Month: December 2017

The Rest of the Story: Wasted Wish?

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Perspectives, by Mark Robertson, Managing Partner

Originally Posted on January 1st, 2010 — we felt it was worth another look back at a visit from Santa … from a few years ago on the heels of a vicious bear market.

With certain apologies to Paul Harvey, we need to continue a look at our “Best Season To Invest?” theme from last month. Our December cover story included an exchange with Santa Claus where we playfully negotiated three wishes. The 3rd wish was for Santa to let us know the best day to invest during any given year.

Santa reluctantly agreed to see what he could do … after exploring our comments about lottery-related spam email. But his message was pretty clear, the perceived advantage isn’t nearly what most people think it would be.

We resumed the discussion where we left off during his visit to Rochester Hills, Michigan on a snowy December 25.

 

A Wish Already Granted? $100 invested into Tin Cup (our model portfolio) would have led to total assets of $1565 over the last ten years. The same $1000 invested on the best day for investing in each of those ten years stands at $1317. Investing regularly in quality companies with leadership projected returns turns out to be pretty compelling.

 

MI: So how’d it go in Omaha?

Santa: I’m still undecided. Buffett is on probation until I figure out why he said “Buy American!” and then bought a Chinese stock? But he gets good list points for pointing out long-term investing in general.

MI: Indeed. We think Buffett, and for that matter, all of us, should be willing to invest wherever your sled flies on Christmas Eve.

Santa: I might be mixed up on the years … but in any event, he’s on probation until I finish reading Snowball. If he’s gonna use one of my favorites for the title of the book, he’d better behave. I’m not convinced. For now, it’s a fly-by.

MI: Charlie Munger, too?

Santa: Not a chance. Charlie’s a hoot, one of my favorites. I may leave him a clump of coal just to play mind games with him. He’ll probably wonder if Buffett is out to buy an entire coal company next.

MI: Now who’s misbehaving?

Santa: Watch it. That 2010 list is already a work-in-progress. You’re already hanging in the balance.

MI: OK, I’ll add “being nice” to my list of resolutions for 2010.

Santa: It’s early. You have a shot.

MI: We’ve been doing some more thinking about that wasted third wish from last month. Is it possible that I wished for something less than we already have?

Santa: Ding. Ding. And two more angels get their wings. Your subscribers have already checked in with their own observations that Tin Cup gained 48% during 2009?

MI: Right. We’re thrilled!

Santa: Well … investing $100/year in Tin Cup and not worrying about “best day of the year” achieved $1565 over the last ten years vs. $1317 using the “best day” approach. Celebrate that. Hey! Nice touch on the beverage, chips and salsa … milk and cookies are great, but they get old after a few million stops.

MI: Thanks, Santa. Have a great year!

Fave Five (12/8/2017)

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Fave Five (12/8/2017)

Our Fave Five essentially represents a listing of stocks with favorable short term total return forecasts (1 year, according to Analyst Consensus Estimates, or ACE) combined with strong long-term return forecasts and good/excellent quality rankings. The median 1-year ACE total return forecast is 6.1%.

This week we return to the triple play screening method for our five favorites. The triple play possibility occurs when you find a stock that is very depressed in price and also appears to be on the verge of substantially boosting its profit margins. The triple play effect is possible in that:

(1) The depressed price of the stock can return to normal levels;

(2) increased profit margins can produce increased EPS and a higher price;

(3) may also cause higher P/E ratios, or P/E expansion.

Chugging Through 6000 Stocks in the Value Line “Universe”

Our playing field this week was limited to the stocks that qualified for our December Sweet 16 feature — discovered by applying the Triple Play criteria to the ~6000 stocks in the Value Line Investment Analyzer.

The Long and Short of This Week’s Fave Five

Long & Short Term Perspectives. (December 8, 2017) Projected Annual Return (PAR): Long term return forecast based on fundamental analysis and five year time horizon. Quality Ranking: Percentile ranking of composite that includes financial strength, earnings stability and relative growth & profitability. 52-Week Position: Position on scale between 52-week low price and 52-week target price. VL Low Total Return (VLLTR): Low total return forecast based on 3-5 year price targets via Value Line Investment Survey. Morningstar P/FV: Ratio of current price to fundamentally-based fair value via www.morningstar.com S&P P/FV: Current price-to-fair value ratio via Standard & Poor’s. 1-Year ACE Outlook: Total return forecast based on analyst consensus estimates for 1-year target price combined with current yield. The data is ranked (descending order) based on this criterion. 1-Year S&P Outlook: 1-year total return forecast based on S&P 1-year price target.

Fave Five Legacy (Tracking Portfolio)

The relative/excess return for the Fave Five tracking portfolio is +5.7% since inception.

The absolute annualized rate of return is 22.6%.

Tracking Dashboard: https://www.manifestinvesting.com/dashboards/public/fave-five