Category Archives: financial engineering / financial shenanigans

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The dice are cast – 3M will have to cut its dividend

My long-time readers know that I have pointed my shotgun at candidates with likely coming dividend cuts. I even made two Weeklies out of this topic, as I am still convinced that dividend cuts will be one of the mega trends of this decade, and a fairly underestimated one! There are several companies where I am seeing massive operating and financial issues. In this latest episode, I am targeting again the famous industrial conglomerate and inventor of post-it stickers, 3M.

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Earnings quality the worst in three decades – look at free cash flow!

Operating or net income, adjusted operating or net income, earnings per share (EPS), adjusted EPS and the price to earnings (PE) ratio are commonly used to assess a company’s business results and to value it. They are also often used as headline numbers and proof of performance by the companies themselves. However, there is a rising trend of decreasing “earnings quality” – an indicator that neither the economy is doing pretty well, nor many companies.

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What you should know about the SVB collapse – my premium members were warned

As I am publishing this Weekly, already a week has passed after the collapse of not just one bank dealing with startups – that was the 16th largest bank in the US – but indeed three banks. After emotions calmed down a bit, we can have a look at what went wrong and what you should be aware of. My Premium Members already knew about the risks “hidden” on the balance sheets of banks, as I’ve closed an investment case on a profit a month ago due to these risks. And no, this is not a buy-the-dip occasion!

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Zombie companies – The Walking Dead?

Being dead and being alive are mutually exclusive conditions. But with stocks, there are companies that to a large extent fit into this scheme. Now facing a heavily toxic cocktail of likely higher interest rates and a slowing economy, many of these businesses will be tested for their survivability. Even if they do survive as a whole business, it is nonetheless dangerous to invest into equities of heavily indebted zombies – no matter how high the temptation might be.

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Label deception behind ESG investing — and a new research report

Wouldn’t it be great if all evil was eliminated and only the good-natured, socially caring businesses remained for investments? At least this is the “mission” of funds and ETFs that focus their investments on ESG-compliant equities. The stocks of the “bad” companies aren’t bought anymore or even get sold, while the “good” entities form the bedrock of these investment vehicles. But how does it look under the hood? What stocks are held by these funds and how did they perform? And: What’s happening on the “dark” side?

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Is Axon Enterprise an electrifying crisis investment?

Everywhere you look, there seems to be some kind of crisis. Whether economic, health, political, financial, housing, migration or war crises – it seems as if there is no silver lining on the horizon, currently. Would it be condemnable to consider crisis investments that can even profit from such developments?

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Is Uber now generating free cash flow – or just applying financial shenanigans?

After posting its Q2 results a few weeks ago, the stock of Uber jumped around 15%. The reason? Uber surprisingly disclosed a positive free cash flow. Not only that, it did so even earlier than expected. But is the business now really structurally and durably generating free cash flow?

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Microstrategy stock: A superior way to invest in Bitcoins?

Maybe you have heard that there are companies that “diversify” their assets into Bitcoin out of “fiat money”. Will the stock of Microstrategy go up together with Bitcoin? What sounds like a good idea at first sight, however, could be a costly and dangerous adventure for inexperienced stockholders.

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