Category Archives: investment climate / big picture

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Conagra Brands: A “defensive” consumer stock with an aggressive balance sheet

One or the other time, I have published a weekly about consumer stocks. My general view has been for years that these names should be avoided, being it food, beverage, or alcohol stocks, partly also household and cleaning producers (except one name I published a research report about, it’s up +22% over the last five months). Investors who bought blindly solely based on past performance have suffered big losses. While hopes for a turnaround to finally arrive continue to be high, there’s little reason to be overly optimistic. These stocks have lost their status as “defensive” core positions not for one, but for several reasons. The case study of Conagra Brands.

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Are you buying the past with popular ETFs?

This evergreen topic of active vs. passive investing, respectively stock picking vs. investing in index funds via ETFs, is a clash between two absolutely different philosophies. The only thing that’s certain here is that both parties will likely never agree. Both think they’re right and the opposition is wrong. As a passionate stock picker myself, I was triggered by a recent twitter post that in my view has spread a dangerous and misleading message.

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Nine lost years — Bottom in sight for Nestlé?

Since its peak at around 130 CHF per share and a market cap of almost 400 billion CHF, consumer staples heavyweight Nestlé has highly disappointed its fan base of predominantly defensively oriented investors. Who’d have thought that THE core investment in the consumer staples sector (besides Coca-Cola) could see its stock price get almost cut in half? Although I have not written a weekly about Nestlé so far, my readers know that Nestlé has not been interesting all the time. Is it now worth a look?

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My next Target for a Dividend Cut is a King

I stick to my view which many investors don’t share: this decade will be remembered as the one where dividends have been cut, not sparing big names. With this, I do not mean the obvious candidates like cyclical commodity producers or European car makers, but the ones where it really hurts (for dividend and income investors). In the past, I have written several weeklies, digging out names with proud series that have come to an end or with a high likelihood will end in the not-too-distant future. My next target is another dividend king.

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Has Big Pharma destroyed Shareholder Value (as expected)?

In March 2023, I published a controversial weekly, warning about investments in Big Pharma stocks. This group, often popular among retail investors for their dividends and pretend safety (size, diversification, proven, etc.), was already back then clearly facing a huge wall of painful patent expirations. As I had expected, many of the biggest — and most popular — names have seen their stocks painfully breaking apart while broader markets rose. Time for an update.

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Are we in a stock picker’s market?

Last Friday, the newsletter from the Wall Street Journal hit my inbox. It immediately raised my attention as the core topic read Why This Isn’t a ‘Stock Picker’s Market’. Being a passionate stock picker myself, having little left for both, mainstream stocks and passive investing, I cannot let this statement left untouched for obvious reasons.

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The Oracle in the AI coal mine?

Over the last months, I have written two Weeklies, criticizing the from my view not sustainable AI investment frenzy, featuring Meta’s stock as my main target. Maybe this was because Meta is a mainstream darling that on top has delivered a stellar return over the last three years. However, little did I know that there is an even more interesting case in the second row. With some interesting developments in the recent past, is this the Oracle in the AI coal mine for what to expect?

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Don’t skip this: Why I‘ve been (+ remain) negative on consumer stocks

I must admit I am surprised how angry people can become when their widows and orphans stocks, mainly consumer staples with reliable dividends, are attacked. It is no secret that I‘ve been writing and commenting negatively about them for some time. And I was right in most cases, as these “safe bets“, which according to the fan base belong in every defensive portfolio, have performed very poorly. I stick to my view that the dividends won’t be safe over time. Once and for all, I am now unveiling why my pessimism likely is warranted.

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Meta going all in – More cracks in the AI Capex bubble

In August 2025, I published my first Weekly fully dedicated to this topic. It became my second most read Weekly so far. I gave it the name “Artificial Intelligence meets natural stupidity – and a potential winner no one is counting on”. I introduced my readers to the growing Capex mania of the Big Tech companies, focussing on Meta, and concluding that Apple might turn out to be the winner thanks to avoiding doing stupid things. While the mania continues at even more extreme levels, the risks for a big burst have only increased.

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Is now the time to rotate into defensive stocks?

This question pops up frequently. Some people ask it more often, others less so. The ongoing bull market started in 2009 and was only briefly interrupted a few times. Every dip gets bought, and on we go. We haven’t seen a recession with an enduring and nasty bear market. Many investors nowadays do not even know what that is – the last one is simply too far away. This Weekly is not about market timing, but about bringing some thoughts in order, cleaning up with a few misbeliefs, and challenging the composition of one’s stock portfolio.

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