stocks

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by
finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it
takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing
key data, and assessing the competition.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by
finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it
takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing
key data, and assessing the competition.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by
finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it
takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing
key data, and assessing the competition.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by
finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it
takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing
key data, and assessing the competition.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by
finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it
takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing
key data, and assessing the competition.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by
finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices. But it
takes work -- scouring company earnings reports, scrutinizing
key data, and assessing the competition.

As an investor, there are two parts to the returns you'll
see: changes in price, and dividends received. Of the two,
price changes get the most attention, blaring away in real
time on TV, radio, and financial web sites, whenever the
market is open.

The recent bear market has left many casualties, including
just about every individual investor with money in the stock
market. But the average Jane and Joe aren't the only ones who
have been beaten down -- the big fund shops are also
suffering from a lack of investor confidence.

I’ve been startled recently by many
news stories about the massive declines in endowments at
elite universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and
Princeton. Sure, many investors lost money over the past
year, but the performance at Harvard and Yale "badly trailed"
the results at the average college, as
The
Wall Street Journalso delicately put it. I'm
shocked, but not because of these endowments' lackluster
performance.

Actions speak louder than words, as the old saying goes.
So why does the media focus so much attention on what Wall
Street says about companies, instead of what it
doeswith them?