Episode Overview

In this episode of QAV America, Cameron and Tony open with reflections on the tragic Bondi attack and Australia’s long-standing gun laws before turning to the week’s U.S. stock market action. They discuss recent market jitters, AI-driven volatility in tech stocks, and the ongoing rotation into “value” names. Cameron then delivers a deep dive on Ziff Davis (ZD) — a little-known but highly profitable owner of the internet’s comparison-shopping and review infrastructure. The conversation explores ZD’s long history, its reinvention after the dot-com crash, its heavy reliance on SEO and affiliate monetisation, and the existential question hanging over the business: will AI replace human-driven product reviews? Rather than forecasting the future, the episode frames ZD through the QAV lens — cash flow, valuation, optionality, and downside protection — and examines why a business that looks structurally threatened may still offer attractive value today.

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Timestamps & Topics

00:00 – Australia, violence, and context
Reflections on the Bondi tragedy, Australia’s gun laws, and why mass shootings remain rare compared with the U.S.

01:40 – U.S. market news: jittery but selective
U.S. indices drift lower as investors wait on jobs and inflation data; discussion of “value” rotations and why index definitions of value differ from QAV’s approach.

02:40 – AI stocks wobble
AI-linked stocks pull back sharply, with Broadcom (AVGO) highlighted as suffering its worst three-day decline since 2020.

03:30 – Commodities and energy signals
Basic materials outperform; copper strength linked to data centres and electrification; weakness in oil and LNG despite geopolitical tensions.

04:30 – QAV America portfolio performance
Short-term underperformance versus the S&P 500, but strong long-term outperformance since portfolio inception in September 2023.

05:00 – Winners, laggards, and watchlist highlights
Review of top portfolio performers and notable stocks previously covered but not purchased.

07:30 – Deep dive : Ziff Davis (ZD)
Introduction to Ziff Davis (ZD) and its role as the hidden infrastructure behind tech reviews, VPN comparisons, speed tests, and product rankings.

[00:00:00 ]

Cameron: Welcome to QAV America. Tony, episode 32. What do you know? Tk?

Tony Kynaston: Well, it’s reached the shores of America and America’s new outlets, but it’s been an unfortunate. Well, worse than unfortunate time in Australia. So, um, a lot of, uh, reflection going on in Australia over the terrible things at Bondi Beach. I had lived in Sydney where I was living, uh, we would’ve been pretty close to it.

Cameron: Yeah, very shocking. Um, I think it’s maybe the third mass shooting we’ve had in. Nearly 30 years.

Tony Kynaston: Mm-hmm.

Cameron: Does that sound about right?

Tony Kynaston: Yeah. I can only think of poor Arthur and this one being that bad as being a couple of. know, sort of murder, suicide things, farms or whatever along the way. But this is the first,

Cameron: Yeah.

Tony Kynaston: uh, with, you know, weapons that shouldn’t have been licensed, I don’t think in the first place to people.

Cameron: In public,

Tony Kynaston: Mm-hmm.

Cameron: you know, civilians, uh, all of that kind of stuff. The first one [00:01:00 ] like that, since 1996. That we’ve had every 30 years. So yes, very shocking, very sad, very tragic, very complicated. Very complex. Uh, but, um, yeah, it’s something that we’re, we’re used to reading about in the front cover of the New York Times, but not, uh, about Australia.

So anyway, moving right along. Um. Let’s talk about stock market news in the United States over the last week, Tony. And then I will do a deep dive on Ziff Davis. ZD is the ticker

Tony Kynaston: Would that be

Cameron: as IZD. Yeah, ZD you’re right. And as I mentioned, there’s an Isaac Asimov, uh, leak to this, which you will enjoy ’cause they’re both big fans of Asimov.

Tony Kynaston: Mm.

Cameron: Well, the market’s been a little bit wobbly in the US again. Uh, finished the week with modest [00:02:00 ] losses s and p 500. The Dow and the NASDAQ are all trending. Lower traders over there are waiting for key economic reports on job and inflation. Um, stocks saw pressure as investors are moving into. Value area, Tony?

Value.

Tony Kynaston: Oh, we can, got someone to sell to.

Cameron: Yeah. Although quite often what we’ve seen over the years is when they talk about value, it’s not the same way that we talk about value.

Tony Kynaston: not.

Cameron: Our definition of value is a little bit more specific. I think

Tony Kynaston: Yeah.

Cameron: the AI.

Tony Kynaston: the indices normally talk about value as being the lowest deciles of the PE ratio range, but as we know, PD ratios aren’t a great guide to the value of a company

Cameron: yeah.

Tony Kynaston: mm.

Cameron: We’re looking, we’re looking at their ability to outperform, uh, as businesses and getting a bit of discount. [00:03:00 ] What else? AI and tech sectors, uh, sort of jittery as a result of some of this stuff. Some AI linked names like Broadcom have had some big declines. It had its worst three day drop since 2020 was some of the AI investment narratives, uh, facing some scrutiny.

Basic materials and financials have outperformed. Uh, in our Australian show, we were just talking a lot about copper. And, uh, you did a deep dive on one of the Australian copper miners. There is resources, obviously there’s, uh, gold is still doing well from a commodities perspective. Uh, prude oil and LNG are not doing well, and we aren’t really sure why.

But movements around Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela might have something to do with it. And we also we’re talking about the fact that all of the. Urgency around building data centers and the energy requirements for data centers. Uh, playing a big role in driving copper prices up. [00:04:00 ] Um, what else have I got?

That’s basically it for the us I think, uh, general overall market news, it’s a bit jittery over there at the moment, but our, before our portfolio has had a good 30 days. Relative to the s and p 500, it’s up 3.2% in the last 30 days. Our portfolio in the us, that is versus 1.22% for the s and p 500, but year to date, we haven’t had a good year.

Still, I think we’re down about 10, 11% versus the s and p up 14%. But, uh. All time. If I go back, since the beginning of our portfolio in the us, September, 2023, we’re up 64% versus the s and p 500, up 53% over that period of time. So we’re doing okay over that two plus [00:05:00 ] years.

Um, big performers in our portfolio, uh. See, I’ll stack rank and by game still, Willis Lease Finance Company up 186% in Nova International, up 169% Euro Cs up 99% BLX. The Foreign Trade Bank of Latin America is up 84%. RM Regional Management is up 70%. UBS is up 38. Gas, stealth gas is up 37, 30 8%. Sarcos Energy Navigation.

TEN is their ticket. They’re up 32%. KT is up 23%. Your initials in reverse. Jackson Financial is up. 17. Renaissance Air Holdings is up four, and our most recent acquisition career Electric Power is up one and a half percent since we added it a few weeks ago. And then I like to talk [00:06:00 ] about the companies that we’ve talked about but haven’t actually bought because our portfolio is full.

Uh, it’s been some great performance, uh, from these companies. Obviously the top one Zep, the Chinese watch company, uh, is up 850% since we talked about ’em in July. Uh, ChemX is up 106% since we covered ’em back in March. Lot of around 40% Canadian imperial banks, up 46, uh, ORX corporations up 40. Precision Drilling is up 43 IHS is up 37.

Sasol is up 26. Ford is up 26. People told me on Reddit that Ford was a dud, shouldn’t, shouldn’t even be looking it for, it’s up 26% since May. American Airlines is up 11% since we talked about ’em. Topgolf is up nine air cap that we talked about. The end of November is up [00:07:00 ] 8% since then. So all in all, uh, we’ve talked about 29 companies on the show since March 22 of them are up, seven are not the win ratio of 76% so far with thos