jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images It might be time to buy ConAgra ( CAG ). This company currently has a 9% yield because its stock price has fallen so much. Its stock price is now near levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis. And there are reasons for that. Like the other large food companies, ConAgra has been limiting its price increases to maintain its market share and its...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images It might be time to buy ConAgra ( CAG ). This company currently has a 9% yield because its stock price has fallen so much. Its stock price is now near levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis. And there are reasons for that. Like the other large food companies, ConAgra has been limiting its price increases to maintain its market share and its margins are weakening as a result. Its GAAP revenue has also been falling, but that’s mostly because it sold its Van de Kamp’s and Mrs. Paul brands last year . So, ConAgra’s recent results aren’t as bad as they look. ConAgra has a nonstandard fiscal year, and it just reported fiscal Q3 2026 results. Because of its recent M&A deal, it’s appropriate to use its adjusted financial results. So, for the third quarter, ConAgra’s organic revenue actually rose 2.4% to $2.79 billion. ConAgra also reported a 23.7% adjusted gross margin. And its adjusted EBITDA was $437 million, so it had a 15.7% adjusted EBITDA margin. In general, ConAgra’s ingredient costs are rising, but it might lose sales to private-label brands if it raises prices too much to make up for that. It’s also selling off extra inventory to maintain its dividend in the short term. So, it might sound like ConAgra’s 9% yield is risky. But many of ConAgra’s investors are long-term investors. This company makes staple products like popcorn, canned vegetables, and frozen meals. So, if it can avoid losing market share, its sales should be relatively consistent. And I think its Q4 2026 results and its 2027 results are likely to be better. The company has stabilized its volumes and is now raising its prices again. Because of that factor, I think its dividend is safer than it may appear. And investors might be overestimating the private-label threat to this company as well. ConAgra is Not Worried About Private-Label Competition ConAgra makes frozen meals such as Marie Callender’s dinners. And ConAgra doesn’t have large competit...
On Wednesday, April 1, 2026, Apple Inc. celebrates 50 years of innovation, culture-shaping products, and unprecedented financial growth. From Garage Beginnings to Global Tech Powerhouse In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak turned a garage in California into the birthplace of Apple. Wozniak had designed a computer circuit board for hobbyists and Jobs saw an opportunity to sell it commercially. App...
On Wednesday, April 1, 2026, Apple Inc. celebrates 50 years of innovation, culture-shaping products, and unprecedented financial growth. From Garage Beginnings to Global Tech Powerhouse In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak turned a garage in California into the birthplace of Apple. Wozniak had designed a computer circuit board for hobbyists and Jobs saw an opportunity to sell it commercially. Apple Computer Inc. was officially incorporated the following year, setting the stage for decades of in
Across major African cities such as Nairobi, Lusaka, and Abuja, governments are using surveillance technologies and credit lines from China to monitor public spaces and curb crime, a new survey shows. The UK-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS) said Chinese banks were increasingly funding African governments to build and maintain digital infrastructure – including surveillance cameras and ...
Across major African cities such as Nairobi, Lusaka, and Abuja, governments are using surveillance technologies and credit lines from China to monitor public spaces and curb crime, a new survey shows. The UK-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS) said Chinese banks were increasingly funding African governments to build and maintain digital infrastructure – including surveillance cameras and command and control centres – under the “safe city” project, also known as “smart city”, which is...
Madmaxer/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored with Beyond Saving We've frequently compared the economic conditions of today to the conditions that occurred in the early 2000s. To be clear, no two time periods are identical, but sometimes history rhymes. The problem is that over 26 years, a lot of holdings today that didn't exist. This is true of our portfolio, and it's true of the S&P 500. Alphabet...
Madmaxer/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored with Beyond Saving We've frequently compared the economic conditions of today to the conditions that occurred in the early 2000s. To be clear, no two time periods are identical, but sometimes history rhymes. The problem is that over 26 years, a lot of holdings today that didn't exist. This is true of our portfolio, and it's true of the S&P 500. Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ), META ( META ), and Tesla ( TSLA ) didn't exist in 2000. One holding that we have that did exist back then is NNN REIT, Inc. ( NNN ). Back then, it was named Commercial Net Lease Realty, but it used the same ticker. From 1998 to 2000, NNN was super unpopular. Its share price declined 45%. Nobody wanted to invest in boring old real estate. Interest rates were high and climbing. The 10-year Treasury spiked up from a low of 4.2% in 1998 to a high of 6.7% in 2000. For real estate companies, a high 10-year Treasury rate is a headwind to earnings. After all, they use leverage to amplify returns. Meanwhile, tech was super popular. Anything Internet automatically traded at a superpremium valuation. I distinctly remember some of my peers making fun of the "old guys" who "didn't understand the Internet" and their old fogie style of investing. Everybody who liked money "knew" that buying Growth stocks was the way to go. After all, look at the charts! Like with many things, as we age, we realize that our elders are smarter than we thought. NNN's Dot-Com Experience By 2001, the optimism around unlimited upside was starting to slip. There were still plenty of internet bulls around, but prices were off highs for the S&P 500. Meanwhile, REITs like NNN were up from their bottom, but still down a lot from 1998. Then the catalyst fell. The labor market weakened, and the Fed started cutting rates. Fear and uncertainty rose in the markets, and investors were losing confidence in how companies would monetize the Internet. In September 2001, the twin towers fell, and the U.S. ...
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are currently out of favor in the market. There is too much uncertainty surrounding the war in Iran and skepticism about the payoff on AI spending. This is causing the markets to sell off AI stocks, and this may sound like a terrible time to be buying. However, I think it's the opposite. AI technology isn't expected to reach maturity for several years. As a resu...
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are currently out of favor in the market. There is too much uncertainty surrounding the war in Iran and skepticism about the payoff on AI spending. This is causing the markets to sell off AI stocks, and this may sound like a terrible time to be buying. However, I think it's the opposite. AI technology isn't expected to reach maturity for several years. As a result, more AI spending will be needed to get us there. Although the market is skeptical about what the return on investment will be for AI, it isn't stopping the AI firms from pursuing multi-year expansion plans. I think the long-term outlook on AI stocks is still bullish, and investors should use this sell-off as a buying opportunity. I've got five stocks that I think are smart buys in April, and investors should use the relative weakness in the market to load up on them while they're cheap. Continue reading
Trump Reminds Iran "48 Hours Before All Hell Will Reign Down" As Search For Missing US Pilot Continues Summary President Trump reminds Iran of deal timeline, threatens "all hell will reign down" if time runs out. Israel launched heavy strikes on Tehran , targeting Iranian air-defense and ballistic-missile sites, while a projectile also hit the perimeter of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant The U.S. mil...
Trump Reminds Iran "48 Hours Before All Hell Will Reign Down" As Search For Missing US Pilot Continues Summary President Trump reminds Iran of deal timeline, threatens "all hell will reign down" if time runs out. Israel launched heavy strikes on Tehran , targeting Iranian air-defense and ballistic-missile sites, while a projectile also hit the perimeter of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant The U.S. military continued search operations for an American airman who ejected after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran * * * President Trump Reminds Iran of Timeline, Threatens "All Hell Will Reign Down" As the long weekend continues, President Trump has issued a statement on his social media feed, reminding Iranian negotiators of his timeline for a deal: Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. And then the threat: Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J. TRUMP The odds of 'boots on the ground' have soared to 83% by the end of the month: It seems the stock market's hope (diverging from oil's surge) was misplaced...for now. Search Operations Continue for Missing Airmen Continues With U.S. and Israeli air-delivered munitions still striking targets across Iran, and Tehran retaliating by hitting high-value sites around the Gulf area, while continuing to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict is now entering its sixth week with no credible signs of near-term de-escalation. Add in President Trump's speech last week, which warned that intense targeting could continue for a few more weeks, and it's a very fair assessment that the conflict will carry into next week, with momentum and escalation to the upside. On Saturday, the U.S. military continued search operations for an American airman who ejected after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran, marking the first downed U.S. aircraft in the conflict. One crew member was rescued, but the second remained missing, wit...
honglouwawa/iStock via Getty Images The ProShares Short Dow30 ETF ( DOG ) is an inverse ETF based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average SM Index. It is a popular instrument to short the Dow Jones Index for trading or hedging purposes. DOG was launched on 6/19/2006, has a net expense ratio of 0.95% and a trailing 12-month yield of 3.21%. The fund has $154 million of AUM (assets under management) and ...
honglouwawa/iStock via Getty Images The ProShares Short Dow30 ETF ( DOG ) is an inverse ETF based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average SM Index. It is a popular instrument to short the Dow Jones Index for trading or hedging purposes. DOG was launched on 6/19/2006, has a net expense ratio of 0.95% and a trailing 12-month yield of 3.21%. The fund has $154 million of AUM (assets under management) and an average daily dollar volume of $159 million. About 103% of AUM changes hands in an average trading day, pointing to the fund’s popularity among short-term traders. Underlying index and portfolio As described in the prospectus, ProShares Short Dow30 seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to the inverse (-1x) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average If the Dow Jones goes down 1% in one day, DOG price is supposed to go up 1%. ProShares gives a warning on long-term holding: For any holding period other than a day, your return may be higher or lower than the Daily Target. These differences may be significant. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a 30-stock, price-weighted index including of some of the largest U.S. companies. It is also the underlying index of SPDR® Dow Jones® Industrial Average℠ ETF Trust ( DIA ). Eligible stocks must be part of the S&P 500 Index, excluding the Utilities sector and the Transportation industry per GICS . Constituents are selected by a committee that doesn’t follow quantitative rules. Criteria include a company’s reputation, growth, market interest, the price ratio between the highest priced stock and the lowest priced stock, and sector representation. The index is rebalanced semi-annually in March and September. The turnover is low: 8% in the most recent fiscal year and 3% in the previous year. The top 10 constituents, listed in the next table, represent 55.13% of asset value and the top two names (Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar) weigh 21% in aggregate. Risks related to other individual com...
Shinsei Motions/iStock via Getty Images I just saw a news story about the most and least shorted tech stocks, and UiPath ( PATH ) was among the most shorted, with a short interest of ~20%. This caught my attention for two reasons. The first is that it made me curious to know why the market is so pessimistic, with such high conviction against UiPath. The second is that if by chance I had a convicti...
Shinsei Motions/iStock via Getty Images I just saw a news story about the most and least shorted tech stocks, and UiPath ( PATH ) was among the most shorted, with a short interest of ~20%. This caught my attention for two reasons. The first is that it made me curious to know why the market is so pessimistic, with such high conviction against UiPath. The second is that if by chance I had a conviction contrary to the market, I would believe in a short squeeze, although this is not my usual type of investment. But I came across an unattractive case. I don't think UiPath is that classic cigar butt with deep value, but I also don't think it's an obvious value trap. But still, my rating is a sell, signaling a preference to avoid the stock (not short it) and prefer other means of riding this AI trend. First, The Good Part of UiPath Going straight to the Key Performance Indicators (KPI), the image below summarizes the financials and even the momentum of UiPath very well. Even though the valuation suggests more stressed financials, the KPIs suggest something else. The ARR (Annualized Renewal Run-rate) already exceeded $1.8 billion in the last quarter, with a net retention rate above 100% and double-digit growth . UiPath Presentation What does all this mean? Well, basically, that UiPath is not a dying business. There is not only a very substantial recurring revenue, but customers on average are maintaining their contracts or making larger contracts. And with double-digit growth, it also suggests they are acquiring more customers, which is true, because in the last quarter the company reached 2.56k customers with an ARR above $100k, compared to 2.29k in the same period of the previous year. Not to mention that it added 40 new customers with an ARR above $1 million in this period. Another positive point is that being a software company and small/mid cap, a very compressed operating margin due to stock-based compensation would already be normal, but the scenario is slightly bett...
ablokhin/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Amplify CWP International Enhanced Dividend Income ETF ( IDVO ) is one of the few active covered call ETFs that provides investors geographical diversification, foreign currency exposure and above average income. It could pair well with other US covered call funds to diversify income streams. The fund has explicit focus on quality, income and momentum as ...
ablokhin/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Amplify CWP International Enhanced Dividend Income ETF ( IDVO ) is one of the few active covered call ETFs that provides investors geographical diversification, foreign currency exposure and above average income. It could pair well with other US covered call funds to diversify income streams. The fund has explicit focus on quality, income and momentum as its selection criteria. Momentum is especially important for IDVO. This has several important implications for the fund that I will delve into. IDVO Management Style Active Asset Size $1.04B Expense Ratio 0.66% Portfolio Turnover 132% Top Industry Financial (21%) Top 10 Concentration 32.00% Yield 5.47% Distribution Frequency Monthly Click to enlarge IDVO’s Focus on Quality, Value and Dividend Growth IDVO is an active covered call fund. This makes it a little difficult to analyze from the outside. Still, there are few areas that I want to focus on that are IDVO’s strengths for income investors. First is its explicit focus on quality and dividend growth. The fund holds roughly 30-50 stocks at any given time. The fund targets a yield of 3% - 4%. The remaining 2% - 4% comes from the covered call strategy I will circle back to later. This creates a very attractive and durable yield of 5% - 6%. IDVO does not prioritize value or growth. Most of its portfolio (57%) falls within the blend category. In essence, the fund does not hunt for the highest possible yield or growth. The ETF takes the middle ground. This could be beneficial in today’s 2026 environment as IDVO can take advantage of the best of both worlds. IDVO Value vs Growth Decomposition (Morningstar) If we look at the fund’s relative valuation metrics, its holdings have P/E and P/B ratios comparable to some other value ETFs in the foreign value category. Other metrics are not materially far off. Metric IDVO Foreign Large Value Price/Earnings 13.75 13.17 Price/Book 1.76 1.65 Price/Sales 1.95 1.25 Price/Cash Flow 8 8.2 Divid...
tupungato/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The reasons why I find Microsoft ( MSFT ) so attractive right now are neither the size, the brand, nor even the clear AI positioning. It's the contrast between many positive trends that appear at once and the correction of the share price as if something is wrong here. This discrepancy is what I am mostly interested in. In no way do I believe that the ma...
tupungato/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The reasons why I find Microsoft ( MSFT ) so attractive right now are neither the size, the brand, nor even the clear AI positioning. It's the contrast between many positive trends that appear at once and the correction of the share price as if something is wrong here. This discrepancy is what I am mostly interested in. In no way do I believe that the market doesn't grasp what is happening at Microsoft. Quite the contrary, everyone understands how strong Azure is growing, how popular Copilot is and how strategically important Microsoft is in enterprise AI adoption. What I see the problem is not in the end goal, but in reaching it. Investors understand that all the investments Microsoft makes are likely to pay off eventually. However, there is no doubt that it will take some time for the company to turn these investments into solid bottom line results, and the market does not want to give it this time. Why Is CapEx So Undervalued? Microsoft's capex rose from $44.5 billion in FY2024 to $64.6 billion in FY2025, indicating over 3x growth in just four years. The increase didn't slow down there either. In Q1 FY2026, capex stood at $34.9 billion, followed by $37.5 billion in Q2 . If such an investment pace continues, the annual capex will come out at roughly $140-$150 billion by the end of FY2026. While we may see a slowdown going forward, the pace of investments that management chose is without precedent for the firm. MSFT Q2 Earnings FCF paints a different picture from capex. FY2025 FCF came out at $71.6 billion, meaning that capex started getting close to free cash flow run rate. In Q2 alone, FCF turned out at just $5.9 billion due to intense investments. There is an area in which, in my opinion, the business and the market are out of sync. This is capital expenditure. The overall reaction from the market on it is rather negative and it is not really unexpected. Capital expenditures grow rapidly and are not yet offset by cash ...
tupungato/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The reasons why I find Microsoft ( MSFT ) so attractive right now are neither the size, the brand, nor even the clear AI positioning. It's the contrast between many positive trends that appear at once and the correction of the share price as if something is wrong here. This discrepancy is what I am mostly interested in. In no way do I believe that the ma...
tupungato/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The reasons why I find Microsoft ( MSFT ) so attractive right now are neither the size, the brand, nor even the clear AI positioning. It's the contrast between many positive trends that appear at once and the correction of the share price as if something is wrong here. This discrepancy is what I am mostly interested in. In no way do I believe that the market doesn't grasp what is happening at Microsoft. Quite the contrary, everyone understands how strong Azure is growing, how popular Copilot is and how strategically important Microsoft is in enterprise AI adoption. What I see the problem is not in the end goal, but in reaching it. Investors understand that all the investments Microsoft makes are likely to pay off eventually. However, there is no doubt that it will take some time for the company to turn these investments into solid bottom line results, and the market does not want to give it this time. Why Is CapEx So Undervalued? Microsoft's capex rose from $44.5 billion in FY2024 to $64.6 billion in FY2025, indicating over 3x growth in just four years. The increase didn't slow down there either. In Q1 FY2026, capex stood at $34.9 billion, followed by $37.5 billion in Q2 . If such an investment pace continues, the annual capex will come out at roughly $140-$150 billion by the end of FY2026. While we may see a slowdown going forward, the pace of investments that management chose is without precedent for the firm. MSFT Q2 Earnings FCF paints a different picture from capex. FY2025 FCF came out at $71.6 billion, meaning that capex started getting close to free cash flow run rate. In Q2 alone, FCF turned out at just $5.9 billion due to intense investments. There is an area in which, in my opinion, the business and the market are out of sync. This is capital expenditure. The overall reaction from the market on it is rather negative and it is not really unexpected. Capital expenditures grow rapidly and are not yet offset by cash ...
The former Little House on the Prairie star said husband was ‘last person in world who would hurt a child’ Melissa Gilbert has staunchly defended her husband and fellow actor Timothy Busfield in her first interview since New Mexico prosecutors charged him with child sexual abuse in early February. In part of a conversation scheduled to be broadcast on Monday on Good Morning America but circulated ...
The former Little House on the Prairie star said husband was ‘last person in world who would hurt a child’ Melissa Gilbert has staunchly defended her husband and fellow actor Timothy Busfield in her first interview since New Mexico prosecutors charged him with child sexual abuse in early February. In part of a conversation scheduled to be broadcast on Monday on Good Morning America but circulated in advance as a preview, Gilbert told ABC host George Stephanopoulos that she believed the Emmy winner whom she married in 2013 to be “the last person in the world who would hurt a child”. Continue reading...
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stock’s multi-year comeback might still have legs, especially as the firm looks to change things up under its new leader and CEO, Lip-Bu Tan. Though it’s just been one year into the man’s tenure as top boss of the former high-flying chip darling, the results really do speak for themselves, with the shares ... Intel’s Panther Lake Chip is Seriously Impressive. It’s Time to Buy t...
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stock’s multi-year comeback might still have legs, especially as the firm looks to change things up under its new leader and CEO, Lip-Bu Tan. Though it’s just been one year into the man’s tenure as top boss of the former high-flying chip darling, the results really do speak for themselves, with the shares ... Intel’s Panther Lake Chip is Seriously Impressive. It’s Time to Buy the Stock