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

US Congress Is Getting Ready to Pass a Massive ~$2.2 Trillion Fiscal Stimulus Bill

Image Shown: US equities have started to recover some of their lost ground as the likelihood that the US Congress will pass a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus and emergency spending package, dubbed the CARES Act, has increased significantly over the past week as seen through the bounce in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). President Trump has clearly indicated that he intends to sign such a bill into law as soon as possible, with the US House of Representatives expected to take up the legislation this upcoming Friday morning on March 27. By Callum Turcan On March 25, the US Senate worked late into the night to secure a bipartisan compromise on a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus … Read more

Valuentum’s Comprehensive Outlook for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Prices

Let’s take a deep dive into the energy sector. The best dividend growth ideas, the most likely takeout candidates and more…

Why Natural Gas Prices are So Low and Will Likely Remain So for Some Time

Chevron’s Promising Cash Flow Growth Outlook

Image Source: Chevron Corporation – May 2021 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan The outlook for the global energy complex is bright and getting brighter as public health authorities utilize widespread coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) vaccine distribution efforts to put an end to the pandemic. We added shares of Chevron Corporation (CVX) to the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios on June 27 (link here) in order to gain exposure to the ongoing recovery in the global energy complex via a high-quality integrated oil major. Shares of CVX yield ~5.1% as of this writing. Asset Overview Chevron’s collection of upstream assets (involved in the extraction of raw energy resources from the ground) includes operations all over the world with some notable … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of August 5

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 5. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week                1847 Holdings LLC (EFSH): now $0.1313 per share dividend (post one-for-four reverse split), was $0.05. AdvanSix (ASIX): now $0.145 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.125. Alpine Summit Energy Partners, Inc. (ASEPF): now $0.03 per share monthly dividend. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (AY): now $0.445 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.440. Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Blue Owl Capital … Read more

Our Thoughts on Chevron Buying Noble Energy

Image Shown: An overview of Chevron Corporation’s all-stock acquisition of Noble Energy Inc that was announced in July 2020. Image Source: Chevron Corporation – July 2020 Noble Energy Acquisition Presentation By Callum Turcan On July 20, Chevron Corporation (CVX) announced it was acquiring Noble Energy Inc (NBL) through a $5.0 billion all-stock transaction, or $13.0 billion when factoring in net debt and the book value of non-controlling interests. Shareholders of Noble Energy will receive approximately 0.12 share of Chevron for each share of Noble Energy. At the time the deal was announced, shareholders of NBL were receiving a ~12% premium based on the ten-day average closing stock prices. Chevron intends to issue ~58 million shares to cover the deal, keeping … Read more

Black Gold! Crude Oil Prices Leap to ~$50

Key Takeaways: After being negative throughout much of the collapse in energy resource prices during 2014-2015, Valuentum has been market-neutral on the energy sector since October of last year, and the newsletter portfolios have participated in the bounce in energy shares from January 2016 via the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE). The Dividend Cushion ratio, which is a forward-looking cash-flow based metric of dividend health, flagged the risk of every dividend cut, without fail, in the Independent Oil & Gas industry in advance of the event: Anadarko (APC), Cenovus (CVE), Cimarex (XEC), Devon Energy (DVN), Noble Energy (NBL), and Range Resources (RRC). We’ll walk through the degree of capital cuts across the Independent Oil & Gas industry, the group’s efforts … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week August 7

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 8. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (AY): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.41. AudioCodes (AUDC): now $0.14 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.13. Badger Meter (BMI): now $0.18 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.17. Brookfield Renewable (BEPC): now $0.434 per share quarterly dividend. Cable One (CABO): now $2.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $2.25. CAI International (CAI): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend. Carlisle (CSL): now $0.525 … Read more

ExxonMobil’s Great Earnings Report and Promising Growth Outlook

Image Shown: An overview of ExxonMobil Corporation’s strategy to generate shareholder value going forward. Image Source: ExxonMobil Corporation – Second Quarter of 2021 Earnings IR Presentation By Callum Turcan We added shares of ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM) as an idea to both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios back on June 27 (link here) to gain greater exposure to the ongoing recovery in the global energy complex. On a day-to-day, month-to-month basis, raw energy resources pricing (crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids) will bounce around (commodity prices are inherently volatile). However, what we have been interested in the most is the sharp recovery seen in raw energy resources pricing since the start of 2021. That includes … Read more