Summary MKC is a dominant provider of spice and seasoning products to the commercial and industrial markets. It leveraged its balance sheet to acquire Reckitt Benckiser’s Food Division (‘RBFD’) for ~$4.21B in 2017 but management is committed to a significant reduction in debt levels by the end of fiscal 2020. Growth in revenue and margins [...]
Summary SPGI is the largest of the 10 statistical rating organizations recognized by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has undergone a significant transformation over the last few years and is now focused exclusively on the high-growth, high-margin businesses—Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P Capital IQ and Platts. SPGI’s [...]
Summary MCO is one of 10 statistical rating organizations recognized by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It is the 2nd largest publicly traded member of this small group behind S&P Global Inc.. The company’s reputation took a hit when it completely failed to warn investors of the risks which led to the Financial Crisis. [...]
February was certainly an interesting month! The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.3% and only 4 of its members posted positive returns. Inflation fears were also stoked with Jerome Powell hinting there would be more aggressive movement on monetary policy. The TSX in Canada fared slightly better with only a 3.2% slide in February. Investors [...]
On February 25, 2018 I posted an article in which I touched upon Warren Buffett’s 2017 Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders. In that article I provided a link to the letter and do so again here for ease of reference. In his letter, Buffett specifically addressed the risks associated with employing the use of debt [...]
On Saturday morning, February 24, 2018, Warren Buffett’s much anticipated 2017 Letter to Shareholders was released; Buffett’s Shareholder Letters dating back to 1977 can be accessed here. By the time I compose this post (the afternoon of February 25, 2018) I have already read his letter three times; I will undoubtedly read it several more [...]
Due to my extreme reluctance to publicly disclose all our holdings it has dawned on me that it is quite possible readers will look at the FFJ Portfolio and will think ‘Ho Hum!’. Fair enough. In an effort to address the perception some readers may have, I have put together the following snapshot of screen [...]
Summary On February 22, 2018 HRL released its Q1 2018 results and increased FY2018 EPS guidance. Q1 2018 reported revenue growth in the Grocery Products: $613.87M (+1%), Refrigerated Foods: $1.18B (+5%), International & Other: $150.32M (+19%) segments but Commodity turkey breast markets remain at multi-year lows thus resulting in weak results at Jennie-O Turkey Store: $390.65M [...]
In a recent interview with Nick McCullum from Sure Dividend I share the investing and personal finance strategies I used to retire in my mid-50s from a career in Canadian banking. Subject matter in this podcast includes: how I got my start in the world of equity investing; thoughts on mutual funds, ETFs, and other [...]
Summary GPC reported strong FY2017 results on February 20, 2018 but the stock price pulled back ~5.2% as the stock was overvalued. The EIS and Motion businesses have been combined into one $6B industrial group as of the beginning of 2018. The rationale for combining these two segments is to provide economies of scale and [...]
