The Stocks Billionaire Contrarians Are Buying
By Graham Summers
October 8, 2007

It's almost too simple.

Time and time again, I've written that you can be a fine investor simply by following what the top investors in the world are doing with their money. Because large investors like Warren Buffett, Charles Brandes, and the like have to file their stock purchases with the SEC, you can basically manage your own portfolio to mirror theirs. And you don't have to pay a cent in fees.

Just look at my April essay on Charles Brandes.

Brandes is a billionaire contrarian investor. Since 1987, his Global Equity Fund has returned average annual gains of 14%, outperforming the MSCI World Index by an average of 6% a year.

With these kinds of returns, Brandes has become one of the most sought-after asset managers in the world. As of June 30, Brandes Investment Partners had $125 billion under management.

Back in April, we noted that he had put nearly a quarter of his portfolio into telecom stocks, particularly global fixed-line operators. If you chose to follow Brandes into any of his top telecom holdings, you've made good money.

Company Symbol Price in April Price Today Gain Telefonos TMX $34.99 $35.90 3% Telefonica TEF $66.95 $80.20 20% Deutsche DT $17.02 $19.25 13% KT (Korea) KTC $22.20 $25.40 14%

Today, the telecom sector continues to heat up both domestically and abroad. Both Verizon and AT&T recently hit new 52-week highs. The dogs of the last five years are quickly becoming some of the best stocks to own. My colleague Porter Stansberry has been bullish on U.S. telecom since early 2006. His readers are already up 59% on Verizon.

However, I'm more interested in international telecom. In the last 20 years, many formerly state-owned telecom companies have become available for public investment. Almost all of these companies are former monopolies. Most have large moats around their business, since telecom is a capital-intensive industry.

So it's little surprise that Charles Brandes' latest quarterly filings reveal his positions in a number of other international telecom companies.

Company Symbol Brandes' Position Telecom Argentina TEO $213 million Telecom of New Zealand NZT $165 million Telecom Italia TI-A $1.02 billion Telecom Brasil TBH $451 million

You don't bet this big unless you expect big gains. Brandes is used to making them: Remember, he's averaged 14% a year since 1987.

It's time to own telecom, and it's time to go global.

Good trading,

Graham