Value Investing News

Just as picking fruit from a mango tree does not harm it, living off dividends does not damage the investment’s ability to produce future results. A portfolio of dividend investments will not only provide income in retirement, but can be passed to your children who can continue to reap the benefits.

Cardinal Health is one of the "big 3" pharmaceutical distributors. With a stable, recession-proof business and limited competition, along with a solid dividend with room for growth, Cardinal is a good, conservative Magic Formula stock.

McKesson enjoys a tight oligarchy in its pharmaceutical distribution business, and a highly profitable healthcare software unit adds both margin and growth advantages over competitors. A good Magic Formula buy.

MagicDiligence puts 3 competitors, all Magic Formula stocks, up against each other in this face-off of pharmaceutical distribution companies.

The stock market averages keep responding in a way that shows investors are expecting the worst in terms of profitability for most major US and Global corporations. Some pundits are getting bullish, while others are getting increasingly bearish. The odds of both camps being correct are slim to none. With this confusing information, what are investors supposed to do?

Someone once said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. I think Bank of America (BAC) would take exception to that statement. BAC has been in the news all week and it has not been flattering. This once proud dividend aristocrat continues to struggle even after slashing its dividend.

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) asserts that stock prices appropriately incorporate relevant information. As such, it isn't possible to generate market beating returns because the current price reflects available information. While it's not possible to completely disprove this theory, there are examples which make this very difficult to believe.

To fully grasp a company's position, its financial statements are not enough. Consider CVS Caremark (CVS), a provider of prescription and related health services in the US. Nowhere on its balance sheet (or any other of its financial statements) would you find its guarantees for certain former subsidiaries, but these guarantees have turned out to be very real.

Audio of Ackman's press conference

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Following the great hedge funds such as Baupost, Greenlight, Tiger, and Okumus has led to high historical returns. A tracking portfolio of the top funds is up over 11% YTD.

James Stewart, WSJ & SmartMoney columnist says "With the Nasdaq Composite at about 2450 this week, the index is approaching my latest selling threshold of 2515, when it may well be time to lock in some of these recent gains."