FUNDAMENTALS – Page 2

CULTURE, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Jonesing For Tiny Devices. AMD. Lift Your Love Lamp.

FEBRUARY 8, 2020. Santa Clara California’s a semiconductor cage match and AMD’s there. AMD is also a bullet-train of growth. Out of 17 stocks we track in the space, AMD’s at the top in returns over six months, and 2nd YTD. And if you need a lift buy their stock, because they won’t be slowing to pluck you off the street.
“Street” you repeat? Well, you know Wall Street’s awesome. Think AMD. Where does the street send you when you beat? Lower. And whadda you get when you dominate? A grubby paper bag clinging to a sweaty 40oz. What did you expect?
Respect? Whadda you get for retina-detaching 300% y/y EPS acceleration? You get a 6% kick low in the gearbox.
Exactly why is Wall Street awesome again? Because they don’t take checks. You gotta pay in blood, even If you are the 500’s top performer 2019. But that’s O.K., because everybody’s still “Jonesing’ for Tiny Devices. AMD. Lift Your Love Lamp.”

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, THINKING NOW

REIT Down the Street. 10% They Pay. MFA.

JANUARY 28, 2020. We’re inhabiting what’s known as an “expensive market.” The flight to safety, and quality, has seemingly left little to choose from if you like income. Well, perhaps not.
AT&T has for years been viewed as income and even safety. But that was before shares ran from the low $30s to $39. The dividend’s nice, but let’s face it. The company’s at best a barely-manageable mess.
We admit it. We used it for the dividend, until we found something we like better. Are there alternatives to the AT&T show? We take readers on a zip tour of the “REIT Down the Street. 10% They Pay. MFA.”

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Kicked On. Kirkland Lake Gold.

JANUARY 23, 2020. A million miners grind ore for gold. It’s a tough business and the metal’s more difficult to find by the minute. The planet’s not making any more. Mining’s a “capital intensive” endeavor, and like oil, replacing reserves to ensure future production is critical. Kirkland just moved decisively on that, and is doing the rest of this business better than anyone else. The $11 billion dollar Toronto-based enterprise has an eye on it’s future, while also growing current production at 35% year-over-year. Anything else?
KL outperformed Microsoft over the past year, and savagely over three, and it’s half the price. It’s also trading here for a 13% discount to it’s near-term high. The company’s fundamentals shine like the sun, it’s balance sheet is bullet-proof., and it’s gobbled back 1.127 million of its’ own shares, while more then doubling its’ cash position. Impressed?
How ’bout this? If you’d have owned KL over this past year you’d be up 65%. Over the past three you’d be up 565%. What did CEO Tony Makach just say about KL’s performance? “We just had our best year ever.” And he’s got the metrics to prove it, as do we. “Kicked On.
Kirkland Lake Gold. “(Cover photo: Night mining.)

FUNDAMENTALS, GREEDY CREEP, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Show Time. Wells Fargo & Boeing. You Get Paid For This?

JANUARY 12, 2020. Business is sober serious stuff, real business anyway. Ninety-one Fortune 500 companies, doing sober business, paid no federal taxes at all last year. That’s sobering, and serious if the country’s going to pay its’ bills. Strippers pay bills and may be sober, and serious to anyone watching, or paying.
What about Silicon Valley startup Turvo software, “Collaborative Logistics.” Back in May Turvo sobered, and then got serious about firing their CEO Eric Gilmore for expensing $76,120.00 over three years for business. Stripper business. Stripping comes straight off the top of any sober tax bill. Is that how we explain the ninety-one?
Wells did do a lot of serious business and stripping, after they were caught, fabricating, defrauding, and stealing. Wells stripped it’s mortgage wing bare of all the innocent employees they flogged into it’s last big crime spree. Then they wanted more. But that’s not all they’re doing. And Boeing? The curtain’s been stripped back on company emails. Should you want any of either? “Show Time. Wells Fargo & Boeing. You Get Paid For This?”

FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

F. All Trucked UP?

DECEMBER 31, 2019. Find them anywhere from Key Largo to Shenzhen. Ford’s vehicles roam the planet. Their problems are planet-scale as well. Planets are moving targets, and so is business. How many people even want to own cars anymore?
Ford’s moving as well, away from sedans and directly to electric drive. Their playbook calls for a stable of 40 EVs within the next twelve months. Many exist now. Think the sparkling new Mustang Mach E. Can investors take an electrifying ride along with a company amid wholesale transformation? We take a quick look to see if you can. “F. All Trucked UP?”(Cover photo; the 2020 Ford commercial Transit. It and the Transit Connect own Europe.)

CREDIT CARDS, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Dare it is. CapitalOne

DECEMBER 21, 2019. Dumpster diving defensive plays for bargains now is a fruitless folly. But we want a bargain. “You know what a bargain is? Buying nothing” David Faber. Well, that’s actually called saving. Is it time to save?
Always, and it’s also time for value. Can you smell the building rotation? It’s back to growth yo, soon. Think 266,000 November jobs and repeat all-time highs for all three indexes. Smell it now? The savvy never argue with jobs, rotations, or real bargains. Know any? Capital One?
Over three months we’ve witnessed the financials transform from a gaggle of dopey nappers into shimmering stars. Yup. Bam. Institutional money squirts like that. Witness the big banks. Jamie’s JPM used to sell for 1.6x book–buying with both hands yo. Now it cool-glides somewhere above the clouds in a hushed grace, all a fatter 1.84x book. Up 16%–three quick months.
And others? Skank of America? Better back up. BAC; up 17.7%, three rolled months. Only the hooks of a claw hammer rakes our wallet out for BAC’s price now. Even the still grab-asstic criminal stage coach known as Wells Fargo has creaked forward 9.8%. Wells is now more expensive than enticing. We know. We’re still attempting to hatch a pile.
Once bargains roar they’re no longer bargains. A few become parables, while the rest simply become pricey. Any rotation-driven move up creates a bit of multiple expansion. That’s unless company fundamentals also improve. Most don’t. All up moves have only so much gas. All that’s where we’re at with Capital One. COF is now one of the top 10 largest lenders in the U.S., and has more than 520 bank branches, mainly in the east. Bank deposits mean better funding, and more security. It’s not just a card dealer. It’s up. It’s value, and it pays. Is that enough? STOCKjAW looks deep to see…”Dare it is. Capital One.”

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Soaring With Vultures. The Criminal Twins.

NOVEMBER 24, 2019. Are shock and back-turning outrage merely quint now? Does a history of criminal antics put you off? Haven’t we seen it all, including fraud so vastly sweeping it’s visible from space? But then, think about it. America sports a spectacular spider’s web of laws so dense that even a Popsicle stand would violate something. Right?
All of the above being true, no excuse exists for the Criminal Twins. The Twins are the recidivists we’ve chosen to embrace, in these uncertain times. Why? For one, they pay. They’re not perfect, yet finding something that works in this market is good, regardless of their rap sheets. And as we said–they pay. Are these corporate repeat offenders still a buy here?
Enjoy. “Soaring With Vultures. The Criminal Twins.”