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

Surveying Fourth Quarter Earnings at Health Care Firms

The broader equity markets have been under pressure for much of January, and while it may be tempting to consider completely exiting stock investing for a time, we’re staying the course with both of our actively-managed portfolios. We had been expecting a contraction in price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples across the broader market (see our outlook here), and the performance thus far in 2014 has not been surprising. In case you may have missed it, I sent out some very important thoughts over the weekend to keep in mind as uncertainty and volatility increase through the course of 2014: Stay focused on @Valuentum portfolio holdings (best ideas), #asset allocation (cash) in portfolios and #prudence in allocating new capital. — Brian Nelson, CFA … Read more

LINK –> Massive Unrest In Europe, Energy Crisis Could Be the Catalyst to Topple the Global Markets

Image Shown: The SSGA ETFS Europe II PLC SPDR MSCI Europe Industrials UCITS ETF, listed in the UK, tracks large and mid-sized European industrial firms. Shares of the ETF have fallen sharply year-to-date as recessionary fears across Europe have grown substantially in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the related European energy crisis. “Surging energy prices in Europe are decimating consumer spending power and forcing industrial companies to sharply scale back production. It is estimated that six in 10 British factories could fold as a result of the crisis, according to reports from Bloomberg.” — The Valuentum Team By Callum Turcan The European energy crisis continues to unfold, and we’ve been keeping our members … Read more

Cisco Rallies Big Time!

Image shown: Performance of the S&P 500 (SPY) since August 2017. As US equities continue their newly-found volatility, let’s take a look at some recent earnings reports and other developments around the markets. Cisco, the workhorse of both simulated newsletter portfolios, put up a fantastic report and upped its dividend. Berkshire continues to love Apple, and we maintain the view that the 10-year Treasury rate may be the greatest determinant of how well stocks perform in the coming decades. Airlines, garbage stocks, the “gas tax,” and more. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA Do you know how happy it makes us to say that Cisco (CSCO) has been a staple of both the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and … Read more

Earnings Roundup for the Week Ended Sunday, April 19, Covering Companies Across the Board

By Callum Turcan Let’s take a look at several earnings reports across numerous industries in this article as the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic forces the global economy to a crawl. Please note that as these reports primarily cover the first quarter of calendar year 2020, the impact of the pandemic has yet to be truly reflected in corporate earnings. That said, these reports still provide an important glimpse into what to expect going forward and how companies are responding to the pandemic. By ticker in alphabetical order: BBBY, CPSS, ISRG, LAKE, MRTN, OFLX, SCHW, TSM Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY) Shares of BBBY shot up on April 16 after reporting fourth quarter and full-year results for its fiscal 2019 … Read more

Update: COVID-19 Vaccine Race

Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic has devasted the global economy (though things are starting to improve) and has fundamentally altered daily human life. According to a draft report from the World Health Organization (‘WHO’), there were 29 COVID-19 vaccine candidates undergoing clinical trials as of August 13 along with 138 other candidates undergoing preclinical evaluation. It is a race against the clock. Unfortunately, as of this writing on August 18, there have been ~170,000 COVID-19-related deaths in the US alone according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (‘CDC’). We are optimistic that one of the many “shots on … 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

There Is Milk At The Store

This article first appeared in the September edition of the High Yield Dividend Newsletter. For more information about this publication, please see here. “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Winston Churchill By Brian Nelson, CFA Very few of us could have imagined that we’d witness the bull market that began on that fateful day in March 2009 that might very well mark a generational low. In 2009, major investment banks around the globe were struggling to survive, and the fallout in the mortgage markets left the banks holding paper that nobody wanted to own, let alone buy. The global financial system … Read more