Categories: Smart Money Masters HotlinesStock Market News

U.S. Markets Rally as Charlie Munger’s #1 Stock Declares a Special Dividend

U.S. stock markets rallied sharply over the past two days, with the Nasdaq breaking out to the upside to hit a new high.

The Dow Jones gained 1.91%, the S&P 500 rose by 2.00% and the Nasdaq jumped 3.44%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index recovered 2.94%.

Your Smart Money Masters’ holdings enjoyed a positive week, as well. BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY) rose 5.27%, Liberty Broadband (LBRDK) jumped 4.63%, Paypal Holdings (PYPL) gained 3.76% and Restaurant Brands International (QSR) ended the week 3.19% higher.

All of your current positions, except for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) and Navigator Holdings (NVGS), are trading above their 50-day moving averages and therefore are BUYS.

The big news this week among your Smart Money Masters’ holdings is with Charlie Munger’s favorite stock, Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST).

Yesterday, Costco announced that it plans to return $3.1 billion to shareholders through the payment of a special dividend. The company will pay a huge $7-per-share special dividend on May 26. This sum is in addition to a regular quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share the company declared yesterday.

This big cash windfall highlights Costco’s status as a standout in the otherwise suffering U.S. retail sector. Even as many outlets are suffering from the acceleration of online shopping and a glut of physical stores, Costco’s U.S. same-store sales jumped 6% in March. That was almost double the 3.1% gain analysts had projected.

The special dividend also confirms Costco’s laser focus on maximizing shareholder returns.

Portfolio Update

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) will report first-quarter 2017 earnings on April 26 after the bell.

Markel Corporation (MKL) will report earnings on April 26 before the market opens. The report will be for the fiscal quarter ending March 2017.

You can read a bullish story on Navigator Holdings in Forbes magazine this week by clicking here.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Vardy

Nicholas A. Vardy

Nicholas Vardy

Nicholas Vardy has a unique background that has proven his knack for making money in different markets around the world. He was the Editor of The Global Guru, a free weekly e-newsletter, and also edited the trading services Momentum Trader Alert, which focused on making short-term profits in the hottest markets in the world, and The Alpha Algorithm, which was designed specifically to deliver big, fast triple-digit winners, month after month. He was also the editor of Smart Money Masters, a monthly service focused on longer term investments recommended by the brightest minds in the business. Mr. Vardy has been a regular commentator on CNN International and the Fox Business Network. He has also published articles in The New Republic, The World and I, and The Baker & McKenzie Legal Review. The Global Guru/Nicholas Vardy has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Fox Business News, CBS MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance, and MSN Money Central. Mr. Vardy graduated from Stanford with a B.A. — with honors and distinction — in both Economics and History, and he also earned an M.A in Modern European Intellectual History. After winning a Fulbright Scholarship, he earned a J.D. degree at Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. When not uncovering investment opportunities for his subscribers and investors, Mr. Vardy is a keep-fit enthusiast and an avid student of classical music.