HAS

Hasbro’s Tough 2018 Comes to an End

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Image Source: Mike Mozart Hasbro battled a number of challenges in 2018, but it anticipates a return to profitable growth in 2019. By Kris Rosemann 2018 brought a number of challenges for simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio idea Hasbro (HAS), not the least of which was the bankruptcy and liquidation of Toys ‘R’ Us and the shifting retail and consumer landscape. The impact of the Toys ‘R’ Us’ struggles were greater than Hasbro expected during the year, and it was not able to recapture as much of the lost business during the holiday period as anticipated due to the impact of the retailer’s liquidated inventory being available. Prior to the bankruptcy filing, Toys ‘R’ Us was Hasbro’s third largest customer … Read more

Consider Selling Discipline = Systematic, Forward-looking, Repeatable

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Image shown: An illustration of Valuentum’s call on Kinder Morgan during 2015. You can read about this in more detail in the Preface of Value Trap: Theory of Universal Valuation. For a consider-selling discipline to be successful, it must be systematic, forward-looking and repeatable. The Valuentum process worked equally well with General Electric during 2017 (image later in note). No changes to simulated newsletter portfolios. By Brian Nelson, CFA Good morning everyone! The markets took a shellacking yesterday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) falling over 300 points during the trading session January 22. Had there not been a near-100 point leap in the Dow during the past few minutes of trading, the fallout may have been worse. Most are … Read more

Conference Call Coming Soon, Catch Up This Weekend

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Image shown: The markets continue to rally significantly since the near-term bottom in December. Here’s the email we sent to members December 26.  No changes to simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio (contact us if you missed the latest notification regarding the simulated High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio). This article was sent to members via email January 19. That email can be accessed at the link that follows this article. Conference Call Monday, January 28, 11amET/10amCT. We’ll talk about website navigation, how to use the stock and dividend reports, and dig deep into our capital-appreciation and dividend growth methodology. Details to follow, but add this date/time to your calendar. Read what some of our members have … Read more

Markets Continue to Recover

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Image shown: The markets continue to rally significantly since the near-term bottom in December. The decision to move the cash “weightings” to zero in the simulated portfolios of the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter during the trading session December 27 has been quite rewarding for members that have been following our research and newsletters. The S&P 500 SPDR. No Changes to Simulated Newsletter portfolios. This article was sent to members via email January 18. The original email can be accessed via the link that follows this article. Brian Nelson, CFA The S&P 500 (SPY) continues to march higher in this young 2019, and we trust many of you are pleased with what is turning into quite a nice … Read more

Markets Still Bouncing Nicely

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Image shown: This holiday season was mighty hectic, and not many were anticipating the volatility we experienced. Here’s where the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios went to “fully invested,” reducing a 30% and 20% cash “weighting” at the high end of their respective ranges for each portfolio, respectively. Email. No Changes to Simulated Newsletter portfolios Brian Nelson, CFA After what perhaps has been the most volatile December in stock market history, the markets are off to the races in January. We continue to watch the broader equity markets closely, but directionally the call to go to “zero” in cash after the close December 26 has worked out, for anyone that received the notification after that date. … Read more

Value Trap, More Volatility; We’re Waiting and Watching

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Image shown: The decision to remove GE from the simulated newsletter portfolios when we did may have been our best call yet.  In this note, let’s talk about the importance of reading Value Trap, learn why we’ve gone “fully invested,” talk a little bit about put options, learn some of the intricacies of the Valuentum process, find out where to find VBI rankings to download and sort, and talk about some of our recently-highlighted ideas in the simulated newsletter portfolios. No Changes to Simulated Newsletter portfolios Brian Nelson, CFA Trust you are having a wonderful Monday morning! I hope that many of you made the conference call last Thursday at 11amET, but if you didn’t, we’ll have another one coming soon. … Read more

New 10s! — Stock Report Updates — Triage During Market Volatility

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We have updated our 16-page equity and dividend reports for a number of high-profile companies in our coverage universe and have provided a table summarizing the new fair value estimates, Dividend Cushion ratios, and other key metrics following the updates for your convenience. By Valuentum Analysts We’ve been actively updating select reports through the course of this market swoon, and we have provided the table above for your convenience.  Guess what — Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) are now registering 10s on the Valuentum Buying Index again! These two companies are also the highest weighted equities in the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. There’s a lot of “hair” on both names, given political and regulatory risks, and both may experience … Read more

The Intricacies of the Valuentum Process

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Let’s take a quick overview of the Valuentum processes for capital appreciation and dividend growth with a discussion of how we use the Valuentum Buying Index and the Dividend Cushion ratio. By Brian Nelson, CFA There is a lot behind the Valuentum processes for capital appreciation and dividend growth, respectively, and both the criteria for inclusion to either the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio are different. Our best ideas at any time, however, are always included in the simulated newsletter portfolios. We use our research as a means to identify new ideas for consideration in the simulated newsletter portfolios, as well as to consider removing ideas from the simulated newsletter portfolios. As it relates to … Read more

Catching the Bottom?

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Image shown: The depths of how far the S&P 500 (SPY) has fallen more recently, and the timing of the decision to move to being “fully invested” in simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio.   No Changes to Simulated Newsletter portfolios. This article was sent to members via email January 9. That email can be found at the link that follows this article. By Brian Nelson, CFA On the evening of December 26, we emailed members that we were moving to “fully invested” in both the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. First of all, please let me apologize. I wanted to stay in front of members during one of the most volatile times … Read more

Markets Up Big; Upside Volatility

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Image shown: The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) since August 2017. The index has broken through support and is now bouncing back to resistance. By Brian Nelson, CFA Good morning everyone, Are you watching these markets? This is incredible. The Dow finished down 660 points yesterday (briefly dropping 700 points), and today, the Dow is currently trading up 600 points at the time of this writing. Granted, there was Apple’s (AAPL) poor first-quarter 2019 guidance yesterday and the strong jobs report today, but this volatility is not “normal,” no matter what others are saying. A couple announcements up front. For those that already ordered our book Value Trap, I will send you the pdf download to your email address just to make sure … Read more