Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? — Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios

Image Source: World Health Organization, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Situation Report — 32 We don’t think this is the environment to put new capital to work, and we remain highly cautious of what COVID-19 means for global economic growth not just in the first quarter of 2020 but for the rest of this year (maybe longer). Right now, the US markets are not really factoring in anything related to COVID-19, and perhaps may be adjusting to China’s stimulus in artificially propping up the markets as if the outbreak is somehow a “positive thing.” With the S&P 500 trading at 19.0 forward earnings estimates–estimates that are likely too high given the evidence we are seeing with respect to a slowdown due … Read more

Newmont Updates Investors Ahead of Earnings

Image Source: Newmont Corporation – January 2020 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Back on January 13 (link here), we added Newmont Corporation (NEM) to our Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio with a modest weighting as part of our shift towards more defensive names in light of rising exogenous headwinds to global economic activity. Some important considerations include Newmont increasing its quarterly payout to $0.25 per share from $0.14 per share, which is expected to be declared at the level in April 2020 (the fourth quarter of 2019 dividend, as management puts it, will be paid out in March 2020 at $0.14 per share). As of this writing, Newmont would yield ~2.2% at the new annualized dividend rate. We like Newmont’s dividend … Read more

Resetting Your Mental Model

Image Source: affen ajlfe A version of this article was originally published on our website October 6, 2013. Having the right mental model and using the right information can be the reason why you win or lose in investing. “What is the definition of timeliness? Many believe it is getting information to investors as quickly as possible after an event, or updating something every single day or week for immaterial information. I believe in a different definition of timeliness. I believe timeliness is using all information available in a mosaic approach to accurately predict the event before it even happens. Take Kinder Morgan as the latest example. We were the only ones predicting what was going to happen before it did. To investors, … Read more

Improving Our Coverage

Valuentum continues to scour the stock market for new ideas. We’ll be following the set of companies in this list via commentary on our website and a data sheet updated periodically. By Valuentum Analysts The list of companies in the download below were previously covered by our team via 16-page report and dividend report fashion. Going forward, we are now covering these companies with commentary on the website and via a data sheet updated periodically. This will be a much better use of members’ time, especially as members scour our Best Ideas Newsletter, Dividend Growth Newsletter, stock methodology, dividend methodology, and the hundreds of stock valuation reports and dividend reports on our website, available through the Symbol search box.  We … Read more

What About Gold?

A version of this note was emailed to members August 8, 2019. Please contact us at info@valuentum.com if you are not receiving our emails. What About Gold? By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, Hope you are having a great day! I wanted to thank you so much for being here. I’m so appreciative of your interest and attention, and for making Valuentum what it is — we are making a huge difference for investors, and it’s all because of your support! Don’t forget to leave a review of Value Trap. Even a couple sentences mean a lot! For those new members that are just getting familiar with our offerings, with the basic premium membership, we offer two newsletters and access to … Read more

Gold Is But a Shiny Yellow Metal

Image shown: The performance of an ETF tracking the price of gold bullion, less the expenses to run the ETF, since 2011. “What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow. During the past decade that belief has proved correct. Beyond that, the rising price has on its own generated additional buying enthusiasm, attracting purchasers who see the rise as validating an investment thesis. As ‘bandwagon’ investors join any party, they create their own truth – for a while.” — Warren Buffett (2011 annual letter to shareholders) By Brian Nelson, CFA Gold prices have been under pressure for years. I’m always uncomfortable talking about the investment prospects of gold (GLD). It’s a sensitive … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Gold Mining Industry

Images Source: Newmont Mining Structure of the Gold Mining Industry Gold miners are tied to the world price of gold, which depends on a number of demand drivers: industrial and jewelry; gold as an investment; central bank activity; inflation expectations; and speculative trading. If realized prices on the yellow metal fall and remain at low levels, mining profitability would be significantly impaired. Industry constituents must constantly seek to replace reserves depleted by production via new exploration, which remains a speculative activity. Unexpected project cost overruns remain another key risk. In general, we’re not huge fans of the volatile fundamentals of the gold mining sector. Several companies previously in this group have been reassigned to the Diversified Mining Industry here. << … Read more

Valuentum Stock Screeners

This article was sent to members via email December 29. That email can be accessed at the link that follows this article. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, I wanted to provide an update with respect to Valuentum’s stock screeners. We believe our stock screeners are among the most robust when it comes to providing forward-looking data, or data that is important with respect to the investment decision-making process. We publish screens in each of the monthly newsletters, but we also provide a basic weekly screener for download on the left column of the website, “Download Weekly Stock Screener (xls) — login required.”   We also have other products. The more robust DataScreener, for example, is part of the quarterly Financial … Read more

Market Mayhem — Alerts for Members

During these extremely volatile times, it’s important to stay focused. On December 15, we informed all of our members to “Pay Attention.” Shortly thereafter, we notified members of the potential for a stock market technical breakdown. This morning, we offered a pre-market briefing about the importance of thinking about portfolio protection. For Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=e2406cd6-c113-4344-8731-493f33fc44a4&id=preview For High Yield Dividend Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=b3ba530f-38b3-489a-ac96-2961dca89c6b&id=preview For Exclusive members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=ba6d90c0-4433-48b2-9b8a-aac4ddf9006e&id=preview We’re here for any questions. Please just let us know how we can help! Kind regards, Brian Nelson, CFA  brian@valuentum.com

In the News: Gold, Auto Sales, General Electric

We don’t think gold makes much sense outside perhaps a very diversified portfolio. Auto sales weren’t all that great in September, and some are calling for a bottom in General Electric. By Brian Nelson, CFA The price of gold (GLD) will continue to be volatile as many own it as both a global inflation hedge and an asset implying safety from global economic crisis. We think gold may make sense sometimes, but perhaps only as a very low weighting in a very diversified portfolio, if at all. The case that gold has any intrinsic value is rather weak, too, “Gold Is But a Shiny Yellow Metal,” particularly because its industrial and consumer uses are rather limited. Gold holds value largely … Read more