Ignore Debt Ceiling News, Focus on Corporate Earnings

Simply put, the United States is not going to default on its debt. In other words, we think any market action resulting from the debt-ceiling issue will be irrelevant in coming months, and resolve itself in due time — as it has with any other crisis. Further, we remain unconvinced that this topic is a legitimate concern for long-term equity investors. The fact that America has a large national debt (and a problem with entitlement programs) is well documented in every history and social-studies textbook in grammar schools across the country; how can this be something that will blindside the markets? We’re not talking about derivatives on complex mortgage instruments here. The debt-ceiling deadline is purely a political issue, one … Read more

Apple Priced for Significantly Slower Growth

This article originally appeared on Seeking Alpha. Please view disclosures: https://seekingalpha.com/article/275395-apple-priced-for-significantly-slower-growth At Valuentum, we often use a discounted cash-flow model as a means to back into the current share price of firms in order to ascertain whether the market is unfairly pricing their stock relative to reasonable long-term growth and profitability assumptions. In Apple’s case, it appears that the market is certainly concerned about future growth rates, almost to the tune of merely expecting inflation-like expansion beginning toward the middle of this decade. Although in the land of technology, competition adapts quickly and a few years from now can be viewed as the distant future, Apple represents a compelling risk-reward opportunity at these levels based on our analysis. Often, evaluating a … Read more

Nelson: The 16 Most Important Steps To Understand The Stock Market

A previous version of this article appeared on our website July 21, 2013. Refreshed and updated throughout, as of July 2018. By Brian Nelson, CFA After earning my MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and training stock and credit analysts from large organizations over the past decade or so, I have heard just about every question (though I admit I am still surprised by many things and remain a very humble student of the markets). I’ve also spent years perfecting the discounted cash flow process for large research organizations such as Morningstar and studied under one of the most famed aggressive growth investors of all time, Richard Driehaus. My knowledge runs the gamut from value through … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform