Telefonica: Latin American Growth, Crisis Prices

“Buy low and sell high” is the standard advice of any value investor. It can also be remarkably hard to put into practice.

You see, we humans are herd animals, and we tend to think and act as groups, particularly during times of stress. Call it the primal human instinct to seek strength in numbers.

Unfortunately, while this instinct may ensure our survival during times of war or natural disaster, it handicaps us as investors. When we see others panicking we too sell in fear or stand paralyzed in indecision at exactly the time we should be buying with both fists.

All of this is a lengthy introduction to the subject of this article, Spanish telecom giant Telefonica (NYSE:TEF).

Telefonica has had a rough year. The price of its U.S.-listed ADR are down nearly 70% from their pre-2008 highs. The domestically-traded shares have fared slightly better do to the lack of currency movements, but results have been dismal nonetheless.

Spain’s crisis has become Telefonica’s crisis. As the most liquid stock in the Spanish stock market, Telefonica has become a proverbial punching bag and an outlet for traders wanting to short the embattled Eurozone country.

This article was published on GuruFocus.  To read the full article, please see “The Case for Telefonica.“