Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Feb 24, 2020

ALERT: Adding Market Crash 'Protection,' Removing MSFT, BKNG
Image source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  We're adding out-of-the-money put options to both the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. We're removing Microsoft from the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and we're removing Booking Holdings from the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. We reiterate that, had the Dow Jones Industrial Average already swooned a couple thousand points on news of the COVID-19 outbreak, we might have considered some undervalued stocks with strong momentum potential "buying opportunities." However, to this point in time, the markets have largely ignored COVID-19, with major US indices still sitting near all-time highs. We could be in for a wild ride in the coming weeks and months, and an outright market crash is not out of question. For those looking for short-idea considerations, please consider the Exclusive publication here. We remain fully-invested in the High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio given its yield and income focus.

Feb 22, 2020

Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? -- Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios
Image Source: World Health Organization, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Situation Report -- 32. We don’t think this is the environment to put new capital to work, and we remain highly cautious of what COVID-19 means for global economic growth not just in the first quarter of 2020 but for the rest of this year (maybe longer). Right now, the US markets are not really factoring in anything related to COVID-19, and perhaps may be adjusting to China’s stimulus in artificially propping up the markets as if the outbreak is somehow a “positive thing.” With the S&P 500 trading at 19.0 forward earnings estimates--estimates that are likely too high given the evidence we are seeing with respect to a slowdown due to COVID-19--and corporate debt levels more elevated than ever before (note, a high net debt level should depress the P/E in enterprise valuation--US corporate debt has advanced 50% over the past decade, to $10 trillion), it is our contention that the current market reflects a “situation-equivalent” forward P/E (i.e. rightsizing for new net debt relative to the dot-com peak and adjusting for lower forward earnings expectations compared with current forecasts) perhaps greater than 24.4, which was recorded at the peak of the dot-com bubble. Though interest rates are lower than they were at the time of the dot-com crash, suggesting a modest reasonable bump to normalized forward P/E ratios of ~15 times to reflect “fair valuations,” we could seriously be in for fundamental-driven crash soon, as both the earnings multiple and earnings estimates contract aggressively. Hypothetically, a contraction to a 16x forward multiple on earnings estimates just 10% lower than currently forecast implies an S&P 500 of 2,566, or a swoon of about 20%-30% from current levels--and that would just get us down to 16x still-respectable forward numbers. How quantitative-driven price-agnostic trading may impact this scenario is not known either, and all of this could be setting up for a wild ride in the coming weeks and months. Fasten your seatbelts. We’ll have a few newsletter portfolio alerts coming Monday.

Feb 14, 2020

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending February 14
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Jan 23, 2020

Resetting Your Mental Model
Image Source: affen ajlfe. Having the right mental model and using the right information can be the reason why you win or lose in investing.

Nov 19, 2019

Our Reports on Stocks in the Auto Specialty Retailers Industry
We've dropped coverage of stocks in the Auto Specialty Retailers industry.

Nov 3, 2019

Tesla Moves Higher
Image Shown: Tesla Inc saw its share price jump up after reporting solid third quarter earnings in late-October. Tesla posted solid third-quarter performance, and we appreciate its improving profitability metrics. That being said, we still prefer other capital appreciation opportunities out there. In our view, most of Tesla’s upside has already been factored into its stock price, which currently sits near ~$313 per share. We prefer General Motors Company, and GM is a holding in both our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios. Interested members can read more about why we like General Motors in this article here.

Oct 31, 2019

General Motors’ Cost Savings Plan Still Intact
Image Shown: Shares of General Motors moved higher after its third quarter 2019 earnings report as investors looked past the UAW strike and towards the future, particularly ongoing cost structure improvements. Our fair value estimate for GM stands at $48 per share, and we continue to like the automaker in both our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios. General Motors’ Dividend Cushion ratio of 3.5x provides for solid payout coverage at a time of trade war volatility, and its Cruise division offers plenty of long-term upside as one of the leaders in the autonomous driving space.

Oct 27, 2019

BREAKING: General Motors and the UAW Reach a Deal, Ending the Strike
Image Shown: Shares of General Motors had come under fire over concerns regarding the extended UAW strike over the past several weeks, but with the strike now over, shares of GM may begin to converge back towards their intrinsic value. For General Motors, the company was a bigger winner than at first glance. While the strike reportedly will cost the company north of $2.0 billion on a pre-tax basis, General Motors was successful at getting several of its underutilized factories closed. Americans want SUVs, crossovers, and pickup trucks, not passenger cars, so maintaining factories set up to meet demand that isn’t there just doesn’t make sense on an economic basis. We see this deal as being a win-win and part of General Motors’ ability to continue improving its cost structure by removing underutilized assets from its operations while keeping in mind the company often needs approval from the union in order to do so. The pay increases are reasonable, and given that underutilized factories are shutting down, we think General Motors’ cost structure will keep getting better over the coming quarters and years ahead.

Oct 18, 2019

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 18
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Oct 16, 2019

BREAKING: UAW-GM Reaches Deal, More Coming from Valuentum Soon...
BREAKING: UAW-GM Reaches Deal, More Coming from Valuentum Soon...