Nelson’s Earnings Roundup: GOOG(L), PYPL, INTC

Image Source: Aaron Fulkerson Let’s get President of Valuentum Brian Nelson’s quick thoughts on the earnings reports of Alphabet, Paypal, and Intel, all very important holdings in the newsletter portfolios. By Brian Nelson, CFA Alphabet The Mountain View, California-based Internet search giant continues to do a lot of things right. CFO Ruth Porat called the top-line growth in the fourth-quarter results of the company formerly called Google “exceptional.” Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is the lifeblood of the Internet, and consumers every day consult Google with their innermost questions and sometimes deepest thoughts and concerns (looking for answers). It will remain a core aspect of our lives, as core as the most innate possessions of those that use it. During the quarter, … Read more

The Next Industrial Revolution – Internet of Things

Image Source: Skyworks Summary: ·        The Internet of Things has been called ‘the next Industrial Revolution,’ and the revolution is already well underway. ·        Explosive growth can be expected in the number of devices connected to the Internet in coming years, and the data extracted from such devices will enable businesses to make significant value creating improvements to operations. ·        The proliferation of the Internet of Things will take a combined effort from the end user of the technology to smart device manufacturers to software providers to networks. ·        The newsletter portfolios have significant exposure to early large-cap adopters of the IoT. We love the potential we see in some of our favorite names to capitalize on ‘the next Industrial … Read more

Hit or Miss in the Video Gaming Entertainment Industry

The Valuentum analyst team talks the latest and greatest trends in the video game entertainment industry from tried-and-true titles to the financial positions of the largest players to retail big box and beyond. ~9 mins. Kris Rosemann: Welcome to Valuentum’s podcast. I’m Kris Rosemann and joining us today is Mr. Chris Araos. Chris, you have a strong background as an observer of trends in the video game entertainment industry. How would you say the world of gaming is shaping up these days? Chris Araos: Well, Kris — a lot has changed in video gaming in just the past five years thanks to the emergence of more-advanced mobile phones, which are just great devices to play games on. Unlike PCs or … Read more

Video: An Overview of Our 16-page Stock Research Reports

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I Thought I Made a Mistake

By Brian Nelson, CFA It was nearing the end of 2015, and I don’t think I was more bullish on a stock than Intel (INTC). In October 2015, I published that “Intel may have a breakout year in 2016.” I liked what Intel had done to keep AMD’s (AMD) back against the wall, and the chip giant was making nice strides in the mobile market against Qualcomm (QCOM), particularly with key phone-maker, Apple (AAPL). I liked the acquisition of Altera in part because the company is a free-cash-flow generating machine with little capital intensity. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) will continue to reshape the semiconductor landscape, and the Altera purchase will give Intel a leg up. Well, it didn’t take long … Read more

Understanding the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Designation

“Among the countless finance degrees around the world, the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification has become the gold standard.” – Financial Times, 13 August 2010 “[The] qualification is roughly equivalent to a specialized postgraduate finance degree, including a mixture of economics, ethics, law, and accountancy… Whereas there are tens of thousands of finance degrees available around the world, ranging from the excellent to the worthless, there is only one CFA, managed and examined by an American association of financial professionals, the CFA Institute.” – the Economist From the CFA Institute: “The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter is an investment credential that, for more than 60 years, has been the global standard for embodying the integrity, dedication, and advanced skills needed to … Read more

You Just Don’t Get It Or Do You?

We talked about how the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio has outdistanced a flat market since May 2015, the last time that the market was at present levels, but…it gets better. “In the five year period ended August 31, 2016, only 9.5% of actively managed large-cap domestic equity funds beat the S&P 500. Meanwhile, the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio has generated nearly 33 points of outperformance since its inception in May 2011.” — Kris Rosemann ————— By Kris Rosemann At Valuentum, we have highlighted the potential for investors to beat the market, often chiding index-funds that are content to take individuals’ capital and collect a fee on assets that they are adding little value to. However, it appears that active money … Read more

Apple’s Brand as Strong as Ever

By Kris Rosemann Recent quarterly performance had some naysayers doubting the true power of Apple (AAPL). The second quarter of fiscal 2016 (calendar first quarter) marked the first decline in sales in a quarter in thirteen years due largely to pressure on iPhone sales, and the third quarter of the fiscal year continued the year-over-year sales weakness. As Apple hosted its company event September 7, shares remained under pressure as many anticipated ongoing weakness in demand for the iPhone, even with a new iteration being introduced. The declines continued in the days immediately after due in part to the firm’s decision not to release first-weekend estimates of pre-order sales volumes. Management indicated that it believes the measure is a meaningless … Read more

The Quiet Analyst Speaks

Image Description and Source: Mailslot for Cantor Fitzgerald, on the top floors of the WTC. The mailslot was located in a post office near the WTC site. The mailslots are with the Smithsonian Institution. Travis Wise. It’s 9pm Sunday, September 11, 2016. The day is a somber one. The 15th year passing of the tragic events of 9/11 were on everyone’s minds, and I can’t help but think specifically of Cantor Fitzgerald. The financial services company’s headquarters were on the 101st-105th floors of One World Trade Center, just a few floors above the impact zone of one of the hijacked airplanes. The firm lost 658 employees, over two thirds of its workforce, more than “any of the other World Trade … Read more