Forbes.com, Validea CEO John Reese looks at the range of opinions about the broader stock market’s current valuation.

Reese notes that some, like Yale Economist Robert Shiller, say the market is more than 40% overvalued based on the 10-year P/E ratio. Others, like hedge fund guru Leon Cooperman, say stocks are trading well below historical norms based on projected earnings. “So, who’s right?” Reese asks. “Well, they both are, in their own ways. The problem, however, is that a question like that is inherently flawed. Looking only at any one valuation metric can be big trouble.”

Given the myriad of valuation metrics that exist, Reese says that assessing the broader market’s value is “a very complicated question, and one that is often hotly debated.” But, he adds, “amidst all of the debate, don’t lose sight of a key point: that while a lot of attention gets paid to the market’s broader valuation, the issue is in some ways a moot point for stock-pickers. Regardless of whether the overall market is overvalued or undervalued, you can almost always find bargain-priced individual stocks for your portfolio. When looking for them, however, it’s also important not to rely on a single variable.”

With that in mind, Reese examines a handful of stocks that appear cheap using a number of different valuation metrics, and which also get high marks from his Guru Strategies, each of which is based on the approach of a different investing great. Among the picks: video game giant GameStop, which earns approval from Reese’s Peter Lynch- and Joel Greenblatt-based models. To read the full article and see all of the picks, click here.

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