Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Oct 18, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of October 18
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Jul 19, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of July 19
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Jul 12, 2024

JPMorgan Chase’s Return on Capital Shines in Second Quarter
Image Source: Hakan Dahlstrom. On July 12, JPMorgan Chase reported second quarter results that beat expectations on the top line, but came up a bit short on the bottom line. JPMorgan is an important bellwether for the global economy, and its second quarter results spoke of continued strength and high returns on capital. We include Financial Select SPDR in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio to capture diversification benefits from the largest financial institutions. Shares of JPM yield 2.2% at the time of this writing.

Apr 19, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of April 19
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Feb 25, 2024

We Remain Bullish; Is This 1995 – The Beginning of a Huge Stock Market Run?
Image: Large cap growth stocks have trounced the performance of the S&P 500, REITs, and bonds since the beginning of 2023. We expect continued outperformance in this area of the market. We’re now roughly four years past the depths of the COVID-19 meltdown, where equities collapsed in February and March of 2020. As the markets began to recover through 2020, our long-term conviction in equities only grew stronger. We think the biggest risk for long-term investors remains staying out of the market on the basis of what could be considered stretched valuation multiples. As we outlined heavily in the book Value Trap, valuation multiples hardly tell the complete story about a company and often omit key long-term earnings growth, cash flow dynamics, and balance sheet health considerations. We remain bullish on equities for the long haul, and we think the next couple years will be incredibly strong. Our best ideas can be found in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, ESG Newsletter portfolio, and via the Exclusive publication as well as options idea generation.

Feb 18, 2024

Digital Realty Trust Has Bucked Broader REIT Sector Weakness
Image: Digital Realty Trust has outperformed the broader REIT sector by quite the margin since the beginning of 2023. Real estate investors have had a difficult time the past year, with shares of the Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF falling roughly 6% versus a 22%+ return on the S&P 500, both measured on a price-only basis. Data center REIT Digital Realty, however, has bucked the trend of the broader real estate sector’s weakness advancing 20% over the same time period on a price only basis. Digital Realty’s fourth-quarter results and guidance for 2024, released February 15, weren’t great, but the company is much better positioned than other REITs, in our view. Shares yield ~3.6% at the time of this writing.

Jan 26, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of January 26
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Dec 23, 2023

12 Reasons to Stay Aggressive in 2024
From outperforming simulated newsletter portfolios to fantastic success rates in the Exclusive publication to option ideas and great income-oriented ideas and beyond, we continue to deliver across our simulated newsletter suite as our latest video outlines. It’s hard to know exactly what 2024 will bring in terms of a market return, but the internals of the stock market and the U.S. economy look great to us. The new bull market we’re in could last for years, and as a result, we are staying aggressive with many of our new ideas as we look to benefit from these favorable trends.

Oct 22, 2023

There Will Be Volatility
Image: An ETF tracking Russell 1000 "growth" stocks has outperformed an ETF tracking Russell 2000 "value" stocks since the beginning of 2021. To us, the market remains hypersensitive to almost every economic data point that hits the wires, and we’re just not going to play that game. The macro headlines and never-ending news flow are what many quant and algorithmic traders are trading on, and to a very large extent, for investors with a long-term horizon, these macro data points just don’t factor into the equation. When valuing equities, we’re always after mid-cycle expectations, not peak or trough performance, so our valuations implicitly embed a "normal" recession. Warren Buffett didn’t become a billionaire buying and selling on macro data points, and volatility is simply to be expected given the proliferation of price-agnostic trading these days. Instead of panicking over higher interest rates, we think investors should view the Fed’s work thus far as future potential dry powder to stimulate both the economy and the markets. Whenever you feel like stocks are no good, have a read of Warren Buffett’s classic piece written during the Great Financial Crisis, “Buy American. I Am.” To us, we still like stocks for the long run. Happy investing!

Aug 2, 2023

ICYMI: Let’s Play Devil’s Advocate: What’s the Bear Case for Realty Income?
Image Source: Realty Income. It’s helpful to challenge one’s thesis on a favorite idea every now and then, and we’ve done just that with Realty Income in this article. We see three areas of weakness at Realty Income that could challenge our bullish take on the name: 1) its retail exposure, 2) its financial leverage and arguably unwarranted investment-grade credit rating, and 3) the current rising interest rate environment. Perhaps the most compelling component of the bear case on Realty Income is its massive net debt position and present value of future dividend liabilities that dwarf its annual operating cash flow. The REIT business model isn’t as attractive as many make it out to be.