FISV

Valuentum Exclusive Success Rates Trump Even the Best Quant Hedge Funds

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Image: President of Investment Research Brian Nelson, CFA By Brian Nelson, CFA A new book, “The Man Who Solved the Market,” hit bookshelves last year, and thus far it has been a hit. The text goes into the story of quant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies and its hedge fund, the Medallion Fund, which has put up mammoth returns since inception. Though the book focuses more on the life and times of founder Jim Simons and dedicated only a page or two to the fall of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), another quant fund that went belly-up during the late 1990s, it was nonetheless a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable read. But why I am bringing up one of the most successful quant … 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

Our Reports on Stocks in the Financial Tech Services Industry

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Image Source: frankieleon Structure of the Financial Tech Services Industry The financial tech services industry is primarily composed of firms that generate revenue by charging fees to customers for providing transaction processing and other payment-related services. Constituents operate in a rapidly-evolving legal/regulatory environment, particularly with respect to interchange fees, data protection, and information security. Several participants benefit from a significant competitive advantage – the network effect. As more consumers use credit/debit cards, more merchants accept them, thereby creating a virtuous cycle. The industry is one of the most attractive in our coverage. We’ve optimized our tehnology coverage. To access the reports, please select here.

Portfolio Holdings Intel and Visa Hit It Out of the Park

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Image Shown: Shares of Intel Corporation leapt higher on Friday October 25 as the market digested its solid earnings report and guidance for this quarter. By Callum Turcan Intel One of our favorite Dividend Growth Newsletter and Best Ideas Newsletter portfolios holdings, Intel Corporation (INTC), posted third quarter fiscal 2019 earnings (period ended September 28) on October 24 that handily beat consensus top and bottom line estimates. Revenue in the third quarter on a GAAP basis came in at $19.2 billion, flat year-over-year, which management noted was $1.2 billion higher than guidance issued out in July. This outperformance was driven by Intel’s ‘data-centric’ offerings, with sales up 6% year-over-year, as Intel Xeon processors for data centers sold well. Additionally, Intel … Read more

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

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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

Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio Holding PayPal Can Thrive in a Post-eBay World

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Image Source: PayPal Holdings Inc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan We continue to like Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holding PayPal Holdings (PYPL) as a way to gain exposure to the very attractive payment processing and financial technology industry, complementing our top-weighted Visa Inc (V) holding. Our fair value estimate stands at $125 per share of PYPL, and we love its ability to generate shareholder value (indicated by PayPal’s Very Attractive Economic Castle rating). The company does not pay out a common dividend at this time, however; if PayPal did, it could be a significant one given its strong free cash flows. From 2016-2018, PayPal’s annual free cash flows averaged $3.0 billion as the firm is very capex-lite (relatively speaking, … Read more

Why We Like BIN Holding Visa So Much

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Image Source: Visa Inc – 2018 Annual Report By Callum Turcan One of our favorite holdings in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio is Visa (V), which has been included in the portfolio since November 2011 (see BIN transaction log here). Visa’s growth story is straightforward. The company is a secular growth play on the emergence of a global cashless society, one that is increasingly relying on debit and credit cards for most transactions. We think there’s still an enormous amount of room left to go on this front, especially in emerging and developing markets. We assign Visa a fair value estimate of $182/share (updated in the middle of August) and the top end of our fair value estimate range sits … Read more

Best Ideas Holding Visa Posts a Great Quarter, We Continue to Like the Name

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Image Source: Visa Corporation – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan One of our favorite companies out there and a top holding in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Visa Corporation (V) reported fiscal third quarter FY2019 earnings on July 23 that were overall a net positive. Shares initially sold off on July 24 before recovering throughout the trading session and ended up over 1%. At the upper end of our fair value estimate range, we value Visa at $184 per share, and while Visa has performed tremendously since we added it to our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, we remain confident that shares have room to climb higher. Please note that Visa’s fiscal third quarter for fiscal year 2019 ended on June … Read more

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

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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

ATTN: Advisors and Planners — Disruption Is Looming

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“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