Why We Like Apple and Microsoft in the Newsletter Portfolios

Image Shown: Shares of Apple Inc (blue line) and Microsoft Corporation (red line) are up significantly year-to-date as of the market close on June 19, and we see room for both shares of AAPL and MSFT to continue marching higher after recently revising our fair value estimates for both companies. By Callum Turcan On June 12, we added back shares of Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) to both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio (link here). We added Apple and Microsoft back to the newsletter portfolios using the cash position generated by removing the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) and the SPDR S&P Aerospace and Defense ETF (XAR) from the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio … Read more

Still Bullish — Stocks for the Long Run!

Excuses not to pick stocks are only exposing biases these days. By Brian Nelson, CFA The S&P 500 (SPY), Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) and Nasdaq (QQQ) continue to hover near all-time highs, and all appears well. We maintain our bullish take on the markets and believe that we are in the early innings of a long bull market that started following the washout March 2020 during the depths of the COVID-19 meltdown. Stock bull markets tend to average about 4.4 years in duration, with the last one enduring ~11 years, while bear markets are very abrupt, lasting only 11.3 months on average, the last one a very short 1.1 months, according to data from First Trust. We’re about 15 … Read more

Answering Some Questions from Our Members

Image Source: Eric By Callum Turcan and Brian Nelson, CFA Let’s answer some questions we received recently from our members. Please note that the wording of some of the questions was modified somewhat for clarity. Question: What do you think about Moderna (MRNA), as their mRNA technology can be used for far more than just Covid-19 vaccines? Answer: We are simply amazed at how fast the pharmaceutical industry, in conjunction with various partners and government programs (Operation Warp Speed and others), discovered a safe and viable vaccine for the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’). Moderna was key to making that possible after its COVID-19 vaccine received emergency approval from the US FDA in December 2020. With a vaccine efficacy of 94.1%, Moderna really was … Read more

Top Research and Ideas You May Have Missed

Is Quant Value Giving Intrinsic Value Investors a Bad Name? Surely, you don’t believe Warren Buffett’s “style” is out of favor? By Brian Nelson, CFA I need to make sure that you’re aware of something very important. The media and perhaps many investment professionals define the concept of “value” as companies with low price-to-book (P/B) ratios, and the concept of “growth” as companies with high price-to-book ratios. This definition of “value” and “growth” and their corresponding returns have been magnified in writings throughout the media and across quantitative research, even in prestigious journals. Warren Buffett has been rallying against most quantitative applications and how “growth” and “value” are defined in popular media and quantitative research for decades.  Here’s one of the Oracle’s most … 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

Assessing Reactions to Trump’s Victory

Image Source: Gage Skidmore Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States of America. Let’s dig into some of the reactions across the market. We’re keeping our cool. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA The global markets often don’t know what to make of surprises, a characteristic that was on full display as news came rolling in that Donald Trump would soon become the 45th President of the United States, “trumping” Secretary Hillary Clinton in a decisive electoral college victory, despite the popular vote eventually going to the Democratic candidate. In the wee hours of the morning Wednesday, November 9, major markets across the globe were in shock, showing red almost across the board. At one … Read more

ICYMI — Podcast: 2nd Annual Nelson Exclusive Yearly Round Up Call

Tune in to President of Investment Research Brian Nelson’s Exclusive Yearly Roundup Call. Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for joining us on our second annual Nelson Exclusive roundup call. I appreciate your interest very much, and I appreciate your attention even more. Just an important reminder, Valuentum is an information provider, not a broker or financial advisor, and we do not issue recommendations of any kind. With that said, let’s get started. These are the best of times. We have now surpassed the 9-year mark since the March 2009 panic bottom that sent shudders through the global financial system, and the US economy is as strong as it has ever been. US gross domestic product is now approaching $20 trillion … 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

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform