That's because unloved stocks tend to be so cheap, and expectations so low, that positive surprises can come quite easily.

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In finding himself, he claims also to have found out the secret defect of modern Conservatism: that it came to be unloved because it became untender.

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Yet Romney faces an uphill battle, because capitalism remains unjustifiably unloved by each political party and by many Americans too.

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He is something of an unloved figure for England fans, but this is partly because the role he plays is an essentially destructive rather than a creative one, but this should not detract from its importance.

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The dedicated deep-value players are your Warren Buffett types, the avid followers of the Oracle of Omaha whose Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) invests primarily in unloved but asset-rich companies, whose stocks are depressed either because they are misunderstood or ignored by impatient investors with a short-term focus.

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