Norman Levine has been around the block. Over his 39 years in the investment industry, he survived the inflationary era in the 1970s, Black Monday in 1987, the technology boom and bust in 2000, the global financial crisis in 2008, and the euro crisis in 2011. Up on Norman’s office wall is an old framed photo of a Bloomberg terminal screen that shows the carnage that occurred on that Bloody Monday, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22.61% and the TSX dropped 11.32%. It was an angst-filled, record-breaking day. By the end of October, the TSX had fallen further to post a 22.5% decline. I asked Norman how he reacted on Bloody Monday and over the remainder of that October. His response should be carefully studied, as there’s no doubt that you will experience similar flash crashes in your time as an investor.
It seems that an uncertain market is a profitable market for Norman. You’ll find through numerous examples in the interview — BCE, European stocks, U.S. financials, CCL Industries — that he is an opportunist. Norman sees opportunity before it is obvious to the common investor and captures not only the early leg up but then another string of gains when institutions and retail investors pile into his holdings. Norman swoops in like a hawk as soon as he sees some short-term negative event impact stocks or when he finds stocks that are overlooked and improperly priced. His experience also teaches us that simply buying mispriced stocks will not earn investment glory. One also needs to foresee and then anticipate a catalyst that will propel those stocks out of their low points or holding patterns. Norman is an expert at a challenging skill: finding opportunity.
Every time I see Norman, he’s wearing a new suit with a coordinating tie or bow tie and cufflinks. His closet must be the size of my one-bedroom condo. Norman tells me, “It’s important to dress well in this business. It really does make a difference.” He sprinkles in some Yiddish when he explains that his “dad used to dress like a shmatte.” I can’t help but glance around his office; there’s so much history packed within Norman’s four walls, not to mention a mini putter machine on the floor, which most likely serves as a relaxing escape from a tough day in the market. I was drawn into Norman’s storytelling as we spoke. Norman has that classic old-style swagger, combined with a hard gaze when he locks onto your eyes. Norman is a remarkable figure in the Canadian markets — it’s hard to fathom that he was fired from his first job as a broker. It just goes to show that you never know what the future holds.
Blue-Chip Stocks: stocks that contain certain characteristics that denote stability: large size, long history, reliable products or services, dividend increases, solid reputation or brand perception, and so on. Blue-chip stocks can be concentrated in banks, utilities, and telecom. An example would be Bell Canada.
Fundamentals: figures such as assets, cash flow, and net income, usually derived from a company’s financial statement and used by investors to determine the worth of a company.
Opportunistic Investors: investors who scan the market in search of opportunities that they can capitalize on. For example, an opportunist would be able to buy assets at cheaper prices after a 10% correction.
Process: the set of customized ascending or descending steps that most investors follow to select investments for their portfolio.
Scuttlebutt: the practice by which investors ask questions of company directors or any other sources to build their knowledge in that company. The term was popularized by Philip Fisher.