Why I Sold Norbord: Confessions of a Value Investor

As a value investor, I confess to swallowing a tough pill as I sold out of my entire position in Norbord (NBDFF.PK) [TSE:NBD] last week, after exactly 24 months of holding these shares.

When I originally bought Norbord, I was a fairly green value investor and consumed at that time with reading everything I could get my hands on about other value investors, their holdings, philosophies and disciplines. Norbord at that time was a value favorite of Irwin Michael of ABC Funds, and one through my own research that I felt offered decent value at its then valuation of $8.50 per share. The stock was a low-cost producer of OSB and had been hit hard in sympathy with lower sales linked to the declining housing market in the US despite a strong European presence.

This was the tragic mistake I made in purchasing this stock prematurely: timing a sector

Instead of exercising more patience and conducting a more thorough analysis of external risks, I felt that secondary research via a fund manager, an attractive dividend and strong backing of institutional owner Brookfield Asset Management, meant this stock was a conservative choice to begin my Value Portfolio with.

What I didn’t know was that the housing market in the US would continue a steep decline over the next 24 months, supply would increase drastically leading to plant closures and decreased profitability, European nations would meet increased housing pressure of their own and despite a strong stance in the continued purchases by Brookfield the shares continued to decline.

Last week, I sold my entire position of shares for $4.52 to take a total loss (excluding dividends) of nearly 44% after an initial and a subsequent purchase. After exactly two years, I felt that securing a capital loss in Norbord to match capital gains generated by the sale of other successful holdings in the portfolio this year appeared to be a prudent decision on my part as an investor.

While it might appear as though I exercised extreme patience over the last two years with Norbord, I didn’t sell it earlier because it served as an important lesson each and every time I looked over my portfolio and saw its large double digit loss in my portfolio. This stock has taught me a lot as an investor over the last two years and helped to change more than a few of my attitudes; the most significant being a throughout Situational Analysis.

As I’ve shared before with readers, I feel it’s more important at times that an investor focus on their failures rather than their successes. A successful trade is always something you feel good about, but rarely examine critically for the reasons of why you did well. When you make a bad investment, just like Buffett looking in retrospect on his own mistakes, you learn more about yourself and the critical mistakes that can be made in the hopes of avoiding those same errors in the future.

Disclosure: none