Video: A Call for More Policy Action in a Post COVID-19 World

Image: There may no longer be any basis for believing in efficient markets. Investors were bidding up the price of the wrong company because of confusion over its ticker symbol. This is just one example of how markets are inefficient.  Bailouts coupled with Fed and Treasury stimulus from COVID-19 will have profound implications on investment behavior, with expectations for indexing and quantitative strategies to continue to proliferate. New rules may be required to ensure that investors’ interests are truly being put first. President of Valuentum Brian Nelson presents a call to action. To watch the video >> Tickerized for the following: AMTD, BLK, DNB, FDS, IBKR, LPLA, MCO, MORN, NTRS, RJF, SCHW, SPGI, TRI, TROW, VALU –— Valuentum members have … Read more

Resetting Your Mental Model

Image Source: affen ajlfe A version of this article was originally published on our website October 6, 2013. Having the right mental model and using the right information can be the reason why you win or lose in investing. “What is the definition of timeliness? Many believe it is getting information to investors as quickly as possible after an event, or updating something every single day or week for immaterial information. I believe in a different definition of timeliness. I believe timeliness is using all information available in a mosaic approach to accurately predict the event before it even happens. Take Kinder Morgan as the latest example. We were the only ones predicting what was going to happen before it did. To investors, … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 19

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 19. 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 Water Works (AWK): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.455. AptarGroup (ATR): now $0.36 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Celanese (CE): now $0.62 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.54. CIT (CIT): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Civista Bancshares (CIVB): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. CNX Midstream Partners (CNXM): now $0.3732 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.3603. Cross … Read more

Valuentum’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Distribution

The weighted average cost of capital is one of the most subjective measures in corporate finance, but it is also one of the most important ones. “The most important item over time in valuation is obviously interest rates…If interest rates are destined to be at low levels…It makes any stream of earnings from investments worth more money. The bogey is always what government bonds yield….Any investment is worth all the cash you’re going to get out between now and judgment day discounted back. The discounting back is affected by whether you choose interests rates like those of Japan or interest rates like those we had in 1982…When we had 15 percent short-term rates in 1982, it was silly to pay … Read more

Our Stock Reports on Securities Research Firms

Image Source: Andreas Poike Structure of the Securities Research Industry The securities research industry has become increasingly competitive, with a large number of rivals in the individual, advisor, and institutional markets. However, barriers to success for new entrants in the individual market are incredibly high, if not impossible, while the advisor market continues to be dominated by entrenched providers with deep ties. The institutional market is shielded to new rivals thanks to talent and capital costs, offering established players an attractive position. Licensed research and data can be a high-return means of generating sustainable, recurring business. We like the group’s structure. Our final ratings and analysis for the group can be found here.

Study: Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

To read the study, please click on the image to download the pdf document (pdf).

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Improved Stock and ETF Web Pages

Valuentum has rolled out improved stock and ETF web pages on its website valuentum.com/. Now, subscribers can access key proprietary information on the stock and ETF web pages in addition to the customary stock and ETF reports. Dear reader, We have some exciting news that we can’t wait to share with you! At valuentum.com/, we have rolled out new stock and ETF pages that conveniently include a variety of our proprietary metrics from the Dividend Cushion ratio to the Economic Castle rating and beyond! There’s even mouseover functionality so you can learn about how we define the key metrics across our stock-selection and dividend growth methodologies. You’ll still have access to the stock and dividend reports on the landing pages, … Read more

The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds

Please select the image below to download the document. Image shown, page 1 of 14. Tickerized for Valuentum’s coverage universe.

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

The Price of Good Investment Research?

Photo credit: Phlebotomy Tech; Thomas Haynie  Skimping on research could cost you big when the you-know-what hits the fan. Research firms are reportedly charging as much as $5,000 per hour for one-on-one meetings with top analysts. Access to basic research is now being priced at $40,000 a year at some firms. By Brian Nelson, CFA There’s a lot happening in the investment research business these days. My good friends at Morningstar (MORN) were recently “called out” over concerns about the perception of their star ratings on mutual funds, other providers had been hosting promotional research on their website, and some of the top banks are completely doing away with their analyst staff as the competitive environment heats up. Many a charter … Read more