Here the FT reports on the revolution in satellite technology that is having a profound impact on many different businesses and industries. Investors, for example, can now estimate traffic at retail establishments or oil storage tankers moving into China. Today, a new revolution in satellite technology is unfolding at warp speed, and its consequences are just as unpredictable. The rapid adoption of billions of smartphones and other connected devices over the past decade has boosted the market for telecommunications satellites, transforming the demand side of the business. But the supply side … [Read more...]
Despite Strong Growth, the Retail Reaper Still Haunts Brick and Mortar
Despite strong economic growth over the last year, some brick and mortar retailers are still having trouble fighting the e-commerce tide. Barnes & Noble had a poor holiday season of sales, and will be forced to fire employees. Jeffrey Trachtenberg writes: The bookseller, which declined to say how many staffers are being cut, said in a securities filing that it will take a charge of about $11 million in its third fiscal quarter ended Jan. 27 related to severance costs. The retailer said the layoffs, which will also affect people involved in receiving products into stores, are expected … [Read more...]
Dow Swings 2,000 Points: My February RAGE Gauge
Make sure you have your investment plan in place sooner than later. There may be some rough waters to navigate. Inflation numbers out today could foretell some tough times as the Fed may be forced to respond. When a record share of small businesses say now is an opportunity to expand operations I pay attention. Bloomberg reports: Six of the 10 components that make up the small-business optimism index increased in January, producing one of the strongest readings in the 45-year history of the survey. The figures show sustained, sturdy business sentiment since the November 2016 election. A … [Read more...]
Inflation in America: A Reason to Avoid Emerging Markets?
Traditionally emerging markets haven't performed well in times of inflation in the United States. While most inflation predictions for the U.S. don't put emerging markets in jeopardy, the latest inflation numbers and some predictions are raising red flags that all emerging market investors should be paying attention to. Steve Johnson reports in the FT: Matters could yet become a little fraught, however, with some estimates for inflation starting to come uncomfortably close to the danger level for EMs. Research by Daniel Salter, head of emerging market equity strategy at Renaissance … [Read more...]
Shale Oil Production Explosion
After being put on the ropes by an OPEC strategy that forced the price of oil down below $30 a barrel in 2016, U.S. shale oil producers are back, and they are producing at record rates. Christopher Alessi reports: U.S. shale companies are churning out crude oil at a record pace that could overwhelm global demand and reverse the oil market’s fragile recovery, a top energy-market observer said Tuesday. U.S. shale production is growing faster in 2018 than it did even during the boom years of $100 a barrel oil prices from 2011 to 2014, said the International Energy Agency in its closely … [Read more...]
Bitcoin: Bubble, Ponzi Scheme, and Environmental Disaster
Bitcoin is a “combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster,” a top central-banking official recently cautioned, referring to the large amount of electricity needed to create bitcoin. You don’t have to tell that to the residents in Wenatchee, Washington, where a bitcoin invasion is under way. Why? Because the electricity is cheap. “Home to hydroelectric dams that harness the flow of the Columbia River, north central Washington has some of the cheapest power in the U.S. That has made the largely rural area best known for its apple orchards a magnet for bitcoin … [Read more...]
Shale Oil Production Booming
The WSJ reports here that shale oil production is growing faster this year than it did when oil was at $100 per barrel. The breakeven price for shale producers is now much lower than it was in 2014. Shale producers “cut costs dramatically” during the nearly three-year-long oil industry downturn, the IEA said. They then took advantage of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel’s decision to cut its own output, which helped prices rise from the low $40s to over $70 a barrel as recently as late last month. “All the indicators that suggest continued fast growth in the U.S. … [Read more...]
Amazon Will Begin Deliveries from Whole Foods
Amazon is beginning to incorporate Whole Foods into its Prime Now delivery program. Prime Now offers one and two hour delivery options in certain cities. Laura Stevens reports for The Wall Street Journal that Amazon plans to expand its efforts. The online retail giant will add Whole Foods to its one- and two-hour delivery option, Prime Now, in the grocer’s hometown of Austin, Texas, as well as Dallas, Virginia Beach, Va. and Cincinnati, Ohio. Stephenie Landry, the Amazon vice president who oversees Prime Now, said it plans to expand the effort, but declined to say how quickly. She noted … [Read more...]
Stand with Rand: Spending Matters
“I simply asked for one thing in this broken process: a 15-minute vote on whether those caps should or should not be broken. The furor this request set off among leadership, the wailing and screeching among Big Government advocates in Congress and in the media — well, you would think I had asked them to shut down forever,” writes Senator Rand Paul in Time. He wanted them to act like spending matters, “Like the process matters.” “The sad irony is that December’s Republican tax cut is supposed to save Americans $1.5 trillion over 10 years. But the new spending is essentially a $1.5 trillion … [Read more...]
Could Amazon Ever Replace UPS or FedEx?
Does Amazon have a sliver of a chance of amassing the scale necessary to replace UPS or FedEx? The two shipping companies have a global reach built up over decades. The Wall Street Journal reports that it may be hard to beat the two big players in the industry. Amazon has only leased up to 40 planes and has roughly 300 warehouses in the U.S., including fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations, according to supply-chain consultancy MWPVL International Inc. The company today mostly contracts and leases with delivery couriers rather than owning its own assets, a limiting … [Read more...]
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