What is a realistic return on value investing?

[KopiKat]

When performing your swtiching, do exit all your holding or partially?

A simple Q but very hard to answer as I don't have a fixed set of rules that fits all scenarios...

It depends. I'll focus on some of my considerations for my die-hard No Growth stocks ie. those I'd have previously just buy and hold for the dividends (but which I now actively manage ie switch). I'll use SPH as an example cos' I have had it the longest time and it's unlikely going to morph into a Growth stock anytime soon.

1) Latest Financials : If the indication is that the co. is likely going to enjoy some growth in earnings, I'd be less inclined to sell my entire holdings at one go. In SPH's case, FY12 will very likely show better EPS than FY11 due to Clementi Mall full contribution and I have set a higher target price of >$4 for my last few lots.

2) Time Urgency : FY11 (Nov) results (where Div is usually close to 20ct) are usually announced sometime before mid-Jan. After studying the prior results for the earlier Quarters and conjuring up some EPS figures from my Crystal Ball, I have set my target Buy price at $3.6x. As the mid-Jan deadline approaches, I may raise my target price to $3.7x or even $3.8x, assuming I have not bought back enough SPH shares. Here, I treating it a bit like a Bond ie. I'm willing to pay more as the Dividend date approaches. For selling, my trigger date is xd date.

3) Cash Position + Alternatives : Assuming my cash position is zero and today, for no fundamental reasons, I noticed an Alternative stock that'd suddenly dropped substantially (maybe a Fund Manager decided that this stock no longer fit into his portfolio and is selling a large position which caused prices to free-fall or Euro fears is causing many to switch to only selected 'Defensive' stocks), I won't hesitate to sell SPH (or another Die Hard stock that'd remained flat or dropped only a bit) to switch over. The Qty depends on how attractive the alternative is.

Unless prices are very very attractive, I usually do my Buy/Sell transactions in batches ie. Partially. I don't usually switch over to another stock immediately and I may have cash idling around till I find an alternative, exception is (3).

Hope the above answers your Q and not confuse you more instead. Basically, you'll have to develop your own set of basic rules to follow and expand on it as you gain experience. Ultimately, it should be a source of fun (also funds) and enjoyment, rather than a stress point to perform..