Month: May 2019

Here’s How You Can Have Lunch With Warren Buffett

by Fred Fuld III

All Warren Buffett fans would like to have lunch with one of the greatest investors in the world. Would you like to have lunch with Buffett? Besides eating with Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) (BRKB), you get to ask him lots of questions and get his advice.

The catch is to be the successful bidder for the eBay (EBAY) auction of the Power Lunch with Warren Buffett to Benefit GLIDE. The current bid at the time this article was written is $3,500,100.00. There have been 13 bids so far and the starting bid was $25,000.

Buffett will have a meal with the winning bidder and up to seven friends at Smith & Wollensky in New York City on a mutually agreed upon date.

All of proceeds from the winning bid will benefit GLIDE, one of the leading social service institutions working to alleviate human suffering and poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You have two days left to bid, as the auction closes on Friday, May 30, 2019 at 7:30 pm PT. You must be prequalified to bid.

Don’t forget to read:

How to Plan for Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in June 2019

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.

Cedar Fair, L.P. (FUN) 6/3/2019 0.925 7.16%
Schlumberger N.V. (SLB) 6/4/2019 0.50 5.48%
QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) 6/5/2019 0.62 3.79%
Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF) 6/6/2019 0.20 3.20%
Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) 6/6/2019 1.03 3.20%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) 6/11/2019 0.112 3.18%
HP Inc. (HPQ) 6/11/2019 0.16 3.26%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) 6/13/2019 0.17 5.04%
Coca-Cola Company (The) (KO) 6/13/2019 0.40 3.26%
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) 6/18/2019 0.77 5.42%
Yamana Gold Inc. (AUY) 6/27/2019 0.005 1.09%
Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) 6/27/2019 0.688 2.55%
Xerox Corporation (XRX) 6/27/2019 0.25 3.11%

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.

The Largest Marijuana Companies

by Fred Fuld III

Over 60% of states have legalized marijuana, either for medical purposes or for both medical and recreational use. In addition, Canada has legalized recreational cannabis throughout all the provinces after the passage of the Cannabis Act (also known as Bill C-45), joining Uruguay as the second country to do so nationwide.

If you want to invest in a new budding industry (no pun intended), it is generally considered a good idea to choose the largest stocks to invest in. They have greater  liquidity, a larger following by analysts, and the large size is usually due to stronger earnings, stronger revenues, or at the very least, greater growth potential of revenues.

So if you are looking to place your investment dollars in the cannabis industry, you might want to start you due diligence with the largest companies by market cap. (market capitalization is the total number of shares times the current market price).

The biggest one by far is Canopy Growth Corp (CGC) with a market cap of $15.3 billion. The company has a big advantage in that Constellation Brands (STZ)  invested a huge amount of money in the company, owning over a third of Canopy shares. Constellation known for its beer and wine, markets Pacifico and   Corona beer, Robert Monday and Clos du Bois wine, and Svedka vodka. Canopy has a forward  price to earnings ratio of 357 and trades at 2.87 times book value.

Coming in second place is Aurora Cannabis (ACB) with an $8.4 billion market cap. The stock has a forward P/E ratio of 555.5 and price to book value of 2.58.

GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH) is a $5.64 billion company involved in developing cannabinoid biopharmaceutical products. It trades at 8.82 times book value.

Cronos Group (CRON) has a $5.13 billion market cap and produces and sells marijuana products in Canada, Germany, and other areas. The stock trades at 69 times forward earnings and 7.1 times book value.

Tilray (TLRY) has a $4.3 billion market cap. The company is developing cannabis infused beverages in partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD). Tilray has a nosebleed-level forward P/E ratio of 1,111 and a price to book of 11.1.

Maybe one of these stocks will help your portfolio get higher and higher. Many tiny pot stocks are cropping up like weeds. Be careful with the smaller companies as they may go up in smoke and throw your portfolio out of joint. (Puns intended.)

Don’t forget to read:

Exclusive Interview with Chet Billingsley CEO of Mentor Capital on the Marijuana Industry

Is Apple Getting into the Marijuana Industry?

Disclosure: Author owns CGC.

 

 

WTF Is Happening: Women Tech Founders on the Rise

WTF Is Happening: Women Tech Founders on the Rise

By Nisa Amoils

              YOUR NEXT BIG INVESTMENT IS WOMEN-LED TECH

While technological innovation is exploding and female pioneers are making remarkable strides across a wide range of emerging tech fields, inequity remains. However, the exciting new book by veteran tech investor, Nisa Amoils, provides a new appreciation of the extraordinary strides being made in disruptive technology by female entrepreneurs who are building a new world.

In WTF Is Happening: Women Tech Founders on the Rise, Amoils profiles thirteen female founders whose remarkable work today will make a profound difference in the way we all live tomorrow. You will find candid interviews with innovative female entrepreneurs in which they share their experiences in their own words. However, from robotics and virtual reality to drone technology and autonomous flight, these women are receiving only a small fraction of the available funding, an inequity that harms both innovators and investors alike.

WTF Is Happening offers powerful, evidence-based stories about young technologies and industries in their infancies led by women paving a path into our future—women who will very likely outperform for their investors. Further, WTF Is Happening also highlights statistics that prove that companies with at least one female founder did a better job creating value for investors.

“I wrote WTF Is Happening simply to shine a light on some amazing women tech founders. I want to raise awareness and to encourage others to follow in their footsteps, because you can’t be what you can’t see,” says Amoils. “The good news for investors and students of STEM alike is that there were so many candidates for inclusion that I had a hard time narrowing it down.”

So, whether you’re a VC searching for new cutting-edge technology, an investor looking for opportunities outside of their usual network or a young woman who’s considering entering the STEM fields, WTF Is Happening is your invitation to help shape the future.

This book is an invitation to young women who may not have thought about working in STEM fields, or starting their own tech companies. It’s an invitation to female entrepreneurs and investors to see themselves and their partners reflected in the stories. Most importantly, this book is an invitation to investors who are seeking exciting companies, calling upon them to see the amazing world female technologists are creating.

Aside from the well-published social benefits to society, there are investment opportunities with women-led companies which are often under-shopped and undervalued. Throughout her career as a tech investor, Amolis has watched female tech entrepreneurs struggle for VC funding as the money flows elsewhere. Readers will realize, investors who aren’t looking hard are leaving money on the table. In it you’ll also discover:

  • The Gender Funding Discrepancy: why female entrepreneurs only received 2% of VC funding in 2018
  • Tech predictions for the next five years
  • Insider tips for stages of funding
  • 12 reasons why women aren’t going anywhere in the future of tech
  • Women Tech Founders offer the lessons they wish they knew to tomorrow’s STEM superstars
  • 5 key lessons for the future women leaders of tech from today’s female founders and innovators
  • The dynamic women making blockchain more accessible
  • How investors are leaving money on the table

 

For the past decade Nisa Amoils has been a venture investor primarily focused on new technologies. She is a former securities lawyer and on the Boards of several companies and institutions including Wharton Entrepreneurship. She writes for Forbes and Blockchain Magazine and is a regular on CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, Cheddar and others. Prior to investing, she spent many years in business development at companies like Time Warner and NBC Universal and worked with many startups  She holds a business degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. 

The book, WTF Is Happening: Women Tech Founders on the Rise, is available on Amazon and other booksellers. 

How to Plan for Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

by Fred Fuld III

It was just a couple weeks ago when Warren Buffett held his Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) (BRKB) Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The attendance was huge. I understand that they expected around 30,000 attendees, but according to the local press, there were over 40,000! It was like a rock concert festival for investors.

The event was held at the CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena. The arena part of the center, which normally hosts basketball and hockey games, was where the meeting was held and the the convention center held the exhibiters of many of the companies that Berkshire Hathaway owns.

It was a three day event starting with the Shareholder Shopping Day and Borsheims Cocktail Reception on Friday, May 3.

Then on Saturday was the all-day annual meeting, starting with a movie about some of the products and services offered by Berkshire companies. After the movie was a question and answer session with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, which lasted all day long, other than a one hour lunch break. I don’t know how Warren and Charlie had the stamina. By two o’clock in the afternoon, I felt like taking a nap (but I didn’t).

After the Q&A, the formal meeting began and lasted about two minutes. Finally, during the evening was the Nebraska Furniture Mart’s Berkshire Picnic.

Sunday was the Berkshire Hathaway “Invest in Yourself” 5K Walk, Jog, and Run. Then the Borsheims Shopping Day took place where an entire indoor shopping center was taken over for the day and opened exclusively to Berkshire shareholders. In addition to the free food, you could watch bridge champions, a table tennis champion, a magician, and music entertainment. Finally, the dinner at Gorat’s Steakhouse.

Berkshire Boat
You could have bought this boat. Price: $165,000. Show special: $125,000

In regards to the exhibits in the convention center, attendees could visit the following:

  • Borsheims Fine Jewely
  • BNSF Railway (with a toy train moving around the exhibit) Train
  • Coca-Cola (KO)
  • Dairy Queen (lots of inexpensive ice cream)
  • FlightSafety International (which allowed attendees to try out the company’s flight simulation machines)
  • GEICO (a giant GEICO gecko was there)
  • Kraft Heinz (KHC)
  • NetJets (you could walk through the interior of a jet)
  • See’s Candies (probably the most popular exhibit)
  • and many, many more exhibitors

For those of you that want to attend next year, here are some things to keep in mind:

  1. Next year’s meeting is May 2, 2020
  2. If you don’t own shares of Berkshire, make sure you buy your shares far enough ahead of time to be on the corporate records so that you will be entitled to attend
  3. Make your reservation for a hotel room NOW. I made my reservation about a couple months before the event, and the closest hotel I could get was over half an hour away from the convention center.
  4. If you plan on taking Lyft (LYFT) or Uber (UBER) at the airport when you first arrive, plan on not getting a car for a long, long time. I suggest that you immediately stand in the taxi line, and call Lyft or Uber right after you get in line (which may take at least half an hour to get to the front for a taxi). You may be lucky and your ride hailing car may show up before you get to the front of the taxi line. Expect to pay a lot for a taxi ride, far more than Uber or Lyft.
  5. If you want to get a good seat at the meeting, plan on getting there very, very early in the morning. I arrived at 7:45 am and it was already standing room only. (Remember, this is an arena.) I finally got a seat in the afternoon up in the nosebleed section. I was talking to the guy who was sitting behind me and he said he got there at 6:15 and it was the best seat he could get. He told me that people started arriving at 3:30 and 4:00 in the morning in order to get a decent seat.
  6. Expect to got through extensive security to get in. I saw a police officer with an assault rifle.
  7. If you want to attend the Gorat’s Steakhouse dinner, make your reservation now.
  8. You will receive a form from Berkshire asking if you are planning to attend the meeting. Fill out the form and send it in immediately. (Tip: You can save a couple days by downloading the form instead of waiting for it to arrive in the mail.)
  9. Plan on meeting a lot of people from around the world and have fun.

Buffett and FredDisclosure: Author owns BRKB.

IPOs for the Next Week

by Fred Fuld III

It seems like everyone is waiting for the long anticipated Uber IPO. The spotlight will be on the trading after Uber goes public, since Lyft (LYFT) has tanked to a record low today.

Your broker might not be participating in any or all of these IPOs, but if you are interested in any of them, it is worth checking. Just remember, just because there is an IPO, doesn’t mean the stock will jump in price. Remember Lyft.

Here are some IPOs scheduled for the next ten days:

NEXTCURE, INC. NXTC 5/9/19
CORTEXYME, INC. CRTX 5/9/19
AXCELLA HEALTH INC. AXLA 5/9/19
MILESTONE PHARMACEUTICALS INC. MIST 5/9/19
SOUTH PLAINS FINANCIAL, INC. SPFI 5/9/19
MAYVILLE ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC. MEC 5/9/19
DIAMOND EAGLE ACQUISITION CORP. \ DE DEACU 5/9/19
HEADHUNTER GROUP PLC HHR 5/9/19
APPLIED THERAPEUTICS INC. APLT 5/9/19
UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC UBER 5/10/19
SONIM TECHNOLOGIES INC SONM 5/10/19
HEALTH SCIENCES ACQUISITIONS CORP HSACU 5/10/19
POSTAL REALTY TRUST, INC. PSTL 5/10/19
JIAYIN GROUP INC. JFIN 5/10/19
CONVERSIONPOINT HOLDINGS, INC. CPTI 5/14/19
BRICKTOWN BREWERY RESTAURANTS LLC BEER 5/15/19
PIMCO MORTGAGE INCOME TRUST INC. PMTG 5/16/19
FASTLY, INC. FSLY 5/17/19
LUCKIN COFFEE INC. LK 5/17/19
AVANTOR, INC. AVTR 5/17/19