This week, my morning roundups are going to focus exclusively on specific personal finance writers. I’ve searched around the blogosphere researching these writers and the takes that others have on them and found a number of good ones.
Today’s topic is Phil Town, the individual who has triggered at least fifty emails in my inbox over the last few months. He’s an individual stock investment guru who promotes a simplified version of what’s in Benjamin Graham’s classic investment book The Intelligent Investor. Apparently (though I haven’t seen it), he appears on shows and quite assertively touts the philosophy. He has a blog, too.
An Interview With Phil Town An interesting interview with Phil with a few genuinely interesting questions, like “Why write an investment book if your system works – you should be rich anyway, right?” (@ blueprint for financial prosperity)
Phil Town’s Rule #1 Investing Get Rich Slowly takes a look at Phil’s investment philosophy and seems to generally like it, though Phil’s claims may be a bit inflated. (@ get rich slowly)
Ken Lay Is Dead, But Phil Town Isn’t A good criticism of the biggest flaw in Town’s philosophy. (@ kiplinger)
Phil Town Retro: Calculating Dell’s Sticker Price Phil moves step by step through calculating the “sticker price” of a stock, which is what Phil suggests that the stock should actually be listed at. If you see a stock way below the sticker price, it’s a real bargain. I did this myself, calculating Whirlpool’s sticker price.
The Simple Dollar Retro: Review: Rule #1 Phil’s investment philosophy is collected in this book, which explains a rather straightforward system for teasing out great stocks. It’s a great system that I believe in, but be warned that finding a stock that matches all of the guidelines presented in the book will be tough. If you do find one, though, it’ll be a home run.