EXPE

Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

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Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson pauses for a picture before speaking at the CFA Society of Houston in March 2017. By Valuentum Editorial Staff Let’s cover Valuentum’s 3 major breakthroughs in the field of finance. The first one is big and may challenge you to rethink everything you think you know about investing. 1. On a logical framework, Valuentum has debunked John C. Bogle’s landmark syllogism that has paved the way for the concept of index investing. Index investing has been built on a logical shortcoming, whether supported by evidence or not. We think it is important that the investment community know of this. Read (pdf): The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds (2018), Brian Nelson, CFA See video documentation: /FALLACY_of_Index_Funds To … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 26

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending August 26. 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 Aceto Corporation (ACET): now $0.065 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. Altria Group, Inc. (MO): now $0.61 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.565. Cementos Pacasmayo (CPAC): now S/0.285 per share annual dividend, was S/0.28. Expedia (EXPE): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. FFW Corporation (FFWC): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. First Connecticut (FBNK): now $0.08 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.07. … Read more

Brexit: Secession Bells Are Ringing!

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First Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C., where the first secession convention in the United States opened on Dec. 17, 1860. Source: Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 24 Jun. 2016. Global markets are plunging, and the implosion may still be in the early innings. Market valuations remain stretched among stagnant global economic growth, and “Brexit” may be the catalyst for a correction. In the paraphrased words of the well-known The Day of the Jackal author, Frederick Forsyth: the peasants have spoken. On June 23, the UK (EWU) held a referendum, in which anyone of voting age could take part, to decide whether the country should leave the European Union. The turnout was incredible at nearly 72%, and … Read more

Priceline Shares Under Pressure… Again

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By Kris Rosemann Priceline (PCLN) reported solid first quarter 2016 results May 4, but the company has since been punished. The past few years have been a roller-coaster ride for shares, but the company has always seemed to bounce back after issuing “disappointing” guidance. Investors will likely never be fans of the conservative guidance issuing style of the company, and that’s okay. Both Priceline’s gross travel bookings, net of cancellations, and gross profit grew 21% from the year-ago period in the quarter, and the firm’s gross profit rate expanded nearly 2 percentage points from the first quarter of 2015. Adjusted EBITDA advanced at an even more impressive rate, jumping 27% on a year-over-year basis, and non-GAAP income per diluted share … Read more

Terrorist Activity Tramples Travel Stocks; FBI Says Can Hack iPhone

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In what have unfortunately become seemingly more frequent occurrences, terrorist activity across the globe appears to be proliferating. The latest, three explosions in the Belgium capital of Brussels, have taken the lives of at least 34 individuals, while wounding as many as 170 more, according to CNN and the Belgian media. Twenty were killed at the Maalbeek metro station while 14 more were killed at Brussels’ international airport, and while at the time of this writing, there has been “no official claim of responsibility,” ISIS appears to be most likely responsible for the terror, tweeting that “What will be coming is worse,” CNN reporting. The events March 22 come only a few short months after the terrorist attacks that rocked … Read more

More Market Weakness: We Haven’t Hit Bottom Yet

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Global equity markets are falling yet again February 11, in part due to cautious comments from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen about the health of the global economy and the legality/efficaciousness of negative interest rates, “Dividend Growth ‘Bubble’ To Continue But For How Long? (Feb 2016).” Market onlookers continue to fear that the Fed has nothing left to give, “out of ammunition,” with the tank of accommodative policy empty, and it might just be. To us, however, the news flow is more of the same. The world continues to be awash in crude oil (USO), and many are now starting to think that what was once mostly an oversupply problem is now being compounded by a demand problem as … Read more

Investors Punish Priceline for Conservative Guidance

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This isn’t the first time this year Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holding Priceline (PCLN) has been punished by investors for issuing weak guidance after a strong quarter (see our first-quarter piece). The strength of the US dollar played an important role in the weakness of the firm’s performance, but we didn’t see any material fundamental deterioration in its operations in the company’s third-quarter results, reported November 9. Gross travel bookings at Priceline grew ~22% in constant currency and 7% as reported to $14.8 billion in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis. The strength was driven by its international operations, where gross travel bookings grew 25% in constant currency. The company’s global accommodation business booked a record 116 million room … Read more

Recent M&A Activity

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Amid the recent market volatility, firms have remained active in M&A. Let’s take a closer look at what companies will be joining forces. DENTSPLY and Sirona to Join Forces DENTSPLY (XRAY) and Sirona Dental Systems (SIRO) announced September 15 that they have entered an all-stock merger agreement. The resulting company will be the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. Under the proposed agreement, Sirona shareholders will receive ~1.8 shares of DENTSPLY for each existing Sirona share. If the transaction receives regulatory and shareholder approval, it is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, and the combined company expects the merger to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share for both companies’ shareholders in the first … Read more

The Priceline Group Soars!!!

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It’s difficult to be patient with new ideas, and we understand. But the efficacy of the Valuentum Buying Index in picking winners continues to be a big head-turner. The methodology’s batting average—or the number of ideas that “work out”—is among the best of any systematic process that we’ve seen (if not the best), and we point to the logic behind its conceptual underpinnings as to the reasons why. The Valuentum Buying Index, which combines valuation and technical/momentum indicators, hits at the heart of what makes a good equity investment idea. Companies that we think are undervalued and ones in which the market also believes are undervalued—i.e. stocks whose shares are moving higher—should, by definition, be top performers. After all, the … Read more

Priceline Sets Up for Second-Quarter Beat

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Priceline.com (PCLN) is a 1.8% weighting in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. The global online hotel reservation leader turned heads when it reported first-quarter results May 7, but it was Priceline.com’s conservative outlook that traders decided to focus on instead. Frankly, we’re not too concerned with the company’s “soft” second-quarter guidance, and we point to significant fundamental outperformance in the first quarter as to why. We’re not going to punish the company for being conservative in the midst of significantly volatile foreign-exchange conditions. First-quarter gross travel bookings at Priceline.com advanced 26% on a constant-currency basis and 12% on a reported basis year-over year. That’s not bad, especially since management had guided to growth in the range of 2%-9% for the … Read more