Wyatt Research Year in Review, Part II

Happy New Year!
The ball has dropped. The market has spoken. 2015 is officially in the books.
Last week in this space I brought you part one of my favorite Wyatt Investment Research articles of 2015. As promised, here’s part two.
As I mentioned in the first installment of Wyatt Research’s year in review, the following articles represent snapshots of moments in time. They haven’t been edited since their publication dates, so please bear that in mind.
Thanks for your readership throughout the year. Here’s to a prosperous 2016.
GE’s Turnaround: Bringing Good Things Back to Life – Like General Electric (NYSE: GE) did in the 1980s under retired CEO Jack Welch, the company is once again finding a new path. Or, to be more accurate, it is finding its way back to the company’s old proven path as an industrial powerhouse. CEO Jeffrey Immelt is taking a twofold approach to GE’s turnaround. First, he has to find buyers for large portions of GE Capital’s loan portfolio. He then has to build up the company’s industrial business again – even more than before.
An Overlooked Soda Stock Gets Sporty – A significant stake in a relatively unknown sports drink company could provide a refreshing boost of energy to an often overlooked soda stock.
Take the Long View on the Stock Market Correction – The media noise surrounding the stock market correction is loud and reactive. But what can long-term investors do when stock prices are falling?
The ‘Great Fall of China’ and the Future of Emerging Markets – The worldwide sell-off in equities in the aftermath of China’s “Black Monday” caused many pundits to prognosticate the doom of emerging markets in general. Yet a recent survey from management consulting firm A.T. Kearney showed that 500 CEOs of multinationals are expecting emerging economies to rebound. Eighty percent of the CEOs polled expect a rebound within a year. At the top of their list for growth opportunities: China and East Asia.
Can Carl Icahn Unearth Big Gains From This Mining Stock? – Activist investor Carl Icahn is at it again. This time he’s taken an 8.5% stake in a languishing mining stock that holds $20.9 billion in total debt on its balance sheet and just $466 million in cash and cash equivalents. Can the Icahn touch work its cost-cutting magic?
The Real Winner From the Bud-Miller Merger – Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) is making a play for SABMiller (OTC: SBMRY), offering a near 35% premium to buy the company. The proposed transaction would be Anheuser-Busch’s largest acquisition ever. But the biggest imbiber of profits from the proposed acquisition could be a rival North American beer company which has a strong stock buyback plan in place and is shifting toward more craft beer offerings.
Why Texas Instruments Is a Better Income Investment Than Apple – When you think of Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN), you may think of an old stodgy throwback tech company. After all, aren’t they the ones that make calculators? The truth is, the company has evolved tremendously over the years and is now a leader in specialized semiconductors and hardware. And Texas Instruments has a key advantage over Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) in terms of the cash stored on its balance sheet.
A High-Flying Pharmaceutical Stock Slams a Big-Time Money Manager – Is Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of hedge fund giant Pershing Square Capital Management, having one of those forehead-slapping moments?
Top 5 Steve Jobs Lessons – Steve Jobs will no doubt go down in history as one of the great American inventors and innovators, alongside Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. And with the Danny Boyle-Aaron Sorkin biopic “Steve Jobs” currently in wide release, now’s a good time to look back on some of the timeless and universal lessons that can be learned from the career of the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) co-founder.
The Best Big Bank Stock, Period – Much of the market has a love-hate relationship with the financial industry following the 2008 financial crisis. Despite the worst being behind us, many investors still aren’t sure how profitability shakes out in light of regulatory changes. But the best big bank stock has industry-leading returns on capital, a solid dividend yield and a clean balance sheet. It’s been growing revenues despite low interest rates, due to its strong position in mortgage lending and originations. And unlike other big banks, it’s managed to sidestep having to make large divestitures or pay sizable compliance costs.
Don’t Turn the Lights Off on This Electric Dividend Stock – It’s not an easy time to be an industrial company, but beneath the scary headlines, the best corporations continue to do what they’ve always done: pay dividends. And on Nov. 3, this industrial company raised its dividend to $1.90 per share annualized. This represents the 59th year in a row that it has increased its payout.
Investors Should Stock Up on This Grocery Stock – Commitment to growth and innovation has fueled 54% gains for this grocery stock in 2013, 62% gains in 2014 and 16% gains so far in 2015. Though the stock has risen more than 100% in the past three years it still trades at a reasonable valuation: roughly 19 times 2016 earnings.
Is This Billionaire Investor Brilliant or Crazy? – Hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital has been a big buyer of Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX), the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 over the past year. What’s more, he’s continually bought into a downward price trend. Does Einhorn see something the broader market doesn’t, or has he simply thrown good money after bad?
Junk Bonds: A Horror Story Worthy of Stephen King – Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund has closed its door to redemptions, causing junk bonds to experience their largest one-day tumble since 2011.
Finally: Fed Raises Interest Rates for the First Time in 9 Years – We finally have our answer on the Federal Reserve interest rate decision that had been debated back and forth ad nauseam in 2015.