Ryan C. Fuhrmann, CFA, began his investment career at Northern Trust Corporation in Chicago. He is actively involved with the CFA Institute, an association of investment professionals, and has even co-authored a portion of their curriculum.   In addition to his CFA certification, he holds a degree in business from the University of Wisconsin and a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Ryan adheres to a value-based investing viewpoint that successful companies generate sustainable cash flow for their owners and earn returns on invested capital far in excess of those costs of capital. In his spare time, Ryan enjoys reading, traveling and catching as many live music shows and movies as possible.  

Analyst Articles

The life cycle of a company follows four distinct steps. The last two are maturity and decline, and both are generally not the stages when you want to invest. The first is introduction and covers the period when a company is in its start-up phase and progresses to introducing some… Read More

Back in November, I recommended three Brazilian stocks I thought were worth owning at the time. Since then, two of the three are outperforming the Brazilian market, with energy giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) up more than 20% to handily beat the iShares MSCI Brazil… Read More

Investing in the U.S. automotive industry is not for the faint-hearted. Given the well-documented woes of the auto industry, a buy-and-hold strategy would have proven disastrous during the past three decades. That’s why it’s important to closely follow and actively trade the stocks. The auto industry is… Read More

In January, I declared that Japanese companies had the most undervalued stocks in the world. A calamitous magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami have inflicted severe damage on the eastern part of the country, the most disastrous of which has been severe and potentially permanent damage to the Fukushima Daiichi… Read More

Large pharmaceutical companies are facing a crisis. The industry spent a record $65 billion on research and development (R&D) in 2009, but approval rates for new drugs have fallen 44% during the past decade and continue to drop. Also in 2009, drugs launched in the previous five years accounted for… Read More

After an extended period of 50%-plus annual growth, China recently surpassed the United States as the largest car market in the world. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as only 2% of the Chinese population owns cars. In other words, the market has vast potential to grow significantly… Read More

For better or for worse, many successful investments revolve around products or services that aren’t necessarily good for consumers. The best examples include products that aren’t very healthy: cigarettes, soda and junk food come to mind, as do gambling, pawn shops and credit cards. For individuals who… Read More

Warren Buffett, the famed value investor with an estimated net worth of $47 billion, on Feb. 26, released his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), Buffett’s holding company and primary investment vehicle. The letter provided readers with the most up-to-date details of Berkshire’s common stock investment portfolio,… Read More

Sooner or later, every company’s growth prospects hit a wall. Companies that grow rapidly have an even tougher time, as the corporate culture is built around rapid expansion and growing market share as quickly as possible. Technology firms, in particular, face intense competition and short product-development cycles,  making it… Read More