Author Archive
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My Watch List
Eddy Elfenbein, May 18th, 2021 at 3:30 pmHere’s my latest Watch List. This is my unofficial list of high-quality stocks I like to follow. If a stock is on this list, then there’s a very good chance that it’s in the upper 5% of well-run companies on Wall Street. This is the elite.
I’m often asked how I go about selecting the stocks for my Buy List. It’s actually very simple. I have this Watch List of stocks and if one of them falls down to a very attractive price, then it becomes a contender for the new Buy List. I like to think of the Watch List as the minor leagues for the Buy List. Strong prospects earn their way up the ladder.
The Watch List is very informal. Unlike the Buy List, I’m constantly adding and deleting names. In fact, I have a bad habit of letting the Watch List grow too large. I often find myself adding three names for every one I delete. Ideally, I like to keep the Watch List below 100 names.
AbbVie (ABBV)
AmerisourceBergen (ABC)
Adobe (ADBE)
Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
AMETEK (AME)
American Tower (AMT)
Anthem (ANTM)
Amphenol (APH)
Atrion (ATRI)
AutoZone (AZO)
Boeing (BA)
Balchem (BCPC)
Brown-Forman (BF-B)
Biogen Inc. (BIIB)
Booking Holdings (BKNG)
Celanese (CE)
Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
Clorox (CLX)
The Cooper Companies, Inc. (COO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)
Copart, Inc. (CPRT)
salesforce.com, inc. (CRM)
Cintas Corporation (CTAS)
CVS Health Corporation (CVS)
Ecolab Inc. (ECL)
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL)
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW)
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD)
Exponent, Inc. (EXPO)
Fastenal Company (FAST)
F5 Networks, Inc. (FFIV)
Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO)
General Dynamics Corporation (GD)
General Mills, Inc. (GIS)
Gentex Corporation (GNTX)
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG)
Global Payments Inc. (GPN)
Hingham Institution for Savings (HIFS)
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII)
Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC)
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX)
IDEX Corporation (IEX)
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF)
Intuit Inc. (INTU)
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG)
Gartner, Inc. (IT)
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT)
J & J Snack Foods Corp. (JJSF)
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (JKHY)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Kellogg Company (K)
Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB)
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT)
Mastercard Incorporated (MA)
Masimo Corporation (MASI)
Medtronic plc (MDT)
McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC)
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB)
3M Company (MMM)
Altria Group, Inc. (MO)
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (MTD)
Neogen Corporation (NEOG)
NIKE, Inc. (NKE)
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC)
ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW)
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO)
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL)
Oracle Corporation (ORCL)
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY)
Paycom Software, Inc. (PAYC)
Paychex, Inc. (PAYX)
Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (PB)
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL)
ResMed Inc. (RMD)
Rollins, Inc. (ROL)
Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP)
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX)
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX)
SEI Investments Company (SEIC)
Simulations Plus, Inc. (SLP)
S&P Global Inc. (SPGI)
Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ)
TransDigm Group Incorporated (TDG)
The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX)
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO)
The Toro Company (TTC)
The Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD)
Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH)
Tyler Technologies, Inc. (TYL)
Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS)
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH)
United States Lime & Minerals, Inc. (USLM)
Visa Inc. (V)
Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV)
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK)
VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)
Waters Corporation (WAT)
WD-40 Company (WDFC)
Winmark Corporation (WINA)
Waste Management, Inc. (WM)
Watsco, Inc.(WSO)
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (WWW)
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (ZBH) -
Morning News: May 18, 2021
Eddy Elfenbein, May 18th, 2021 at 5:27 amChina’s Biggest ‘Bad Bank’ Tests Beijing’s Resolve on Financial Reform
Japan’s Yo-Yoing Economy Shrinks as Virus Spreads and Vaccinations Lag
Inflation Fears Abound as Gas and Lumber Shortages Bite. Should the Fed Worry?
Rural Areas Are Looking for Workers. They Need Broadband to Get Them.
America’s Restaurant Apocalypse Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
Burry of ‘Big Short’ Fame Places Big Bet Against Musk, Tesla
Censorship, Surveillance and Profits: A Hard Bargain for Apple in China
Apple Faces Continued iPad Pro Delays Due to Next-Gen Displays
AT&T Set to End Media Voyage with $43 Billion Discovery Deal
An Old-School Media Titan Pushes Aside an Upstart
Amazon’s MGM Deal Would Add to Frenzy for Streaming Assets
Amazon Hoping To Invoke the Power of Positive Affirmations To Reduce Workplace Injuries
Howard Lindzon: Momentum Monday – Bitcoin Goes Down?
Joshua Brown: Stimulating the Housing Market Is Psychotic
Michael Batnick: “I’ll buy on the next pullback”
Ben Carlson: The Pros & Cons of Liquidating Your Portfolio To Buy a House With Cash
Be sure to follow me on Twitter.
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Homebuilders Are Concerned About Inflation
Eddy Elfenbein, May 17th, 2021 at 1:15 pmIt’s a fairly quiet day of trading on Wall Street. This morning’s report from homebuilders shows that confidence is still high, but there are concerns about inflation.
Builder sentiment in the single-family housing market was unchanged at 83 in May, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Anything above 50 is considered positive sentiment.
The index had plummeted to 37 last May, as the pandemic lockdown hit and the housing market shut down. It then rebounded dramatically in June and July, as consumers rushed out to buy suburban homes, seeking more space for working and schooling from home.
Builders now say they continue to see a steady stream of buyers, due in large part to the extreme shortage of existing homes for sale. Continued low mortgage rates are helping some with affordability, but with prices rising fast, purchasing power is weakening.
The overall market is down today with tech down the most. Energy is up the most and some defensive sectors like Staples and Healthcare are just barely positive.
I posted this on Twitter so I’ll report it here. Here’s a list of stocks you may not have known are publicly traded:
Churchill Downs (CHDN)
MSG Sports (Knicks and Rangers) (MSGS)
WD-40 (WDFC)
Jack in the Box (JACK)
Nathan’s Famous (NATH)
Tootsie Roll (TR)
Utz Brands (UTZ)
Boston Beer (Sam Adams) (SAM)
Value Line (VALU)
Mace Security (MACE)
Crazy Woman Creek Bancorp (CRZY) -
Morning News: May 17, 2021
Eddy Elfenbein, May 17th, 2021 at 7:02 amThe World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything
Ignore The Pessimists, The ‘Baby Bust’ Is A Bullish Market Signal
Elon Musk Just Reopened an Old Wound in the Bitcoin World
Charging 589% Interest in the Pandemic Is a Booming Business
The Mogul in Search of a Kinder, Gentler Capitalism
Japan’s Top Bank MUFG Forecasts Lower Credit Costs, Beats Profit View
BP’s Lobbying for Gas Shows Rifts Over Path to Net-Zero Emissions
JD Logistics Launches Hong Kong IPO to Raise Up to $3.4 Billion
AT&T Is Preparing to Merge Media Assets With Discovery
AT&T-Discovery Deal Would Create a Media Juggernaut
A $100 Million Bet on Cross-Country Restaurant Delivery
As Lumber Prices Climb, DIY-ers Cut Out The Middle Man And Mill Their Own
Ben Carlson: 12 of My Biggest Post-Pandemic Questions & Life is Too Short to Save Everything
Michael Batnick: Bitcoin is Crashing. This is What it Does, When The Music’s Over & Animal Spirits: Growth At a Reasonable Price
Be sure to follow me on Twitter.
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Morning News: May 14, 2021
Eddy Elfenbein, May 14th, 2021 at 7:02 amU.S. Investors Looking for Protection As Inflation Pressures Bubble, Stocks Volatile
CDC’s Mask U-Turn Puts Business in a Bind
A ‘Friend of Tom’ or ‘Can’t Be Bothered’: One Man’s Rules at Bank of America
Colonial Pipeline Ramps Up as U.S. Seeks to Emerge From Fuel Crunch
Colonial Pipeline Paid 75 Bitcoin, or Roughly $5 Million, to Hackers
EV Startups Lose Over $40 Billion After Taking SPAC Route Public
Juul Finds Hell Hath No Fury Like an Army of Really Rich Parents
He’s A Dogecoin Millionaire. And He’s Not Selling.
Ant Leapfrogs Banks to Top China Fund Sale Rankings
Disney Adds Fewer Streaming Subscribers Than Hoped; Revenue Falls Short
Amazon, McDonald’s, Others Woo Scarce Hourly Workers With Higher Pay
Airbnb Has Mo Money, Mo Problems
Ben Carlson: The Future of Bear Markets & Recessions
Michael Batnick: 10 Questions People Only Ask in a Bull Market
Michael Batnick & Ben Carlson: Houses That Sell the Fastest
Be sure to follow me on Twitter.
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Jobless Claims Fall to 473,000
Eddy Elfenbein, May 13th, 2021 at 12:13 pmThe stock market is getting a nice snap-back rally today after yesterday’s drop. I usually don’t pay much attention to the wholesale inflation report, but that came out today and it was also on the hot side. The PPI was up 0.6% last month which doubled expectations. In the last year, the PPI is up 6.2%. That’s the highest since they started tracking the data in 2010.
The core PPI, which excludes volatile items like foods, energy and trade services, rose 0.7% in April from the previous month and jumped 4.6% year over year. The increase from a year ago was the biggest jump since 2014 when the department first calculated the data.
This morning’s jobless claims report came in at 473,000. That was another pandemic low and it was below Wall Street’s forecast of 490,000.
Generous unemployment benefits, fears of catching Covid-19, parents staying home to care for children and raw material shortages as well as pandemic-related retirements and career changes have been blamed for the disconnect. The economy created 266,000 jobs in April after adding 770,000 in March, the government reported last week.
Some economists believe the enhanced unemployment benefits programs, including a weekly $300 government subsidy, could be encouraging some people to attempt to file a claim for assistance, keeping claims well above the 200,000 to 250,000 range that is viewed as consistent with a healthy labor market.
It’s a strong market today but I’m suspicious. Everything that had been doing well is doing poorly and the ones that had been poor are now leading the charge. Energy, in particular, is down today.
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Morning News: May 13, 2021
Eddy Elfenbein, May 13th, 2021 at 7:06 amBiden’s Trillions Test Economists Weighing Bang for the Buck
Musk Sends Bitcoin Tumbling With Shock U-Turn on Payments
Elon Musk Just Helped Ease the Semiconductor Shortage
The SPAC King Is Doing Just Fine Even as the Bubble Starts to Burst
Boeing Says F.A.A. Has Approved New Fix for 737 Max
How ‘Put That on Top Shot!’ Became a New N.B.A. Mantra
New Generation of Digital Banks Bets on Minority Markets
Samsung Boosts Non-Memory Chip Investment to $151 Billion as South Korea Offers Bigger Tax Breaks
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Says He Expects Even More Massive Returns From His Vision Fund Portfolio
America’s Gas Panic Has a Long History
Wealthy Nations Once Lauded As Successes Lag in Vaccinations
Cullen Roche: Let’s Talk About Inflation
Joshua Brown: The Thing You Need to Hear About Inflation
Michael Batnick: Inflation is Here. But is it Here to Stay?
Jeff Carter: When To Lock In A Mortgage?
Be sure to follow me on Twitter.
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Q1 2021 Earnings Calendar
Eddy Elfenbein, May 13th, 2021 at 4:16 amTwenty-two of our 25 Buy List stocks are reporting their earnings in this current quarterly earnings reporting season. Here’s a list of reporting dates, Wall Street’s consensus estimates and actual reported results.
Eddy Elfenbein is a Washington, DC-based speaker, portfolio manager and editor of the blog Crossing Wall Street. His 
