FXI

ALERT: Adding Market Crash ‘Protection,’ Removing MSFT, BKNG

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Image source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  ALERT: Adding Market Crash ‘Protection,’ Removing MSFT, BKNG — Changes to newsletter portfolios — We’re adding out-of-the-money put options to both the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. — We’re removing Microsoft from the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. — We’re removing Booking Holdings from the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. — By Brian Nelson, CFA — We’re making some moves in the newsletter portfolios today.  — The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) is currently indicated down 900+ points in pre-market trading during the session Monday, February 24. We laid out a thesis where the US markets could experience a “crash,” and we encourage you to read that take here, “Is a … Read more

Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? — Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios

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Image Source: World Health Organization, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Situation Report — 32 We don’t think this is the environment to put new capital to work, and we remain highly cautious of what COVID-19 means for global economic growth not just in the first quarter of 2020 but for the rest of this year (maybe longer). Right now, the US markets are not really factoring in anything related to COVID-19, and perhaps may be adjusting to China’s stimulus in artificially propping up the markets as if the outbreak is somehow a “positive thing.” With the S&P 500 trading at 19.0 forward earnings estimates–estimates that are likely too high given the evidence we are seeing with respect to a slowdown due … Read more

Coronavirus May Trigger Long-Anticipated Global Recession

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Image: Wuhan New Coronavirus This was the catalyst that nobody was expecting, a novel coronavirus that nobody had in their economic models. We think global economic activity is slowing as we speak, and the spread of the virus may only accelerate in mainland China and elsewhere. Investors should keep a level head and perhaps think about adding protection to their portfolios before it becomes too expensive. By Brian Nelson, CFA How to Use Valuentum’s Investment Research Services >> We’ve walked through a number of scenarios that could trip the global economy into recession–global deflation that tips over the weakest European banks and causes contagion, global military conflict with North Korea or Iran that disrupts economic activity, increased volatility driven by … Read more

Starbucks Reports Earnings, Coronavirus to Hurt China Sales

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Image Shown: How Starbucks Corporation views its competitive strengths. Image Source: Starbucks – December 2019 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On January 28, Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) reported first-quarter earnings for its fiscal 2020 (period ended December 29, 2019) that modestly beat consensus expectations on the EPS front and matched consensus expectations for its revenues. Shares were broadly flat after-hours and traded down on the January 29 session. Overview Same-store sales in the US were up 6% while rising competitive pressures in China limited same-store sales growth to just 3% year-over-year. Luckin Coffee (LK) has been aggressively growing its store count in China, growing from ~625 stores in mid-2018 to 3,680 stores as of its third quarter earnings report for fiscal … Read more

ICYMI: Interview with Valuentum’s Callum Turcan

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Callum Turcan helps head up Valuentum’s research product and is co-editor of the company’s newsletters. We sat down with Callum to get his thoughts on new developments in the market and economy. Let’s kick things off with his thoughts on Brexit. Callum Turcan: Looks like the Brexit debate is coming to a close with a large Tory majority coming into the UK Parliament (EWU) after the December 12 general election, a large enough majority to provide Prime Minister Boris Johnson with more than enough room to maneuver the likely political obstacles ahead (over the next couple of months). By early 2020, it seems the UK will no longer be a member of the EU given that the incoming Parliament, in … Read more

Economic Commentary: Marks, Dalio, and the Discount Rate

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Image Source: Mike Cohen We sat down with the Valuentum team to discuss their latest thoughts on recent economic developments. To kick off the conversation, let’s start with the team’s views on the latest memo from Oaktree’s Howard Marks: Mysterious. For those that don’t know Howard, he is the Director and Co-Chairman of Oaktree, which managed about $122 billion in AUM, as of September 2019. The memo goes into depth on the reasons for negative interest rates, the impact of negative interest rates, and opines on whether the US will ever see negative interest rates. Then, we’ll go from there! Brian Nelson: The concept of negative interest rates is not merely academic, but they have far-reaching implications across the global … Read more

Economic Commentary: Robots, Value Trap, and Politics on the Markets

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Tickerized for stocks in the DIA. Valuentum sat down for the latest installment of its periodic economic commentary, and the team tackled a wide array of topics, from robots on Wall Street, to President of Investment Research Brian Nelson’s new book Value Trap, to political influence on the markets and boyond. Let’s set the stage with a prompt from a recent Bloomberg article, “The Master of Robots…Coming for Wall Street:” “The problem is, computer-powered strategies are struggling to live up to the hype, with a Eurekahedge index of AI hedge funds lagging peers in recent years. That spells opportunity for the likes of Lopez de Prado with his outfit True Positive Technologies — a dig at the erroneous conclusions derived … Read more

Economic Commentary: Apple $225+, Brokers Tumble, Auto Sales Look Tired

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“Though all signs point to increased volatility, we maintain our view that we’re well-positioned in the newsletter portfolios, and the ideas highlighted in the Exclusive publication consider the backdrop economic conditions we closely monitor.” — Brian Nelson, CFA There has been plenty of news in the markets this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) experiencing significant declines only to bounce back a bit. From where we stand, the markets look vulnerable technically, but that doesn’t mean we’re looking to change anything in the newsletter portfolios. We have some dry powder in the form of a ~10% cash weighting in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. The disappointing September ADP jobs report added to lower-than-expected ISM (Institute … Read more

Economic Commentary: US-Listed Chinese Names, 60-40 Stock-Bond Allocation and More

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There’s an interesting saying that I came across recently…that hits at the most important component of any fiduciary approach: capital preservation. The saying was “Friends don’t let friends buy and hold.” We’ve always employed the Valuentum strategy, which we believe is much more promising than a traditional buy and hold strategy. – Brian Nelson, CFA The US-China trade war continues with reports indicating that the White House is considering delisting Chinese (FXI, MCHI, KWEB) companies on US exchanges. Let’s get more of the Valuentum’s team’s thoughts on these developments as well as other topics that have come to the fore. The latest alert to members is a great prompt to get the conversation started. The Valuentum Team: If we had … Read more

Alert — Chinese Stocks Hit the Skids

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Image Source: Michael Vadon We don’t think US and China are anywhere close to any sort of meaningful trade agreement, regardless of what you hear from the White House. The latest move in this high-stakes trade war by the US may be to de-list Chinese stocks. This actually happening seems surreal given the implications on U.S. investors, but given weakness in US-listed Chinese names, the market is factoring in some probability of this occurring. By Brian Nelson, CFA On September 27, news hit the wires that indicated the White House is evaluating ways to curtail US investors’ “portfolio flows into China,” and that may include de-listing Chinese stocks on U.S. exchanges. Although the development comes amid the view that discussions … Read more