Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Aug 9, 2024

Paper: Value and Momentum Within Stocks, Too
Abstract: This paper strives to advance the field of finance in four ways: 1) it extends the theory of the “The Arithmetic of Active Management” to the investor level; 2) it addresses certain data problems of factor-based methods, namely with respect to value and book-to-market ratios, while introducing price-to-fair-value ratios in a factor-based approach; 3) it may lay the foundation for academic literature regarding the Valuentum, the value-timing, and ultra-momentum factors; and 4) it walks through the potential relative outperformance that may be harvested at the intersection of relevant, unique and compensated factors within individual stocks.

Apr 1, 2023

Not Being Greedy as Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron Have Soared
Image: Shares of Exxon Mobil were added to the newsletter portfolios in mid-June 2021 and rocketed higher for some huge “gains” over the past year or so. We still expect upside potential at both Exxon Mobil and Chevron on the basis of our fair value estimate ranges, but we removed shares of both on March 13, 2023. We received a number of questions about why we removed Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. from the newsletter portfolios, despite our point estimate of their intrinsic values being higher than where their share prices are trading. As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, March 31, for example, shares of Exxon Mobil are trading at $109.66 per share with a fair value estimate of $133 per share, while shares of Chevron Mobil are trading at $163.16 per share with a fair value estimate of $198 per share. Exxon Mobil has a Dividend Cushion ratio of 2.8, while Chevron has a Dividend Cushion ratio of 2.4. Both Exxon Mobil and Chevron remain strong investment considerations, not only as it relates to valuation but also as it relates to the strength of their respective dividends. However, we don’t want to be too greedy with these “winners,” particularly as both commodity-producers have now entered "fair value" territory. Let's talk more about why we removed Exxon Mobil and Chevron from the newsletter portfolios in this article.

Sep 8, 2022

LINK --> Massive Unrest In Europe, Energy Crisis Could Be the Catalyst to Topple the Global Markets
Europe is on the brink Over 70000 people came out in support of Russia in Prague and are forcing the Govt to resign for supporting Ukraine pic.twitter.com/lwMAjkBM2U — Mahesh 🇮🇳 (@Mahesh10816) September 3, 2022 The European energy crisis continues to unfold, and we’ve been keeping our members updated on this huge story. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union (‘EU’) along with key Western allies (such as the US, UK, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Australia) imposed punishing economic sanctions on Russia to hinder its efforts in Ukraine and deter other nations from pursuing imperialistic land grabs. Russia retaliated by limiting the flow of various energy products to nations that imposed those sanctions. In particularly, energy flows from Russia to member nations within the EU were curtailed aggressively, with an eye towards France, Italy, and Germany along with Poland and the Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia). Natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum product exports from Russia to EU member nations have tanked this year. The land war in Ukraine has not grown into a massive economic war in Europe, and this catalyst could be the one that topples the global markets.

Aug 31, 2022

Valuentum: Outlook for Europe, China Is Bleak
Video: Valuentum's Associate Director of Research and Co-Portfolio Manager of the simulated newsletter portfolios, Callum Turcan, shares his thoughts about the global economy. Europe is facing considerable pressure from energy prices, while China may face a mortgage meltdown. Join Valuentum for this brief 6 minute video to get up to speed on the goings-on of the global economy and what troubles may be lurking ahead.

Jul 7, 2022

2022 Oil & Gas Market Update: “The Outlook for Crude Oil Prices Remains Quite Bullish”
In our view, the outlook for crude oil prices remains quite bullish which in turn should enable Chevron and Exxon Mobil, two of our favorite newsletter portfolio ideas, to churn out “gobs” of free cash flow over the coming quarters. Additionally, both Chevron and Exxon Mobil have substantial exposure to natural gas prices, in part through their enormous LNG export facilities in Australia, which should further support their cash flow generating abilities. We will caution here that a key downside risk the global energy complex faces is potential demand destruction as consumers adjust their lifestyles accordingly to reduce their energy and fuel bills. With that in mind, we have yet to see energy demand falter in a meaningful way, though we are keeping a close eye on the state of the global economy.

Mar 14, 2022

Valuentum Weekly: Yields on New Series I Savings Bonds Have Soared!
The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ futures are all indicated up Sunday night (March 13), but that may not mean much when trading kicks off tomorrow. The start to 2022 has been one of the worst stretches during the past decade, but broader market indexes still aren't down much, even after factoring in several expected rate hikes by the Fed and economic sanctions on Russia due to the war in Ukraine. According to data from Seeking Alpha, the S&P 500 (SPY), Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA), and Nasdaq (QQQ) are off ~12%, ~10%, and ~19% so far this year, respectively. However, this weakness compares to (and is inclusive of) incredible 5-year price-only returns on the SPY, DIA, and QQQ of ~77%, ~58%, ~146%, respectively, so it's hard for stock investors to be disappointed in much of anything, even if all they were able to do was match the returns of the S&P 500 the past 5 years. Many, however, unfortunately, diluted those 5-year returns with hefty bond and international exposure and sometimes large AUM fees, so the weakness in 2022 is probably more painful for some than perhaps it should be. In any case, we remain bullish on stocks for the long run, with a heavy bent toward large cap growth and big cap tech with tactical overweight "positions" in big cap energy.

Feb 27, 2022

Valuentum Weekly: Putin, the Aggressor, But Did “the West” Cause the Conflict in Ukraine?
We think the newsletter portfolios are well-positioned for inflationary pressures and believe the areas of large cap growth and big cap tech remain the places to be—names like Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and the like. Not only are these equities shorter-duration, more defensive areas relative to more speculative tech, but they also are shielded more from geopolitical uncertainty than international exposure, which many managers seek under modern portfolio theory. We’re also maintaining our bullish view on the energy sector in the near to medium-term. However, please be aware that, while strategically we like the areas of large cap growth and big cap tech because of their moaty business models, attractive valuations, large net cash positions and strong free cash flow generating capacities, we view the overweight “positions” in the energy sector in the simulated newsletter portfolios as tactical short-term decisions given their cyclical nature. The simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, after coming off huge years in 2019, 2020, and 2021, is performing about in line with the major indexes so far this year and doing far better than more speculative areas, where many investors found themselves caught like a deer in headlights. We remain bullish on stocks for the long run--and our favorite individual ideas remain in the simulated newsletter portfolios, within our additional options commentary and in the Exclusive publication. Stay diversified. May we see peace in Ukraine soon.

Oct 26, 2021

Schlumberger Recovering, Outlook Bright
Image Shown: Shares of Schlumberger NV are on the upswing, though the company’s stock price remains far below levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 22, the oilfield services giant Schlumberger NV reported third-quarter 2021 earnings that missed consensus top-line estimates and matched consensus bottom-line estimates. The company’s business continues to recover as oil & gas investment activity is picking up steam around the globe after getting decimated last year in the face of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Looking ahead, Schlumberger expects significant improvement in its mid-cycle financial performance from current levels, aided by major cost structure improvements embarked on last year.

Sep 21, 2021

Booming Natural Gas Prices Great News for Chevron and ExxonMobil
Image Shown: Chevron Corporation – August 2021 IR Presentation. Natural gas prices in the US measured by the Henry Hub benchmark based in Erath, Louisiana, have surged higher over the past several months. This is partially due to the slowdown in domestic oil & gas development activity that occurred back in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic and low crude oil prices. Though crude oil prices, measured by the domestic WTI and international Brent benchmarks, have since recovered, that has not resulted in domestic drilling activity returning to levels seen in 2019, though development activity has recovered somewhat. Henry Hub futures are trading north of $5 per million British thermal units (‘MMBtu’) through February 2022 as of this writing, dropping just below $5 per MMBtu for March 2022 deliveries.

Aug 17, 2021

ExxonMobil Continues to Optimize Its Asset Base
Image Source: ExxonMobil Corporation – Second Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. According to Reuters, ExxonMobil Corp is in the process of divesting its Fayetteville shale play position in Arkansas, which ExxonMobil’s spokeswoman Julie King confirmed according to the news outlet. This is an upstream asset focused on the extraction of natural gas from the ground via “fracking” techniques (combing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to unlock raw energy resources from the ground).