Value Investing News

Warren Buffett is arguably the best investor in the world. His main holding, Berkshire Hathaway has delivered market beating returns during his leadership. Buffett’s strategy is characterized by purchasing stocks which have a long-term durable competitive advantage in a stable industry.

Sequoia's Q4 portfolio has been filed. New positions include: WSH, ATLS, STRA, ACGL, FSC, AZO, MRK, KMR, CMCSK, LMT, LH, ORCL, APA, MMM, SLB, RHI, TROW, LOW, ADP, VAR, and YBTVA.

The speech given by Tarpon Folio manager Cale Smith last Saturday night at the Islamorada Investment Management 2010 investor meeting in the Florida Keys.

The dividend aristocrats list includes companies which have increased dividends for over 25 years in a row. It is equally weighted and re-balanced once an year. Over the past 3,5 and 7 years the index of elite dividend stocks has managed to outperform the S&P 500 by 5%, 3.7% and 4.40% respectively.

There are certainly many ways to categorize the different styles of investing in dividend stocks, including yield, risk, growth, etc. Over the years, I have found that most dividend investing styles fall into one of the three major categories listed below:

The Dividend Aristocrats index measures the performance of S&P 500 index members that have followed a policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. (Source: S&P)

Since its inception 20 years ago, the dividend aristocrat’s index has outperformed the S&P 500.

Reviewing Warren Buffett's portfolio using a ModernGraham approach. Seems like he doesn't follow Benjamin Graham anymore. Discuss.

Most companies use debt for a variety of reasons in their operations. It could be either short term or long-term obligations. If there’s anything the 2007-2009 financial crisis has taught us, it is that excessively leveraged companies could easily blow up after a chain of negative events. Thus it pays to know what the debt situation for a particular company you are investing in actually is.

I am a firm believer in keeping things simple. However, you can simplify things to the point they no longer have value. In my opinion, a lot of the commonly used financial metrics can be very misleading unless you understand what is behind them. Let’s take a closer look at Dividend Payout.

There has been some controversy over harvesting forests of hardwoods and reseeding them with pines. Valuable hardwood require decades to reach financial maturity. The southern pine reaches financial maturity in a fraction of the time. Growing hardwoods is very similar to investing in dividend stocks.

Lowe's Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate as a home improvement retailer in the United States and Canada. The company offers a range of products and services for home decoration, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and property maintenance. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Part 2 of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Stock Portfolio

I have selected several prominent dividend growth stocks, whose earnings and cash flows provide adequate coverage for their dividends:

A question I often get is, “What do you think of the market? Where’s it headed?” Normally, I politely respond as expected, but occasionally I will startle the person with a reply like, “I don’t know. For me it really doesn’t matter much.” My investing goals are not defined by movements in the market.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) just posted its 13-F filing with the SEC, which lists changes in its stock positions.