March Madness: FANGs Struggle, Chevron Spikes

With apologies to T.S. Eliot, March is the cruelest month.
Since 1998, when I was a junior in high school, I’ve dutifully filled out a bracket for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament – aka March Madness.
I’ve yet to win.
My best showing was a second-place finish in 2007, when I was foiled by the Greg Oden-led Ohio State Buckeyes’ soul-crushing loss to the Florida Gators in the title game. One year I finished behind a colleague who picked teams based solely on the color of their uniforms.
It’s only one week into Wyatt Research’s March Madness stock bracket, and it looks like my stock picking has followed suit with my basketball prognostication.
Simply put, consider my bracket busted:

The toughest loss is obviously Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), which I had picked to win the whole shebang. As I mentioned in last week’s article, I was a bit concerned about its opening round matchup against McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD). Sure enough, the fast-food giant delivered, posting gains of 3.7% for the week compared to Facebook’s 1% increase.
Consumers have been lovin’ it when it comes to Mickey D’s rollout of a limited-menu all-day breakfast. This week investors clearly gave their stamp of approval to the news that McDonald’s is testing a 24/7 full breakfast menu.
My other pick to reach the finals, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), fared better. The Google parent company posted 2% gains compared to General Electric’s (NYSE: GE) 0.5% loss. But it’s small consolation, considering I only won 3 of 8 contests.
Here’s the official tally of percentage gains/losses for the week for each of the eight matchups:
The big winner was Chevron, which more than doubled the gains of any of the other 15 stocks. The spike came after the company’s announcement at its annual security analyst meeting on Tuesday that it would trim its capital budget by as much as 36% in 2017 and 2018 in an effort to preserve its dividend payout.
Of course, this exercise in bracketology is just for fun, and none of those weekly percentage gains or losses amount to a hill of beans for a long-term investor. While Exxon Mobil shares lost ground this week compared to Chevron, I’d still be more comfortable holding Exxon over the long term, due to its greater likelihood to continue increasing its dividend in 2016 and beyond.
My Wyatt Research bracket has been busted, but the good news is that the NCAA tournament field will be announced on Sunday evening. And while Mr. Market wasn’t kind to me this week, I’m hopeful that this will finally be the year that the basketball gods look favorably on my NCAA bracket.
But I wouldn’t bet on it. Or at least not more than five bucks.
Here are some of my favorite Wyatt Investment Research articles of the past week:
Has the Deep Freeze of the Canadian Stock Market Finally Thawed? – With the very sharp rebound in the prices of many commodities recently, the Canadian stock market has quickly gone from chump to champ.
This 100% Annual Yield Just Might Be Worth the Risk – Senior unsecured notes of this upstream MLP are trading around $80 each and pay $86.25 in annual interest – which equates to an annual yield of more than 100%.
Tune In to These Radio Stock Dividends – If you like small-cap stocks, you should appreciate these three radio stock dividends from companies that are cashing in on a niche market.
Electric Car Boom Just Around the Corner? – An electric car surge has been a long time coming. After all, at the turn of the 20th century, 38% of U.S. autos were powered by electricity.
This Microcap Stock Has a Sweet 4.5% Dividend Yield – With a strong brand, high dividend yield and solid growth prospects, this microcap stock is a tasty treat in the often overlooked chocolate industry.
Why It’s Time to Buy Indian Equities – India is on pace to pass China as the most populous and fastest-growing country in the next couple years. And at the end of last month, India revealed a fiscal plan that gave Indian stocks a boost. However, investing in India isn’t a one-year or even a five-year plan. It’s an option for investors with a multi-decade horizon. If you want to take some of the risk out of owning individual Indian equities, several ETFs are enticing.
How to Use Cash-Secured Puts to Buy Stocks for Lower Prices – Selling cash-secured puts is a great way to lower the cost basis of a stock or ETF you wish to purchase, or to simply create income on a consistent basis.
Making Sense of Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller’s Tech Investments – Despite Stanley Druckenmiller’s belief that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies have created a bubble, the hedge fund manager is not forsaking tech investments altogether. In fact, SEC filings show that he’s been buying up shares of a pair of the “FANG” stocks.
Have a great weekend!