Is It Time To Turn Bullish? Inflation Tamed?

To download the January 2023 edition of the Best Ideas Newsletter, please click here (pdf). ——————————————— About Our Name But how, you will ask, does one decide what [stocks are] “attractive”? Most analysts feel they must choose between two approaches customarily thought to be in opposition: “value” and “growth,”…We view that as fuzzy thinking…Growth is always a component of value [and] the very term “value investing” is redundant.                          — Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway annual report, 1992   At Valuentum, we take Buffett’s thoughts one step further. We think the best opportunities arise from an understanding of a variety of investing disciplines in order to identify the most attractive stocks at any given time. Valuentum therefore analyzes each stock across a wide spectrum of philosophies, … Read more

Stock Market Locked in Technical Downtrend; Millionaires Expect More Pain in 2023

Image: The stock market has been locked in a downtrend through all of 2022, and the latest bull trap has spoiled the Santa Claus rally. 2023 may be an equally rough year. By Brian Nelson, CFA This market just doesn’t want to go higher in the near term, and the latest bull trap wasn’t encouraging at all. We think long term investors should stay the course, but it is looking more and more like we won’t see a stock market bottom until sometime in 2023. Santa brought coal this year. The false breakout of the downtrend on December 13 was very telling. Just when investors thought the markets just might be headed for a strong Santa Claus rally and a … Read more

The Future for Independent Advisors and Planners Is…Stock Selection? What?

Image Source: 401K Calculator By Brian Nelson, CFA The world is fast-changing, and the financial markets are changing even faster. One of the most influential writers in the blogosphere, Josh Brown (aka the Reformed Broker) wrote one of the most thoughtful pieces I’ve read in a long time last October, “Just own the damn robots.” The gist of the piece is that technology is taking jobs everywhere, and employees that are being displaced may be investing in the same companies that are displacing them as a form of insurance (investing in their “own destruction,” so to speak). It was a fresh read and a fascinating viewpoint. As a former director in Morningstar’s equity and credit department that headed up training … Read more