Growing Rich - Arabictrader.com

GROWING RICH WITH GROWTH STOCKS
as traders bid them higher and higher. Therefore, keeping a constant
eye out for new ideas and perceiving an emerging trend before the
rest of the crowd gives you a substantial edge over the rest of Wall
Street. Unfortunately, in a stock market as efficient as ours, that’s
easier said than done.
“We get an edge by looking beyond the horizon, not just at three
days, weeks, or months, but three years,” Shelby Davis confides. “I
just listened to a conference call the other day for Citicorp. I don’t
know whether they’re bluffing or not, but they were talking about
having one billion customers by 2005. If you consider that there are
only six billion people in the world, you’ll realize we’re talking about
a grandiose goal. They’ll have to do some mergers to get there. But
at least they have a vision of where they want to go. I like companies
with a vision. I enjoy seeing management set out an earnings goal
several years out and then try to hit it.” The company is well on its
way. Shortly after this call, Citicorp announced a merger with Travelers
Group. The combined financial giant is now known as Citigroup.
CULTIVATE YOUR INNATE CURIOSITY
To succeed in the investment business, Bramwell insists, one must
have both intellectual curiosity and flexibility. “Having set opinions
will hurt you,” she warns. “For example, technology is continuously
changing. Look at what Dell has done for computers. It initiated the
direct-sales model that has totally changed how other companies
market and distribute their products. Amazon has done the same
thing, only with bookselling.”
Bramwell adds that it’s essential to be aware of what’s going on
around you. “It’s helpful to listen to your children, to see what they
think of Nike or Coke,” she advises. “What are they buying? You
should also look at where the crowds are lining up at the mall.”
Bramwell practices what she preaches. In the late 1980s, she went to
a lecture about women in Russia and the appalling conditions they
live under. What she heard prompted her to buy Tambrands, the
world’s leading maker of tampons and other feminine sanitary
products, believing it would benefit from economic gains in the Soviet
Union. (Tambrands was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1997.) “The
trick is to find companies that are underfollowed and to be early,”
she adds. “I have owned Washington Mutual for a long time. It was
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