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 Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandated the need for disparate telecom networks to be able to communicate with each other. It also prescribed the need for number portability, which allowed consumers and businesses to keep their phone numbers even if they switched to another telecom provider or network. Read More

I recently came across an insightful article that boldly detailed how the Internet is changing the world. The piece offered a number of stats and detailed that 750 tweets are written from Twitter every second, 2.5 billion photos are uploaded to Facebook every month, and overall Internet traffic is growing… Read More

Legend has it that the term “blue chip” stems from poker, in that it represented the poker chip with the highest value in the game. These days, the term is ubiquitous in the stock market and refers to a large, stable company that is financially sound, has well-known brand and… Read More

A common pitfall companies encounter has to do with challenging marketplace conditions, be it changing customer habits or competition from rivals that attempt to steal away its business. Others have a habit of self inflicting their wounds. Changing market conditions, foreign competition, fickle consumers — these are… Read More

Large pharmaceutical companies have been ignored by investors for some time now. After decades of gangbuster growth and blockbuster drugs to treat depression, high blood pressure and many other common ailments, many are facing competition from generic drugs as the patents protecting the exclusive… Read More

An important trend that will drive stock market returns in the coming decades is demographics. Simply put, the age of citizens across the world is advancing. In the United States, the first of the Baby Boom generation was born in 1946 and is in the process of retiring. Japan, Europe… Read More

I attended an investment conference last week and listened to a number of business updates from leading financial institutions. The vast majority are staying extremely conservative with their lending activities and are waiting for more tangible signs of an economic recovery before they start shifting gears from surviving the credit… Read More

At the end of this year, a series of tax cuts implemented by George W. Bush and his administration between 2001 and 2003 are set to expire. In what now seems like an entirely different era, the cuts were approved at a time when the U.S. government budget was in… Read More

With economic growth potentially stagnating, large firms are resorting to buying market share by acquiring rivals or know-how that will help them grow fast and stay one step ahead of the competition. M&A activity in the cash-rich technology industry has grown especially rampant… Read More

Rapid hardware and software innovation are working to shift the world from a PC-centric focus to servers, smart phones and a stunning number of related technology devices. However, the demise of the computer is greatly exaggerated, and though growth isn’t as robust at it used to be, recent trends are… Read More