YHOO

5 Shocking Stock Market Predictions for 2017

by

Image Source: Claudia Dea  Valuentum: 2017 Is the Year of Evangeline Adams By Brian Nelson, CFA “Entrepreneurs are never satisfied. They want to do things better. They strive for perfection and use all the ingenuity to their command to achieve it.” – J.W. Marriott My Inbox Was Overflowing with Kindness Your positive replies to my last email, “Words Cannot Express How I Feel” were simply incredible. My inbox was flooded with so many emails, so many kind words. There were so many that I’m still working through them. If you haven’t received a personal reply, plan on getting one. You’re very important to me. It’s quite possible that I may very well be the luckiest man to have such wonderful … Read more

Yahoo’s Cascade of Issues

by

By Valuentum Analysts Yahoo (YHOO) has been in the news a lot lately, and not in a good light. The revelations recently uncovered at the Internet portal have put the terms of its pending deal to be bought by Verizon (VZ) at risk, perhaps jeopardizing the transaction altogether. Recent reports indicate that Yahoo shareholders may now get far less for their business from Verizon, to the tune of ~$1 billion, and top Verizon executives are even “wondering if (it) should pull out of the deal.” The telecom giant could just be taking advantage of the “bad” situation at Yahoo in asking for a better price, but the company walking away would not be out of the question. Yahoo, after all, … Read more

The “Uninvestable” Twitter and Netflix Buoyed By Takeout Chatter

by

By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA At Valuentum, we like slam-dunk, no-brainer investment opportunities–like Microsoft (MSFT) in the mid-$20s before it doubled, or Visa (V) prior to its strong equity price performance in recent years, or even cigarette-maker Altria (MO) in advance of its ongoing march higher since the dawn of the release of the inaugural Best Ideas Newsletter. Our members count on us to use our knowledge of valuation to sort out “investable” stocks from “uninvestable” ones; good stocks with fundamental promise from bad ones built on fantasy outcomes. Benjamin Graham calls what we do “investing,” while he may call readers that dabble in the two highlighted stocks in this piece “speculators.” There is a difference, and it’s … Read more

Yahoo! Should Still Buy eBay’s “Free Cash Flow”

by

Image Source: eBay According to the latest from CNBC, there are five bidders left for Yahoo’s (YHOO) core business, and it’s very likely the company will make the sale to one of them soon. Many are saying that Verizon (VZ) is the front-runner, but we can’t rule out the buying power of the group led by Quicken Loans’ Dan Gilbert, who has the backing of the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett, or a high-ball bid from private equity, perhaps TPG Capital. AT&T (T), Time (TIME), and other private equity giants KKR and Bain Capital might still be in the game as well. We think breaking apart Yahoo! or selling it outright, instead of merging it with eBay (EBAY) isn’t … Read more

Mr. Buffett: Apple and the Potential Yahoo-eBay Tie-Up

by

Image Source: Fortune Live Media Stocks will be volatile. Remember – they are driven by people, and people act emotionally, irrationally at times. This dynamic has hammered Apple (AAPL) as of late. Though we’ve engaged in risk mitigation in recent months in trimming our position in Apple in both newsletter portfolios, “Valuentum’s Exclusive Weekly Recap (August 2015),” we’ve done all that we can to explain to our membership the tremendous valuation opportunity presented by shares, “Quantifying Apple’s Tremendous Investment Case (September 2015), while acknowledging that market “spirits” could pressure the company in the near term, “Apple Will Go Lower… (January 2016).” The transparency of our writing is enough to make our reader’s heads spin sometimes, perhaps to make them think … Read more

Debt, Debt and More Debt

by

Image Source: Michael Fleshman Many readers may be familiar with the rhetoric of the Presidential Election Cycle of 2016 and Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders’ view on making “college tuition free and debt free.” You can take a read of the 6 steps Bernie will take as president to make college debt-free here. Many may find his last point rather intrusive to the heartbeat of the American economy and the driver behind innovation and standard-of-living improvements, but we’ll leave that conversation for another day. But what’s the shocking statistic, right? Get this – and I hope you are sitting down. According to an article by the Journal, “more than 40% of Americans who borrowed from the government’s main student-loan program aren’t … Read more

Thinking About Increasing Equity Exposure Modestly in Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

by

  Image Source: Berkshire Hathaway By Brian Nelson, CFA I’m putting together something for you… …an annotated commentary of Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A, BRK.B) recently-released 2015 annual report, and specifically Warren Buffett’s letter to shareholders. Why does my opinion on this topic matter? Well, having trained hundreds of equity and credit analysts on the concept of “economic moats” (or competitive advantages) across continents for one of the largest independent investment research firms and its clients and beyond, I believe that my opinion is at least worth hearing on the topic, if only for thought-generation, conceptual understanding, and debate. Given some of the recent technical strength at Berkshire, we are also considering taking a bite out of shares should markets remain strong, … Read more

You Can Change Your Mind!

by

By Brian Nelson, CFA It looks like the energy master limited partnership (AMLP, AMZ) space has been catching a bid the past few days. It’s so important, however, to keep things in perspective, and the best way to do so is to look at an intermediate-term chart of the group, which remains under considerable stress, “Bye Bye Energy MLPs, Part II (Jan 2016)” The market wants some of the most beaten down equities to rally, including Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), which have fallen devastatingly from their respective peaks of $35 and near-$70 per share, respectively. If you’re not looking at charts, you’re leaving a lot of free information on the table. Energy master limited partnerships, … Read more

Warming Up to IBM, Walmart Disappoints Again

by

Most of us woke up to the news February 18 that Apple (AAPL) would be vigorously defending the privacy of its customers against a potential “overreaching” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and/or others. The crux of the matter is whether Apple should unlock a phone that had been used by a shooter in the San Bernardino attacks early December, per the request of the FBI, as doing so may eventually jeopardize the personal safety and security of all Americans. Several tech CEOs have come out to support Apple, but any outcome on the matter will be difficult to predict. In a day and age where privacy is a major hot-button issue, CEO Tim Cook knows he needs to step … Read more

We Like the News! Buffett Scoops Up Kinder Morgan; FVE: $20

by

It looks like crude oil (USO) overproduction will continue. Dashing hopes that any rational behavior would prevail in the energy resource markets, member nations of OPEC February 16 said not that they would cut output but that they would not increase crude-oil output any further, as if the current pace of production isn’t already drowning the world in the black liquid. It turns out the rumor from last week had some basis to it, “Your Hard-Earned Money,” but it didn’t have much substance, in our view, especially since the deal hinges on cooperation from Iran, which remains dedicated to increased production to reach pre-sanction levels. We’re not reading much into the news, as Saudi Arabia, while included in the parties … Read more