The Gordon Growth Model is also known as the dividend discount model (DDM). It is a model for pricing a stock that was developed by professor Myron J. Gordon in the 1960s. The model uses a stock’s present value relative to the present value of its future dividends to provide an intrinsic value for the stock. The model is a shaky one at best, especially given that companies these days often change the course of dividend payments, and many (particularly in the tech world) don’t pay any dividends at all. Continue reading...
Dividend growth rate is the annual increase in the scale of dividend payments to stockholders. Good dividend growth is a sign of a company with solid earnings. Dividend growth rate is also referred to as dividend appreciation, and it can be computed fairly easily using historical data. Simply put, the dividend rate is the amount of dividend paid in a year divided by the share price when the dividend is paid. Continue reading...
The "end" value at a specified date in the future of an investment or cash flow. Terminal value is a term used in value calculations looking forward toward the future value of an asset or cash flow, and also in calculations which start with the Terminal Value and depreciate the asset over the intervening years until one arrives at the Present Value. Can be used in calculations regarding a business, an index, a cash flow, or an asset. Horizon Value is a synonym, and is perhaps better suited to describe the way the calculation chooses a time horizon of a specific number of years, but otherwise uses the same numbers in an equation that will estimate the value if the business or index went on growing at the same rate into perpetuity. Continue reading...
Growth stocks tend to be younger companies focused on using capital to fuel more growth, whereas Value stocks have perceived safety through consistent earnings, cash on balance sheets, and dividends. Neither growth nor value stocks are the best performers for all time, and the reality is that over long stretches of time, performance tends to revert to the mean. Categorically, growth stocks tend to be younger companies that focus capital on investing in expanding operations - hiring new personnel, hiring more employees, entering new markets. Continue reading...
With Investing/ Model Portfolios, you can view the performance of passive portfolios. You can receive timely alerts with each re-allocation. Re-allocations are infrequent. Here are the steps: Step 1. Review Model Portfolios' past performance for free. Step 2. Select any Model Portfolio you might be interested in based on their performance. Step 3. Subscribe and follow one or more Model Portfolio. Continue reading...
The abnormal earnings valuation method is one in which the future cash flows of a business are given significant weight in a valuation, especially when there are not many hard assets to use for valuation purposes. If a company is rich in human capital or has significant cash flows, whether or not it has many hard asset or book value, the Abnormal Earnings Valuation Model can be the most useful method for arriving at an accurate valuation of a business and its stock. Continue reading...
The Dividend Discount Model (DDM) is a method for valuing a stock, that looks at expected future dividend payouts and adjusts to present value. If the calculated value is less than the current trading price, the security is thought to be undervalued. The DDM is helpful as a tool but should not solely be used in valuation calculations. Perhaps its biggest flaw is that future dividends have to be projected and assumed, which is a far-from-certain practice. Continue reading...
In the world of finance, private equity is a relatively new industry whereby private companies finance other businesses through direct investment, often in exchange for equity in the company and in some cases, decision-making capabilities. Private equity companies generally use capital of the principals or of high net worth investors to strategically invest in growing companies that need growth capital or seed capital to expand operations. Continue reading...
The Price to Earnings ratio is a company’s stock price relative to its net income per share. A low P/E indicates that a stock is trading at a low premium to earnings, which may indicate that the market thinks low relative growth rates are ahead for the company. A company with a high P/E means investors are willing to pay a premium for growth, perhaps anticipating high future growth rates for the company. The P/E ratio is calculated by dividing the market value per share of a company by its earnings per share. Continue reading...
Fibonacci lines, retracements, and extensions are used by chartists to identify possible future support and resistance levels, as well as areas where there may be reversals. Investors can use this information to put hedges or speculative bets in place, if they believe that, like many naturally occurring systems in nature, the market behavior will exhibit some fractal-like forms that can be measured with Fibonacci sequence numbers and the Golden Ratio. Continue reading...
Different companies have different approaches to dividends: whether to pay them, whether it’s a fixed amount in the budget or dependent on the kind of expenses they incur each year. These and other considerations make up what is known as a company’s dividend policy. Companies may have a different phases in their development that will lead them to adopt different dividend policies along the way. As a young company in the Growth category, the dividend policy will most likely be not to distribute any dividends. Continue reading...
It can be useful to at least give some deep thought to the picks that appear in such articles. There is some investment wisdom in reading and taking action on the advice of such articles, since they point you in the direction of the industries which are poised to grow in the foreseeable future. Unlike short-term stock picks, these articles are concerned with growth that will go beyond the short term uptrend that will undoubtedly follow the appearance of a ticker symbol in such a list. Continue reading...
The Golden Cross is a breakout candlestick pattern formed when the short term 50-day moving average for a security exceeds its long term 200-day average, backed by high trading volumes. Investors typically interpret this crossover as a harbinger of a bull market, and its impact can reverberate throughout index sectors. The longer time horizons tend to increase the predictive power of the Golden Cross. As seen in the chart in this example, a trader may view the moment when a 50-day moving average (blue line) crosses above a 100-day or 200-day moving average (red line) as a bullish sign for the stock or security. A trader may consider taking a long position in the security, or perhaps explore call options to take advantage of the potential upside. Continue reading...
There are many potential benefits to using a 401(k) for retirement savings. You can break down the primary benefits of a 401(k) to 3 things: 1) Tax-Deferred Growth: This is probably the most advantageous aspect of a 401(k). Not only is the money contributed to the account pre-tax, which lowers your current taxable income, but the money also grows without being taxed within the account. The effect produced by the tax-deferred growth is much more powerful than most imagine. Continue reading...
Many people know about venture capitalists that help provide the funding for startup companies in Silicon Valley and other areas. In reality, only a small portion of venture capital is directed at seed money for startups. The rest of it is directed at companies in various phases of growth that need capital to fuel a new expansion or to turn their business around. Venture capital comes from individual investors or venture capital firms who agree to infuse new money into a business in exchange for an equity stake in the business going forward. Continue reading...
Market psychology is the overarching sentiment of investors toward the stock market, and also their tendency as a group to pile-on in certain situations whether or not it is rational behavior and to exhibit other idiosyncrasies. Market psychology usually comes into conflict with the efficient market hypothesis tenet that investors are rational. Behavioral finance and the study of market psychology has become a more relevant topic in the last 30 years or so since more main street investors are influencing prices in the market. If you have taken a psychology course, you will know that sometimes people behave in ways that are incongruent with what they believe or what is rational. Continue reading...
Core mutual funds represent the middle ground between Value and Growth, but are not the same as Blend funds. Core Mutual Funds are in between Growth and Value funds. In other words, companies in their portfolio have Price to Earnings ratios which are higher than those of Value companies but lower than those of Growth companies. This category is essentially based on the 9-box Morningstar categorization system, which separates equity funds into Small, Mid and Large Cap on the vertical axis and Value, Core, and Growth on the horizontal axis. Continue reading...
Fibonacci numbers are part of the Fibonacci sequence, where the two previous numbers are added together to calculate the next number in the sequence. The ratio of two Fibonacci numbers is the Golden Ratio, or 1.61803398875, which has been used since ancient times as the perfect proportion in architecture and other design. The Golden Ratio is also known as Phi (pronounced “fee”). Because Fibonacci numbers are found throughout the natural world, they have been integrated into some traders’ strategies for market analysis. Continue reading...
In Fibonacci line analysis, chartists attempt to predict how far a trend will go in a single direction, despite some minor pullbacks that do not break the overall, stronger trend (behavior known as retracements). Trends can be upward or downward and still experience this phenomenon. Fibonacci extensions are estimations of the next high after an initial push and retracement, using Fibonacci sequences as guidelines. Some investors believe that, like many naturally occurring systems in nature, mark... Continue reading...
Managing a fund based on P/E Ratio generally tends to put valuation ahead of other criteria when selecting stocks. The main categories which can be derived from P/E Ratios are Growth and Value funds. Fund managers may intentionally invest in companies with a higher P/E than the market benchmark, because these tend to be considered Growth stocks. These companies are experiencing growth and are projected to continue to do so, which is seen in the high price of the stocks. Continue reading...