Money-Rx Blog

Todd Sullivan is a value investor, maintains his own blog (http://valueplays.blogspot.com/) which he started in December 2006 and is a financial writer based in Westborough, Massachusetts. He is a contributing writer for SeekingAlpha.com, Vinvesting.com, The Stock Masters, StraightStocks.com and Value Investing News.

His financial analysis and commentary have been prominent online financial news media, including the Wall Street Journal Online, New York Times Online, Reuters, Forbes Online, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, TheStreet.com and GuruFocus, among others.

Todd Sullivan is a died-in-the-wool value investor, always looking at the intrinsic value of specific stocks and chances for steady gain in the long term. His holding period typically goes into several years. Simply put, in his own words, or rather, in words which he has adopted as the symbol of his investment philosophy, 'Buy fear and sell greed'.

Investors like Todd Sullivan are always on the lookout for good companies stuck in a market downturn. The thinking is that as soon as the market stabilizes, the stock is bound to rise up to its normal value and beyond. Value investing as an investment strategy, while it sounds simple, is notoriously difficult to practise, mainly on account of a human tendency to follow the herd, buy rising stocks and sell when the market tanks. Value investors go in exactly the opposite direction. While a more detailed discussion of this subject is beyond the scope of this profile, we can provide you with some expert opinion.

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Editor's Note: I asked Todd Sullivan how he goes about spotting a good pick, especially with the subprime crash in mind. The housing downturn has brought a number of basically sound companies down and trading well below expected levels. Published below is Mr. Sullivan's answer to the query.

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The principle of value investing is something everyone tries to do in their daily lives, buy some thing for less than its worth. In practice it is much harder because in investing it requires buying those securities most disliked at any given time.

Currently that opportunity is in financials. Large integrated banks like Citigroup, Bank of America and Wachovia are all currently yielding over 6% and trade a multi year lows. What is important to note is that their losses here are just paper losses. They are not due to operational issued or declines in most markets. When the cdo market stabilizes, these paper losses then become gains and then investors will begin to pile into them.

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That was Todd Sullivan, value investor and author of the blog (http://valueplays.blogspot.com/), where he posts daily analysis and timely updates about specific stocks and market trends.

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Miscellaneous Information: He is also interested in how litigation affects the performance of companies, including the damage to the brand. He was involved in defending Sherwin Williams during the lead paint litigation and said to be contemplating filing suit against plaintiff's lawyers in the case. Note: Todd Sullivan's wife, Nicole Duca Sullivan, is a personal injury lawyer. He is a former Washington restaurateur , husband and father of three children.

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Reference Links: http://www.seekingalpha.com/author/todd-sullivan

http://www.blogger.com/profile/08287307038296659422
http://www.forbes.com/finance/2007/04/19/options-altria-peabody-pf-ii-in_ts_0419soapbox_inl.html
http://stockbuzz.us.reuters.com/valueplays
http://www.homanandsullivan.com/Bio/NicoleSullivan.asp