The Correction: Surveying the Marketplace in 3 Charts

For those just joining us, we’ve been profiling the market’s recent slide under the article series titled, The Correction. This article is the latest installment of the series. SPDR Select S&P 500 (SPY) Breaks Below 200-day Moving Average You can say what you want about technical analysis, but times have changed since strict fundamentalists started publishing that chart reading is taboo. There are industry veterans who grew up with the markets decades ago that still don’t buy into the discipline, but technical analysis has become a much-needed skill at any level. Why? Well, the more technicians and chart-followers there are, the more the markets behave according to that particular discipline. Remember: stock prices are driven by buying and selling of … Read more

The Correction: No Panic Selling on Columbus Day

The past three years have been an anomaly, in our view, with the broader equity markets practically going straight up. For those new to the markets and stock investing, in general, this simply is not how the equity markets behave. Many stock pickers have even become frustrated as a result of the market’s steady-eddy advance with negligible meaningful swings during most of the past 36 months. The market, as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), hasn’t had a 10% drop in nearly 1,100 days. As of last Friday’s close, we’re a mere 5.6% from the intra-day high on September 19. During the past three years, the market has made everyone look like a genius, and frankly it has been … Read more

Performance of the Valuentum Buying Index

Note: A more recent analysis of the Valuentum Buying Index rating system can be accessed at the following link: /Value_and_Momentum_Within_Stocks_Too Two separate studies have reinforced the efficacy of the Valuentum Buying Index, both as a portfolio optimization tool and as an idea generator. If you cannot view the video, please consult the transcript that follows. To view Valuentum’s updated YouTube page, please see here.  The studies referred to in this video can be accessed as follows: Why Valuentum Buying Index Ratings Matter: /20141003_1 Valuentum’s Performance on Seeking Alpha: /20141009 Please be sure to read the studies closely in addition to watching the video or consulting the transcript below. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities. I’d like to talk … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending October 10

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 10. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Ameren (AEE): now $0.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. Kraft Foods Group (KRFT): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.525. Pall (PLL): now $0.305 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.275. PolyOne (POL): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.08. RPM International (RPM): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. >>Last week’s dividend increases.

The Correction: Draghi; Chip, Telecom Warnings; Oil and MLPs

The equity markets have been under significant pressure the past few weeks, and we think there is further downside to come. Our view is that the equity markets will be lower than today’s levels within the next 6-18 months, if not tomorrow or next week or next month. We’ve taken profits on cyclicals, and we’ve already closed out the put option hedges in both portfolios for a substantial gain (the latest transaction alert email can be accessed here). Europe appears to be in a giant mess again. The region hadn’t been strong by any stretch of the imagination, but we recently picked up material weakness during Ford’s (F) recent analyst day, which in part prompted us to take a very … Read more

What Members Are Talking About: Ford, Gilead, and Boeing

Question #1 October 1, 2014 Brian: I have a quick question for you.  I read last night that Valuentum eliminated Ford (F) from their portfolio.  A few months ago you commented on the strength of Ford’s sales in emerging markets.  You have a range of 15-27 on Ford price using the DCF process.  With F trading currently under the low end of the range, would it still be prudent to sell the position?  I know clients have made gains since your recommendation in your portfolio, but wouldn’t it be more prudent to sell a position that is closer to fair value than one that is trading below its fair value range? If there is an updated report on F, I … Read more

Valuentum’s Performance on Seeking Alpha

Image Source: TipRanks, as of November 2016 By Valuentum Editorial Staff Seeking Alpha recently published the returns of certain ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ calls for each author. We applaud the firm’s ongoing dedication to transparency of its authors, if not by name, by track record. Valuentum Securities is an independent research firm headed by President Brian Nelson, CFA. Out of the 2,000+ articles Valuentum has published on Seeking Alpha, the Seeking Alpha study covered 567 of them, spanning from May 16, 2011, through June 25, 2014. Long ideas: 508; short ideas: 59. The articles in the study spanned all sectors and market capitalizations. The study pulled articles that were either tagged by Valuentum as ‘long’ ideas or ‘short’ ideas within the … Read more

The Correction: The IMF, Oil, Department Stores, and the Fed

  We’ve been heeding our own words of caution for the past several weeks now, as we’ve trimmed some of the cyclical exposure in both the Best Ideas portfolio and Dividend Growth portfolio. We also added protection to both portfolios several percentage points ago in the form of put option contracts on the S&P 500. These instruments aren’t for everybody, and the put options can still expire worthless if we don’t take profits. The above chart of the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) shows the ongoing market correction, and we expect to continue to provide daily market commentary in the event that things get considerably worse. Our high-level prognostication is that the broader equity markets will be lower than they are … Read more