Legacy of Benjamin Graham

Legacy of Benjamin Graham: The Original Adjunct Professor. This film, brought to you by the Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing, Columbia Business School, premiered on February 1, 2013 at the 16th Annual Columbia Student Investment Management Association conference. Produced by: Louisa Serene Schneider. Shot & Edited by: Christina Choe. Video Source: HeilburnnCenter Tickerized for companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. ———- It’s Here!  The Second Edition of Value Trap! Order today!   —– Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, QQQ, DIA, VOT, BITO, RSP, and IWM. Valuentum owns SPY, SCHG, QQQ, VOO, and DIA. Brian Nelson’s household owns shares in HON, DIS, HAS, NKE, DIA, and RSP. Some of the other securities written about in this article may … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Broad Chemicals Industry

Structure of the Chemicals Industry The broad chemicals industry includes firms that make thousands of different chemical substances, ranging from basic raw materials to advanced specialty chemicals. Making chemicals is a cyclical and energy-intensive business, with volatile oil/gas prices influencing feedstock, operation, and transportation costs. Specialty providers can carve out niches, but commodity chemicals producers are largely undifferentiated, making it impossible to gain a sustainable competitive edge. The industry is very capital intensive, and large swings in prices and volume should be expected. We don’t like the industry structure. We’ve optimized our chemicals coverage, the reports of which can be found here.

ICYMI: Interview with Valuentum’s President Brian M. Nelson, CFA

Catch up with Valuentum’s President Brian M. Nelson, CFA in a recent interview with dividend growth investor Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles. By Brian Nelson, CFA Recently, I was interviewed by Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles. Arne is a dividend growth investor like many of you, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the interview he put together. I’m very grateful for his interest. His questions were fantastic. We discuss why and how I incorporate independence and integrity into the service at Valuentum. We go into detail regarding why Valuentum views stocks the way it does, and how Valuentum combines enterprise valuation and the information contained in prices in its stock-selection process. I discuss the pitfalls … Read more

RYAM: Terrible Business, Potentially Cheap Stock

Image Source: First Quarter 2019 Financial Presentation Materials Rayonier Advanced Materials has seen better days, but has the market overreacted? We don’t think there are many businesses that have poorer industry structure, but if the company can get things back on track, normalized free cash flow indicates substantial upside potential. Commodity prices and tariffs remain big wild cards to this story, and the Valuentum investor always waits for technicals and momentum indicators to turn decidedly positive first. By Brian Nelson, CFA Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) was spun out of Rayonier (RYN) a few years ago. The company is a leader “of cellulose-based technologies, including high purity cellulose specialties, a natural polymer commonly found in cell phone and computer screens, filters … Read more

Markets Swooning, Expect Extreme Volatility, Finger on Put-Option Trigger

Image shown: We notified members December 26 that we had  moved  the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to a “fully invested” position, from a 30% and 20% cash “weighting” at the high end of the range, respectively.  — No change to simulated newsletter portfolios…at this time.  — Hi everyone, — Hope you’re navigating these tumultuous markets well.   — If you recall, during the holiday season last year, we had moved the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to “fully invested.” See image above (point of the arrow). Because many members were traveling and out of the office, not all were able to read the notification until a week or two after. They were … Read more

Berkshire’s Buybacks, More Earnings Reports

Berkshire’s Buybacks, More Earnings Reports — In alphabetical order by ticker symbol: ANET, ATVI, BRK.B, CHD, DWDP, DNKN, GILD, HBI, K, TEVA — Arista Networks (ANET): Arista reported a solid first-quarter report May 2, but its outlook for the second quarter left something to be desired. The cloud networking company could offer a hint to what to expect from Cisco (CSCO) when it reports in the coming week or so. Arista’s revenue during the first quarter was fine, jumping 26%, and earnings per share also handily beat, but top-line guidance for the second quarter came in at $600-$610 million, below consensus forecasts. It’s still early in the year to jump to any conclusions, but investors in Cisco should perhaps set expectations … Read more

ATTN: Advisors and Planners — Disruption Is Looming

“With the commoditization of investment advice and intense competition from robos and other more cost-efficient solutions, growth-minded advisors want to create bespoke experiences for clients.” — WealthManagement.com By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi Valuentum members, colleagues and friends, Valuentum has a large subscriber base and is one of the most successful paid subscription financial information websites launched this decade. Over the past eight years or so, individuals, financial advisors and money managers from all over the world have subscribed to our services. We pride ourselves on independence and transparency, and we’re a champion of the investor. Today, I’d like to talk directly to our financial advisor, financial planner, and professional money-manager members. You probably already heard the news yesterday: Charles Schwab, which handles … Read more

DG Newsletter Alert, Markets on a Roll! New Highs Coming?

Image shown: We notified members December 26 that we had moved the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to a “fully invested” position, from a 30% and 20% cash “weighting” at the high end of the range, respectively. It doesn’t look like the timing could have been much better.  Changes to Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio Removing Novartis (NVS) -3.5%-5.5% Adding Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) +3.5%-5.5% By Brian Nelson, CFA The back half of 2018 was among the most exciting in Valuentum’s history. For one, we might have made one of our best “market-direction” calls since inception in practically calling the near-term bottom December 26. In hindsight, it’s clear the market had overreacted, but at the time, going to “fully … Read more

Valuentum’s Stock and Data Screens and Screeners

Let’s go over where to find Valuentum’s stock and data screens and screeners. We believe our stock screeners are among the most robust when it comes to providing forward-looking data, and our data comes straight from our enterprise discounted cash flow models that we use to derive a company’s fair value estimate. By The Valuentum Team In late 2017, we made the decision to transition to providing an updated Excel download each week to members in order to allow them to facilitate any combination of screening criteria they want with respect to our vast amounts of data, whether it be the Valuentum Buying Index, the Dividend Cushion ratio or other. What we’ve found out the past 15 months or so … Read more