Author Archives: Edward Brownlee

Small Cap Stocks

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Small-cap stocks are usually considered to be stocks with market capitalizations somewhere between $250 million and $2.5 billion.

Most companies start out as small-caps, but by continually growing their earnings and cash flow, their share prices appreciate. This can increase the market capitalization (share price times shares outstanding) of the company to large, or even mega-sized, while investors along for the ride reap the value appreciation.

Big names like Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon were all small-caps at one point.

Not all small-caps companies flourish like those giants have. Many fail or stop growing, which means losses or little profit for investors.

Great companies reveal themselves over the long term by continually producing quality earnings and sales growth.

According to Forbes, here are a few small-cap companies to research further are:

  • ACM Research produces cleaning equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company’s products remove impurities and particles from microchips. The company also offers other equipment that is used in various semiconductor processes.
  • Digi International is a technology company focusing on wireless communication and devices. It has more than 160 patents on products and 15 global offices.

References:

  1. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-small-cap-stocks/

African American Experience During World War II

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African American Experience During World War II by Edward L. Brownlee:

Do you want to learn about the untold stories of African American heroes in World War II? Do you want to discover how they fought for freedom and justice on two fronts, at home and abroad? Do you want to explore how they faced racism, discrimination and segregation in a military that denied them equal opportunity and civil rights?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to read African American Experience During World War II by Edward L. Brownlee. This book provides a historical perspective of the 1.2 million African American service members who served in every branch of the U.S. military during the war. It reveals how they overcame challenges, contributed to the war effort, and changed the course of history.

This book is based on extensive research, interviews, and archival sources. It covers topics such as:

  • The roles and achievements of African American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in various theaters of war
  • The struggles and successes of African American women in the military and civilian sectors
  • The impact of the war on the civil rights movement and the postwar social and political landscape
  • The legacy and recognition of African American veterans and their contributions to American society

African American Experience During World War II is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of World War II, African American history, or military history. It is a book that will inspire, educate, and challenge you to learn more about the brave men and women who fought for a better world.

Don’t miss this opportunity to get your copy of African American Experience During World War II by Edward L. Brownlee today. Click on the link below to order it from Amazon. You won’t regret it!

Order now

About Vitamin D | WebMD

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Experts aren’t sure if a lack of Vitamin D leads to depression or if it’s the other way around.

But studies show a link between the two. Research is ongoing to see if raising your vitamin D levels can help with symptoms and boost your mood.

Additionally, scientists are still figuring out exactly how well vitamin D can treat or even keep you from getting the influenza virus.

One study showed taking vitamin D drops in the winter helped lower the number of Japanese schoolchildren who got the flu. It’s clear it’s an important part of a healthy immune system. Your body can’t fight germs well if it doesn’t have enough.

And, healthy vitamin D levels can slow bone loss. It also helps ward off osteoporosis and lowers your chance of broken bones.

Doctors use vitamin D to treat osteomalacia. That’s a condition that causes soft bones, bone loss, and bone pain.

Vitamin D Deficiency

About 4 out of 10 Americans don’t get enough vitamin D. If yours is low, you might not eat enough foods with it. Or you might have a health condition that stops you from absorbing it. Or you might just need more sunlight.

Problems converting vitamin D from food or sunshine can set you up for a deficiency. Factors that increase your risk include:

  • Age 50 or older
  • Dark skin
  • A northern home
  • Overweight, obese, gastric bypass surgery
  • Milk allergy or lactose intolerance
  • Diseases that reduce nutrient absorption in the gut, such as Crohn’s disease or celiac
  • Being institutionalized
  • Taking certain medications such as seizure meds

Using sunscreen can interfere with getting vitamin D, but abandoning sunscreen can significantly increase your risk for skin cancer. So it’s worth looking for other sources of vitamin D in place of prolonged, unprotected exposure to the sun.

Make sure you take Vitamin K with Vitamin D

Vitamin K is an essential nutrient that helps your blood clot and your bones grow the way they should. It also may help prevent the bone disease osteoporosis and protect you against heart disease. You can get vitamin K from certain foods, and most diets in the United States contain enough of the daily recommended goal (90 micrograms for women and 120 micrograms for men).

References:

  1. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/ss/slideshow-low-vitamin-d

Intermittent Fasting

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Is fasting the secret to a healthier and longer life?

👉 Is fasting the key to a longer and healthier life? For more information read this article about Professor Longo’s research and the benefits of fasting.

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/nutrition/a45545208/benefits-fasting/

 

 

 

Ron Baron – Never Owned a Bond

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Every fourteen years, the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar is cut in half due to inflation, states billionaire investor Ron Baron, chairman of Baron Capital. Furthermore , he said that he was “amazingly bullish” on the market and was buying assets “every day.”

Buffet’s Owner’s Earnings

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Owner earnings (OE) is a valuation method detailed by Warren Buffett in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report in 1986. He stated that the value of a company is simply the total of the net cash flows (owner earnings) expected to occur over the life of the business, minus any reinvestment of earnings.

Owners’ earnings, also known as cash flow for owners, remains one of the more accurate measures of how much money we can make from an investment and helps calculate intrinsic value.

The formula for owners’ earnings is as follows:

OE = Net income + Non-cash charges – Maintenance Capex +/- Changes in working capital Where the below:

  • Non-cash = depreciation, amortization, impairment + other charges
  • Maintenance Capex = Cash a company spends to maintain normal biz operations.
  • Changes in working capital = adding the items under “Change in operating assets and liabilities” from the CF statement.

We will use a combination of cash flow statements to find the numbers.

To simplify some of this maintenance, the capex is an imprecise number that Buffett didn’t define precisely.

Many suggest different calculation methods; we will use the CF number to simplify.

Using $MSFT as our guinea pig for the year ending 2022. Below are the numbers taken from the financials:

  • Net income = $72,738
  • Non-cash = $16,260
  • Capex = ($23,866)
  • Changes in working capital = $446

Plugging in the numbers for $MSFT, we get:

Owners Earnings = $72,738+$16,260-$23,866+$446 = $65,578

Per share = $65,578 / 7,496 = 8.74

When compared to current P/FCF equals 8.70

Use these criteria to eliminate 95% of stocks:

Revenue growth 12%
Shares outstanding <2%
Net debt to FCF below 5x
Free cash flow growth +15%
Return on Invested capital +15%
Earnings per share growth +15%

12 companies that qualify:

 

Fasting Mimicking Diet

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A fasting-mimicking diet is a type of intermittent fasting.

A growing body of research conducted over the past decade or two have suggested that fasting – or abstaining from eating food – for certain periods of time might pay significant health dividends, such as improved weight management, lowered risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a reduced risk of cancer.

Fasting-mimicking is “a low-calorie diet designed to mimic fasting without fasting,” explains Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center and assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in Los Angeles.

The approach effectively “tricks” your body into thinking you’re fasting while you’re actually still taking in some food. The eating period lasts five days, a time span that’s been associated with the benefits of fasting.

The rules of the fasting-mimicking diet are fairly straightforward. You’ll be tricking your body into thinking you’re fasting by removing most of the calories you’d typically eat each day.

The general idea on the fasting-mimicking diet is to consume 800 calories or fewer on fasting days and to adhere to a ratio of macronutrients that are roughly 10% protein, 45% fat and 45% carbohydrates. The fasting period lasts for five days and should be undertaken once per month until your target weight has been achieved.

The diet lasts for five days, and the approach breaks down as follows:

Day 1: You consume 1,100 calories. Of those calories, 11% should come from protein, 46% from fat and 43% from carbohydrates.

Days 2 to 5: You’ll consume just 725 calories per day, with a macronutrient breakdown of 9% protein, 44% fat and 47% carbohydrates.

During each of the five days, you should consume a minimum of 70 ounces of water. This fast period should be repeated once per month for a minimum of three months to achieve optimal results, Dilley explains.

References:

  1. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/what-is-the-fasting-mimicking-diet