GOOGL

Netflix: Is NOW Finally the Time?

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Netflix’s shares are soaring, and we are licking our proverbial chops on the opportunity to add puts to the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. The bubble in Netflix’s shares continues to inflate—and that spells opportunity for bears, but at the right price at the right time. For now, we’re going to continue to watch shares run higher until we’re finally ready to take a stab at them. It’s been about a year since we highlighted our concerns about Netflix’s valuation, but our patience has paid off as we watched shares move ever-higher — timing is pretty much everything when it comes to betting on the decline of a stock price via put options, and we’re being careful. Options aren’t for everybody. … Read more

Image: Returns Following the Trump Victory

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To download the table for easier viewing, please select the link . Financials: Trump’s Treasury Secretary choice Steven Mnuchin wants to repeal most of the burdensome Dodd-Frank legislation. A steepening yield curve is helping banks and may drive improved net interest margins in coming periods. Goldman Sachs is ripping higher, leading the Dow’s charge.   Crude Oil: The world is moving to a better balance in supply/demand dynamics in the energy markets. OPEC is talking, has agreed to cuts, and expectations for improved economic growth are helping energy resource pricing. High-beta companies such as Continental Resources are rallying hard.   Energy: Capital spending cuts are bolstering free cash flow in the upstream space as energy resource pricing improves. Reduced regulations could help … Read more

Podcast: The ABCs of Investing in Alphabet

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The company formerly known as Google, Alphabet, has a pristine balance sheet and generates a tremendous amount of free cash flow. A paid search powerhouse that is making some big bets in other areas of the future is one of our favorite ideas. The Valuentum analyst team digs in. ~6 minutes Please access the transcript below. Tickerized for Google, Twitter, Facebook, and various Internet ETFs. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson for Valuentum Securities and welcome to our podcast. Today I have joining me Mr. Kris Rosemann and Mr. Chris Araos. The topic today is going to be on Google, now calling itself Alphabet. Google is a company that we include in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio — ticker symbol … Read more

Earnings Insight — Apple

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Let’s cover some ground on Apple’s (AAPL) calendar third-quarter report, its fiscal fourth-quarter release. What management said: “Our strong September quarter results cap a very successful fiscal 2016 for Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re thrilled with the customer response to iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Apple Watch Series 2, as well as the incredible momentum of our Services business, where revenue grew 24 percent to set another all-time record…We are pleased to have generated $16.1 billion in operating cash flow, a new record for the September quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned $9.3 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter and have now completed over $186 billion of our capital … Read more

Apple V. Samsung

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Image Source: Lr43_L1000009 By Kris Rosemann Samsung’s (SSNLF) issues with its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone began in late August when the firm postponed shipments of the smartphone due to product quality testing. The event was not a major issue, as early demand for the device had outpaced supply, already causing shipment delays to some markets. Shortly after the delay was announced, claims of the smartphones’ batteries exploding surfaced, and Samsung subsequently announced it would recall Galaxy Note 7s across the globe. The recall announcement only began the saga of despair for the Galaxy Note 7 series. One week later, the FAA issued a warning that the devices could be an airborne fire hazard and suggested consumers refrain from using the smartphones … Read more

The “Uninvestable” Twitter and Netflix Buoyed By Takeout Chatter

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By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA At Valuentum, we like slam-dunk, no-brainer investment opportunities–like Microsoft (MSFT) in the mid-$20s before it doubled, or Visa (V) prior to its strong equity price performance in recent years, or even cigarette-maker Altria (MO) in advance of its ongoing march higher since the dawn of the release of the inaugural Best Ideas Newsletter. Our members count on us to use our knowledge of valuation to sort out “investable” stocks from “uninvestable” ones; good stocks with fundamental promise from bad ones built on fantasy outcomes. Benjamin Graham calls what we do “investing,” while he may call readers that dabble in the two highlighted stocks in this piece “speculators.” There is a difference, and it’s … Read more

Apple Handed Huge Tax Bill; We’re Not Worried

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By Kris Rosemann The Competition Commission of the European Union has ordered Apple (AAPL) to pay up to ~$14.5 billion in back taxes plus interest to the government of Ireland after concluding that the country unjustly allowed the firm to pay an effective corporate tax rate between 0.005% in 2014 and 1% in 2003 on its European profits. The total amount deemed owed by the EU is 40 times the largest amount previously demanded in such a case. While $14.5 billion is certainly a meaningful sum of cash, if there is a company equipped to handle such a situation, it is Apple. As of the end of the third quarter of its fiscal 2016, it had ~$231.5 billion in cash, … Read more

Pop the Bubbly? Everyone Is Getting Rich

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Image Source: Bryan Rosengrant “Imagine a bank that pays negative interest. In this upside-down world, borrowers get paid and savers penalized. Crazy as it sounds, several of Europe’s central banks cut key interest rates below zero in 2014, and now Japan has followed…some 500 million people in a quarter of the world economy (are) living with rates in the red.” — Bloomberg By Brian Nelson, CFA In April 1979, Paul Volcker became the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and after a series of rate hikes, the federal funds rate reached a high of 20 points by the end of the year and into 1980. Though the move was to combat double-digit inflation at the time, it’s worth pondering what such … Read more