HAS

Market’s Swooning: Bye Bye Energy MLPs, Part II

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Things were ugly again during the trading session February 8, but you were expecting the weakness. There’s nothing surprising, and we continue to wait to scoop up undervalued gems once the tide of this market turns. Topping the news today was the abrupt replacement of the CFO of Energy Transfer Equity (ETE)/Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) coupled with the sell-off in Chesapeake Energy (CHK) on news of a probable bankruptcy, which set the tone among midstream MLPs (AMLP), the index diving aggressively. Followers of Valuentum were far ahead of these developments, “Focus on ETE, Not ETP, Strive for Balance and Stick to the SEC Filings,””Alert: Energy Transfer Equity Is More than 7x Leveraged!,” “Energy MLPs Continue Swoon,” and our body of … Read more

The 20 Something’s Stock Portfolio

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A version of this article appeared on our website March 31, 2015. <Our best ideas at any time are included in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio.> The “20 Something’s Stock Portfolio” is the first in a series of articles where we get to the core of what many brand new investors want to do when they are first introduced to the stock market: find exciting companies that they are familiar with that will help compound their wealth over time. Other portfolios that we will share in this series include “The Ultra High Income Portfolio,” “The Economic Castle Portfolio,” “The Dividend Cushion Portfolio,” and “The Intelligent ETF Investor’s Portfolio,” among others. The series of portfolios will … Read more

Looking to Trim Apple; Star Wars Mania Continues

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Let’s get this out of the way. We’re not worried about Apple (AAPL) at all. The company is sitting on a mountain of net cash and is simply a free cash flow machine. We think the iPhone-maker’s products continue to fly off the shelves, and this holiday season for Apple may be the best in its storied history. But sometimes the market is just not fair…and for a company trading at less than 10 times forward earnings, excluding net cash, is borderline an injustice. Still, we plan to take some more profits on the company in the newsletter portfolios if we catch a strong updraft in the markets. We continue to value shares north of $140 each, and as the … Read more

Profit Taking in Hasbro’s Shares

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Note: On July 1, we took some profits on Hasbro (HAS) north of $75 per share. Please read the introduction on page 1 of the July edition of the Dividend Growth Newsletter .   Image Source: Hasbro Things are still going great at Hasbro, even as the sharp sell-off following its third-quarter report tries to tell a different story. We think the post-earnings drop in shares is merely profit taking, something we, too, had engaged in a few months ago with its shares in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. The company’s equity has more than doubled since the beginning of 2012, and investors are taking money of the table in advance of the all-important holiday season, in our view. In … Read more

Things for Your Radar Tuesday

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Hearing that: Windows 10 launch will be at the end of July. Positive for Microsoft (MSFT). Teva Pharma (TEVA) and Mylan (MYL) looking to tie the knot. Teva getting a nice bounce. IBM’s (IBM) top-line still weak. No interest in shares. Big Blue is not the blue chip equity it once was. Legacy Reserves (LGCY) cuts dividend. No surprise here. We’ve been expecting this for some time. Under Armour (UA) is too rich for our taste. Shares are off after first-quarter report. Rio Tinto (RIO) sees sharp drop in first-quarter iron ore shipments. We’re not interested in adding. ITW (ITW) suffering from guidance cut. Industrial bellwether supporting case that the industrial economy is slowing a tad. Hasbro (HAS) has a … Read more

You Must Be So Pleased!

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Image Source: Gage Skidmore We know it’s difficult for new members, especially those not following the newsletter portfolios directly, to read about the “story arc,” or the follow-ups on some of the ongoing ideas held within the newsletter portfolios. But Hasbro (HAS) is a rather unique case. For much of the past decade or so, the firm was simply written off as a physical toy company in a digital world. What we saw that others didn’t, however, was the firm’s lovable brand portfolio and the ongoing opportunity in its Entertainment and Licensing segment. Though the first quarter is the least significant of the year, shares are surging yet again on its quarterly performance. Absent currency exchange fluctuations, revenue advanced an … Read more

Big Buy Backs from Two Dividend Growth Portfolio Holdings

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Triple-A rated Microsoft and Hasbro are turning up the gears in buying back stock. Following what can best be described as a difficult quarter, Microsoft (MSFT) is stepping up its game in buying back its own undervalued stock. Before the end of 2016, the software giant plans to put to work the $31 billion remaining on its share repurchase program. To help it do so, the company is selling $7+ billion in debt, and the timing couldn’t be better. Shares of Microsoft are hovering just over $40 each, and with our fair value pegged in the mid-$50s, levering up the company via buying its own underpriced stock makes a lot of sense. The financial team at Microsoft is creating significant … Read more

One Dividend Suspension and Five Other Disappointments

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The wreckage in crude oil prices has left many in awe of the range of probable outcomes for the commodity even over a multi-month period, let alone a multi-year period. The precipitous decline has forced high-yielding equities such as Linn Energy (LINE) and Seadrill (SDRL) to slash their income payouts and begin the long road to recovery, as it has pushed the backs of others, including Legacy Reserves (LGCY), against the wall. Investor confidence, once lost, however may never be regained, and management teams know this. A dividend cut will always be the last resort, but crude oil hasn’t been the only commodity falling out of favor. Copper and iron ore have also seen much better days, too. January 26 … Read more

Thanksgiving Weekend Sales Were Weak…

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According to preliminary survey results released Sunday by the National Retail Federation, retail sales during the Thanksgiving weekend tumbled 11% to $50.9 billion from $57.4 billion during the same weekend last year. Executives are having a difficult time explaining the sharp drop off in retail sales (RTH), given similar aggressive strategies and promotions as previous years, but we think there are a few reasons for the hefty decline. For one, the lure of the post-Thanksgiving “mad-rush” may be wearing off, and the emerging “negative” social stigma of those willing to shop (instead of resting with family) coupled with those who believe they are “being forced to work” during the holiday (see Walmart strike) without fair wages may be turning off … Read more

Berkshire Scoops Up Duracell; Hasbro Ponders Dreamworks

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Edited November 14, 2014. We should have known that Warren Buffett (BRK.A, BRK.B) was interested in acquiring Procter & Gamble’s (PG) battery business, Duracell. Today, we found out that he was. In exchange for a recapitalized Duracell Company, including $1.7 billion in cash at closing, Berkshire Hathaway will fork over $4.7 billion worth of Procter & Gamble shares to the former parent to bring Duracell’s operations into Berkshire Hathaway. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2015. We think it’s mostly a win for Procter & Gamble. The company had announced its decision to shed Duracell in its most recent quarterly report, a move we had been heavily in favor of. Based on trading action following … Read more