Chapter 1. Vagabond Value

Investor: Christopher Rees

Date of Birth: November 20, 1950

Hometown: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Personal Web Site: www.tenstocks.com

Employment: Full-time investor, runs a subscription advisory

Passions/Pursuits: Workaholic, spends free time with wife and daughter

Investment Strategy: Deep value, special situations

Brokerage Accounts: TD Ameritrade

Key Strategy Metric: Tangible asset value

Online Haunts: www.marketocracy.com, www.valueinvestorsclub.com, www.10kwizard.com

Best Pick: Elan Corp., Up 143 percent

Worst Pick: Flag Telecom, Down 100 percent

Performance Since October 2000: Average annual return 25 percent versus 0.21 percent for the S&P 500[4]

Subsistence living is something that most of us never even consider. Living on the edge of poverty is, after all, the stuff of nightmares. It's the downside we try never to think about.

But for nearly 30 years of his life Christopher Rees thought about subsistence living or "just getting by" nearly every day. Understanding his downside was a way of life. From age 19 to 49, Christopher Rees was a vagabond, moving around the globe from city to city, working in low-paying jobs, earning just enough to keep him going until his next stop. He became masterful at understanding how to stretch a dollar.

In fact, figuring out the bare minimums of survival became a religion for Rees. It is a lifestyle that also set the foundation for Chris Rees's highly successful investment style.

Since October 2000 Chris Rees's Marketocracy.com ...

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