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

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 6

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending October 6. 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 American Express (AXP): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK): now $0.185 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Calavo Growers (CVGW): now $0.95 per share annual dividend, was $0.90. FNB Bancorp (FNBG): now $0.13 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Frederick County (FCBI): now $0.08 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.07. Intuit (INTU): now $0.39 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more

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

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

Read: Keeping the Horse Before the Cart: Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ Rating The Economic Castle Focuses on the Magnitude of Economic Value Creation The Valuentum Economic Castle™ rating is an enhancement of the competitive advantage framework (commonly known as economic moat analysis) that has become widespread and ubiquitous within the investing world. Whereas an economic moat framework evaluates a firm on the basis of the sustainability and durability of its competitive advantages, Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ rating evaluates a firm on the basis of the firm’s future economic profit spread (return on invested capital less its weighted average cost of capital). The companies with the strongest Valuentum Economic Castle™ ratings are poised to generate the most economic value for shareholders in the … Read more

Pandora Preps for Battle

Internet radio giant Pandora (click ticker for report: ) posted solid second-quarter results Thursday afternoon. Revenue rose 57% year-over-year to $157 million, slightly above consensus estimates. Earnings-per-share on a non-GAAP basis was much higher than the prior year at $0.04, which was also much better than consensus expectations. Free cash flow during the quarter was a negative $8.5 million as the firm continues to invest heavily in future growth. Goodbye Hours-Cap Perhaps the most important development during the quarter was that Pandora will remove its 40-hour cap on mobile listening effective September 1. After re-implementing the hours-cap in February, total listening hours declined 7% sequentially (but were still up 18% year-over-year though) to 3.88 billion. Pandora had no choice, in … Read more

Stock Market Outlook for 2021

By Valuentum Analysts February 8, 2021 2020 was one for the history books. We covered our thoughts and reflections on the past year in our “2020 Won’t Soon Be Forgotten” article (link here), and now we are looking towards the future. Global health authorities should be able to bring an end to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic sooner than many had expected as several vaccines have already been improved for emergency use and several others appear increasingly likely to get approved. Global vaccine distribution activities are currently underway, and this should allow the world to slowly return to pre-pandemic activities. Before then, immense stimulus measures launched primarily in developed nations should support global economic activities until the public health crisis … Read more

Nelson: The 16 Most Important Steps To Understand The Stock Market

A previous version of this article appeared on our website July 21, 2013. Refreshed and updated throughout, as of July 2018. By Brian Nelson, CFA After earning my MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and training stock and credit analysts from large organizations over the past decade or so, I have heard just about every question (though I admit I am still surprised by many things and remain a very humble student of the markets). I’ve also spent years perfecting the discounted cash flow process for large research organizations such as Morningstar and studied under one of the most famed aggressive growth investors of all time, Richard Driehaus. My knowledge runs the gamut from value through … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week October 29

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 29. 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 A10 Networks (ATEN): now $0.05 per share quarterly dividend. AbbVie (ABBV): now $1.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.30. Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Amphenol (APH): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Arbor Realty Trust (ABR): now $0.36 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. Armada Hoffler Properties (AHH): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. B. … Read more

2,350-2,750 on the S&P? Could the Coronavirus Catalyze a Financial Crisis?

Image: We think a rather modest sell-off in the market to the target range of 2,350-2,750 on the S&P 500 is rather reasonable in the wake of one of the biggest economic shocks since the Global Financial Crisis. The chart above shows how far markets have advanced since 2011, and an adjustment lower to the target range of 2,350-2,750 is rather modest in such a context and would only bring markets to late 2018 levels (note red box as the target range). The range reflects ~16x S&P 500 12-month forward earnings estimates, as of February 14, adjusted down 10% due to COVID-19. When companies like Visa talk about a couple percentage points taken off of growth rates, one knows that … Read more