AAPL

Valuentum Moving to “Neutral” on Kinder Morgan

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Valuentum is moving to neutral on Kinder Morgan (KMI). An updated 16-page report will be available on our website Monday morning. On June 11, 2015, we published an article “5 Reasons Why We Think Kinder Morgan’s Shares Will Collapse” when shares of the pipeline giant were trading at ~$40. Without reaching out to us first for questions or comments, Barron’s picked up the scoop, and on websites in which we frequently publish a small sample of our content including Seeking Alpha, Valuentum was repeatedly blasted and “attacked” for its unique and differentiated view. Many of our members were appalled by the public (and anonymous) commenters because our members have been aware of our fair value estimate on Kinder Morgan since … Read more

Assessing the Fallout from the Collapse in China’s Stock Market…Thus Far

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No longer do we live in an isolated world. If you weren’t convinced of this before the Global Financial Crisis, the credit crunch of late last decade should have changed that. Just as the interconnectedness of global financial markets is undeniable, we think the significance of the health of the Chinese economy is as critically important to the trajectory of equity prices across the globe. That’s why we’re not taking the recent collapse in the Chinese stock market lightly. Here’s what we’re hearing. China’s major restaurant bellwether, Yum! Brands (YUM), owner of KFC, addressed whether a decline in the country’s equity market has impacted sales. Though the company noted that “a very small percentage of customers have been impacted,” we’re … Read more

Guide to Second Quarter Earnings; Big Cap Tech Sets Somber Mood

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Image Source: Fortune Live Media, Fortune Most Powerful Women Dinner With Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Apple (AAPL) There were no real surprises in Apple’s fiscal third quarter (calendar second quarter) results. The iPhone maker posted record quarterly revenue and net earnings of $49.6 billion and $10.7 billion, up ~33% and ~39%, respectively, thanks to record fiscal third-quarter sales of iPhone and Mac; its highest ever sales from services and the successful execution of the launch of the Apple Watch also buoyed performance. An “amazing quarter,” iPhone revenue advanced 59%, and customers and investors alike are looking forward to the release of iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 in the fall. Apple’s gross margin expanded 30 basis points in … Read more

eBay – PayPal Split

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Under previous but subsiding pressure from Carl Icahn and other shareholders, eBay (EBAY) announced last September that it would separate its payments business PayPal in July of this year. Now that July is here, we wanted to remind members of the split and explain what it means for the holdings in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. On July 17, eBay shareholders will receive one share of PayPal under the ticker PYPL for each share of eBay owned. We will be launching coverage of PayPal shortly after it becomes an independent, publicly-traded company. The separation of eBay and PayPal will make eBay leaner and more efficient while greatly increasing the potential for expansion of PayPal within the booming mobile payments market. … Read more

May US Auto Sales Cruise Past Expectations

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Key Takeaways The US auto market has recovered significantly since the depths of the Great Recession, posting its best monthly unit sales levels in May in a decade and possibly positioning itself to reach the highest level of annual unit sales since 2001. Consumer demand continues to shift from cars to light trucks and SUVs as pain at the pump eases. America’s best-selling truck, the Ford F-Series, is losing market share, but this may just be temporary as it ramps up production to meet “sky-high” demand. Chevy and Toyota are busy capitalizing on the weakness, however. Tesla may have the brightest future among any auto maker in theory, but how long will it take for its plans to be realized?  … Read more

Apple and World Domination?

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Everybody wants to love Apple (AAPL), except those that don’t own it. If you don’t own it, don’t sweat it. We still very much like the company, but there are a number of other companies where we can certainly find common ground. Our cost basis on Apple is but a fraction of where it is trading, and we’re still happy with the latest transaction from the July 24, 2013, email transaction alert when the company was added to the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and when the existing position in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio was increased. To us, Apple is not so much a technology company, as it is levered to the ongoing strength toward consumer mobilization, which is inevitable. … Read more

The Invincible S&P 500?

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This is the performance of the S&P 500 (SPY) since the March 2009 panic bottom. It’s incredible, to say the least. US stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 have more than tripled since the doldrums of the Financial Crisis, and for those of us that lived and breathed the markets during every day of the Financial Crisis, the lack of volatility and the ongoing, steady advance seemingly month after month during the past 6-plus years have been incredibly peculiar–and perhaps contradictorily–less-than-comforting. Any market that sets prices on the buying and selling behavior of a wide-variety of participants with differing views shouldn’t be so coordinated and one directional. It seems unnatural, or at the very least, unusual. While others are … Read more

Apple: Quality from Its Core

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Image Source: Eric Wüstenhagen On April 27, Apple (AAPL) reported record numbers for its second quarter of fiscal year 2015. Record second-quarter sales of the iPhone and Mac, and best-ever performance from the App Store drove revenue growth of 27% on a year-over-year basis, resulting in $58 billion in revenue. In addition to the significant top-line growth, EPS increased to $2.33 per diluted share, an increase of 40% over the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was higher than expected, at 40.8%, and cash flow from operations also reached a second-quarter high at $19.1 billion. Apple noted that 69% of the quarterly revenue was provided by international sales.  Management announced a plan to increase its capital-return program by more than 50% by the … Read more

The Apple Watch

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Apple (AAPL) hosted a special event Monday, March 9, to show off its latest products and developments. The headliner of the event was the brand new Apple Watch, one of the most talked about gadgets in recent memory. Other topics for the recent addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average index included iPhone momentum, growth in China, Apple TV updates, and the new MacBook development. Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Retina display looks to improve on the already solid foundation of Apple’s MacBook line. With several innovations, the lightest MacBook model has received solid reviews thus far. Despite the PC market being under pressure, Mac notebooks continue to experience growth. Another popular Apple product receiving an upgrade was Apple TV. … Read more