Retail is a competitive business. The barriers to entry tend to be low and far too many publicly traded firms have businesses that aren't durable enough for conservative long-term investment. Amazon has put the wood to many of these firms. The WSJ reports in the article below that the "Amazon Effect," (not to be confused with "Bezos Law") has led to a souring on global retail stocks. Amazon is a darling of the financial press and in many Wall Street brokerage houses. Amazon has had a real impact on brick and mortar retailers, but the most pronounced effect has been in the stock market. As … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2017
Ikea Buys TaskRabbit, Customers Win
I like this development for customers of Ikea. Retailers that continue to figure out how to improve the buying experience will be rewarded. Kara Swisher and Theodore Schleifer outline the deal at ReCode: TaskRabbit is one of the best-known startups in the so-called “gig” economy that links freelance workers with jobs, from handymen to movers to assistants. It has about 60 employees, but over 60,000 independent workers use its platform. The purchase of TaskRabbit was fueled by Ikea’s need to further bolster its digital customer service capabilities to better compete with rivals likes … [Read more...]
German Grocers Lead Blitzkrieg on American Soil
Aldi and Lidl, two German discount grocery businesses are invading the U.S. with competitive prices. The stores don't offer too many products, but what they do offer is priced at rock bottom. NPR details how the German stores are expanding in America: Competition has been intense among U.S. grocers. Companies are trying to figure out the role of technology in our shopping habits, and Amazon is ever the elephant in the room, now in possession of Whole Foods. And the pressure to compete on price is always there. In fact, prices have been falling quite a bit. Analysts often cite two major … [Read more...]
GE Can Weather this Storm: Most Companies Couldn’t
In India, GE has been building a plant to manufacture locomotives for India's railway system. The locos GE planned to make are diesel, and GE built the plant in the middle of nowhere to bring jobs to a region in India where there is little infrastructure or development. But at the last minute India is trying to pull a fast one on GE. Most companies wouldn't be able to survive such uncertainty in a developing market. GE's size allows it to swing for the fences in such markets where the best infrastructure opportunities lie. While investors wait for the issue to be resolved, they can enjoy a 4% … [Read more...]
Today’s Biggest Risks
Nice piece from Stephen Roach at Project Syndicate. Little deep in the weeds on monetary policy, but worth your time. Normalization is all about a long-overdue unwinding of those distortions. Fully ten years after the onset of the Great Financial Crisis, it seems more than appropriate to move the levers of monetary policy off their emergency settings. A world in recovery – no matter how anemic that recovery may be – does not require a crisis-like approach to monetary policy. Monetary authorities have only grudgingly accepted this. Today’s generation of central bankers is almost religious … [Read more...]
Bezos and Boston, MA
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos isn’t like the rest of us. That’s a given. Here you get some insight about his history with Boston, MA as he contemplates where to locate a second headquarters for Amazon. Here Scott Kirsner explains: Jeff Bezos has never lived, gone to school, or worked here, so how much can he know about Boston? Quite a lot. Since the founder of Amazon showed up to speak at a class at Harvard Business School in 1997, Bezos has invested in a handful of local companies — and bought others, sometimes pulling their leaders out to Seattle to work with him directly. He has overseen the … [Read more...]
You Won’t Believe What Happened to These Mutual Funds
Barron’s reported over the weekend that Third Avenue Management, the firm founded by deep value investing pioneer Marty Whitman, is undergoing yet another management shakeup. The once-venerated value-shop’s assets under management are down 85% since reaching a peak of over $26 billion in 2006. CRASH, while maybe unfair, is the only word that comes to mind. Third Avenue is a firm that Young Research was heavily involved with in the early 2000s. We advised the funds in our flagship strategy report and to our exclusive investment advisory client. We moved on from Third Avenue and all … [Read more...]
America’s Crude Oil Exports Ready to Surge
Prices for WTI crude have dropped in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The Texas crude benchmark price has dropped to a $6.63 discount per barrel compared to Brent crude (See my chart of the spread's historical width below). That spread is more than enough to make crude oil shipments out of Texas profitable. The deep spread could drive a surge in American energy exports. Alison Sider and Lynn Cook report: A difference of at least $4 makes it attractive for a refiner in countries like China or South Korea to buy oil from shale producers in Texas and North Dakota, said R.T. Dukes, an oil … [Read more...]
Hartford, CT Downgraded to Junk Status
Imagine if your credit score got reduced to junk status and you quickly understand how municipal bonds work. Joseph De Avila reports at the WSJ that Hartford, Connecticut has had its credit rating downgraded further into junk status as the city looks like it may default on its obligations as early as November. He writes: S&P Global Ratings knocked down Hartford’s rating by four notches to CC. Moody’s Investors Service lowered its rating for Connecticut’s capital city by two notches to Caa3. “The rating agency actions today reflect the reality we’ve been emphasizing for many months, … [Read more...]
Nestle Rewards Shareholders with More Buybacks
Nestle has announced increased share buybacks to reward shareholders for their faith in the stock. After activist investor Dan Loeb pressured the food giant, the company responded with steps to improve its performance. Last week we wrote to you about Nestle being one of the most conservative stocks in the world. Now management is focusing on making the stock even more attractive for shareholders. Saabira Chaudhuri reports on Nestle's announcement in the WSJ: Nestlé SA on Tuesday introduced a profit-margin target and said it would accelerate share buybacks amid pressure from activist … [Read more...]
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