It would seem Mr. Bezos is moving beyond the Internet and into the brick and mortar realm. Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in an all cash deal. Based on both companies' 2016 results Whole Foods will account for over 70% of profits in Amazon’s retail business. Who knew the grocery business could trade at such lofty multiples? Amazon said in its press statement today: SEATTLE & AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 16, 2017-- Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2017
Summer Plans? Total Solar Eclipse and the Moon House
What are you doing this summer? I’d love to hear about it. One client that lives is Jackson Hole told me they’re preparing for a huge spike in visitors for the total eclipse of the sun on August 21st. Jackson will be a great viewing spot. Here’s ten more great places for viewing. [pdf-embedder url="https://www.youngresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Best-places-to-view-reduced.pdf" title="Best places to view reduced"] In another conversation I was told about a rare opportunity a client had visiting the “Moon House”: An American Stonehenge. He suggested I check out Astronomy magazine … [Read more...]
New UPS Hub in Phoenix Will Cost $180 Million
A new UPS hub in Goodyear, AZ (near Phoenix) will bring 1,500 jobs to the area, and cost $180 million. The hub will expand Saturday deliveries in the Phoenix and Mesa areas. DCVelocity reports that the regular Saturday delivery will be expanded to more markets. In a related development, UPS will begin regular Saturday ground pickup and delivery services in Phoenix on June 3. In April, UPS launched regular Saturday ground service in response to the growing demand for e-commerce deliveries. It has long offered regularly scheduled air services on Saturdays. The program will cover nearly 4,700 … [Read more...]
Slowing Auto Market Signals Late Cycle Dynamics
Although the current economic expansion has been underwhelming for many industries, the auto market was the exception. The auto market was hit hard in the last recession, but carved out a V-shaped recovery with steady growth for much of the expansion. But change is now afoot. The used car market is over supplied. Used car prices are contracting and growth in new car sales has stalled. General Motors has decided to extend its typical summer factory shutdown to clear bloated inventories. GM’s inventories are almost 44% higher than a year earlier. Slower production in the auto sector is … [Read more...]
This is What Terrorizes the Fed
Imagine for a moment that you’re the Fed. You own all of these mortgages. You want to get out of them. You also want to increase interest rates. Aren’t you chasing your own tail recognizing that bond prices decline as rates go up? The Fed can fight this battle in the press but they can’t ignore the natural law of bonds. [gview file="https://www.youngresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/h41.pdf" width="100%"] … [Read more...]
Will a Farming Surge in South America Prop up Deere?
Farming equipment maker Deere expects South American farmers to buy 20% more tractors and harvesting combines after this year. Record harvests and increased profitability are giving South American farmers the confidence to buy. Meanwhile North American farmers aren't feeling the same, with expectations that they will purchase 5% less farm equipment this year. The slump in U.S. and Canadian sales is a bit of a backlash from recent success. Bob Tita writes in the WSJ: The slump, driven by years of strong harvests that have produced record global grain stockpiles, is pushing some U.S. farmers to … [Read more...]
Tesla, “Bursting at the Seams,” Will Build New Plant
A new SUV, the Model Y, from Tesla will be built at a new factory, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The Model Y will be built from the ground up on its own platform, rather than sharing a platform with other Tesla vehicles. Musk says he's giving serious consideration to three factories in the U.S., and maybe 10 or 20 globally. Shareholders are eating it up. Tim Higgins reports at the Wall Street Journal: “We actually made a mistake in trying to derive the Model X from the Model S platform,” he said. “It would’ve been better to just design an SUV the way an SUV should be designed. Design a … [Read more...]
This Asset Class is on Fire
Even though short-term interest rates are now increasing, investors are telling Yellen & Co., the pace of hikes is still way too slow. The reach for yield remains a dominant theme in fixed income markets. Here the WSJ reports that the demand for leveraged loans is on fire. Investors are desperate for decent income and riskier companies are taking full advantage. The upshot is that the world of leveraged loans appears to be going slightly mad. Loan sales are running ahead of the pace of the past three years, fueled by a rush of money into the sector. Retail investors have piled … [Read more...]
What Good is Money if You Can’t Enjoy It?
What good is money if you can’t enjoy it? Keep moving. It’s good for you. I like this piece from Outside Online. The message is, your brain is much healthier when you exercise your body. Kate Wheeling writes: Human beings evolved to move. Our bodies, including our brains, were fine-tuned for endurance activities over millennia of stalking and chasing down prey. “We’ve engineered that out of our lives now,” says Charles Hillman, a psychology professor at Northeastern University who has spent decades studying the link between exercise and cognition. The toll our relatively new sedentary … [Read more...]
Is This Company About to Beat Tesla, Google and Apple to an All-electric Autonomous Car?
Despite the attention and even cult-ish devotion given to Silicon Valley tech companies like Apple and Google, and the unfettered media fascination with every word out of Elon Musk, a company far away from California is preparing to dominate the market for all electric autonomous vehicles. The company has an army of engineers working on its test vehicles. And it is so advanced in its plans for the vehicles it has already begun mass production. And rather than collaborating with another auto-maker or software company, this company is doing all its work in-house. The company is GM. GM … [Read more...]