Investment "Logic"

Notes: Stock Ratings: 1 = buy at current stock prices, 2 = buy on a 5-10% dip in stock price, 3 = sell on a 5-10% increase in stock price, 4 = sell at current stock prices to raise cash.  Ratings are based upon 12-18 month outlook on stock direction and not necessarily related to moves I make due to financial positioning. Back on Friday, Honeywell announced their fourth quarter and fiscal year results for 2016.  It was also the last conference call led by outgoing  CEO Dave Cote.  Cote, who has been at the helm for over 15 years, left on what I feel was relatively on a muted note in terms of results, but left under the usual jovial attitude with analysts.  Focusing on the company, f ourth quarter earnings came in at $1.74 and sales were $10B.  This was generally in-line with expectations, though sales were slightly under expectations of $10.15B.  That said, the company was able to beat on organic growth, keeping it at down 1% instead of the an...

The first week into the new administration and it hasn't been short on activity overall.  As was always pandered, various measures have been pursued, such as calling for a 20% border tax, trying to erect a wall along Mexico, and putting a freeze on immigration for people from "certain regions."  The protectionist position has started to create a little alarm in the business world because that can impact a company's ability to make money and that's all that matters in the world of stocks.  Outside of that, not much has been impactful, though it it worthy to note that the President has been showing a penchant to stick to his campaign promises.  This should indicate even more work to come around deregulation, lower taxes, and an opportunity to repatriate money at a significant tax reduction.  If these moves do take shape, they could be positive for stocks.  That said, you also have to painfully keep an eye on every move that's made because you never know ...

And so it begins.  The reigns of the US Presidency has been passed and we start under a new administration.  Many are happy, many are not - when you think about it in those terms, it's just another election and life moves forward.  The reality may or may not be so simple in the world of stocks.  We've already seen the influence a single tweet could have, so while it's more of the same, it's also a whole new world to react to.  In the words of one Dr. Dre it's time to "sit back, relax, and strap on your seat belt."   Earnings season continues to dig in with the biggest of the financials completing their reports.  I've already provided my response to Citi's earnings report and many of the cohorts with it reported excellent results with numerous signs that the future is looking brighter.  How soon will that future come?  Frankly that depends out of what we see from the new administration and the world economy.  Can you make trades a...

Notes: Stock Ratings: 1 = buy at current stock prices, 2 = buy on a 5-10% dip in stock price, 3 = sell on a 5-10% increase in stock price, 4 = sell at current stock prices to raise cash.  Ratings are based upon 12-18 month outlook on stock direction and not necessarily related to moves I make due to financial positioning. Back on Wednesday, Citigroup reported their fourt quarter and fiscal year 2016 earnings results.  The company earned $1.14 per share on $17B in revenues which I find to be about in line with the $1.12 earnings and $17.3B revenues expectations from the analyst community.  Throughout the year, Citigroup returned $11B to the shareholder in the forms of dividends and buybacks.  In regards to buybacks,  Citi bought back 181M shares resulting in a 6% reduction in share count on the year.  All of this resulted in a Tangible Book Value of  $64.57, which was a 7% increase year over year, however it was a decline of 0.2% sequentially f...

Another week completed, as the overall averages don't move a lot and my portfolio does even less.  Earnings kicked off at the end of the week with major banks JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo reporting.  All reported decent headline results and provided relatively good guidance.  Wells being hurt more due to the cross-selling scandals it was involved in more than anything.  No major economic news came out, though there were some small business numbers that got pundits talking - and this isn't a reading that's ever usually talked about.  The President-Elect made a speech as did the outgoing President and there continues to be more talk around efforts of the repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act.  As focus continues around healthcare, you see the related stocks continue to be under some pressure, but outside of that, things are relatively calm. For the week ahead, Citigroup reports their fourth quarter and 2016 financial results. ...

Greetings and happy 2017!  May anyone who reads this find a year of health, happiness, freedom, and prosperity.  Now that I got that all out of the way, let's start digging into the real business I go through here.  Namely my portfolio.  The week has been a bit of up and down while the market tries to figure out where it's trying to go.  Many people expected a selloff at the beginning of the year due to tax loss selling, but if that has been happening, there's been plenty of buying strength to help sop it up.  The big bad event being watched is the Dow Jones Industrial Average and it's trek to a value of 20,000.  It fell thirty-seven cents short today, but I don't find it to be a huge milestone other than the fact that it's a nice big round number.   As has been the usual, President-Elect Trump has been making news via his Twitter posts.  In all cases, related to business news, they were posts about large companies or conglomerates sen...