Resetting Your Mental Model

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

Top Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio Holding Berkshire Hathaway Reports Solid Third Quarter Performance

Image Shown: Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc moved higher on Monday November 4 after reporting a decent third quarter 2019 earnings report on Saturday November 2. By Callum Turcan Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.A) (BRK.B) reported solid third quarter 2019 earnings on November 2, and we continue to like Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares as a top holding in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. Our fair value estimate for BRK.B stands at $229 per share with room for upside, as the top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $275 per share. Third Quarter Overview We would like to highlight up front that Berkshire Hathaway’s underlying financial performance improved from the third quarter of 2018 to the same quarter … Read more

Covering Best Ideas Newsletter Holding Berkshire Hathaway

Image Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc – 2018 Annual Report By Callum Turcan As a top holding in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.A) (BRK.B) Class B shares have room to run in our view. Our fair value estimate for BRK.B stands at $229 per share, significantly higher than where shares are trading at as of this writing (~$204 per share). Please note Berkshire Hathaway does not pay out a common dividend at this time. Covering a Tricky Balance Sheet The conglomerate splits its operations into two; ‘Insurance and Other’ and ‘Railroad, Utilities, and Energy,’ with Berkshire Hathaway breaking down the financial performance of each segment when possible. Berkshire Hathaway’s ‘Insurance and Other’ segment had a large net … Read more

Berkshire Hathaway Gets Ready to Put Part of Its Large Cash Pile to Use

Image Source: Fortune Live Media By Callum Turcan Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.A) (BRK.B), specifically Class B shares trading as BRK.B, is a top holding in Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. The massive holding company is invested in much more than just insurance (a portfolio which includes Geico, Cornhusker Casualty Company, General Re, Oak River Insurance Company, and more), Berkshire has exposure to American railroads (through its ownership of BNSF), global consumer goods sales–through its ownership of See’s Candy and stake in Kraft Heinz Company (KHC)–and a slate of other industries. We give shares of BRK.B a fair value estimate of $229, with a fair value range of $183/share – $275/share. As BRK.B trades at the lower end of our fair … Read more

Join the Conversation on the Market Plunge

The Valuentum team shares its thoughts on the recent surge in volatility and collapse in interest rates amid a trade and currency war between two of the largest economies in the world, the US and China. No changes to the newsletter portfolios at this time. During the past few days, the US (SPY, DIA) and China (FXI, MCHI) have escalated a trade war, turning it into a currency war, the latter allowing its yuan to drop to lower levels against the U.S. dollar. The US has now labeled China a “currency manipulator,” and China has responded by suspending U.S. agricultural purchases. China is one of the largest buyers of U.S. agricultural goods. The Valuentum team builds on its previous conversation … Read more

Valuentum Stock Screeners

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

Market Mayhem — Alerts for Members

During these extremely volatile times, it’s important to stay focused. On December 15, we informed all of our members to “Pay Attention.” Shortly thereafter, we notified members of the potential for a stock market technical breakdown. This morning, we offered a pre-market briefing about the importance of thinking about portfolio protection. For Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=e2406cd6-c113-4344-8731-493f33fc44a4&id=preview For High Yield Dividend Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=b3ba530f-38b3-489a-ac96-2961dca89c6b&id=preview For Exclusive members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=ba6d90c0-4433-48b2-9b8a-aac4ddf9006e&id=preview We’re here for any questions. Please just let us know how we can help! Kind regards, Brian Nelson, CFA  brian@valuentum.com

In The News: Hurricane Florence, Tariffs and Capital Spending Delays, Kroger and Big Tobacco on the Move

  Let’s take a look at some of the top stories across the market, including the impact tariffs are having on capital spending plans and bottom lines and recent developments in big tobacco. By Kris Rosemann As Hurricane Florence bears down on the East Coast of the US, risk modeling firm RMS believes US insurers should be bracing for $20 billion in losses. More than 1 million people have been ordered to evacuate the area, and the threat of a combination of storm surge, wind, and inland flooding may prove to be significant as Duke Energy (DUK) estimates 1-3 million customers may be left without power across North and South Carolina. Privately-held Liberty Mutual Insurance and Nationwide Mutual Insurance are … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 17

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 17. 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 Apollo Global Management (APO): now $0.43 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.38. Apollo Senior Floating Rate Fund (AFT): now $0.098 per share monthly dividend, was $0.096. Apollo Tactical Income Fund (AIF): now $0.107 per share monthly dividend, was $0.104. Atrion (ATRI): now $1.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.20. CAE (CAE): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. Carpenter Technology (CRS): now $0.20 per share … Read more

Study: Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

To read the study, please click on the image to download the pdf document (pdf).