Week in Review Asian equities were mixed for the week as Korea and Japan outperformed while Thailand and Malaysia underperformed. This week saw Q1 earnings reports from Meituan, which beat estimates, PDD, which missed, Kuaishou, whose report was mixed, and Li Auto, which beat estimates on revenue and net income on vehicle deliveries up 16% year-over-year (YoY). Asian equities cheered the US’ Court of International Trade’s decision Wednesday that President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 was not legal. Mainland media noted strong preliminary sales for the 6:18 (June 18th) sales festival, with multiple online…

In my experience, many families I meet don’t fit the traditional nuclear family dynamic. According to Pew Research, approximately 42% of all adults have a stepparent, step or half sibling, or a stepchild. However, much of the financial literature out there is not tailored to these blended families. Blended families include an adult person or couple and all the children from current and all prior relationships. I am not only part of this 42% of adults in blended families, but I also have a close look inside of many types of family dynamics as a financial planner. This is how…

Question: Why are there so many ETFs? Answer: ETF issuance is profitable, so Wall Street keeps cranking out more products to sell. The large number of ETFs has little to do with serving your best interests as an investor. I leverage this data to identify three red flags you can use to avoid the worst ETFs: 1. Inadequate Liquidity This issue is the easiest to avoid, and my advice is simple. Avoid all ETFs with less than $100 million in assets. Low levels of liquidity can lead to a discrepancy between the price of the ETF and the underlying value…

I originally made Meritage Homes (MTH) a Long Idea in June 2020 and reiterated my bullish thesis on the stock many times since. Meritage Homes, is steadily taking market share, building and delivering homes faster, all the while returning capital to shareholders through dividends and repurchases. Despite an uncertain housing outlook in the short-term, my thesis remains intact, and the stock remains undervalued. MTH offers favorable Risk/Reward based on the company’s: long-term revenue and profit growth, growing market share, shrinking sales cycle, strong cash flow generation, high shareholder return, and cheap stock valuation. What’s Working We Still Need to Build…

The country’s seventh largest retailer has been the bullseye for grassroots consumer boycotts, but the real cause of its woes is in the c-suite. For a moment there, at the onset of the COVID-19 quarantine, Target seemed to be riding high on a wave of innovation that broke out when retailers of every stripe and category had to scramble to save their businesses from a global catastrophe. As we reported here in 2021, Target managed a rapid roll-out of an experimental click-and-curbside-collect program while simultaneously building out a credible e-commerce platform to drive sales. The gambit was a big success.…

On 6/2/25, Nike, Carter’s, and Wendy’s will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Nike will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.40 on 7/1/25, Carter’s will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.25 on 6/20/25, and Wendy’s will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.14 on 6/16/25. 10 Stocks Where Yields Got More Juicy » As a percentage of NKE’s recent stock price of $61.78, this dividend works out to approximately 0.65%, so look for shares of Nike to trade 0.65% lower — all else being equal — when NKE shares open for trading on 6/2/25. Similarly, investors should look for…

Question: Why are there so many mutual funds? Answer: Mutual fund management is profitable, so Wall Street creates more products to sell. The large number of mutual funds has little to do with serving your best interests as an investor. I leverage this data to identify two red flags you can use to avoid the worst mutual funds: 1. High Fees Mutual funds should be cheap, but not all of them are. The first step is to benchmark what cheap means. To ensure you are paying at or below average fees, invest only in mutual funds with total annual costs…

Warren Buffett’s investment approach is famously simple. The Oracle of Omaha once suggested that investors who could only make 20 investments in their lifetime would “end up with better results” because “it would force them to focus on the best opportunities.” This philosophy extends to his belief that any investor should be able to explain their investment thesis on a single sheet of paper. While Buffett has never published a literal template, decades of shareholder letters and public statements reveal the framework he uses. When evaluating companies, Buffett focuses on four key categories: business fundamentals, management quality, financial measures, and…

Li Auto Q1 Earnings Report Li Auto (LI US, 2015 HK) reported Q1 financial results after the Hong Kong close. According to management, Q1 is “typically a seasonally slow period for auto sales”. Revenue increased +1.1% to RMB 25.9B ($3.6B) from RMB 25.63B, versus expectations of RMB 25.12B Adjusted Net Income declined -20.5% to RMB 1B ($139.8mm) from RMB 1.28B, versus expectations of RMB 1.96B Adjusted EPS decreased to RMB 0.96 from RMB 1.21, versus expectations of RMB 0.76 Total deliveries for the first quarter of 2025 were 92,864 vehicles, representing a 15.5% year-over-year increase. Q2 forecast: Deliveries of vehicles…

The “big, beautiful bill” has turned into a bitter pill for bonds. As you’ve undoubtedly heard, bond buyers aren’t exactly thrilled about lending more money to a $36 trillion debtor that’s digging itself deeper into a financial ditch. Prior to the proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—famous for crunching numbers through rose-colored glasses—already projected a $1.9 trillion deficit for 2025. Now, the CBO estimates that the current House-passed version of OBBBA will add an extra $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. This leaves Uncle Sam staring into a $40 trillion…