Jubak Picks
May 19, 2022 | Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, USB |
Back on April 11 when I sold Wells Fargo (WFC) and the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (KBWB) out of portfolios to reduce my exposure to a slowing economy caused by the Federal Reserve interest rate increases, I kept my position in U.S. Bancorp (USB) because I wanted to collect the dividend due to be paid out on April 15 (and because I thought super-regional U.S. Bancorp, as one of the best managed banks in the country, was less exposed to the downward trend in the sector.) Well, as of May 19, I’ve certainly collected my quarterly dividend (the stock current yields 3.75%) and the downward trend in financial stocks has picked up speed with the Fed announcing (well, as close to “announcing” as the Fed ever does) interest rate increases for the June, July and September meetings of the central bank, so I’ll be selling U.S. Bancorp out of my Jubak Picks Portfolio tomorrow May 20.
May 18, 2022 | Daily JAM, Dividend Income, Jubak Picks, KO, PEP, Top 50 Stocks |
Ok, the bad news on profit margins from Target (TGT) was a big deal. No argument. When you’re operating margin falls to 5.37% when Wall Street was projecting 9.5%, it’s a big deal. And after yesterday’s earnings miss from Walmart (WMT), it’s reasonable to extrapolate and say the entire economy and stock market has a cost, inflation, and margin problem. But that doesn’t mean that every company has the same degree of problem. And it certainly doesn’t justify selling everything–and selling to the tune of big losses–shares of every company that sells stuff to consumers. And tomorrow, or the next day, I expect a little more analysis and discrimination in the market. Some of the stocks hit hardest today should rebound handily on that rethink. I’d put PepsiCo (PEP) and Coca-Cola (KO) at the head of that group.
May 18, 2022 | COST, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, Morning Briefing, WMT |
As of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday May 18 shares of Target (TGT) were down 25% for the day after the company reported a big earnings miss for the first quarter. Let’s be clear. The sales picture at Target was very positive for the quarter. Same store sales were up 3.3% in the quarter. That was about three times higher than Wall Street analysts had expected. Revenue was up 4%. Here again Target’s $25.2 billion in revenue beat expectations for $24.3 billion in revenue. But earnings were terrible at $2.19 a share versus forecasts for $3.05 a share.
May 17, 2022 | BABA, Daily JAM, FXI, Jubak Picks, Perfect Five-ETFs, TCEHY, Top 50 Stocks |
Today, Tuesday May 17, China’s top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, said that the government will support the development of digital economy companies and their public stock listings. The comments delivered after a symposium with the CEOs of some of the country’s largest private technology companies came just a day after the National Bureau of Statistics reported that industrial output fell 2.9% in April from April 2021, and that retail sales contracted 11.1%. Financial markets in China and the United States interpreted the remarks as a public show of support for China’s Internet companies
May 15, 2022 | AES, CRWD, Daily JAM, Dividend Income, GNRC, Jubak Picks, OKTA, WCC |
I don’t know if Friday’s bounce will continue into the new week. I think the summer season is likely to be positive for revenue at many companies–travel, airlines, Las Vegas–but I don’t like the longer term fundamentals in the economy. Inflation is going to be harder to reduce than Federal Reserve rhetoric and Wall Street sentiment now credit. And there is a good chance of a recession in 2023. But I’m not looking for some kind of crash from here–at least not before a recession tests the credit markets in 2023. We’re on the edge of a bear–the Standard & Poor’s 500 was down 18.1% from its all time high as of the close on Thursday–or in a bear–for the technology stocks of the NASDAQ. The typical pattern from here is for a continued decline to be punctuated by sharp rallies and bounces (like Friday) until we put in the ultimate bottom (certainly after a few more Federal Reserve interest rate increases.)
We’re not there yet. This downward trend in equity markets is likely to continue for a while in my opinion. So what am I trying to accomplish with these sells?
May 9, 2022 | Daily JAM, Dividend Income, Jubak Picks, PEP, Top 50 Stocks |
Last week PepsiCo (PEP) declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 a share, up about 7% from $1.075 a share. That brings the dividend yield up to 2.7%, almost exactly Coca-Cola’s (KO) 2.72% yield. On the basis of that yield and the pricing power that the company demonstrated in first quarter earnings I’m adding the stock to my Dividend Portfolio. I think it’s a good pick for a period of high inflation and uncertain economic growth.
May 5, 2022 | BKNG, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks |
Shares of Booking Holdings (BKNG) were up 3.23% as of 3:40 p.m. New York time today, May 5, after the company announced first quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates. The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.90 a share, up from a loss of $5.26 in the first quarter of 2021. Revenue climbed to $2.7 billion from $1.14 billion in 2021. Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings of 85 cents a share on revenue of $2.53 billion. Gross bookings in the quarter rose to $27.3 billion, the highest quarterly figure in the company’s history.
May 3, 2022 | BABA, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, TCEHY, Top 50 Stocks, Videos |
My one-hundredth-and-ninth-eighth YouTube video “Trend of the Week China’s back!” went up today. At the end of last week, the Chinese government sent signals that it would make moves to stimulate the slowing economy amid widespread lockdowns, as well as letting up slightly in its crackdown on internet companies. This has sent Chinese tech stocks soaring, with multiple percentage-point increases in a few hours. In this video, I look at Tencent (TCEHY), JD.com (JD), Alibaba (BABA) and Meituan (MPNGF) and talk about why this is an important trend to follow, but why we’ll only see these stocks go up in the short term before government pressure sends them back down.
May 3, 2022 | COP, Daily JAM, EQNR, Jubak Picks, LNG, Morning Briefing, PXD, Volatility |
Normally at this time of year natural gas prices retreat and companies actually stash natural gas in storage for use durin hurricane outages in the fall and winter heating season. Not this year, however. Today natural gas prices in the U.S. hit a new 18-year high. At 11:20 a.m. New York time natural gas for June delivery climbed to $8.08 per million BTUs, up 8.12% on the morning
May 2, 2022 | BABA, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, Stock Alerts |
My one-hundredth-and-twenty-eighth YouTube video “Quick Pick Alibaba” went up today. Alibaba (BABA) and other Chinese internet companies have been struggling recently under the pressure of a government crackdown. However, with the slowing of the Chinese economy due to ongoing Pandemic lockdowns, the government has signaled that it will let up a bit on this crackdown (and move to add more stimulus to the economy.) Not surprisingly the shares of these companies have picked up some momentum. This is not a long-term pick–the government can and will reverse this loosening. Get some profits on Alibaba while the getting’s good. (Which is why I’m adding it to my 12-18 month Jubak Picks Portfolio and not by long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio.
April 29, 2022 | BABA, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, Stock Alerts |
The Chinese government has promised more stimulus to prop up growth in the country’s economy and the Politburo has indicated that, at least temporarily, it will slow the pace of its regulatory crack down on China’s Internet companies. The combination, as I posted in today’s Quick Pick YouTube video, has launched a huge rally in China’s Internet and e-commerce stocks. As of 3 p.m. on Friday, April 29, the New York traded shares of Tencent Holdings (TCEHY) wee up 8.95%. JD.com (JD) hadgained 7.72%. And Ablibaba (BABA), the big name among foreign investors and the leading target of government regulators is up 8.26%. On this trend, I’m adding shares of Alibaba to my JubakPicks Portfolio today
April 27, 2022 | Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, Top 50 Stocks, V, You Might Have Missed |
After hours on Tuesday, April 26, Visa (V) reported earnings of $1.70 a share. That modestly beat analyst projections of $1.65 a share for the quarter. But it was a big jump from the $1.35 a share in the first quarter of 2021. Visa’s shares were up 6.47% on Wednesday. Visa is a member of my Jubak Picks Portfolio where it is up 239.26% since I added it to that list on November 15, 2015. As of April 28 I’m raising the target price on Visa in Jubak’s Picks to $266 from the prior target of $194. I will also add the stock to my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio.
