Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Mar 9, 2023

We Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed
Image: Valuentum's President of Investment Research Brian Nelson, CFA. Let's cover five controversial topics today: 1) Large cap growth still dominating small cap value. 2) Who cares about whether fund managers beat their benchmarks. Pick the best group of stocks, right? 3) Dividends are capital appreciation that otherwise would have been achieved had the dividend not been paid. 4) Go figure -- bonds are down again so far in 2023. 5) REITs are underperformers and haven't been reliable dividend payers.

Jan 11, 2023

Don't Let "Them" Spin the Narrative
Here’s the bottom line: The 60/40 stock/bond portfolio has failed both during the COVID-19 crisis as well as during 2022, when diversification was needed most. The strongest performers during 2022 were among the weakest performers in the years prior, and their 5-year returns still pale in comparison to those of big cap tech and large cap growth during the past five years. Small cap value, of which factor investing has been built on top of, continues to trail most other stylistic areas during the past five years. We’re staying the course. Though we expect continued tough sledding during the first quarter of 2023, we think the year will offer an incredible opportunity for investors to dollar cost average into what could be yet another strong decade of returns for stocks!

Sep 21, 2022

Fed Raises 75 Basis Points; Food Price Inflation Continues to Wreak Havoc on Consumer Budgets
Image Source: Federal Reserve. The Fed upped its key benchmark rate to the range of 3%-3.25% on September 21, but it may not be enough to stem the rise in inflation. We think the market has further room to fall.

Aug 14, 2022

Stocks Surge: Strong S&P 500 Earnings Growth Expected, Headline Scares With Inflation Tamed, Interest Rates Still Low
Image Source: BLS. The pace of inflation looks like it may slow down considerably in 2023 as sequential monthly increases pause their advance. Everybody seems to be looking to compare this market to another market sometime in the past, but regardless of which analog you read about, there is one thing that every pullback, crises, or calamity has had in common: The markets eventually returned to all-time highs. That’s what we’re betting on. Some say we could see new highs by the end of the year, but for us, we’re okay if it takes some time longer than that. The past few years have simply been awesome for equity returns, to say the least! Regardless, those higher nominal input prices that everyone is talking about today will eventually act as a launchpad for nominal earnings and nominal equity prices in the future, pushing them ever higher, in our view. What more can we say, we continue to like stocks for the long haul!

Aug 8, 2022

Loving Stocks Here! Meta and Alphabet Setting Up Nicely for Long Term Investors!
Image: Nelson still remains bullish. We wouldn't be surprised to see the markets make new highs as they have done time and time again over the stock market's storied history of bull and bear markets, crashes and rip-your-face off rallies, and economic booms and recessions! There are myriad risks, but we're not overthinking this market. We like stocks for the long haul. One of the hardest parts of investing is keeping your head when others around you are running for the exits. That's exactly what we did for members (we don't manage money), and the stock market has come roaring back since the mid-June bottom! Anyone who has read our book Value Trap knows that the rapid fall in the 10-year Treasury yield to ~2.8% today from the mid-3% range in mid-June has helped support this stock market advance (due to a lower cost of capital in discounted cash-flow models -- enterprise valuation is the key driver behind stock market performance, in our view, as it has been revealed time and time again). After calling the COVID-19 crash when others doubted the impact that the coronavirus would have on the markets, and then calling the tremendous bull run that followed, we still remain bullish on these markets, and the simulated newsletter portfolios have done fantastic on a relative basis so far this year.

Jun 18, 2022

The Stock Market Is Nearing Technical Support Levels
Image: This year has been a difficult one for equity investors, but the selling pressure that has been common in the markets may start to slow as broader indices such as the S&P 500 begin to approach technical support levels. On the S&P 500, we think there is substantial technical support in the 3,200-3,500 range, which to us suggests that further near-term downside may be limited. The S&P 500 closed at 3,674.84 on Friday, June 17, and we think fair value is much higher. What might be a fair value for the S&P 500 today? Well, throwing the 10-year S&P 500 average multiple of 16.9x on 2023 expected earnings numbers of 251.76 gets to a 4,255 mark on the S&P 500, which is above the last closing level of 3,674.84 for the index. Benchmark Treasury rates remain low relative to history, and balance sheets of many S&P 500 companies are overflowing with net cash, supporting such a multiple, too. All told, investors might expect the stock market to hit technical support levels on the S&P 500 of 3,200-3,500 in the near term, but from where we stand, stocks remain an attractive proposition at the moment and a very attractive consideration over the long haul.

Jun 14, 2022

Stocks Up 70%+ Since COVID-19 Pandemic Bottom, Best Ideas Outperforming So Far in 2022
Image Source: Mike Cohen. Investors should be looking for opportunities today, while others around them are panicking, especially those that leveraged into crypto many months ago near the peak. We continue to be huge fans of the areas of large cap growth and big cap tech as these areas not only are flush with entities that have strong cash-based sources of intrinsic value but also have been beaten down unfairly in recent months, in our view. It may be hard to believe, but we’re staying the course. We like stocks for the long haul, and we don’t expect anything like what happened during the COVID-19 meltdown or the Great Financial Crisis. This is but a "normal" bear market in our view, and we still believe stocks could make a huge rebound in the near term.

Apr 26, 2022

Dividend Growth Idea Lockheed Martin Doing Its Best to Arm Western Allies
Image Shown: Dividend growth idea Lockheed Martin Corporation is very shareholder friendly. The defense contractor is doing its best to arm Ukraine and other Western allies during these difficult times. Image Source: Lockheed Martin Corporation – First Quarter of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and simmering geopolitical tensions in East Asia between Western aligned nations and China over Taiwan and other issues have created a backdrop that is conducive to significant increases in national defense spending. Though we hope peace prevails soon, the realities on the ground in Ukraine and elsewhere call for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (‘NATO’) member nations and other Western aligned nations to ramp up their military budgets to deter future threats and to prepare for worst case scenarios.

Dec 26, 2021

VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: 2021 Valuentum Exclusive Call: Inflation Is Good
Valuentum's President Brian Michael Nelson, CFA, explains why investors should not fear inflation, why government agencies such as the Fed and Treasury are prioritizing something other than price discovery, why the 10-year Treasury rate is a must-watch metric, and why Valuentum prefers the moaty constituents in large cap growth due to their net cash rich balance sheets, tremendous free cash flow generating potential, and secular growth tailwinds.

Nov 28, 2021

Bitcoin, U.S. Large Cap Growth, and Technology Continue to Dominate Returns
Image source: Seeking Alpha, retrieved November 28. Bitcoin (GBTC), Technology (XLK), U.S. Large Cap Growth (SCHG), Russell 1000 Growth (IWF), Consumer Discretionary (XLY) have dominated returns the past 5 years. U.S. MLPs (AMLP), Crude Oil (USO), Energy (XLE), Chinese Stocks (FXI), and various bond ETFs (JNK), (AGG), (MUB) have trailed.