Growth at What Price?

One buys growth stocks or growth funds at least partially based on momentum.

On the other hand, value stocks and funds are based on value. 

I have never had much luck at figuring out growth. When do I get on the growth train? When do I get off? I have had some success at getting on the train while everyone else is also boarding, and, at the same time, putting in a trailing stop order that at least gets me off the train before the mass exodus, which I think of as the terminal exodus. So if Stock X or ETF X is rising nicely (people getting on the train constantly), I’m happy to participate. And, with a trailing stop, if the stock declines, say, 8% from its high (reevaluated constantly), I get out before the crowd panics and it goes down 40%, or whatever. This is a pretty interesting exercise with levered ETFs, even though they are currently disliked by FINRA and, therefore, maybe the SEC. 

See also: The Earnings Season Scorecard

Value is what I like. If one may buy a stock at a P/E in the single digits and with good company prospects ahead, life is good. As my friend Miles says, “Buy on the dips.” I modify that to this: “Buy value on the dips.” I understand value. Value is buying something worth a dollar when it’s available at 85¢.  

See the cents mark above? It’s perfectly good shorthand from typewriters. (Remember them?) You can do it on your computer, but you must use the numeric keypad. Hold down the alt key and then type 0162. (It only works on the keypad, not on the above-the-letter-key numbers.) Once you have typed the two, let go, and voila! A cents mark.