Morningstar

The market may be down and volatile, but there are still opportunities for those seeking value across all sectors, including financials, a panel of senior equity analysts from Morningstar Inc. said Wednesday at the Chicago-based research firm’s annual conference.

“The question is whether there are individual banks or regional banks that could be looked at,” said Josh Peters, equity income strategist. “Are these banks going to get through this with an enhanced competitive position?”

Ben from moderngraham.com covers Morningstar Investment Conference, a trade-only conference for investment professionals. He just returned from the opening session of the day, the Ultimate Stock Pickers Panel.  The panel was moderated by Justin Fuller from Morningstar and included Peter Langerman of Mutual Shares, Charles Pohl of Dodge & Cox, and Bob Torray of Torray Fund.

Read the part 1 of the notes.

Mutual funds are required to disclose their holdings each quarter, and many fund managers take the time to write their thoughts about their funds and the market in general. Morningstar loves to read these informative pieces--not only for the general market themes, but also for tidbits on where these professionals are investing their dollars. Although the topics of the letters can sometimes go out-of-date quickly, the lessons they teach are usually timeless and can be applied in all sorts of market settings.

Justin Fuller of Morningstar checks in with Berkshire's holdings for the Ultimate Stock-Picker's Portfolio.In  Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.B) 2004 annual shareholder letter, chairman and CEO Warren Buffett wrote, "…be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy only when others are fearful," when explaining his investment philosophy.

Morningstar believes that one of best and easiest ways to screen for new investment ideas is by monitoring the activity and holdings of successful fund managers. Chris Browne of famed money-manager Tweedy, Browne advocated such an approach. In The Little Book of Value Investing, Browne says "A savvy store owner will visit competitors to see what they stock on their shelves, what is selling well in their location, and what seems to be worthless inventory. ... We can do the same by observing what other value managers are doing."

It's 2007, and Morningstar analysts are turning once again to the mutual fund world for a little free advice. Every quarter, mutual funds are required to publish lists of their holdings--and at the end of the year, fund managers offer their ideas on the performance and direction of their funds. They often drop tidbits of investment advice that we can use for our own benefit.Morningstar analystse love to read the shareholder letters of managers they respect as they hunt for opportunities.

This quarter, Morningstar examined the shareholder reports for 15 mutual funds and found a wealth of information.  Morningstar focused on managers search for stocks that trade below their estimates of intrinsic value and provide a margin of safety. While they are not endorsing these mutual funds, these managers follow the examples set by Ben Graham and Warren Buffett. A common complaint seemed to be the lack of bargains in this environment. Good buys are not as abundant as they once were, but some digging still uncovers opportunities.

Dreyfus Neenan of Morningstar discusses the Berkshire Hathaway Meetings shareholder meeting in Omaha,the analyst/news briefing and Wesco Annual meeting. He tells us what Morningstar thinks were chairman Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charles Munger's most salient insights for investors.