For nearly 50 years, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue has featured pretty girls in skimpy bikinis frolicking in the sun and sand from an exotic local. David Letterman will unveil this year s cover on tonight s Late Show. Don t be surprised to see a repeat of the same winning formula: a beautiful girl in tiny attire, just as it s been since 1964.

Much the same repetition occurs in the market, where there's always a new company, ETF, or technique to attract your investment dollar. From volatility to spot foreign exchange, we often profile new options and ideas in which to try and make a buck.

And while there will always be a pretty new stock pick to squire, the real wealth is built from the longer term financial relationships that persist over time.

That has been the case with Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, the dominant Japanese telephone carrier and second largest telecommunications company in Asia which I wrotefollow me here.

Shares have climbed even amid the recent market decline, up about 12% not including dividends since profiled last June. And while I'm gratified for any profit, I'm admittedly frustrated that 2009's massive rally left so many value-oriented names like NTT behind. Clients and colleagues have taunted me with their meaty gains in stocks like Ford and Citigroup that had been tossed aside during 2008 s collapse.

You Make the Call

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (NTT) -- 6 months

Yet here I sit with a position in NTT, now eclipsing highs not seen since October, strength for which I have no real explanation. The company recently reported net profit that was down year-over-year, yet the stock climbed. While Japan has outperformed the U.S. year-to-date, it's not a demonstrable investment story or huge gainer yet.

To borrow a line from Tom Petty, the waiting is often the hardest part. Because while there are a multitude of other investment ideas that most certainly interest me for new money, once you take a position, it s all up to the market. So even though I m thoroughly bored with NTT, the fact is that it s a winning trade knocking up against new multimonth highs. That alone is reason enough to hang on.

My suspicion is that there s a fundamental change in corporate organization afoot, a rumor fanned by comments from the incoming Minister of Internal Affairs that prompted a spike in shares last fall. The Japanese government owns about 33% of the company, having last sold shares in 2001. My conjecture as to why the price has risen, however, is secondary to the only data point that matters: the stock itself.

There will always be a promising new filly on which to take a flier. But just as was the case with Sony, another laggard which ultimately rallied sharply to new multimonth highs, the oft-overlooked component of any relationship is the patience to sit on a market that is confirming your outlook, even if at a slower rate than you had hoped. I still expect great things.

At the Close: The Command Economy

My critique of the president s contemptuous attitude toward free markets received some attention from PBS commentators who, in a recent broadcast, labeled the perspective as demented.

President Barack Obama, Senate Democratic Policy Issues Conference

That s precisely the concern: a government which sees its role not as protecting free markets and individual rights, but pulling levers and pushing buttons in order to achieve an intended goal. While I have great respect for the president, the suggestion that wealth is created by a centralized plan in Washington, regardless of how clever the planners, is antithetical to the tradition of free enterprise that s fundamental to the American way of life.

At the time of writing, Hoenig s fund owned shares of many of the securities mentioned.