Z-SYMBOLS

Pick #4 for my Special Report 5 Safe Dividend Stocks Paying 6% or More: BHP

Pick #4 for my Special Report 5 Safe Dividend Stocks Paying 6% or More: BHP

You have to do a fair amount of work rearranging the dividend numbers for BHP (BHP) to understand why this diversified commodities producer makes this list. First, throw that 11.02% dividend yield reported on Yahoo Finance and other sources. As part of its corporate strategy of moving away from fossil fuels and investing in expanding existing copper production and in opening its first potash mine (in Canada at a cost of $5.7 billion), BHP sold its petroleum unit. Part of the big “dividend” distribution in fiscal 2021 and 2022 is a result of the company distributing the shares in the purchaser it acquired in payment for that deal to BHP shareholders. Of the $7.11 paid in dividends in fiscal 2022, for example, $3.86 came from the distribution of those shares. If you buy BHP now, you can’t expect a repeat of that distribution of shares. (BHP also sold its U.S. onshore petroleum assets in 2019.) So the question is what dividend payout can you expect from BHP in 2023?

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Quick Pick Palo Alto Networks

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Quick Pick Palo Alto Networks

Today I posted my two-hundred-and-tenth YouTube video: Quick Pick Defiance Palo Alto Networks. This week’s Quick Pick is Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), the cyber security software platform company. During this bear market, it’s not surprising to see some stocks down nearly 50% and trading at 30% to40% discounts, but Palo Alto has managed to drop only 8% for 2022 and is trading at a relatively slight 15% discount to fair value, according to Morningstar. While Palo Alto has had its severe dips, it recently bounced back up after announcing very solid earnings. In the quarter sales were up 25% year over year and annual recurring revenue (from SAAS subscriptions) was up 67% and billings were up 27%. Palo Alto covers a lot of areas of cybersecurity, making it a more attractive alternative for enterprise corporations looking to consolidate their security software and move to a one-stop shop that can cover more aspects of their security needs. I’m reluctant to buy anything in this continuing bear market, but would suggest looking at this stock in February 2023 or so, especially if it dips again. Palo Alto Networks is a member of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio on my two investing sites. The stock is up 108% since I initiated that position on January 21, 2020. The stock is also a member of my Millenial Portfolio on my subscription site JubakAM.com. That position is ahead 41% since May 21, 2021

Apple takes hit from production disruption in China–but I’m closing my December 16 Put on time decay gets serious

Apple takes hit from production disruption in China–but I’m closing my December 16 Put on time decay gets serious

Apple (AAPL) shares fell 2.63% today on estimates that Covid-lockdown turmoil at Chinese iPhone supplier Foxconn Technology could result in a production shortfall of 6 million units of the company’s iPhone Pro. And there’s a chance that production shortfalls could grow if Foxconn can’t get workers back to its assembly lines. The Put option on Apple that I bought back on October 12, 2022, jumped 59.79% today to $136 for a contract on 100 shares. But this option with its strike price of $135 expires on December 16. Which means that I’m running into that good old-time decay problem. If the stock, which closed at $144.22 today, doesn’t fall below $135 by December 16, then this option will expire worthless.

GM forecast electric vehicles to generate a profit in 2025

GM forecast electric vehicles to generate a profit in 2025

Granted it’s only a forecast, but yesterday General Motors (GM) forecast that its electric vehicle models will start generating a profit in 2025. The company now projects free cash flow of as much as $11 billion, compared with prior guidance of $7 billion to $9 billion. Electric-vehicle sales should top $50 billion in 2025, GM said. The Detroit-based company plans to build 400,000 EVs in North America from 2022 through the first half of 2024. Production capacity will reach 1 million units annually in North America in 2025. By 2025, its family of electric crossover SUVs, pickups, and luxury models will compete in segments that represent about 70% of the electric vehicle industry volume, the company projects.

How sticky is inflation? Very sticky these specific price increases argue, unfortunately.

How sticky is inflation? Very sticky these specific price increases argue, unfortunately.

Not all price increases are equally sticky.

Some jumps in cost are likely to get countered quickly because the goods or services in question exist in highly competitive marketplaces. And competitors are likely to cut prices to gain market share as soon as that’s feasible.

Other prices are sticky and unlikely to get rolled back quickly if at all. Much of this stickiness results from markets that act as oligopolies where companies don’t compete on price but instead follow the lead of their competitors in pricing higher and higher. The stickiness of inflation matters a great deal right now because it’s a big factor for the Federal Reserve in figuring out how many interest rate increases will be necessary to tame inflation. The stickier inflation is the higher the Fed will have to raise interest rates. From this perspective, the recent round of price increases from package shipping companies–from pretty much all of them–is bad news indeed for the Fed and inflation.

Special Report: 5 “Outlier” Dividend Stocks Paying 8% or More–Pick #1 PXD

Special Report: 5 “Outlier” Dividend Stocks Paying 8% or More–Pick #1 PXD

When I put together my Special Report: “5 Safe Dividend Stocks Paying 6% or More,” one key requirement was that the company showed a long track record of raising dividends every year and the clear potential to continue to raise dividends every year. That formula could turn a 6% annual dividend yield now into 8% or 9% or even more over the next ten years. A safe almost guaranteed 10% yield at the end of 10 years strikes me as a very attractive prospect, especially given how tough I think the financial markets are going to be over the next five years or more. (For more on that outlook see my recently revised Special Report: “Your Best Investment Strategy for the Next Five Years.”) But I realized, looking at all the high-yield stocks that didn’t make the cut for that report that the requirement for a high-probability trend of higher dividends each year for the next 10 years, that this requirement left a lot of stocks paying very attractive high dividends now on the cutting room floor. Stocks paying 8% or more got left off the list because I didn’t see a commitment at the company to continued dividend increases every year or enough growth in free cash flow to make it possible for a company to raise or maintain its dividend through the ups and downs of the business cycle. These stocks paying 8% or more were very safe bets to continue paying that yield for the next year or two. But 10 years? Too much uncertainty. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t own some of these stocks now. An 8% or better yield for a couple of years is a very attractive prospect given how uncertain the economy and the stock market are right now. And an investor has a very simple remedy if a company looks like it can’t or isn’t committed to sustaining that yield. Sell the stock. So with all that in mind, I’ve put together a list of five “outlier” dividend stocks paying 8% or more at a time when the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) has a yield of just 1.6%.

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week U.S . Oil Production not Rising as Expected

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week U.S . Oil Production not Rising as Expected

Today I posted my two-hundred-and-fifth YouTube video. This week’s Trend of the Week: U.S. Oil Production is Not Rising as Expected. Oil prices have averaged $100 per barrel over 2022–a figure that would normally lead oil companies to expand production and capital spending, but it hasn’t this time. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. oil production is only up about 3% from December 2021. Projections had the U.S. at 12 million barrels a day by the end of this year, but we’re currently only at 9.77 million barrels a day. Why is the production not going up? Oil shale fields deplete faster than traditional fields and we may have reached peak production in some of these oil shale basins. The best properties may have been exhausted and we’re now seeing companies move to their more inferior properties. The drilling and fracking may be happening at a steady pace, but we’re not getting as much out of the wells and properties currently being drilled. Companies that had a stock of drilled, but uncompleted have now worked through those “spare” wells and don’t have the motivation to drill new ones as Wall Street and investors would prefer high dividends instead of capital spent on a commodity that has an unclear future. The two oil companies I would look at are Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE: PXD) and ConocoPhillips (COP) because of their mix of resources.

Apple takes hit from production disruption in China–but I’m closing my December 16 Put on time decay gets serious

So much for that rumor: China rally stalls on new Covid lockdown at Apple iPhone supplier

On Tuesday, November 1, Chinese stocks roared back on an unverified online rumor that the government had formed a committee to assess scenarios on how the country could end its Covid lockdown policy. Today, that rally has stopped dead after the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of such a committee and after the government announced a seven-day Covid lockdown at the factory that produces Apple’s iPhone

Google kicks off Big Tech earnings with a stinker

Google kicks off Big Tech earnings with a stinker

Alphabet (GOOG) reported a drop of 24% in third-quarter earnings after the market closed on Tuesday, October 25. Gross revenue rose just 6% to $69.09 billion. In the third quarter of 2021, revenue grew by just 6% to $69.09 billion from the third quarter of 2021. In that 2021 quarter revenue had grown by 41%. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.25 a share–instead of the reported $1.06 a share.

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Seasonal Trends in Energy

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Seasonal Trends in Energy

Today I posted my one-hundred-ninety-sixth YouTube video: Trend of the Week Seasonal Trends in Energy. This week’s Trend of the Week: Seasonal Trends in Energy. There’s a predictable pattern in oil and natural gas prices. In late fall, October to November, you can expect a deep dive to begin and carry on through the winter, with a sharp rise in March and early spring. You can see this trend looking at previous years in the United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: USO) and the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (NYSEARCA: UNG). Right now, we’re heading into that dip in energy prices but you should not sell – in fact, you should be adding to these positions. This seasonal fall in energy prices will allow you to get ahead of the spring bounce. Europe’s energy supply is enough to get through the upcoming winter but, in March, as they look toward next year’s supply, they’ll need to start rebuilding inventories in a market strained by the war in Ukraine, cuts in production, and a hostile OPEC. Stateside, the US Energy Information Administration is projecting record production from the Permian Basin of Texas and Oklahoma, as well as record production of natural gas this year. Even though we’re not seeing a whole lot of capital expenditure, they’re uncapping wells and pumping them harder. Look at USO and UNG as ETF oil and natural gas buys For individual stocks I’d look at Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), and EQUINOR (NYSE: EQNR)–all of which I own in portfolios and have no intention of selling anytime soon.