Top 5 Positions in Warren Buffett's Portfolio

Warren Buffett is undeniably the most closely watched, highest-profile investor in modern history. Not surprisingly, investors relentlessly clamor to match his success by analyzing his portfolio, hoping to absorb even a tiny morsel of Buffett's investment genius. Despite his unparalleled success, Buffett's investment model has always been transparent, straightforward, and consistent.

• Warren Buffett and the Problem of Patience

  GuruFocus.com
• Warren Buffett on If You Need to Go to Business School to Be a Good Investor

  GuruFocus.com

Ford workers break their silence on faulty transmissions: 'My hands are dirty. I feel horrible'

“My hands are dirty. I feel horrible,” said a Ford engineer who played a key role in developing the popular compact cars.

Asian shares firm, oil near two-month high after deeper output cut

Asian stocks held firm on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric kept investors' hopes up on a trade deal with China, while oil sat near two-month highs after producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on further output cuts. Japan's Nikkei <.N225> rose 0.28% and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.19%. Trump said on Thursday that U.S.-China trade talks are "moving right along," striking an upbeat tone despite a lack of agreement over whether existing tariffs should be dropped as part of a deal.

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  OPEC, allies agree to deepen oil output cuts

  Reuters
• CORRECTED-UPDATE 4-Oil rises as OPEC weighs deeper output cuts

  Reuters

Dow Jones Futures: Stock Market Rally Strong Before Jobs Report; Tesla Gets $500 'Bull' Target While DocuSign Leads Earnings Movers

Dow futures: The stock market rally is acting well going into Friday's jobs report. Tesla, DocuSign, Okta, Zoom and Ulta Beauty led movers late.

• 
  Brown-Forman Corporation (BF.B) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

  Zacks
• 
  Microchip (MCHP) Narrows Sales & Earnings Expectations for Q3

  Zacks

Rand Paul’s student loan plan ‘will rob Americans’ of their retirement

Experts worry that Sen. Rand Paul's plan to fix the student debt crisis will hurt Americans' retirement security.

• 
  Sen. Rand Paul unveils plan for people to pay off student loans by dipping into their retirement savings

  Business Insider
• What to Do When Your First Student Loan Payment Is Due

  NerdWallet

Justices stumped in SCOTUS tax refund case with “massive economic significance”

The Bob Richards rule is athe center of this dispute yet it had no defenders.

• 
  Trump turns to U.S. Supreme Court as last chance to keep his finances secret

  Reuters
• 
  Trump turns to Supreme Court a second time to stop release of his tax records

  The Independent

These Are Bank of America’s Top 10 Trades for 2020

Dec.03 -- Adarsh Sinha, co-head of Asia FX and rates strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, discusses his investment outlook and the top 10 trades for 2020. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.”

3 Under-The-Radar Dividend Stocks with over 9% Dividend Yield

Reading the news about the stock markets, it pays to remember that the giant corporations – the Apples and the Microsofts, the Walmarts and the Home Depots – have a habit of taking up all the available oxygen in the room. That is, they hog the headlines, and can obscure a view of the larger picture.That larger picture, examined with an eye for the unusual, can reveal some excellent stock deals. There are plenty of bargain deals in the equity markets, and they offer plenty of reasons for investors to look twice. We’ve used the TipRanks Stock Screener tool to search the database and find three that fit the profile, with a special focus on dividend stocks.By choosing the right filter settings, we could focus directly on stocks with solid upside potential, a Buy rating, and a dividend yield of over 5%. That last is particularly important, as a high dividend yield indicates a stock that will return income to investors at rates well above the average. A further refinement of the search, to narrow it down to small and micro-cap stocks, weeded out any large companies that likely already get plenty of press attention. The resulting search brought back 69 stocks that matched the profile – a far more manageable number for market research. We’ve chosen three of the high-yielding dividend stocks from that short list for a closer examination. Let's take a closer look:Cypress Energy Partners (CELP)The energy industry in North America is booming – that’s a fact. Extraction of oil and natural gas is big business across the United States – in Texas, the Dakotas, Appalachia – and in the Canadian West. There’s no lack of customers, as the US, in September, saw its first-ever month as a net oil exporter, and markets are expanding for natural gas, a cleaner burning alternative to petroleum derivatives.All of this gas and oil, and the customers that depend on it, would come to nothing if it weren’t for the midstream companies. These are the players who actually move the product – they control pipelines; tankers on road, rail, and water; terminals; and storage facilities. The midstream companies, while they don’t get the same attention as the extraction companies, make the business possible. Cypress Energy inhabits this sphere.The company operates in several segments of the midstream niche. It offers pipeline inspection and testing services across the United States, as well as water sourcing, gathering, disposal, and recycling facilities in the Bakken oil fields of the Dakotas. This micro-cap (market cap of $105 million) company reported strong financials, with Q3 revenues coming in at $108.9 million and net income at $5.5 million, while net debt was deleveraged by 17%.But for investors, the most important part was the dividend. For the quarter, CELP paid out 21 cents per share, or 84 cents annualized and a 10% yield, consistent with its payouts for the previous 10 quarters. That’s right – Cypress has maintained its dividend at almost 5x the S&P’s average yield for over two and a half years. It’s a flashing sign to investors that this stock is poised to give a solid return. This is backed up by the stock’s impressive 56% gain in 2019.In line with our search profile, CELP has only one recent analyst review, but that is a firm Buy. B. Riley analyst Tom Curran wrote last week, “Our confidence in Cypress Energy Partners' 2020 growth potential … has been significantly bolstered by the partnership's 3Q19 beat and outlook update… [and] research we have done that quantifies the U.S. oil and gas midstream's dual secular uptrends in annual total pipeline mileage and total miles inspected per year…”Curran puts an $11 price target with his Buy rating, indicating confidence in a 26% upside. (To watch Curran’s track record, click here)Green Plains Partners LP (GPP)Our second stock, Green Plains, operates in an industry adjacent to oil and gas midstreaming. GPP provides storage, transport, and terminal services to the fuel industry, with a network of storage tanks and transport assets for ethanol and other volatile fuels.GPP’s primary focus is on ethanol. The company owns 32 facilities in 5 Midwest and Great Plains farming states, plus Tennessee and Texas, and can handle 1.1 billion gallons per year. Terminal facilities across the South, and more than 2,800 rail tankers with a total capacity of 85 million gallons, extend the company’s ethanol transport network.Weak margins in Q3 definitely weighed on the company, but the outlook is better moving forward. CEO Todd Becker said, in the Q3 earnings conference call last month, that margins turned positive during Q4 and are expected to hold at positive or breakeven levels through mid-2020. He points out, “Our balance sheet has allowed us to be patient,” and important point, as the company has available $254 million in cash and cash equivalents, plus $260 million accessible in revolving credit agreements.From the standpoint of returns to investors, especially on dividends, GPP truly stands out. The company raised its dividend payment each quarter back in 2017, from 43 cents quarterly to 48 cents, and has held it steady at 48 ever since. The current annualized payment, $1.90, gives the dividend the tremendous yield of 14.1%. This is 7x the ~2% average yield of S&P listed companies, and the long history of consistent payments or incremental increases, plus the company’s strong cash position, are signs that the dividend is sustainable.Green Plains’ only recent analyst review comes from RBC Capital analyst Elvira Scotto. The five-star analyst published her note on the stock back in September, and strongly reiterated her stance in early November. In her September comments, she wrote, “We believe GPP's contract structure provides highly visible cash flow in the near-term. Longer-term we believe GPP can grow and further diversify through acquisitions given its strong balance sheet.”Scotto puts a $15 price target with her Buy rating on GPP, implying an upside of 11%. (To watch Scotto’s track record, click here)Advanced Emissions Solutions (ADES)The energy boom has resulted, of course, in increased use of fuels of all sorts, from oil to natural gas to ethanol – and even to coal. ADES works that last segment, providing technologies and solutions to control plant emissions pollutants from coal-fired power generation. The company also offers water purification technologies for industrial and municipal uses.The popular push toward a cleaner environment, and the political pull of environmentalist groups, has turned emissions cleaning solutions into a big business. ADES is a profitable company – not always a given in a competitive business with low margins. In Q3, revenues rose from last year’s $5.1 million to the current $19.1 million. Net income dropped, however, slipping 29% to $3.9 million. The drop in revenues is attributable to a negative hit on the company from the increasing popularity of natural gas and other cleaning burning fuels. Remember here that ADES works heavily with coal-fired power plants. Shares price fell 14% after the quarterly release, reflecting investor unease with the loss in net income.On a brighter spot for investors, however, ADES reported having $20.2 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand in September. While this was down 15% from the company’s cash position at the end of 2018, the spending was on shareholders. Over the course of 2019, ADES has been returning income to investors through dividends and buybacks. The dividend of 25 cents per quarter has been stable for over two years, and management’s actions this year shows a commitment to maintaining it. The $1 annualized payment gives a yield of 9.8%, a boon for investors, while the 43 % payout ratio shows that the dividend is easily sustainable.H.C. Wainwright analyst Amit Dayal is bullish on ADES, writing on November 14, just after the earnings report was released, that management is confident that they can win and renew contracts above historical levels, and drive growth into the 15% to 20% range next year. He says, “We are projecting overall top line revenues of $74.5M in 2019 and expect these to rise to $111.3M in 2021…”Dayal rates ADES as a Buy, with an $18 stock-price forecast. His target suggests an impressive 77% upside potential to the stock, indicating confidence that the recent slip in share price was a more of a blip. (To watch Dayal’s track record, click here)

• 
  Investors In Texhong Textile Group Limited (HKG:2678) Should Consider This, First

  Simply Wall St.
• 
  Should You Or Shouldn't You: A Dividend Analysis on CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE:CNHI)

  Simply Wall St.

CrowdStrike stock bounces back after earnings typo is corrected

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. topped Wall Street estimates with quarterly results Thursday, and the cybersecurity company’s stock turned around after a typo in its outlook was corrected.

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  Zscaler (ZS) Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

  Zacks
• 
  Emcore (EMKR) Reports Q4 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates

  Zacks

Savvy Millennials Are 'House Hacking' Their Way To Homeownership And Rent-Free Living

From finding the right home to getting a mortgage. Here's how to get started.

GM, LG Chem to Build $2.3 Billion Ohio Battery Plant

Dec.05 -- Mary Barra, chief executive officer at General Motors, and Hak-Cheol Shin, vice chairman and chief executive officer at LG Chem, discuss their $2.3 billion joint investment in a new electric-vehicle battery plant to be built in Lordstown, Ohio. They speak with Bloomberg’s David Westin on "Bloomberg Markets."

• 
  GM and LG Chem are forming a joint venture to build a $2.3 billion battery factory in Ohio

  Business Insider
• 
  GM, Korea's LG Chem in venture to build factory in Ohio

  Associated Press

Billionaire Paul Singer Pulls the Trigger on These 2 “Strong Buy” Stocks

Coming up from humble beginnings to manage one of the world’s largest hedge funds, Paul Singer has never shied away from risk. He holds degrees in both psychology and law, and understands the important of reading people and events to mitigate that risk. He started his asset management firm, Elliot Management, back in 1977, after leaving a short-lived career in real estate law. He had $1.3 million in seed money, and since turned that into a $38.2 billion portfolio of assets under management.Singer’s career hasn’t been without controversy. In 2009, it was revealed that his firm held more than one-third of its portfolio in distressed securities, and Elliot was accused of being a vulture fund, profiting greatly from the debts of the less fortunate. Today, Singer and Elliot Management operate a more diversified portfolio, and functions as a multi-strategy hedge. But that doesn’t mean that controversy has gone away.His fund is still accused of predatory activity, but on level both more sophisticated and higher scale. In one example, Singer’s fund acquired a controlling interest in Cabela’s, the chain of sporting goods stores, and within a short time was pressuring the company Board of Directors to sell out. The board balked – Cabela’s was bringing in over $1 billion annually – but the fund pushed harder, an offer came in from Bass Pro Shops, and the sale was made. The town of Sidney, Nebraska, where Cabela’s had been headquartered, saw a loss of 2,000 jobs while Elliot Management pocketed $90 million."Elliott Management has made billions by buying large stakes in American companies, then firing workings, driving up short-term share prices, and in some cases taking government bailouts,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson explained. It's a clear example of how the interests of investing and working classes can diverge.But not every investment leaves a trail of bad news, however. Elliot Management has plenty of politically less contentious holdings among their $12 billion worth of 13F reported securities. These are a matter of the public record, and savvy investors can learn valuable lessons from perusing them. We’ve done some of the footwork for you.Using those public records, and cross checking with the TipRanks Stock Screener, we’ve picked out two ‘Strong Buy’ stocks that Elliot bought into big-time in Q3. Each stock has a solid upside – upwards of 30% – and offers investors an above-average dividend payout. So, let’s dive in and find out why Paul Singer likes them.Marathon Petroleum (MPC)With an output of 2 million barrels per day of refined crude oil, Marathon is the largest oil refining company in the United States. It operates in several segments of the oil business, including its core refining operations, midstream well-to-refinery pipelines and transport, and end-use customer retail in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Marathon saw $96.5 billion in revenues in fiscal 2018.So, like Elliot Management, Marathon is an example of gigantism. The oil company has a market cap of $39 billion, and at the end of October reported Q3 earnings of $1.63 per share. While down year-over-year (Q3 2018 showed $1.70 EPS), the current figure clobbered the forecast of $1.30 – beating it by 25%. Revenues were up almost 35%, to $31.2 billion for the quarter.Investors like MPC first for its strong profits, and second for its reliable dividend. The company currently pays out 53 cents per share quarterly, or $2.12 annualized, and has been slowly and steadily increasing that dividend over the last 12 quarters. The current payment gives a yield of 3.53%, 1.3 times higher than the average yield of S&P listed companies.So, there are obvious reasons for a diversified hedge fund to like MPC – strong profits and a steady payback. And we see that in Q3, Singer bought up 3,998,273 shares of the stock, boosting his firm’s holding by 87%. Elliot now owns 8.6 million shares of Marathon Oil, a holding worth over half a billion dollars.4-star analyst Paul Cheng, of Scotiabank, is bullish on MPC, writing after the Q3 earnings release: “We remain positive on the refining industry’s medium-term macro backdrop [...] We view MPC’s various strategic announcements and 3Q19 earnings release positively [...] we note that MPC’s sum-of-the-parts discount remains wider than that of peers.” Cheng puts a $94 price target with his Buy rating on the stock, showing confidence in an impressive 56% upside potential. (To watch Cheng’s track record, click here)With 8 Buy ratings given in recent months, MPC has a unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating. The stock currently sells for $60, and the $82 average price target suggests room for 37% growth on the upside. (See Marathon Petroleum stock analysis on TipRanks)Mobile Mini (MINI)The guy who invented the overseas shipping container came up with a thing of genius. These giant steel boxes, built to standard sizes, make loading and offloading the ocean’s freighters easier and cheaper. Mobile Mini brings that concept to land-based storage at a variety of scales, offering storage solutions for small and medium businesses. The company builds, and then sells or leases, welded steel storage containers. Mobile Mini’s boxes come in sized from 5 to 45 feet, and are readily convertible to more than 100 configurations, including sheds, guard rooms, and site offices. The company even offers options for the storage of water and other industrial liquids.Where Marathon is a corporate giant, Mobile Mini lives up to its name. This small-cap company boasts a $1.6 billion market cap, and benefits from the agility inherent in smaller companies. Mobile Mini credits its strong growth since 2000 to aggressive marketing, a wide variety of storage container products, and a diverse customer base, including small and large businesses dealing in both solid and liquid materials.In recent years, the company’s stock has been volatile, but has still shown an 18% gain in 2019. While underperforming the S&P 500 index, this is still solid growth, and MINI has accompanied it with a 2.92% dividend yield. At a 50% payout ratio, that dividend is easily sustainable – and better, the company has been increasing the payment each year for the last three years. The current payment is 28 cents per share quarterly.As with MPC, it’s clear why Paul Singer would be interest in MINI. The stock has a firm niche in its business, and pays back investors at above-average rates. Elliot Management picked up a large block of MINI in Q3, opening a new position with a 2 million share purchase. That holding is worth over $75 million – a gain of $1.5 million since the reported purchase.5-star Oppenheimer analyst Scott Schneeberger lays out the case for MINI is clear and simple words: “A straightforward story of financial metric improvement, MINI is well positioned for long-term profitable growth and free cash flow sufficient to fund organic/acquisitive growth, debt reduction, and increasing return of capital. We're drawn to the long-lived asset characteristics and lengthy average rental period of MINI's legacy portable storage container business, which is experiencing a solid demand environment expected to persist.” Schneeberger back up his upbeat outlook with a $42 price target, implying an 11% upside – not spectacular, but straightforwardly profitable. (To watch Schneeberger’s track record, click here.)Like MPC, shares in MINI have a unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating, this one based on 3 recent bullish reviews. The stock sells for $37, so the $51 average price target suggests an upside of 37%, significantly better than Schneeberger’s, and indicating that Wall Street, like Singer, is optimistic about Mobile Mini. (See Mobile Mini stock analysis on TipRanks)

Roth Conversion Makes Sense at Today's Low Tax Rates

Historically low tax rates are in effect until 2025. That makes this a good time to consider converting your traditional IRA or 401(k) to a Roth.

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  401(k), 403(b), TSP Contribution Limits Climb in 2020

  Kiplinger
• 
  401(k) and IRA Advice Especially for Women

  Kiplinger

McDermott to negotiate restructuring as it staves off default

The company has entered into a forbearance agreement with some of its creditors after skipping an interest payment.

Synopsys Beats Fourth-Quarter Targets But Near-Term Outlook Disappoints

Chip design software maker Synopsys late Wednesday beat Wall Street's targets for its fiscal fourth quarter but gave disappointing guidance for the current quarter. Synopsys stock fell late.

• 
  Why Is Prothena (PRTA) Up 36.1% Since Last Earnings Report?

  Zacks
• 
  Why Is Mosaic (MOS) Down 14.9% Since Last Earnings Report?

  Zacks

Alphabet’s New Boss Means $2 Billion for Departing Founders

(Bloomberg) -- Larry Page and Sergey Brin just got a $2.3 billion retirement gift from investors.The Google co-founders, who announced Tuesday they were stepping down from day-to-day management of parent Alphabet Inc., added more than $1 billion each to their net worth today as the firm’s shares rose 1.9% in New York.They each own about 6% of the internet giant and still control Alphabet through special voting shares.The gains come as investors welcome Sundar Pichai’s elevation to chief executive officer of Alphabet, replacing Page in the role. It means the three most valuable U.S. tech firms no longer have a founder at the helm.Like Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook and Microsoft Corp.’s Satya Nadella, Pichai is a long-time lieutenant who steadily worked his way up the corporate ladder. More than 15 years after he joined the Mountain View-based company he’s replacing Page in the top job. Brin is stepping down as president, leaving Pichai as undisputed leader.The shift reflects Google’s accession into corporate middle age. Started in a California garage by Brin and Page in 1998, the firm had revenue of $137 billion in 2018 and today boasts a market value of $893 billion. That’s behind only Apple and Microsoft on the S&P 500 Index.Founder FreeOther Silicon Valley giants are also founder free. Larry Ellison’s Oracle Corp. is headed by Safra Catz, though Ellison is still involved as the company’s chairman. Some younger companies -- such as Uber Technologies Inc. and We Co. -- have turned to outsiders amid turmoil.There are some notable exceptions. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are still at the helm of Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. respectively, which are the fourth- and fifth-largest U.S. companies by market value.Such a transition has proved to be a boon for Apple and Microsoft. The iPhone maker’s shares have risen by more than 400% since Cook took the helm in August 2011 and Microsoft has quadrupled on Nadella’s watch.Since 2015, Pichai has served as CEO of Google, by far the company’s biggest division. During his time in that job, Alphabet’s shares doubled in price even as the company wrestled with increased scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers.Unusual PositionTheir success has placed the trio among America’s richest executives. Each are worth hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to stock awards they’ve received.Pichai, 47, is in an unusual position for a top executive. Unlike Cook and Nadella, who stand fourth and sixth on Bloomberg’s executive pay ranking, almost all of Pichai’s stock awards have vested, filings show.By contrast, Cook, 59, still has as many as 1.8 million restricted stock units worth about $500 million set to vest through August 2021, according to a recent filing. Nadella, 52, could earn as many as 1.8 million Microsoft shares through a long-term performance-based stock award that is currently worth about $275 million.The Alphabet board will likely move to rectify this discrepancy. But however they decide to compensate Pichai, he’ll still lag far behind the wealth accrued by Brin and Page. The pair have a combined net worth of about $126 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.(Updates net worth gains and share price in second paragraph.)\--With assistance from Anders Melin, Mark Bergen and Gerrit De Vynck.To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Peter EichenbaumFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

• 
  Alphabet (GOOGL) Appoints New CEO Who Must Now Navigate Treacherous Waters

  Zacks
• 
  Corrected: Alphabet's 'Other bets' in focus as Google's Pichai takes helm

  Reuters

Mortgage rates hold steady, but economists say don’t expect that to last

Mortgage rates didn’t budge much over the last week amid mixed signals as to the economy’s strength as the holiday season kicked into full drive. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.68% during the week ending Dec. 5, unchanged from the previous week, Freddie Mac (FMCC) reported Thursday. Compared to a year ago, mortgage rates were more than a full percentage point lower.

• 
  US long-term mortgage rates steady; 30-year loan at 3.68%

  Associated Press
• 
  Gift to Borrowers: Lowest December Mortgage Rates in 7 Years

  MoneyWise

Loomis Sayles' Fuss Says He's Worried About High-Yield Bonds

Dec.05 -- Dan Fuss, Loomis Sayles & Co. vice chairman, expresses his concerns about the high-yield bond market. He speaks with Bloomberg's Amanda Lang and Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg Markets."

Analog Devices sues California chipmaker over alleged patent infringement

The Norwood-based semiconductor company, which has more than $40 billion in market capitalization, is suing a chipmaker the company has worked with for years.