QAV America (free feed)

In this episode, Cameron and Tony range from bushfires in Australia to political pressure on the US Federal Reserve, before digging into portfolio performance and a detailed QAV-style teardown of Mexican ultra-low-cost airline Volaris (VLRS). They unpack why airlines keep showing up on the QAV America buy list, how VLRS built a Ryanair-style model aimed at converting long-haul bus travellers into flyers, and why the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine recall temporarily derailed the business. The discussion balances strong operating cash flow and a seasoned low-cost airline playbook against razor-thin margins, fuel price sensitivity, and the ever-present risks of airline investing.

In the first QAV America episode of 2026, Cameron and Tony reset the framework for the year ahead. With geopolitical shocks rattling oil markets, bullish Wall Street forecasts predicting another US equity rally, and political noise everywhere, the hosts reiterate the core QAV philosophy: ignore predictions, stick to the rules, and let disciplined process do the work. The episode’s deep dive focuses on XPLR Infrastructure (XIFR), a former income darling left for dead after cutting its dividend. Cameron unpacks the wreckage, tracing XIFR’s origins as a NextEra Energy yieldco, the collapse of its “cheap capital forever” model when interest rates rose, and why the market may now be pricing the stock as if its long-dated contracted cash flows don’t exist. The discussion weighs political risk, debt complexity, asset quality, and valuation extremes, before explaining why XIFR sits at the top of the current US QAV buy list and is being added to the live QAV Light portfolio.

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Timestamps & Topics (QAV episode)

00:00 – 03:00

Geopolitics, crude oil volatility, and why QAV tracks commodities as signals rather than predictions.

03:00 – 06:30

Wall Street forecasts for a 2026 rally. Why QAV ignores predictions and doubles down on rules-based discipline.

06:30 – 09:00

“Year of sticking to the rules.” Behavioural discipline as the real edge in investing.

09:00 – 11:00

Introducing the deep dive stock: XPLR Infrastructure (XIFR) and why it tops the US buy list.

11:00 – 16:30

XIFR’s origin story as a NextEra Energy yieldco. The “infinite money glitch” and how cheap capital powered growth.

16:30 – 21:30

What broke: rising interest rates, dividend suspension, investor revolt, and the stock price collapse.

21:30 – 26:30

Business model breakdown. Long-dated power purchase agreements, wind and solar assets, and why the cash flows didn’t disappear.

26:30 – 30:30

Trump, renewables, and political risk. Why sentiment may be a headwind but revenues are largely locked in.

30:30 – 34:30

Balance sheet repair. Asset sales, debt reduction, and why no dividend can be good news for value investors.

34:30 – 39:30

Key valuation metrics: price to operating cash flow, book value discount, dilution history, and QAV checklist scores.

39:30 – 42:30

Red flags and risks: complex financing, management execution, and why the stock still qualifies under QAV rules.

42:30 – 45:00

Portfolio update, recent performance versus the S&P 500, and adding XIFR to the QAV Light portfolio.

In the final QAV America episode of 2025, Cameron and Tony reflect on a turbulent but revealing year for markets, value investing, and the QAV system. The conversation opens with a recap of US market conditions and the launch of QAV Light US, designed to give American listeners a live, transparent way to learn the QAV process through real weekly trades. Cameron then reviews the long-term performance of the US dummy portfolio, highlighting strong multi-year outperformance despite a difficult 2025 relative to the S&P 500.

The episode’s deep dive focuses on AMC Networks (AMCX)—a former prestige-TV powerhouse now trading at distressed valuations. The discussion traces AMC’s origins in the Dolan family’s cable empire, its golden era producing Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead, and the brutal impact of cord-cutting on its business model. Cameron and Tony unpack why AMC is bleeding on earnings but still generating real cash, why the market hates it, and why it nonetheless tops the QAV buy list.

The episode closes with a broader discussion of cycles in investing, the importance of selling discipline, Tony’s emerging “Growth over PE” insight from Australian markets, and why patience with a rules-based system matters more than short-term performance.

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.

In this episode, Cam and Tony dig into the strange, noisy twilight zone of the current US market: rate-cut expectations, mega-cap fatigue, and a broadening rally that’s finally throwing some love toward the small and mid-caps that QAV thrives on. They walk through the performance of the US portfolio, poke at the rotation narrative, and then Cam takes everyone deep into the iron-ore jungles of Brazil with a pulled-pork deep dive on Vale — “the FMG of Brazil”, complete with dam failures, lawsuits, ESG fallout, and fat cashflows. Along the way they contrast Brazil vs Australia, FMG vs Vale, talk iron ore cycles, passive-investing distortions, and the macro-agnostic stubbornness that keeps QAV on the rails. It’s part markets, part commodity history lesson, and part true-crime mining documentary.

In this episode of QAV America, Cameron and Tony take a tour through the strange split-brain mood of the US markets, where weak economic data is somehow bullish because investors are convinced the Fed will cut rates in December. They break down the odd macro setup, check in on the portfolio, and walk through fresh results from star performer **Willis Lease Finance (WLFC)** and a big buyback from **Enova (ENVA)**. From there, Cameron recaps the performance of the 27 US stocks they've analysed this year, before diving into a full deep-dive on **AerCap (AER)** — the world’s largest aircraft lessor. The conversation covers why airlines lease instead of own, how aircraft leasing actually works, why Ireland is the global nexus for the industry, the wild origin story of Guinness Peat Aviation, and the massive headache AerCap faced when Russia and Ukraine seized more than 150 of its aircraft in 2022. They wrap with QAV scoring, book-value checks, revenue and profit trends, and a broader conversation about how the leasing model fits into cyclical markets, AI, mobility, and long-term capital allocation. Everything from the Fed to kung-fu neural adaptation shows up along the way.

This week we dive into Korea Electric Power (KEP), a deep-value, government-linked Korean utility that has quietly swung from crisis-level losses to massive operating cash flow. We explore the company’s unusual history stretching back to a royal electrification project in the 1890s, its modern political entanglement with tariff controls, its nuclear-heavy energy mix, and why the market may be mispricing a regulated monopoly with a price-to-operating-cash-flow ratio of 1.5. We also cover the recent sell of VSAT on a 3PTL rule, the psychology of Reddit outrage at PCG, and the broader role utilities play in an AI-powered future where electricity becomes the new picks and shovels.

This episode dives into Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG) and its strange mix of monopoly power, criminal convictions, billions in liabilities, climate exposure, and a CEO who says she’s “leading with love.” Cameron takes us through PG&E’s century-old origins, deadly infrastructure failures like the Camp Fire manslaughter convictions, the bizarre history of repeat explosions and corruption, and the unusual financial structure that keeps the company alive despite $58B in debt. Tony questions whether a guaranteed utility should even be privately owned, compares it to safer options like Berkshire Hathaway’s utilities, and wonders why we’d touch a business known for burning down half a state. Despite the horrors, PG&E lands on the QAV buy list due to cheap cashflow valuation, a protected regulated monopoly, and a massive turnaround driven by mandated wildfire-prevention spending and government-backed debt.

In this episode of QAV America, Cameron and Tony dig into the state of the U.S. market, exploring how AI investment is distorting capital flows, weakening job markets, and reshaping traditional sectors. They discuss how “the Great Freeze” in hiring and the surge in data-centre spending are reshaping the economy. Then Cameron serves up a Pulled Pork deep dive on MODG (Topgolf Callaway Brands)—a company blending golf, entertainment, and retail that’s now splitting itself apart to “unlock value.” Tony reflects on golf’s pandemic-era revival, the engineering of the Big Bertha, and why Callaway’s merger with Topgolf sent its share price into the rough. They unpack tariffs, impairments, and the business logic behind spinning off Topgolf, ending with a lively riff on humanoid robots, golf robots, and even robot jockeys.

In this episode of QAV America, Cameron and Tony dive into a deep analysis of American Airlines (AAL) — exploring its towering debt, its loyalty program goldmine, and its future prospects. They unpack how AAL’s Advantage points system, underpinned by a major new 10-year co-branded card deal with Citi, might serve as both ballast and buoy for a company flying through turbulence. Along the way, they riff on the airline industry’s cyclic nature, the debt-leverage paradox, and the Piotroski F-Score quirks that make AAL intriguing. Climate change, loyalty economics, Pratt & Whitney’s cursed engines, and the Buffett-era lessons on airline KPIs all make an appearance. After the financial deep-dive, the conversation drifts into lighter territory—Scorsese films, Gravity’s Rainbow, and Cameron’s bruising Kung Fu grading.