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Bitcoin’s Price Leaps Toward $11,000

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Image shown: Cryto-currencies are in vogue, and the most popular Bitcoin has “gone exponetial.” This is incredible. Bitcoin has caught the financial markets by storm, and the ranks of the greedy are driving its price ever higher. Financial Tech Services: ACIW, EPAY, FDC, FIS, FISV, FLT, GPN, MA, MELI, PAY, PYPL, V, VNTV, VRSK, WEX, WU Banks – Regional and Asset Management: AB, AINV, AMP, ARCC, BCH, BEN, BGCP, BKU, BLK, BMO, BNS, CM, FSIC, ISBC, KKR, LAZ, LM, MAIN, MTB, NABZY, NYB, OCN, PBCT, PFG, PSEC, RY, SBNY, SBSI, STT, TCAP, TD, VLY, WBK  Banks & Money Centers: AXP, BAC, BBT, BK, C, DFS, FITB, GS, HBC, JPM, KEY, MS, NTRS, PNC, RF, STI, TCB, USB, WFC

Does Visa Ever Disappoint?

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Image Source: Visa The credit card network hit all-time highs today. We continue to be huge fans of the company’s fundamentals. By Brian Nelson, CFA Another day, another new high for top-weighted idea in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Visa (V). Briefing Investor said it succinctly: Visa…is trading at a new all-time high after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results and gave encouraging guidance for fiscal 2018… Visa owns a global payment network. Unlike American Express (AXP) and Discover (DFS), which own payment networks and issue credit, Visa doesn’t take any credit risk — Capital One (COF) is a bank that issues a lot of credit cards. Visa is a technology company in the financial sector, just … Read more

The Wisdom of Oaktree’s Howard Marks

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Image Source: emmolos The latest memo from Oaktree’s Howard Marks here should be read and then read again. The section on passive investing is an absolute treasure. “Passive investing is done in vehicles that make no judgments about the soundness of companies and the fairness of prices.  More than $1 billion is flowing daily to “passive managers” (there’s an oxymoron for you) who buy regardless of price.  I’ve always viewed index funds as “freeloaders” who make use of the consensus decisions of active investors for free.  How comfortable can investors be these days, now that fewer and fewer active decisions are being made?” — Howard Marks, Oaktree Capital Financial Tech Services: ACIW, EPAY, FDC, FIS, FISV, FLT, GPN, MA, MELI, … Read more

Best Ideas, Dividend Growth Newsletter Alerts and More

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Image Shown: The stock price performance of Boeing. Let’s take a look at recent news from newsletter portfolio holdings. We’re also parting with a “trade” we never should have made in the first place, and we’re letting go of one of our favorite restaurants in light of deteriorating technicals. This and more… By Brian Nelson, CFA Aside from predicting the ongoing inflation of the current equity market bubble in the US so far in 2017, we also thought crude oil prices (USO) would continue their recovery. Unfortunately, this hasn’t exactly worked out, and US crude oil prices have now entered a “bear market,” now falling below $43 per barrel. Are we saying that we know where crude oil prices are … Read more

Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

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Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson pauses for a picture before speaking at the CFA Society of Houston in March 2017. By Valuentum Editorial Staff Let’s cover Valuentum’s 3 major breakthroughs in the field of finance. The first one is big and may challenge you to rethink everything you think you know about investing. 1. On a logical framework, Valuentum has debunked John C. Bogle’s landmark syllogism that has paved the way for the concept of index investing. Index investing has been built on a logical shortcoming, whether supported by evidence or not. We think it is important that the investment community know of this. Read (pdf): The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds (2018), Brian Nelson, CFA See video documentation: /FALLACY_of_Index_Funds To … Read more

PayPal: The Way of the Future

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Image Source: PayPal “As a customer champion and a leader in financial technology, our goal is to provide simple, affordable, secure, and reliable financial services and digital payments that enable the hopes, dreams, and ambitions of millions of people and businesses around the world, including those who have been underserved by the traditional financial system. This focus and clarity enabled us to achieve strong growth across every key aspect of our business in 2015. For the year, revenue increased 19 percent* to $9.24 billion, and our total payment volume reached $282 billion, an increase of 27 percent. We also generated $1.8 billion in free cash flow.” – PayPal’s 2015 Annual Report By Brian Nelson, CFA Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holding … Read more

Reiterating Our $50 Fair Value Estimate on PayPal

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Image Source: PayPal 2Q presentation, page 10 By Brian Nelson, CFA A quarterly “beat and raise” and a new agreement with Visa (V) weren’t good enough to drive shares of PayPal (PYPL) higher July 22, but we’re not worried. Revenue growth of 19% on a foreign-currency neutral basis and non-GAAP earnings per share growth of 11% wasn’t bad at all. Operating cash flow and free cash flow generation of $696 million (up ~12% year-over-year) and $495 million (up 27% year-over-year) in the quarter wasn’t too shabby either. Through the first six months of 2016, the company has generated $1.1 billion in free cash flow, better than the $740 million mark generated during the same period a year-ago. Active customer accounts … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending December 11

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending December 11. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Abbot Labs (ABT): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Avago Technologies (AVGO): now $0.44 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.42. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.37. Buckle (BKE): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Capella Education (CPLA): now $0.39 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.37. Croghan Bancshares, Inc. (CHBH): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more

Explaining the New Page 2 of the Dividend Report

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Note: Please expect the roll out of the new dividend report on valuentum.com/ to occur gradually, in conjuction with the standard industry update cycle. Summary Visa is one of the best companies in one of the best industries. Not only is the firm “everywhere you want to be,” but its high-margin business model throws off a lot of cash. Perhaps what we like best about Visa, however, is its dividend growth potential. Let’s walk through why and uncover the drivers behind its strong Dividend Cushion ratio. It’s hard to find anything wrong with Visa’s (V) business model. The company offers a secure, payment network that is accepted virtually everywhere in the United States. The firm makes money every time a Visa … Read more

The Dividend Cushion Ratio Measures the Magnitude of Potential Dividend Increases

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On October 26, Hi-Crush (HCLP) and Legacy Reserves (LGCY) became the latest two companies that the Dividend Cushion ratio warned about regarding a distribution cut, both serial “cutters.” Just a reminder, a raw, unadjusted Dividend Cushion ratio below 1 indicates significantly higher risk of the sustainability of the payout. The Dividend Cushion ratio, however, does so much more than warn investors of the risk of potential dividend cuts. Perhaps it is our own fault, as we have noted on several occasions the efficacy of the Dividend Cushion ratio in warning investors of a dividend cut in advance, that readers are focused on the metric primarily as a warning system instead of a generator of ideas that have fantastic dividend growth … Read more