Market Valuations Not “Insane” But Certainly Not Cheap Either

The stock market is not insanely overpriced, but it is certainly not cheap either. We’re watching the technicals and moves in the 10-year Treasury closely for signs of where the market may go next. We discuss Walmart’s recent disappointment and add another to the list of companies that the Dividend Cushion ratio effectively highlighted the heightened income risk profile of, prior to the dividend cut. Chipotle is on the move! By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA According to the February 16, 2018 release of Factset’s Earnings Insight, the forward 12-month P/E ratio for the S&P 500 is still north of 17 times, above both the 5-year average of 16 and the 10-year average of 14.3. The “right” multiple for … Read more

Subscribe: The Nelson Exclusive Is Simply One of a Kind

“I think the Nelson Exclusive publication is worth far more than what we charge for it, and we’re making it even better.” Hi folks, I have to admit that I was quite worried about launching the Nelson Exclusive May 2016. I didn’t know what to expect, and as we’ve progressed with new ideas each and every month, I’ve been working hard to incorporate feedback. For starters, we’re going to be moving to tracking the income characteristics of the income ideas on a go-forward basis as a measure of their success. Many members have voiced this long-term income-oriented preference, and frankly we think it makes a lot of sense. Not one income idea in the Exclusive has cut its dividend! But … Read more

Systemic Risk

Image Source: Maximo Santana We believe the next crisis will not be a banking crisis, but one of a breakdown in market structure. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA The volatility of US equity markets has simply been incredible of late. What a change of tune from the past 12-18 months. Many investors are growing more concerned about the health of US sovereign credit and implications on borrowing costs, the benchmark Treasury yield, and further, such implications on long-run equity values (rising interest rates in stock valuation models reduces intrinsic value, all else equal). Moody’s has been warning about the deteriorating health of the US as a result of tax reform, pointing to “at least a $1.5 trillion deficit … Read more

The Sell Off February 5 Remains Minimal Compared to the Gains of Past Years

Image shown: The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) share price performance since mid-2009. The pullback the past few days hasn’t amounted to much, but it has caught the attention of investors.   Recent equity market price declines don’t add up to much compared to the huge gains of recent years. Typical bear markets result in the evaporation of nearly 40% of investor wealth, on average. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA The recent sell-off in equities accelerated in the trading session February 5 as concerns regarding an uptick in inflation (embedded in discount rates within valuation frameworks) and potentially materially tightening monetary policy in the US are weighing on investors’ minds. When the dust finally settled at … Read more

Brewing the Next Dividend Aristocrat

Image Source: Starbuck’s 2017 annual Shareholder Meeting Most income-minded investors would love to find the next Dividend Aristocrat before it earns such a title, but many continue to focus on the stars of the past instead of working to identify up and coming dividend track records, which often carry higher dividend growth rates than the most established Dividend Aristocrats. By Alexander J. Poulos McDonald’s Is Pretty Good… Starbucks (SBUX) has a number of qualities that we look for in identifying companies that can sustain a growing dividend over time, one that has the potential to develop into a Dividend Aristocrat. The company’s dividend track record is still a young one as the payout was initiated in 2010, but forward-looking analysis … Read more

The New Theorem of the Stock Market

President of Investment Research Brian Nelson talks about the new theory of the stock market and explains how syllogisms developed by Noble prize winners and the largest asset managers may not accurately reflect active management at the investor level, which Nelson argues is what matters. Running time: ~15 minutes. To view Valuentum’s updated YouTube page, please see here.  Excerpts from Value and Momentum Within Stocks, Too (Valuentum) Read the paper from the beginning here (pdf).   Tickerized for stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Mutual Fund Tragedy, ROE, and the Time Horizon

Comparisons between growth versus value stocks may never go away, but President of Investment Research Brian Nelson explains why you should know better than to think stocks can easily be divided up as such. He talks about this, as well as the pitfalls of ROE (return on equity) and how to think about the time horizon. Running time: ~10 minutes.

Admit It: You Know Nothing About the Dividend

President of Investment Research Brian Nelson talks about how the concept of a dividend is completely miscontrued due to societal and cultural reasons, but he also explains why he likes dividends. Warning: He’s going to bust out Monopoly pieces. You don’t want to miss this! Running time: ~15 minutes.

I Love Dividends But the Dividend Discount Model is DEAD!

President of Investment Research Brian Nelson gives a plethora of reasons why the dividend discount model is dead and expresses his worries about how it continues to be used academically and professionally. Also included is a discussion about why the weighted average cost of capital, or the WACC, is used in the enterprise free cash flow valuation process, or the free cash flow to the firm process. Running time: ~13 minutes.

Video: Quants! You’re NOT Measuring VALUE and Nelson’s Theory of Universal Value

President of Investment Research Brian Nelson defines the concept of universal value and shows how quantitative statistical methods are inextricably linked to those of fundamental, financial, business-model related analysis. Value does not exist in respective process vacuums! Value is universal. Find out why. Running time: ~10 minutes.  Tickerized for Valuentum’s stock and ETF coverage universe. Transcript Hi this is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities, and this is the tenth edition of a series that I call “Off the Cuff,” where I get in front of the camera and I talk for ten minutes. This is what we have to talk about today. We have to talk about this concept: The Theory of Universal Value. Value does not exist in vacuums … Read more