There Will Be Volatility

By Brian Nelson, CFA Last year, 2022, was a big test for equity investors, and the downside volatility that we witnessed during the year wasn’t comfortable, to say the least. Following the COVID-19 crash and rebound during 2020, and then the market surge in 2021, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say many investors’ heads are probably still spinning from all the volatility witnessed to start this decade. That said, part of what we’ve been warning about the past few years with respect to the equity market, especially in Value Trap, is that the proliferation of price-agnostic trading (e.g. quant, machine/algorithmic trading, etc.) will only lead to more and more market volatility, so while we were somewhat surprised by last … 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

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week October 22

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 22. 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 1st Source (SRCE): now $0.31 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. ACNB (ACNB): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Albertsons Companies (ACI): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. American Electric Power (AEP): now $0.78 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.74. Armstrong World (AWI): now $0.231 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.210. ASML Holding (ASML): now EURO 1.80 per share interim dividend, was … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of October 25

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 25. 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                          AllianceBernstein (AB): now $0.77 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.71. American Electric Power (AEP): now $0.93 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.88. AMERISAFE (AMSF): now $3.00 per share special dividend, was $0.37. Archrock (AROC): now $0.175 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.165. Armstrong World (AWI): now $0.308 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.280. Atlantic Union Bank (AUB): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more