Caterpillar’s 2013 Doesn’t Look Great

Global equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (click ticker for report: ) posted weak first-quarter results on the back of a decline in global mining capital expenditures. Revenue dropped 17% year-over-year to $13.2 billion, which was slightly below consensus expectations. Earnings tumbled 45% year-over-year to $1.31 per share, which was also worse than consensus estimates. The decline during the first quarter wasn’t much of a surprise as the outlook for mining capital expenditures fell precipitously as commodity prices tumbled. In fact, Cat’s revised outlook implies a 50% year-over-year decline in sales of the firm’s traditional mining equipment and a 15% decline in sales of the equipment sold by recently-acquired Bucyrus. Sales fell 23% in the resource segment for the quarter, and with most of the global mining … Read more

Strong Iron Ore Supply Weighs on Rio Tinto

Over the past several weeks, the diversified mining sector has been under attack, as Vale (ticker for report: ), BHP (click ticker for report: ) and Best Ideas Newsletter holding Rio Tinto (click ticker for report: ) have seen their share prices decline considerably. Given the relative performance of the S&P 500, as well as improving macro fundamentals in the United States, the decline may seem inexplicable—until we consider the dynamics of the iron ore industry. Iron ore (one of the most important and profitable commodities in recent years) prices rose over 60% in relatively short order during the beginning of the year, suggesting robust demand from China. However, China responded aggressively to the rise in prices, accusing the big … 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 of December 16

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending December 16. 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                Absecon Bancorp (ASCN): now $2.20 per share annual dividend, was $2.10. Algoma Central Corporation (ALC:CA): now CAD 1.35 per share special dividend, was CAD 0.17. Alpha Metallurgical (AMR): now $0.418 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.392. Ambev (ABEV): now $0.1457 per share annual dividend, was $0.08. AMEN Properties (AMEN): now $12.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $10.00. American Vanguard (AVD): now $0.03 per share quarterly … Read more

US Congress Is Getting Ready to Pass a Massive ~$2.2 Trillion Fiscal Stimulus Bill

Image Shown: US equities have started to recover some of their lost ground as the likelihood that the US Congress will pass a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus and emergency spending package, dubbed the CARES Act, has increased significantly over the past week as seen through the bounce in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). President Trump has clearly indicated that he intends to sign such a bill into law as soon as possible, with the US House of Representatives expected to take up the legislation this upcoming Friday morning on March 27. By Callum Turcan On March 25, the US Senate worked late into the night to secure a bipartisan compromise on a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus … Read more

The Dividend Cushion Ratio: Unadjusted Is Less Subjective, Adjusted Is More Subjective

  Image Source: Mike Lawrence Question: I’m a subscriber. I’m looking at your Dividend Report for Enterprise Product Partners (EPD). It says your Valuentum Adjusted Dividend Cushion ratio for EPD is 1.8 (a ratio that includes future expected proceeds from capital raising endeavors in the coming years), but several lines below it says the Unadjusted Dividend Cushion ratio, which is your regular normal ratio (a ratio that does not include future expected proceeds from capital raising endeavors in the coming years), is 0.22. Please explain the difference between the two ratios, and what is considered a good ratio for the Unadjusted Dividend Cushion ratio, what is an excellent score, what is neutral and what is poor? Also, how much relative importance should … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform

South32 Is a Great Miner

Image Shown: An overview of South32’s global asset base. We are big fans of the Australian miner. Image Source: South32 – Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Back in 2015, the mining giant BHP Group Ltd (BHP) spun off South32 (SOUHY). Since then, South32 has seen some major changes to its asset base through a combination of acquisitions, divestments, and organic investments. We include shares of South32’s American depository receipts (‘ADRs’) as an idea in the new ESG Newsletter portfolio (more on that here). Each ADR represents five ordinary shares of South32. South32 is based in Perth, Australia, and we’re huge fans of its pristine balance sheet, stellar free cash flow generating abilities, top-notch asset base, and bright … Read more

ICYMI — Video: Will Hasty Policy Facilitate the Next Leg Down, or Do We Have It Coming Anyway?

President of Investment Research and award-winning author of Value Trap: Theory of Universal Valuation Brian Nelson explains how US policymakers are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and how the market may be factoring in too high of a probability of a return to normalcy before 2021. This and more in the latest video report. Summary Make sure you review Value Trap on Amazon. Do so here. We think those that bought equities near the bottom of this swoon may be looking to take profits at present levels. The market is currently reflecting an 80%-85% probability of a return to normalcy before 2021, which we believe is too high at this time. Our main concern is that government … Read more