In the last six months, YieldCos have fallen from stock market darlings to pariahs. YieldCos are companies that buy clean energy projects such as solar and wind farms, and use the majority of free cash flow from these projects to pay dividends to investors. Many are listed subsidiaries or carve-outs of large developers of clean…
European Union Industrial Production numbers During the day, the European Union Industrial Production numbers come out, which will be about the only announcement that can move the markets. It could have an effect on European indices, and of course the Euro itself. Ultimately though, we feel that the market will be very much a…
For a dividend investor, there is not much worse than a stock that cuts or eliminates its dividend. Suddenly, the reason you purchased the stock no longer exists. Many dividend investors, myself included, have a hard and fast rule to immediately sell any stock held as income investment if it cuts its dividend. However, when…
Well, it happened. Kinder Morgan (KMI) bowed to the inevitable and slashed its dividend by 75% after hours on Tuesday. Interestingly, KMI stock popped on Wednesday, as investors seemed genuinely relieved that the uncertainty surrounding the stock is finally over. Normally, I would run away screaming from a stock that had just slashed its dividend by 75% because…
Over the last five trading days, global economic concerns and continuous fall in oil prices have dampened the performance of banking stocks, which had been encouraging post the positive comments from the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen about rate hike. A dismal fourth-quarter 2015 outlook for trading revenues added to the woes. Lawsuits and settlements pertaining…
Fundamental Forecast for the Yuan: Neutral Gold Price Consolidates Following Bullish Reversal Gold Prices in Position for Continued Weakness Gold prices are softer last week with the precious metal down nearly 1% to trade at 1075 ahead of the New York close on Friday. The decline comes amid sharp losses in broader equity markets and on the…
It’s that time of year when everyone starts preparing for the New Year and Wall Street makes its 2016 predictions. I’ll get right to the point here – these annual predictions are largely useless. But it’s still helpful to put these predictions in perspective because it highlights a good deal of behavioral bias and some of the…
By Jay Lucas, The Lucas Group Most PE investors are highly reluctant to chase companies that are experiencing financial distress. As such, this eliminates a large number of opportunities (“good companies”) that otherwise may be attractive investment targets. This reluctance is very understandable—at least on the surface. These situations can offer all the drama of a…
This was a very light week of news.Only the BOE had a policy meeting.And other major countries released very few economic numbers. Japanese news was surprisingly strong, starting with an upward revision of 3Q GDP to an annual rate of 1%. This revision means Japan didn’t experience a technical recession. As this table from the…
Leave it to Warren Buffett to keep us guessing. The Oracle of Omaha just reported 8% stake in Seritage Growth Properties (SRG), a REIT spinoff of struggling old-line retailer Sears Holdings (SHLD). SRG owns a portfolio of 266 Sears properties, some of which it owns via joint ventures. But it’s essentially a dumping ground for Sears real estate and a vehicle…
