ICYMI — Video: Will Hasty Policy Facilitate the Next Leg Down, or Do We Have It Coming Anyway?

President of Investment Research and award-winning author of Value Trap: Theory of Universal Valuation Brian Nelson explains how US policymakers are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and how the market may be factoring in too high of a probability of a return to normalcy before 2021. This and more in the latest video report. Summary Make sure you review Value Trap on Amazon. Do so here. We think those that bought equities near the bottom of this swoon may be looking to take profits at present levels. The market is currently reflecting an 80%-85% probability of a return to normalcy before 2021, which we believe is too high at this time. Our main concern is that government … Read more

How Do We Use the Valuentum Buying Index?

How Do We Use the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI)? By Brian Nelson, CFA   Hi everyone,     Hope you are doing great!  We often receive questions about how we use the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI) rating system, one of the key metrics we use to source ideas for our members, but we think it is equally important to mention up front that the VBI is only one of the many facets of our website and services. For example, if you haven’t checked out the Dividend Cushion ratios on the stocks in your portfolio or the dividend growth product (from individual reports to the newsletter and beyond), surely you are not maximizing your membership! Don’t forget about the Economic Castle rating, … Read more

Cisco Rallies Big Time!

Image shown: Performance of the S&P 500 (SPY) since August 2017. As US equities continue their newly-found volatility, let’s take a look at some recent earnings reports and other developments around the markets. Cisco, the workhorse of both simulated newsletter portfolios, put up a fantastic report and upped its dividend. Berkshire continues to love Apple, and we maintain the view that the 10-year Treasury rate may be the greatest determinant of how well stocks perform in the coming decades. Airlines, garbage stocks, the “gas tax,” and more. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA Do you know how happy it makes us to say that Cisco (CSCO) has been a staple of both the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and … Read more

The Best Years Are Ahead

By Brian Nelson, CFA — The wind is at our backs. — The Federal Reserve, Treasury, and regulatory bodies of the U.S. may have no choice but to keep U.S. markets moving higher. The likelihood of the S&P 500 reaching 2,000 ever again seems remote, and I would not be surprised to see 5,000 on the S&P 500 before we see 2,500-3,000, if the latter may be in the cards. The S&P 500 is trading at ~4,100 at the time of this writing. — The high end of our fair value range on the S&P 500 remains just shy of 4,000, but I foresee a massive shift in long-term capital out of traditional bonds into equities this decade (and markets … Read more

VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: 2021 Valuentum Exclusive Call: Inflation Is Good

Valuentum’s President Brian Michael Nelson, CFA, explains why investors should not fear inflation, why government agencies such as the Fed and Treasury are prioritizing something other than price discovery, why the 10-year Treasury rate is a must-watch metric, and why Valuentum prefers the moaty constituents in large cap growth due to their net cash rich balance sheets, tremendous free cash flow generating potential, and secular growth tailwinds. Transcript: << Valuentum’s Best Ideas On behalf of the Valuentum team, I’d like to present to you our prepared remarks for the Valuentum Exclusive conference call for 2021. It is both an honor and a privilege to share our team’s work with you, and I personally am very grateful for your continued interest … Read more

2 Recent IPOs: Surveying SurveyMonkey and Sounding the Alarm on Sonos

Valuentum has an expansive stock research coverage universe. We don’t cover every company on the market, however. We include three new ideas outside of our coverage universe each month in the Exclusive publication—an income idea, a capital appreciation idea, and a short-idea consideration. In this article, let’s cover two companies that aren’t in our coverage universe but should be on your radar. Both are recent IPOs. By Brian Nelson, CFA SurveyMonkey’s Shares Are Fairly Valued SurveyMonkey (SVMK) has been around since the turn of the century, but it has only been a public entity since September 2018. Many members may have already heard of SurveyMonkey. The company has made it easier to engage with customers to get their feedback, and … Read more

Our Thoughts on the Widespread Launch of 5G Services

Image Shown: The evolution of wireless networks and telecommunications technology over the years. Image Source: Intel Corporation – November 2019 State of 5G Presentation  By Callum Turcan The rollout of 5G telecommunication networks is upon us and we want to draw our members’ attention to some of the key companies with meaningful exposure to this space. Many are excited about what opportunities 5G technology could enable. Background On July 23, AT&T Inc (T) announced its 5G network in the US was operational nationwide and that effective August 7, both consumers and businesses with certain packages would have 5G access “at no additional cost” which included customers with AT&T Unlimited Starter, Extra, Elite, AT&T Business Unlimited Web-Only and Starter wireless plans. … Read more

Governance: The G in ESG Investing

By Valuentum Analysts No discussion of ESG investing would be complete without addressing the role of corporate governance (“stewardship”) in equity investing. As with the other aspects of ESG investing, corporate governance covers a lot of ground. It can include pretty much anything related to how a company is run, including leadership, executive compensation, audits and accounting, and shareholder rights. These areas are just the tip of the iceberg, however.  A company with good corporate governance is one that is run well with the proper incentives and with all stakeholders in mind, from employees to suppliers to customers to shareholders and beyond. Good corporate governance practices decrease the risk to investors as it cuts through conflicts of interest, misuse of … Read more

Where Are the Safe Havens?

“We believe that staying diversified as in holding a broad swath of ideas as in either the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio or Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio as the equity portion of one’s allocation makes a lot of sense in any environment…High yield dividend investing may become more and more popular in coming years as rates across the globe approach 0%, and the amount of negative-yielding debt proliferates.” — Brian Nelson, CFA By The Valuentum Team The Federal Reserve is weighing all its options as it assesses how to balance global economic weakness and strong performance in the US, pressure from the White House to aggressively cut rates, and a 30-year yield that puts the federal funds rate at the highest … Read more