Sweet 16 Update - March 16

[dan_s]

I will be working on the newsletter all weekend with the goal of publishing it on Monday morning, March 18, so this will be brief.

The Sweet 16 gained 2.34% during the week ending March 15 and it is now up 8.38% year-to-date (YTD).
The S&P 500 Index lost 0.14% during the week and is now up 6.97%.

Since Ken Fisher (Founder of Fisher Investments) wrote a two page article in February 14 predicting that the energy sector would outpreform the rest of the market during the rest of the year, the Sweet 16 has gone from down 8.57% to up 8.38%. The 16.95% gain is one of the best 30-Days for the Sweet 16 since I set up my first model portfolio in 2003.

The really good news is that the 16 companies are all in good shape. Q4 results, except for some non-cash writedowns that have no impact on my valuation, were very good. Adjusted operating cash flow for every company met or exceeded my forecasts. They continue to generate free cash flow that is paying down debt, paying dividends and buying back stock.

All 16 forecast/valuation models are up-to-date and 13 of the 16 profiles have been updated. I still have the profiles for BTE, CPG and OVV sitting here for my final review. I plan to get all finished on Monday.

FANG, PR and SM are all up more than 20%. SBOW is now drawing the attention it deserves.

The updated Sweet 16 Summary Spreadsheet will be posted to the EPG website Saturday morning. It now shows updated valuations for all of the companies in our three model portfolios.