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Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

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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

Crisis In Wall Street Stock Research; The Solution? Independent Investment Research

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Image Source: Sam Valadi “New Wall Street Conflict: Analysts Say ‘Buy’ to Win Special Access for Their Clients… Securing face time for investors with top executives has become a vital revenue source for securities firms…” – Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2017 By Brian Nelson, CFA It is no surprise that buyside firms tend to prefer sell-side institutions that can get them access to the head honchos of companies. Buyside analysts and portfolio managers are talented, and some may have even come from the sell-side (in a previous life, if you can get them to admit it). In many cases, they know exactly what they’re doing (how to analyze a company or industry), and perhaps they have been doing so … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 15

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Costco location in Enfield, CT. Mike Mozart Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending April 15. 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 Adams Express (ADX): now $0.05 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.03. Antero Midstream (AM): now $0.235 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Aon (AON): now $0.33 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.30. Carnival (CCL): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.30. Ciner Resources (CINR): now $0.564 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.5575. Costco Wholesale (COST): now $0.45 per share … Read more

Booyah! Jim Cramer Under Attack!

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TheStreet’s director, major shareholder, and employee is under fire from an activist investor that has disclosed a near-9% stake. Per SEC Filing: J. Carlo CannellCannell Capital LLCP.O. Box 3459, 150 East Hansen Avenue, Jackson, WY 83001(307) 733-2284 Mr. James J. CramerDirectorTheStreet, Inc.14 Wall StreetNew York, NY 10005   Cannell Capital LLC – that twenty-two-year-old SEC-registered investment advisor which manages sundry accounts that collectively owned 8.95% percent of TheStreet,Inc. (“TST” or the “Company”) as of December 2, 2014 – hereby amends its filing position as regards TST from passive to active because certain matters of governance concern it. The structure of your relationship with TST leads these concerns. Allow me to review some facts. 1. The market capitalization of TST has … Read more

Is Predicting Stock Prices Easy? 100% of Economists Say “No Way!”

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By Brian Nelson, CFA “Don’t get frustrated if one or two of your ideas don’t work out. This is to be expected in a portfolio of stocks. You’re investing to achieve your goals. It is only human and natural to be wrong sometimes.” The University of Chicago’s Initiative on Global Markets frequently puts out a survey from a variety of different standpoints on relevant issues of the day. Though the write-up from the World Economic Forum goes into countering “the general perception that economists rarely agree on anything,” we were quite interested in one particular dynamic: 100% of economists think predicting stock prices is difficult, while 45% of the public thinks predicting stock prices is not difficult (presumably easy). The … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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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

Analyst Job Preservation and the Conflicts of Interest That Prevail

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“I’d rather lose half of my clients than lose half of my clients’ money.” – Jean-Marie Eveillard (First Eagle Global) I think very few investment research firms other than Valuentum can say that they are truly free from conflicts of interest. As shown in the excerpt from FINRA attached at the end of this article, there are at least five sources of analyst conflict of interest: investing banking relationships, analyst compensation, brokerage commissions, buy-side pressures, and ownership interests. No matter how much you may want to believe that sell-side equity research, or research provided by companies such as Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs, is free from conflicts of interest, it simply is not. Valuentum prides itself on being one of … Read more

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

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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 Ending April 20

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 20. 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 $0.455 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.415. AmeriServ Financial (ARSV): now $0.02 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.015. Antero Midstream GP (AMGP): now $0.108 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Antero Midstream Partners (AM): now $0.39 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.365. Badger Daylighting (BADFF): now CAD 0.045 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.038. Banco Santander-Chile (BSAC): now $0.9563 per … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of April 19

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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                          Absa Group Limited (AGRPY): now $0.57 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.55. Airbus SE (EADSY): now $0.363 per share annual dividend, was $0.357. Alm. Brand A/S (ABDBY): now $0.1024 per share annual dividend, was $0.0552. Bae Systems plc (BAESY): now $0.902 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.553. Banca Mediolanum S.p.A. (BNCDY): now $0.617 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.393. Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB): now … Read more