Wells Fargo & Co provides banking, insurance, investment, mortgage and consumer finance services throughout North America. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Many studies have shown that it is very difficult to correctly time the market. But assuming you had superior foresight, how often would you have to be right in order to beat a buy and hold investor?

The finale of a 10 part series on what investors can do to better position themselves in volatile markets.

Most investors were scared from the severe drops in global stock markets last week, caused by the freezing of the debt markets and the global recession fears which the tightening of the credit markets might cause. Most stocks have suffered double digit percentage losses since the start of the year, even after yesterdays record rally. It’s no place to panic however.

This  edition of the Graham and Doddsville Newsletter features articles on Mohnish Pabrai, Joel Greenblatt, Bruce Greenwald, Warren Buffett, Bill Ackman, and NutriSystem.

I am not a stock trader; I am a dividend and value based long-term buy-and-hold investor. When I add a stock to my dividend portfolio, it is my intention to hold the stock forever. When stock prices start dropping, our primal instinct of flight kicks in and we want to sell. In many cases that is the time to be buying. However, sometimes selling a stock is the right thing to do.

In general, we like to avoid individual companies that produce commodities, since they are subject to unstable and unpredictable prices. In the case of Harris, however, as a buyer and re-seller they are somewhat more protected than a straight steel manufacturer.

Wells Fargo said today it has acquired the EMAR Group, one of the nation’s largest independently-owned commercial insurance agencies. Todd Sullivan discusses how this is the fourth such acquisition in the insurance sector for Wells Fargo.

In this video, Vitaliy Katsenelson speaks outside the Value Investing Congress to Forbes on the four cash rich tech stocks he likes.

Last week was characterized by massive sell offs by investors, which fear that the worst is definitely going to happen. Despite the fact that the bailout plan was approved by congress, that didn’t improve investors’ sentiments. The US stock markets had the worst week ever.

Manulife Financial Corporation is a life insurance company with customers in the United States, Canada and Asia. It is the holding company of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and John Hancock Financial Services. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

In 2006, Forbes published an article titled "Land Ho!" where they discussed five stocks (HZO, ATML, BJ, STAR, PBY) which own land values far in excess of their carrying values.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Mr. Whitman said. “The most important securities are being given away.”

The post will touch on an additional management evaluation tool: evaluating management using the shareholder letter. These are extraordinary investment times and many an investor are unsure of what to do next. Many factors will go into that ultimate decision, but I believe Warren Buffett said it best a few weeks ago:

One of Value Plays readers provides some statistics as to why this current market is not like the Great Depression.