Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Anne Scheiber’s $22 Million

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​Anne Scheiber worked as an auditor for the IRS. She retired at the age of 51 in 1944, and focused on managing her portfolio for the next 51 years of her life.

I wanted to share with you the story of Anne Scheiber, who died at the age of 101 with a portfolio of dividend stocks worth over $22 million. That portfolio was generating over $750,000 in annual dividend income at the time of her death. Anne Scheiber is one of the most successful dividend investors of all time.

I believe that this story can be inspirational to many. After reviewing it, I can tell you that I understand the blueprint for financial success. One can easily see the steps taken to achieve financial independence, so that they can mold their lifestyle in a way, shape or form that they desire.

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Market Efficiency?

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With the stock prices rising so dramatically for many companies on apparently so little news, we academics take a lot of kidding about the efficient market hypothesis which says that the market price of a stock fairly reflects fundamental information about the company.  Just what fundamental information is the market reflecting?  In our defense, it is important to draw a distinction between informational market efficiency and fundamental market efficiency. As described in our book, The Conceptual Foundations of Investing, a market is said to be informationally efficient if it responds quickly to new information.

Tesla is a poster child for informational efficiency. The stock responds almost instantaneously to slightest hint of news. A tweet by Elon Musk can set the stock moving the instant after he hits the return key. But fast response to information is not the same thing as a fundamentally correct response to information. A market is said to be fundamentally efficient if stock prices fairly reflect fundamental value. That means when the stock price moves in response to information, it moves the right amount.

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Did the News Hold Clues?

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If any metal embodies the chrome-like luster of the future, it is silver. This makes it the ideal candidate for an analysis using that most high-tech of investment tools, alternative data.

Silver has also been making headlines recently: in July of this year, it broke out of a long-term range it had been stuck in between $15-20 an ounce for over five years, reaching a peak of $29 on August 10.

The breakout could represent an important turning point in metal’s price-evolution. The question for us, however, is could anything in the news analytics of silver have forewarned investors such a significant move was on the horizon?

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Dan David Shorts Portnoy

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ValueWalk held its latest virtual contrarian investor conference, organized by ValueWalk, Contrarian Podcast and Breakout Point, today, and Dan David of Wolfpack Research was one of the presenters. He explained why he sees Remark Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARK) as a good short.

He said one of the most popular bull cases for Remark Holdings issued by promoters like David Portnoy, is the company’s 5% stake in Sharecare, a company popularized by Dr. Oz and worth up to $1 billion in an initial public offering. Remark has talked about the possibility of a Sharecare IPO for years.

The problem is that Remark Holdings’ stake in Sharecare has been repossessed and is being held by the Kent County Sheriff in Delaware. The company had agreed to payments of $1 million but didn’t make good on those payments. He believes there is no chance Remark will own a stake in Sharecare going forward.

David also said the company claims to own the Chinese company KanKan, but he doesn’t believe it does. He said Remark Holdings’ agreements don’t create contractual ownership. He said to comply with China‘s laws, which restrict foreign ownership of entities in industries the Chinese government sees as sensitive, Remark employs a structure known as a wholly owned enterprise and variable interest entity (VIE).

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Why Trupanion Could Plunge

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ValueWalk and its partners hosted its latest contrarian virtual conference, organized by ValueWalk, Contrarian Podcast and Breakout Point today, and one of the presenters was Bradley Safalow of PAA Research. He pitched pet insurance company Trupanion Inc (NASDAQ:TRUP) as a short position.

In fact, he said it’s one of his favorite short ideas and possibly the best short he’s come across in his career. The stock tumbled in premarket trading after his presentation, falling by as much as 7%.

Safalow expects the shares to fall below $10. He describes it as a “structurally flawed, unprofitable company positioned to growth investors as a tech/SAAS story.” He argues that Trupanion Inc will never be profitable.

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