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

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

The “Year of Evangeline Adams” Continues

Brian Nelson, CFA March 15th marked the 106th consecutive trading session that neither the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) nor the S&P 500 (SPY) has declined 1% during any one day. The streak is now the seventh longest in stock market history for the Dow and the 10th longest for the S&P 500. The markets are now 49 days shy from tying the March 1, 1966, record for the Dow and 79 days shy from the November 21, 1963, record that ended the day before JFK was assassinated. What you see above is not a representation of the latest consecutive streak, but instead a visual of the upward trajectory of the S&P 500 since the March 2009 panic bottom, now more … Read more

The Bottom Line: Altria’s Translates to Dividend Growth

Image Source: Peyri Herrera Altria continues to successfully battle a challenging demand environment for cigarette volumes across its industry, and the company has once again rolled out expectations for meaningful earnings-per-share growth in 2017. Altria’s stock is among the best performers in history – find out why. By Kris Rosemann Some readers may be surprised that (Altria) is a top performer for investors in the face of the onslaught of government restrictions and legal actions that have cost the firm tens of billions of dollars and threaten the cigarette manufacturer with bankruptcy. But in the capital markets, bad news for the firm often is transformed into good news for investors. Many shun the stock in the company and fear that … Read more

Dividend Growth Newsletter: Evaluating Our 2016 Dividend Growth Picks

“…the average return of our dividend growth picks has blown the return of the S&P 500 out of the water during the past two years, and in each of the past two years.” By Brian Nelson, CFA What say us of our dividend growth stock-selection skills? First, on a portfolio level, I am very proud to say that the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio has advanced in each of the past two years, while the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) has been significantly more volatile, declining during 2015, and bouncing back during 2016. For supposedly steady-eddy dividend growth indices, they tend to be quite volatile relative to the Valuentum Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, one of the main reasons why I don’t … Read more

Tough Month – My Goodness

By Brian Nelson, CFA The market rallied hard this month and seemed to leave a lot of the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio ideas behind. I’m not going to sugarcoat the results: The Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio disappointed this month, and for that I’m sorry.  A lot of it may be “explainable” in light of what happened on Election Day 2016, however. I think a lot of investors have shifted capital from the stronger dividend payers to the more-speculative ones in hopes that a new, pro-business Trump administration will be their saving grace. We hope so, but Trump cannot be President forever, and dividend growth investors should consider a long-term perspective, in my opinion, especially when it comes to compounding payouts … Read more

Can Marijuana Stocks Burn Your Portfolio?

The Valuentum analyst team walks through changes in the marijuana regulatory landscape, the plethora of risks speculators face while dabbling in marijuana stocks, and the hopes that some might be long-term winners. ~8 mins. If you cannot view the podcast below, please view the transcript that follows or select the link here. Tickerized for stocks associated with the marijuana industry. Brian Nelson, CFA: Can marijuana stocks burn your portfolio? This is Brian Nelson for Valuentum Securities and joining me for today is Mr. Kris Rosemann and Mr. Chris Araos, and we are going to talk all about marijuana stocks. Mr. Kris Roseman would you like to take us through some of the dynamics that you are seeing across the industry? … Read more

EVERYTHING DIVIDENDS + 3 TOP IDEAS

The Valuentum analyst team explains the difference between the adjusted Dividend Cushion ratio and its unadjusted counterpart. The success of the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio is covered, and Valuentum’s top 3 dividend growth ideas are unveiled. ~13 minutes. If you are unable to view the video below, please select the link here or view the transcript below. Kris Rosemann: Hello and welcome to the Valuentum Securities podcast. My name is Kris Rosemann and with me today is Chris Araos and Brian Nelson, the president of equity research and ETF analysis here at Valuentum, and today we’re going to be discussing the Dividend Cushion ratio, the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and some of our favorite dividend ideas on the market today. So … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 26

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending August 26. 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 Aceto Corporation (ACET): now $0.065 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. Altria Group, Inc. (MO): now $0.61 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.565. Cementos Pacasmayo (CPAC): now S/0.285 per share annual dividend, was S/0.28. Expedia (EXPE): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. FFW Corporation (FFWC): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. First Connecticut (FBNK): now $0.08 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.07. … Read more

Chicago, Wings, Beer, Sports, and Smokes

Image Source: Kevin Dooley By Brian Nelson, CFA Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), the bar-and-grill giant that prides itself on serving a delicate balance of “wings, beer, and sports,” is back. Shares have been soaring as of late thanks in part to some strong institutional support–Marcato Capital now owns more than 5% of the company and is pushing for franchising growth—but also due to better visibility into why its operations haven’t been going “gangbusters,” as some may have described it in the past. Well, the answer appears to be rather straightforward, and it all falls squarely on the shoulders of the Windy City. Chicago? – that’s correct. Here is what B-dubs’ CEO Sally Smith said on the … Read more

Keep Calm and Carry On?

Image Source: War History Online, June 22 Brexit may or may not be a big problem. Time will tell. But what matters and eventually becomes its own catalyst, however, is valuation. The forward price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 companies (SPY) is currently ~16.5 times, above its 5-year (14.6) and 10-year averages (14.3). This is the real story. Assuming a reversion to the 10-year average multiple, for example, the S&P 500 can be considered “fairly valued” at $1,811, a drop of another 10% from ~2,000 levels. You don’t need us to tell you that the markets have practically gone straight up the past seven years from the March 2009 panic bottom through today, with the S&P 500 effectively tripling since that … Read more