Author Archives: nlo-admin

Canadian Watch List: November 14, 2014

Looking back at the watch list from November 2013 we had the following performance:

Symbol Name Nov-13   Nov-14   % change
D-UN.TO Dundee REIT 28.04   27.87   -0.61%
CUF-UN.TO Cominar REIT 18.09   18.79   3.87%
CAR-UN.TO Canadian Apt Properties REIT 20.77   25.55   23.01%
EMA.TO Emera Incorporated 29.81   37.60   26.13%
FTS.TO Fortis Inc. 31.56   37.83   19.87%
CJR-B.TO Corus Entertainment Inc. 23.91   21.24   -11.17%
CWT-UN.TO Calloway REIT 25.43   27.56   8.38%
AX-UN.TO Artis REIT 14.3   15.77   10.28%
REI-UN.TO Riocan REIT 25.11   26.71   6.37%
FCR.TO First Capital Realty Inc. 17.68   18.81   6.39%
TRP.TO TransCanada Corp. 47.12   55.80   18.42%
SAP.TO Saputo, Inc. 24.27   32.99   35.93%

The entire watch list gained as much as +12.24% which was above the Toronto Stock Exchange Composite index gain of +10.13% from November 22, 2013 to November 14, 2014.  Additionally, the top five stocks gained an average of +14.46% in the same time.  Surprisingly, the REITs gained far more than we had anticipated.  From the list above, only Dundee REIT (D-UN) turned in a negative return.

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U.S. Dividend Watch List: November 14, 2014

Top Five Watch List Performance Review

In our ongoing review of the NLO Dividend Watch List, we have taken the top five stocks on our list from November 15, 2013 and have checked the performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.

Symbol Name 2013 Price 2014 Price % change
DE Deere & Company 82.83 87.52 5.7%
CAT Caterpillar 83.74 101.34 21.0%
SCG SCANA Corporation 47.21 55.55 17.7%
NWN Northwest Natural Gas 42.29 46.13 9.1%
IBM IBM 183.19 164.16 -10.4%
      Average 8.6%
         
DJI Dow Jones Industrial 15,961.70 17,634.74 10.5%
SPX S&P 500 1,798.18 2,039.82 13.4%

Watch List Review

Deere & Company (DE) topped the list last year but the shares failed to gain much traction with an increase of only +5.7%.  Value Line Investment Survey's projected fair value at $118.80 is based on a multiple of 11x cash flow.  Unfortunately for the bulls, DE shares have not traded close to that projection, yet.  Net income per share for DE is expected to fall from $9.09 in 2013 to $8.34 in 2014 (-8%).  The profit outlook is even more grim in 2015 with an expectation of a decline to $6.43 (-22%).  Our valuation model indicates that the current price range is a buy with downside risk as low as -30% below current level.

Caterpillar (CAT) was the best performer from the watch list.  Net income per share rose more than projected which help fuel the rise in share price.   When analysts are too pessimistic, it may be time to get bullish and take on the opposite view.

U.S. Dividend Watch List: November 14,2014

The market was virtually flat for the week.  Below are 36 companies that are worth considering on our watch list. Continue reading

Gold Stock Indicator: November 14, 2014

I just received the September issue of the Bank Credit Analyst and Editor Boeck states that “for the time being, fears of an excessive expansion of the world’s money supply are likely to prove unfounded. Rather, the more realistic worry is the one of contraction. Boeck also notes that the drop in the gold price is deflationary since it shrinks world central bank reserves (Russell, Richard. Dow Theory Letters. September 3, 1976. page 5.).”

Observation: Central banks don’t like declining reserves.  The perception of deflation usually ends when it can be clearly identified by the public.

Gold Stock Indicator: November 8, 2014

Everything in the market is timing. Today’s villain is tomorrow’s martyr. Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s ally. Today’s fashion is tomorrow’s abomination. And today’s gold is a fallen idol. But tomorrow or next year or in 1984 gold will again be king. And men will be hoarding it and cursing the fact that they didn’t buy it when it was near $100 back in 1976 (Russell, Richard. Dow Theory Letters. August 11, 1976. page 6).”

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Gold Stock Indicator: November 4, 2014

Since our October 17, 2014 posting, the price of the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) has declined –5.69% while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Stock Index (XAU) has declined –16.52%.

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U.S. Dividend Watch List: October 31, 2014

After a minor correction, the market came roaring back and gained +2.7% for the week. As a result of the market rebound, the number of companies on our watching declined dramatically from 101 to 36 companies. Below is the list of companies that are worth considering. Continue reading

Transaction Alert

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Transaction Alert

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U.S. Dividend Watch List: October 24, 2014

Top Five Watch List Performance Review

In our ongoing review of the NLO Dividend Watch List, we have taken the top five stocks on our list from October 11, 2013 and have checked the performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.

Symbol Name 2013 Price 2014 Price % change
IBM IBM 176.85 162.08 -8.4%
XOM Exxon Mobil Corp. 87.97 94.49 7.4%
SCG SCANA Corporation 47.62 53.33 12.0%
CAT Caterpillar 84.77 99.44 17.3%
VMI Valmont Industries, Inc. 138.02 132.06 -4.3%
      Average 4.8%
         
DJI Dow Jones Industrial 15,570.28 16,805.41 7.9%
SPX S&P 500 1,759.77 1,964.58 11.6%

Watch List Review

IBM (IBM) was at the top of our list last year but shares fell 8.4% since we published our watch list. One October 18, 2013 we said the following about IBM shares.

According to our valuation model, the stock is priced just below fair value of $180. Our model indicates that the stock should be undervalue at or around $150. We’d look for more weakness to come.

IBM shares are trading a $160 which is slightly above but given that the company lifted the EPS guidance, we wouldn't be surprised if our fair value estimate should be reduced.

We highlighted Exxon Mobile (XOM) and alerted our readers that we took position in the stock prior to the ex-dividend date. We booked a gain of 14% from the transactions while the market gained 5%. The stock however has given some ground in recent weeks due to weakness in the oil price. If the stock retraced back toward the 52-week low, you can be certain that we will look to accumulate shares again.

U.S. Dividend Watch List: October 24,2014

After what appeared to be a minor correction in a short period of time, the market roared back and regained some ground. The S&P 500 rose 4% for the week. Based on that information, we would assumed that less companies will show up on our list and that was the case. The total number of companies that fit our criteria rose dropped to 101. Such figure is still a large number thus we will highlight 24 companies that are trading within 6% of the 52-week low. Continue reading

Quick Take: Carbo Ceramics

Review

On August 6, 2012, we purchased Carbo Ceramics with the following rationale:

“Carbo Ceramics (CRR) has been mentioned by us on several occasions.  CRR first appeared on our February 10, 2012 U.S. Dividend Watch List (found here) and was trading at $85.94.  An Altimeter was run on CRR which indicated that the stock would be undervalued at $62.40 (found here).  However, as CRR has experienced a dividend increase of 12.5% since our May 28, 2012 Altimeter, the stock is now considered undervalued at $70.  While we do expect approximately 20% downside risk from the current price, we are comfortable with adding to our position when such a decline takes place.”

As it appeared that Carbo was undervalued between $62.40 and $70, we used 5% of our portfolio to purchase the stock. After August 6, 2012, Carbo Ceramics fell as low as $63.03 and increased as much as $156.

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Update

Below are the updated numbers for Carbo Ceramics after the decline from the most recent peak of $156.  We will cover both aspects of CRR based on Gould’s Altimeter and Speed Resistance Lines.  First, the qualitative review based on the Altimeter.

Gold Stock Indicator: October 17, 2014

In the last week gold managed to eek out a gain while gold stocks declined nearly –3%.

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Dow Theory: October 17, 2014

NOTE: In our  Dow Theory posting of May 18, 2014, we revealed an issue with Dow Theory that has gone unaddressed since S.A. Nelson’s book, The ABC of Stock Speculation, coined the term “Dow’s Theory.” We believe the acknowledgment of this issue adds clarity to the writings of Charles H. Dow and may produce new insights that have not previously been explored.

Netflix: Downside Targets

Review

On December 3, 2010, we ran the numbers for Netflix,based on the work of Edson Gould’s Speed Resistance Lines, to determine what the downside risk might be for the stock.  The projected downside targets are illustrated below:

Not long afterwards, Netflix stock price soared from $185.45 to $300.  However, the goal of our site is to determine downside risk and the rise in the stock price of was of little interest.  Our view is that if we missed an investment opportunity then we will consider investing only if the stock declines to any of the anticipated downside targets.

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Naturally, there was considerable opportunity that we missed on the way from $185 to $300.  However, our rule is to seek values and from our experience all quality companies become undervalued at some point. Finally and for numerous reasons, Netflix declined from the peak of $300 to as low as $53.80.  Naturally, we were able to pick up shares of Netflix at $62, a price we felt was reasonable at the time.  Our critical review of the downside targets allows us to accept our purchases for the long-term in case we happen to be wrong about the short-term upside prospects.

October 15, 2014: Netflix Downside Targets

Commodity Index: Are We There Yet?

On October 29, 2013, we said the following:

“…if we are in a commodity bull market, as we’ve made reference to in our January 1, 2009 article, then there is a good chance that a bounce at the long-term technical support line would mark the end of the cyclical bear move in commodities.”

On October 15, 2014, the Bloomberg Commodity Index (sold to Bloomberg in July 2013 from S&P Dow Jones) declined as low as 116.96.  As seen in the chart below, this sits at the exact long-term support level.

Continue reading

Gold Stock Indicator: October 10, 2014

Gold was up +2.22% and gold stocks were down as much as –4% and up +4% this past week. Gold stocks, as represented by the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Stock Index (XAU) finally settled at a loss of –1.98%.

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