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What’s Weighing on the Markets

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Renewed concerns over the severity of trade tensions, a flattening yield curve, negative news out of the homebuilding space and other geopolitical uncertainties have investors feeling anxious. December 4 marked the worst day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since October 10. By Kris Rosemann What was once thought to be broad-based optimism related to potentially easing trade tensions between the US and China (FXI) and investors taking a liking to recent commentary from the Fed regarding an easing of the future trajectory of rate hikes came tumbling down during the trading session December 4. President Trump tweeted early in the session that people should remember he is “a Tariff Man” if a trade deal cannot be reached with China, … Read more

In The News: 10-Year Treasury Yield, Wage Pressure in Restaurants, Cannabis Volatility

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Let’s take a look at some of the hottest topics around the markets. By Kris Rosemann Financial stocks (XLF) rallied during the trading session September 19 as the 10-year US Treasury yield crossed the 3% threshold for the first time since late May 2018 and investors anticipated rising net interest margins for banks. Strong levels of consumer confidence are likely helping the banking sector as well, but we’re watching closely as the Fed continues on its hawkish path with two more rate hikes expected in 2018 after completing seven hikes since December 2015. The potential for an inverted yield curve cannot be ruled out, but some observers are expecting a continued rise in the 10-year Treasury yield through the end … Read more

On Diversification

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Diversification is one of the most important components of equity investing. By Brian Nelson, CFA I wanted to touch base briefly today to see how everyone is doing, and how we can continue to make our website better. We’ve been getting a lot of great feedback on the ability to download our data in Excel and create your customized screens. Instead of having to click on a number of the web pages on the website to access the screens, all you have to do is download the Excel file, and use the standard sorting functionality in it. Let us know if you think we need to host a walk through of how to use the Excel screener. We think it … Read more

Study: Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

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To read the study, please click on the image to download the pdf document (pdf).

The Most Important Topic in Stock Investing

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President of Equity Research, Brian Nelson, discusses why price vs. value is the paramount consideration in stock investing. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities. Today, I wanted to talk about a number of investment concepts that I think are absolutely paramount for every investor to know.  The very first concept is price versus value, and this one is paramount to any investment process. Now I’m not just giving this lip service–this is just one of the core concepts of investing, equity investing. The reality of stock investing is that each company has a present value of future free cash flows that it generates, and those future free cash flows roll up to a fair value, the … Read more

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Improved Stock and ETF Web Pages

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Valuentum has rolled out improved stock and ETF web pages on its website valuentum.com/. Now, subscribers can access key proprietary information on the stock and ETF web pages in addition to the customary stock and ETF reports. Dear reader, We have some exciting news that we can’t wait to share with you! At valuentum.com/, we have rolled out new stock and ETF pages that conveniently include a variety of our proprietary metrics from the Dividend Cushion ratio to the Economic Castle rating and beyond! There’s even mouseover functionality so you can learn about how we define the key metrics across our stock-selection and dividend growth methodologies. You’ll still have access to the stock and dividend reports on the landing pages, … Read more

Bank Earnings Pour In

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The banking industry is on solid footing, and while Wells Fargo is creating negative headlines, the first quarter of 2018 was a good one for many financial institutions. Expanding revenue and net income, increased capital-return programs, solid returns on equity, and generally positive commentary, despite an increasingly competitive lending environment, were the norm. A narrowing of spreads on US Treasury instruments may pose a challenge to net interest margin expansion in the group, but there are other opportunities to capitalize on a surging LIBOR and the increasingly volatile equity market environment. All in, the performance in the first quarter of 2018 was “more good than bad” for the banks, and we continue to look for the right price to consider … Read more

Our Ideas Are Performing Awesome So Far in 2018!!! 6 of the Top 7 of the Dow!

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By Brian Nelson, CFA Every day we think about how we can make things easier for our members. Instead of having to visit multiple links on our website with screens, you now have access to one downloadable Excel file where you can sort and rank how you wish. Of course, you can always find those screens in the newsletters, each and every month, too, but we think a weekly data download is a huge value add to our offering. Can you imagine getting updated data every week for 52 weeks of the year for what we charge, let alone two newsletters, hundreds of reports, commentary, and education material? Wow, right? People keep saying we do too much, but when our … Read more

The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds

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Please select the image below to download the document. Image shown, page 1 of 14. Tickerized for Valuentum’s coverage universe.

Buffett’s Berkshire, Corporate Buybacks on Pace for Record; Lithium, Steel Prices on the Move

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Image Source: Berkshire Hathaway, Shareholder Letter (2017). “Fifteen common stock investments at year end that had the largest market value.” “The less the prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we must conduct our own.” – Warren Buffett, Shareholder Letter (2017) By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA Simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holding Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A, BRK.B) fourth-quarter results didn’t disappoint, and commentary from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, was at its finest in the company’s Shareholder Letter. The letter was chock full of insights, from an emphasis on normalized earnings power, to buying stocks at a “sensible purchase price,” to warning about the dangers of “purchasing frenzy” with respect to M&A, … Read more