Month: November 2018

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in December 2018

by Fred Fuld III

The following is a short list of some of the many stocks going ex dividend during the next month.

Many traders and investors use the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the strategy of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works in bull markets and flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the strategy during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and many with yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the periodic dividend amount, and annual yield.

Cinemark Holdings Inc (CNK) 12/3/2018 0.32 3.45%
Southwest Airlines Company (LUV) 12/4/2018 0.16 1.21%
Schlumberger N.V. (SLB) 12/4/2018 0.50 4.31%
Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) 12/6/2018 1.00 3.55%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) 12/6/2018 0.52 2.19%
CBS Corporation (CBS) 12/10/2018 0.18 1.34%
HP Inc. (HPQ) 12/12/2018 0.16 2.51%
Macy’s Inc (M) 12/13/2018 0.377 4.72%
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) 12/17/2018 0.75 5.91%
Xerox Corporation (XRX) 12/28/2018 0.25 3.94%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found HERE . (If you have been to the page before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists HERE . Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Top Tech Short Squeeze Plays

by Fred Fuld III

Many stocks in the technology sector have been hit hard recently, possibly creating some buying opportunities. If any of these stocks are heavily shorted, then the potential gains can be substantial. When the stock rises fast for any reason, short sellers scramble to cover their positions by buying the stock, and thereby driving up the price of the stock even more.

So how can you make money on the long side from short squeezes? One technique that stock traders utilize is buying short squeeze stocks, companies have been heavily shorted. Here is a more extensive explanation of what a short squeeze is.

When you short a stock, it means that your goal is to make money from a drop in the price of a stock. Technically, what happens is that you borrow shares of a stock, sell those shares, then buy back those shares at a hopefully lower price so that those shares can be returned. This all happens electronically, so you don’t actually see all the borrowing and returning of shares; it just shows up on your screen as a negative number of shares.

Short sellers can be profitable, but sometimes when the stock moves against them, and begins to rise, the short sellers jump in right away to buy shares to cover their positions, creating what is called a short squeeze. When a short squeeze takes place, it can cause the share prices to increase fast and furiously. Any good news can trigger the short squeeze.

Some traders utilize this situation by looking for stocks to buy that may have a potential short squeeze. Here is what a short squeeze trader should take into consideration:

Short Percentage of Float ~ The float is the number of freely tradable shares and the short percentage is the number of shares held short divided by the float. Amounts over 10% to 20% are considered high and potential short squeeze plays.

Short Ratio / Days to Cover / Short Interest Ratio -This is probably the most important metric when looking for short squeeze trades, no matter what you call it. This is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their position based on the average daily volume of shares traded. This is a significant ratio as it shows how “stuck” the short sellers are when they want to buy in their shares without driving up the price too much. Unfortunately for the shortsellers, the longer the number of days to cover, the bigger and longer the squeeze.

Short Percentage Increase ~ This is the percentage increase in in the number of short sellers from the previous month.

Here is one example from the list below.  Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) is a stock that is heavily shorted. As a matter fo fact, 43% of the float is shorted. Plus, the short interest ratio is 8.4. That means it would take the short sellers over eight days to cover their positions, based on the number of shares that trade each day on average.

So what technology stocks are heavily shorted that may be worth a closer examination? Check out the following list, but be aware, that often some stocks are heavily shorted for a reason. All these stocks have significant short metrics.

Maybe a short squeeze will cause a few of these to rise sharply, and the lemons become lemonade.

Company Symbol Short % change from previous period % of Float Days to cover
 Applied Optoelectronics AAOI -10% 43.16% 8.4
 Enphase Energy ENPH 2% 21.1% 40.71
 Gogo GOGO -10% 17.9% 80.38
Turtle Beach HEAR -10% 4.7% 80.07
Ichor Holdings ICHR -4% 13.2% 35.52
Match Group MTCH -2% 11.1% 46.76

Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side

by Fred Fuld III

The book, Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side, is a very thorough  analysis and review of all major financial cycles, including economic cycles, stock market cycles, and real estate cycles.

The book is written by Howard Marks, the cofounder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, which has $120 billion management.

My favorite chapter was Chapter VII: The Pendulum of Investor Psychology, where he discusses the nine elements which swings the pendulum from one direction to another. The same chapter provides the interesting concept of how stocks move no matter what the news, if investors are feeling good.

For  example, if there is strong data, the economy is strengthening and stocks go up. If data is weak, the Fed will probably ease so stocks go up. If the price of oil goes up, it means a growing global economy so stocks go up. If oil drops in price, the consumer has more spending power so stocks go up. He also describes how the reverse can happen when investors’ feelings are negative.

If you want to learn more about market cycles, you should check out  Mastering the Market Cycle.

IPOs that have Doubled in the Last Year

by Fred Fuld III

During the last twelve months, there have been almost 500 initial public offerings of stocks. Some have crashed and burned, some are doing OK, and some are doing well.

However there are several of these IPOs that have done extremely well, more than doubling in price, with most being in the healthcare industry (and a couple in the marijuana category).

Here is the list of IPO stocks that fall into the price-double category:

Canopy Growth Corporation ( CGC )
Correvio Pharma Corp. ( CORV )
Cronos Group Inc. ( CRON )
BRP Inc. ( DOOO )
Marker Therapeutics, Inc. ( MRKR )
Reading International, Inc. ( RDIB )
Sesen Bio, Inc. ( SESN )
SilverCrest Metals Inc. ( SILV )
Disclosure: Author owns CGC.

 

Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim and the Purpose of Life by Templeton Foundation Winner

If you aren’t familiar with Sir John Templeton, he is the founder of the Templeton Growth Fund, a top performing international mutual fund. Money magazine called him “arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century.” His family of mutual funds was merged with Franklin Resources to become Franklin Templeton Funds.

Templeton was a billionaire and philanthropist who donated over a billion dollars to charitable causes. He also established the John Templeton Foundation and the Templeton Prize, which is given to a person who “has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.”

One of the winners of the prize is August Turak, author of the recently published book, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim and the Purpose of Life. The book is about a man going through a mid-life crisis who meets an umbrella-wielding Trappist monk on Christmas Eve, and how it changes his life.

The book also includes over twenty pages of multi-color paintings by the award winning painter, Glenn Harrington.

Brother John is a well-written book about life, beautifully illustrated, and would make a great gift.

 

Blast from the Past: The Pretender – Film Noir about an Investment Manager who Steals his Client’s Money

Here is a Blast from the Past. A film noir movie about an investment manager who steals from his client because he keeps getting margins calls from the stockbroker who handles the trades.

The movie is called The Pretender, and was filmed in 1946, starring Albert Dekker and Catherine Craig.

If you like film noir, you will enjoy this one, as it has a few unexpected twists and turns.

The Pretender is available on Amazon, and is free to watch if you have Amazon Prime.

Top High Yield Stocks

by Fred Fuld III

If you are looking for income investments with growth potential, there is no better choice than stocks that pay a high dividend. However, you want to make sure that the stocks have good fundamentals.

Here are a few stocks yielding over 6%, with price to earnings ratios of less than 15, forward P/Es less than 15, a price to earnings growth ratio of less than one, and a price to sales ratio of less than one.

Ford Motor Company (F), the one of only two car companies that have never gone bankrupt (Tesla (TSLA) is the other one), trades at 6.3 times trailing earnings and 6.8 times forward earning. The stock has a dividend yield of 6.3%

Tupperware Brands (TUP), the kitchen products, storage, and beauty products company, trades at a forward P/E of 8.2% and pays a very generous yield of 7%.

Unique Fabricating (UFAB) is in the automotive parts manufacturing business. The forward P/E is 7.6% and the yield on the stock is a magnanimous 7.4%.

Hopefully, one of these stocks can boost your portfolio income.

 

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

The Top Thanksgiving Stocks

by Fred Fuld III

It’s almost that time again to get stuffed! A time when you get to talk turkey to all your relatives, and maybe even getting a dressing down from one of them.

OK, enough with the puns. Time to make a little gravy with some Thanksgiving stocks.

Thanksgiving is November 22. There are several companies that will benefit from the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are some examples:

Tyson Foods (TSN) sells Hillshire Brands turkeys. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 7 and a forward P/E of 10. It pays a yield of 1.95%.

Campbell Soup (CPB) sells Pepperidge Farm stuffing. Campbell has a forward P/E of 15 and has a yield of 3.8%.

ConAgra, Inc. (CAG) sells Marie Callender’s pumpkin pie. The stock trades at 16 times forward earnings and yields 2.4%.

Kraft Heinz (KHC) sells Heinz Gravy and Stove Top Stuffing. It has a forward P/E of 13.5 and pays a generous yield of 4.9%.

Other Thanksgiving stocks  include Hormel (HRL) which sells the Jennie-O brand of turkeys, Constellation Brands (STZ) which produces Mondavi wine and many other wines, and Lifetime Brands (LCUT) which makes KitchenAid utensils.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Pan-Industrial Revolution: How New Manufacturing Titans will Transform the World

by Fred Fuld III

The book, The Pan-Industrial Revolution: How New Manufacturing Titans will Transform the World, by Richard D’Aveni, is about how the manufacturing industry is changing dramatically due to the major advances in 3D technology.

The proliferation of 3D technology, now often referred to as additive manufacturing, is ubiquitous but hidden. Many of the largest companies in the United States, and for that matter, the world, are actively pursuing the 3D tech manufacturing process. D’Aveni brings this secret world to light.

The author also describes how this major change in manufacturing affects the earnings of companies, jobs, and the economy in general.

My favorite chapter was “Chapter 3: Making More, Faster and Cheaper” and not just because of the pictures (yes the book even has pictures), in which he talks about the enormous advantages of both economies of scale and economies of scope with additive manufacturing.

I even got a couple of investment ideas from the book.

Whether you are familiar with 3D printing or not, The Pan-Industrial Revolution will open your eyes to the future of manufacturing and business.