DDS

Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? — Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios

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Image Source: World Health Organization, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Situation Report — 32 We don’t think this is the environment to put new capital to work, and we remain highly cautious of what COVID-19 means for global economic growth not just in the first quarter of 2020 but for the rest of this year (maybe longer). Right now, the US markets are not really factoring in anything related to COVID-19, and perhaps may be adjusting to China’s stimulus in artificially propping up the markets as if the outbreak is somehow a “positive thing.” With the S&P 500 trading at 19.0 forward earnings estimates–estimates that are likely too high given the evidence we are seeing with respect to a slowdown due … Read more

Resetting Your Mental Model

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Image Source: affen ajlfe A version of this article was originally published on our website October 6, 2013. Having the right mental model and using the right information can be the reason why you win or lose in investing. “What is the definition of timeliness? Many believe it is getting information to investors as quickly as possible after an event, or updating something every single day or week for immaterial information. I believe in a different definition of timeliness. I believe timeliness is using all information available in a mosaic approach to accurately predict the event before it even happens. Take Kinder Morgan as the latest example. We were the only ones predicting what was going to happen before it did. To investors, … Read more

Improving Our Coverage

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Valuentum continues to scour the stock market for new ideas. We’ll be following the set of companies in this list via commentary on our website and a data sheet updated periodically. By Valuentum Analysts The list of companies in the download below were previously covered by our team via 16-page report and dividend report fashion. Going forward, we are now covering these companies with commentary on the website and via a data sheet updated periodically. This will be a much better use of members’ time, especially as members scour our Best Ideas Newsletter, Dividend Growth Newsletter, stock methodology, dividend methodology, and the hundreds of stock valuation reports and dividend reports on our website, available through the Symbol search box.  We … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 23

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 23. 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 Altria (MO): now $0.84 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.80. Atrion (ATRI): now $1.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.35. Avnet (AVT): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Canadian Banc Corp (CNDCF): now CAD 0.0875 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.0865. Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): now CAD 1.44 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 1.40. Community Bank System (CBU): now $0.41 per share … Read more

Recently Asked Questions

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Image Source: Eric A version of this article appeared on our website November 2015. Article last updated June 2017. Republished May 7, 2019. The following questions cover the following topics: 1) Can you explain what the Dividend Cushion ratio measures and what it doesn’t? 2) Can you explain the difference between the raw, unadjusted Dividend Cushion ratio and the adjusted Dividend Cushion ratio? 3) Can you talk more about the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI) ratings? Why do some of your favorite ideas in the newsletter portfolios have lower VBI ratings than ones that are not in the newsletter portfolios? 4) Can you explain why you don’t always include companies in the newsletter portfolios that have strong Economic Castles, solid Dividend … Read more

Latest Channel Checks at Malls…Scary

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We know malls come and go, and location is everything, but our latest visit to a few malls in the Chicagoland area leave us scratching our heads in a big way. One was eerily empty. By Brian Nelson, CFA A small sample set is never one to extrapolate, but our latest checks of malls in the northwest Chicagoland area came up a little surprising. We’re not sounding the alarm bells just yet, but we think some caution is in order for the largest mall REITs, including Tanger Factory (SKT), Macerich (MAC), Simon Property (SPG) and Taubman (TCO). Something just wasn’t quite right on our latest visit, and we attribute it primarily to failing anchor department stores, namely Carson Pirie Scott … Read more

News Roundup: Tesla’s Musk, Department Stores, Summit Midstream, Cracker Barrel, Home Depot, GE and More

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No changes to simulated newsletter portfolios By Brian Nelson, CFA There’s never a dull moment in the Tesla (TSLA) story. Just when we thought things were getting back to “normal,” Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has been hit with a contempt charge for a tweet that allegedly violated his prior deal with the SEC. We don’t think the tweet was a big deal, by itself, and it may have included content from a prior conference call, but given Musk’s prior behavior, including being outspoken about not having any respect for the SEC, he doesn’t have much wiggle room with the authorities. From our perspective, Musk is in now in some serious hot water. We’ve always viewed Tesla as “uninvestable,” not necessarily … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Multiline Retail Industry — archive

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Image Source: Troy Tolley Structure of the Multiline Retail Industry The multiline retail industry faces intense pressure from online retail and fierce competition from smaller retailers and discounters. Firms in the industry tend to have large real estate holdings and carry a diverse range of apparel, accessories, and household goods. With retail sales moving to the Internet, a company’s web presence is as important as its brick-and-mortar locations. The industry is undergoing a massive transformation and not all firms will survive. Brands and proper fashion assortment drive results in the short term, while execution remains key over the long haul. Several companies in this group have been reassigned to a new consolidated Multiline Retail Industry here. << Our Dividend Reports

Disappointing Department Store Updates

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Traditional retail continues to face pressure via the shift of consumer shopping habits to online retailers, and the 2018 holiday season was indicative of this trend. Let’s take a look at the holiday updates of a number of key players. By Kris Rosemann Disappointing holiday sales reports have not been uncommon thus far in early 2019 with household names such as Macy’s (M), Kohl’s (KSS), and Nordstrom (JWN) all facing pressure as a result of holiday season reports coming in below prior expectations. JC Penney (JCP) was the beneficiary of clearing low expectations in its 2018 holiday update as comparable store sales continue to slide and the company remains focused on optimizing inventory and liquidity. The group may benefit in … Read more

Valuentum Stock Screeners

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This article was sent to members via email December 29. That email can be accessed at the link that follows this article. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, I wanted to provide an update with respect to Valuentum’s stock screeners. We believe our stock screeners are among the most robust when it comes to providing forward-looking data, or data that is important with respect to the investment decision-making process. We publish screens in each of the monthly newsletters, but we also provide a basic weekly screener for download on the left column of the website, “Download Weekly Stock Screener (xls) — login required.”   We also have other products. The more robust DataScreener, for example, is part of the quarterly Financial … Read more