Member Articles

Have Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Shares Finally Found Support?

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Image Source: kennijima By Alexander J. Poulos and Brian Nelson, CFA The pharmaceutical industry remains an area of innovation with numerous life-altering therapies brought forth to treat the many afflictions that plague us. The industry lifeblood remains the tenuous path of research and study. There is not a foolproof way to predict how a compound will respond until full clinical trials are completed and analyzed, and even successful commercialization cannot be guaranteed should a drug be approved, regardless of the time and costs invested. A later stage clinical failure, for example, could devastate a smaller company, with its equity never to recover. That’s in part why we tend to prefer larger, more diversified, entities within the pharma/biotech arena as the … Read more

SEC Approves Financial Weapon of Mass Destruction and More Earnings Reports

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Let’s talk about quadruple-leveraged ETFs, Apple’s and Altria’s earnings reports, Coach’s fundamental improvement, Gilead’s fall from grace, IBM’s ongoing deterioration and more. By Brian Nelson, CFA Well, it is what it is as they say. In our ETF research and analysis, we consistently warn readers about the long-term price erosion dynamics of ultra-leveraged ETFs (of the double and triple variety), vehicles that we have emphasized are for “day traders,” not long-term investors. Believe it or not, however — we received news May 3 that the SEC approved a request to now list quadruple-leveraged ETFs, what we describe to be “financial weapons of mass destruction.” Yikes. You read that correctly–quadruple-leveraged exchange traded funds, ones that mimic the movement of the index … Read more

Volatility Spikes, Oh Cisco, the Mighty US Dollar, and More

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Image Source: CBOE Let’s talk about recent market events May 17. There’s a lot going on. By Brian Nelson, CFA It looks like volatility is back in a big way, with “all 29 volatility indexes at the CBOE ris(ing) today,” one more-than-doubling, the CBOE Short-Term Volatility Index (VXST). The ridiculously-named “fear gauge” or “fear index” or the CBOE Volatility Index, the VIX (VIX) leapt nearly 50%. On May 17, we effectively bought volatility intraday by adding put options to the newsletter portfolios, both on the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) and Netflix, a company whose valuation we think remains ridiculous. We may continue to add put options on entities whose equity prices we believe have become too stretched, positions that may … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending December 15

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending December 15. 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 Abbot Laboratories (ABT): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.265. AES (AES): now $0.13 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Air Lease (AL): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Altius Minerals (ATUSF): now CAD 0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.03. Amgen (AMGN): now $1.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.15. AT&T (T): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.49. Balchem … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending January 19

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending January 19. 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 A.O. Smith (AOS): now $0.18 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Alexanders (ALX): now $4.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $4.25. Alliant Energy (LNT): now $0.335 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.315. Antero Midstream (AM): now $0.365 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Antero Midstream (AMGP): now $0.075 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.059. Citizens First (CZFC): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05 (Adj. … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending May 11

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending May 11. 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 Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN): now $0.1282 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1165. Baker Hughes (BHGE): now $0.18 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Baxter (BAX): now $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. BG Staffing (BGSF): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Brookline Bancorp (BRKL): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. Business First Bancshares (BFST): now $0.08 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

ICYMI — Podcast: 2nd Annual Nelson Exclusive Yearly Round Up Call

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Tune in to President of Investment Research Brian Nelson’s Exclusive Yearly Roundup Call. Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for joining us on our second annual Nelson Exclusive roundup call. I appreciate your interest very much, and I appreciate your attention even more. Just an important reminder, Valuentum is an information provider, not a broker or financial advisor, and we do not issue recommendations of any kind. With that said, let’s get started. These are the best of times. We have now surpassed the 9-year mark since the March 2009 panic bottom that sent shudders through the global financial system, and the US economy is as strong as it has ever been. US gross domestic product is now approaching $20 trillion … Read more