Jim Collins: Stock Slugger Ends Slump

After a year of strikeouts, one money manager's swing-for-the-fences growth style knocks the ball out of the park in 2003.

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Jim Collins manages money and writes OTC Insight from Walnut Creek, Calif., just outside San Francisco. Like Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants' homerun hero who routinely smacks baseballs into San Francisco Bay and steals bases with abandon, Collins is not happy hitting singles and conservatively running the bases. Both men swing hard and may frequently strike out--but when they hit, they hit it big. Both also have long-term records that speak for their success. In Collins' case, The Hulbert Financial Digest ranks his newsletter No. 2 in performance over the last 15 years, with an average annual return almost quadruple that of the overall stock market.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., and a graduate of Harvard Business School, Collins moved west in 1963 to work in the growing technology industry that was taking root in the sandy soil of what soon became known as Silicon Valley.

Hulbert rates OTC Insight No. 2 for long-term stock performance. The current rally is tailor-made for editor Jim Collins' growth style. To get his just-released July picks, click here.

Having witnessed firsthand the tremendous wealth creation that comes with investing in growing companies, he made that strategy the core of his investment philosophy: buying companies that grow at triple the market's average in terms of sales and profits. When the market moves higher, growth stocks have generally moved the most; during downturns, the more speculative nature of the investments can amplify losses. Take 2002, for example, when Collins' OTC Insight portfolios lost almost 40% as the bear market raged. This year, the volatility of returns from growth investing has worked in his favor. His picks were up more than 38% in the first half of 2003--significantly ahead of his Russell 2000 and Nasdaq benchmarks. Collins' performance was aided by gains of more than 300% in Chinese Internet stocks like Netease.com and Sohu.com, as well as a resurgence in eBay, Yahoo! and Amazon.com.

Collins is still optimistic about the second half of 2003, but he's concerned about the rise in unemployment and the continued weakness in business spending--two factors that could scuttle the much-anticipated "second-half pickup."

Click here to view the Webcast of Jim Collins discussing two stocks he's buying now.

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