Some of the most widely held stocks in America are priced lower today than they were at the start of the millennium. For investors, that's a $2 trillion annoyance. ALAN CREECH DRIVES A FEW MILES FROM his downtown Milwaukee office, he can reach no fewer than seven Wal-Mart stores. Their brightly lit, boxy interiors, giant parking lots and upbeat motto, "Save money. Live better," all serve as an almost-inescapable reminder of one of the most vexing long-term investments the man has ever made. Creech, who manages the $200 million Marshall Large-Cap Growth fund, bought Wal-Mart stock in 2004 and held on...and held on...and held on...as the retailing giant successfully navigated the long recession, increased its revenue by a staggering $150 billion and even doubled its earnings per share. And by the reckoning of nearly every Wall Street analyst who has covered the company over the past seven years, Creech's devotion was a smart move: As many as 13 pros had buy ratings on the stock in 2004, and a near-equal enthusiasm can be found among securities analysts in virtually every quarter since. (Only one of them, during this stretch, has slapped a SELL on the stock, according to Zacks Investment Research, and even then, the rating lasted a mere two months.) But for all that outspoken boosterism, Wal-Mart's shares, which were priced at about $50 when Creech first got in, never rose above $59, and these days, they're trading at $52 - only 11 percent above the sticker price a full decade ago. "Every quarter, the company's earnings march up, and the stock goes nowhere," says Creech. "It's frustrating."
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