Key takeaways Marijuana is a booming industry with lots of potential for growth. It is now legal in some way, shape or form in 47 states (plus Washington, D.C.). The biggest …
President Biden’s announcement that the Covid-19 public health emergency (PHE) will end on May 11 will have a significant impact on older adults. Some changes will be immediate, others won’t occur …
Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin AI startup unicorn OpenAI is now ready to make money off its popular AI chatbot released in November. OpenAI has launched its …
A year after City of Hope closed on its $390 million purchase of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, the acquired health facilities will take on the City of Hope brand. City …
A year after City of Hope closed on its $390 million purchase of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, the acquired health facilities will take on the City of Hope brand.
City of Hope, which is bringing its expertise as a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in southern California to Cancer Treatment Centers of America locations in different cities, said the CTCA sites “will now be called City of Hope Atlanta, City of Hope Chicago and City of Hope Phoenix.”
“In addition to the replacement of CTCA branding at clinical facilities, all marketing, advertising, communications and engagement activities supporting these locations will reflect City of Hope’s name,” City of Hope said in an announcement Wednesday. “A new advertising campaign will launch on Feb. 6 to communicate the name change in existing CTCA markets.”
City of Hope didn’t disclose how much it would be spending on the advertising campaign, which will be necessary given the recognizable brand of Cancer Treatment Centers of America in its markets and across the country. Cancer Treatment Centers has long been known for its national television marketing unheard of decades ago for oncology services.
Executives said the rest of the integration of the companies, which serve will about 115,000 patients annually, is progressing well with the implementation of “City of Hope clinical and quality policies across all locations” as well as joint quality reviews and the addition of various new treatments and services at all hospitals
“Through our acquisition of CTCA, City of Hope is now able to share its expertise to benefit a greater number of patients in even more communities, including our bone marrow transplant and immune effector cell therapy programs,” said City of Hope chief executive officer Robert Stone. “By transitioning these locations to the City of Hope brand and bringing together 11,000 team members around one shared mission, we underscore our commitment to delivering a consistent patient experience as ‘one City of Hope’ across our national clinical network.”
The next OnePlus phone boasts a camera created in conjunction with revered camera company, Hasselblad. To celebrate the fact, OnePlus set up a unique photoshoot in Scotland, in the most remote …
The next OnePlus phone boasts a camera created in conjunction with revered camera company, Hasselblad. To celebrate the fact, OnePlus set up a unique photoshoot in Scotland, in the most remote village in the United Kingdom: the Knoydart peninsula in the Highlands of Scotland. The community includes the most remote pub in the U.K., called The Old Forge.
It’s so remote you can only reach it by boat or a two-day hike through the Scottish Highlands—there’s no road access.
It’s a bit of a way to take photographic equipment, so Matt Porteous, a photographer known for his environmental photography as well as portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales, used the most portable camera we all turn to, the smartphone.
To solve the problem of how to reach the remote location, OnePlus decided to use a drone, no, not for the photographer, just for the phone.
Jayne Eddie, Skipper at Western Isle Cruises, captured by Matt Porteous on the OnePlus 11 5G
The drone was flown into Knoydart and Porteous directed the portrait shoot from his studio 500 miles away. The connection was made by satellite, as Knoydart is beyond cellular network connectivity—even for OnePlus.
The community makes the most of remoteness, with a remote hotel called Doune Knoydart which encourages guests to be at one with nature, and see the seals, dolphins and even Orcas that visit the bay, or the Northern Lights in winter. As the hotel puts it, “We’re off grid with no road vehicle access, the only way in or out is by sea or on foot. We’re remote, but not isolated, operating our boat to transport our guests the 40 minutes by sea from Mallaig.”
The new phone uses something called Natural Colour Calibration, which was developed in conjunction with Hasselblad and aims to create true-to-life colors. The hardware includes a 13-channel, multi-spectral light color-identifying sensor (which is not a mouthful at all).
All the photos were taken using the OnePlus, and the colors look great, as do the photos in general. Of course, having a OnePlus 11, or any cameraphone, won’t turn you into Matt Porteous. You still need to look out for lampposts sprouting out of your portrait subject’s head, or check they’re not blinking.
But the inclusion of technologically advanced cameras and rigorously optimized software can at least give us a helping hand.
NASA has a massive amount of data and it receives more every day. While some of the data is processed immediately, much of the data is archived to be processed later, …
NASA has a massive amount of data and it receives more every day. While some of the data is processed immediately, much of the data is archived to be processed later, sometimes years later. This situation needs to change if researchers are to utilize the data to investigate critical issues with dynamically changing characteristics like global climate change. To increase its ability to process and use this data in a timely manner, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center announced a joint development program with IBM Research to process the NASA data using IBM’s foundation AI technology.
To put this task into perspective, the GPT-3 data set, which led to the development of ChatGPT AI platform that recently passed a Wharton MBA exam, represents about 45TB (terabytes) of data. By comparison, NASA estimates that its data set could be upwards of 250PB (petabytes). With 1PB equal to 1,000TB, the NASA data set is over 5,000 times larger than the GPT-3 data set, making this a monumental task, but the benefits could be ground-breaking.
Previously, IBM estimated that 90% of data collected is never used, and in their press invitation, IBM and NASA noted that “Currently, half of all scientific findings come from archived data, which makes it challenging for researchers to study ever-evolving threats such as climate change.” Efficiently mining the enormous amount of archival data needs the power of AI. IBM Research’s massive cloud resources, the collective experiences of the company’s AI experts, and its AI foundation model technology will help NASA filter and analyze earth-science data in days or months rather than years or even decades.
The first foundation model will be trained on over 300,000 earth science publications, where contextual information will be extracted. This stage will enhance search and investigation of existing data. A second model will be trained on USGS (US Geological Survey) and NASA’s Harmonized Landset-Sentinel2 (HLS2) satellite dataset. HLS2 takes data from the joint NASA/USGS Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 and the ESA (European Space Agency) Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B satellites to generate harmonized, analysis-ready, surface reflectance data every two to three days.
According to the NASA web page, the harmonization of the Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 data collection (with 30-meter spatial resolution and a 16-day repeat period) with the ESA Sentinel-2A/B collection (with 10- to 20-meter spatial resolution and a five-day repeat period) will allow these data sets to be used as if they were a single collection. Using this harmonized data set, land-surface observations can be created that offer a 30-meter spatial resolution every two to three days.
The HLS data is refreshed frequently, which allows for time series observations of land surfaces down to the field/plot scale. Applications for this harmonized data set include everything from detecting natural hazards to tracking changes in vegetation, infestations, and wildlife habitats.
IBM and NASA are still in the early phases of this project. The IBM foundation models are presently trained on massive Nvidia A100 GPU installations in the IBM Cloud. However, the data center strategy will depend upon the “data gravity” (is NASA’s data portable enough to send to the cloud or will the compute have to be located closer the data) and compute resources to be applied to the workload.
NASA hopes to use the fundament models to feed the generation of transformer models (AI models customized to particular applications) in areas such as weather prediction, climate analysis, and geological analysis. The training data set and the foundation models will be open sourced and available for other researchers to use. Theoretically, the NASA data could be combined with data from other US and international government agencies, such as NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the Department of Agriculture, to further improve the training data sets and expand the scope of the foundation models to cover almost every aspect of the earth.
The result of this collaboration may have wide-reaching impacts. Researchers will have an improved ability to monitor and analyze earth data. IBM itself could use the data for its Weather.com subsidiary, to better model weather patterns and the impact of weather on the earth. The resulting models could also be critical for commercial operations in agriculture, fishing, oil and gas exploration, mining, and many other industries.
If a large data set like GPT-3 can lead to intelligent communication platforms in just months, an earth super data set and AI foundation models based on it may be able to help humanity better understand and monitor our planet and lead to a better future.
The mega cap stocks known as FAANG are offering rare, deep discounts since like Amazon is trading 47% off their all-time high and Meta off 62%. Similarly, Alphabet and Meta are …
The mega cap stocks known as FAANG are offering rare, deep discounts since like Amazon is trading 47% off their all-time high and Meta off 62%. Similarly, Alphabet and Meta are trading significantly lower to its historical average valuation. Despite these price cuts, FAAMG comprise 17.4% of the S&P 500.
We believe it’s prudent to watch these names closely, as generally speaking, they have strong balance sheets, healthy margins and defensible competitive positioning. This week, the majority of the FAANG stocks will report earnings with Meta releasing results after the market close (AMC) on February 01st and Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet reporting results AMC on February 02nd.
Microsoft results last week were in line across the board, except the Personal Computing reported a slight miss on the top line. Notably, Personal Computing missed this quarter and is causing enough uncertainty that the CFO did not provide a fiscal year guide, which is out of character for Microsoft. Azure posted slightly better-than-expected growth of 38% compared to guidance of 37% — despite this December quarter beat, Microsoft is forecasting a notable slowdown in Azure to 31% to 30% — or an 8 point deceleration sequentially.
With an eye toward fundamentals, Microsoft’s report is likely to be a reflection of what’s to come. Over this past year, Microsoft was one of the strongest FAAMGs due to its ability to drive down costs for enterprises, yet even this advantage is beginning to erode. According to Satya Nadella on the December quarter earnings call: “There is only one law of gravity that I think all of us are subject to, which is inflation-adjusted economic growth.”
In other words, even the best companies and strong growth will slow down the longer inflation remains high. As investors, it’s not our job to control inflation or the FED’s response, rather, we should be seeking out the highest quality companies and determining when they may bottom. Due to the market being forward-looking, the time to do that research is now with the goal of building long-term positions throughout 2023.
Below the I/O Fund discusses the nuances to each company’s fundamentals. It can take a lot of data to draw conclusions during a time of market uncertainty. We’ve bolded what we think are the most important takeaways.
This week, the majority of the FAANG stocks will report earnings with Meta releasing results after … [+] the market close (AMC) on February 01st and Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet reporting results AMC on February 02nd.
Apple’s Q3 revenue grew by 8.1% YoY to $90.15 billion. It’s revenue in Q4 is expected to fall 1.53% YoY to $122.05 billion and the analysts have lowered their estimates by 0.83% in the past month. Apple’s revenue decline will be the first since the March 2019 quarter. The consumer weakness might weigh on the upcoming results along with Covid-related production delays in China.
Apple was the only one among the four companies to beat on the top-line and bottom-line estimates in Q3.
Looking forward, in Q1, the revenue is expected to grow 0.36% YoY to $97.63 billion and grow 4.5% and 4.7% in the following quarters. This will mark another weak growth quarter for Apple although we’ve argued in the past, the stock should be viewed as a value stock when we said “Apple has been very consistent with its margins and cash flows.”
Amazon’s Q3 revenue grew by 14.7% YoY to $127.1 billion. The more important news was that Amazon offered weak Q4 guidance of $140 billion to $148 billion, which was well below the analysts’ estimate of $155.37 billion at the time of Q3 results, and this led to the stock selling-off after the report.
Analyst consensus is for revenue growth of by 6.03% YoY to $145.70 billion. With that said, pending no more surprises come Thursday – Amazon’s growth should incrementally improve over the next four quarters.
Alphabet’s Q3 revenue grew by 6.1% YoY to $69.09 billion. Analyst consensus expects Q4 revenue growth of 1.54% YoY for revenue of $76.49 billion. The company’s CEO Sundar Pichai said in the Q3 earnings call, “Our financial results for the third quarter reflect healthy fundamental growth in Search and momentum in Cloud. Our reported results reflect the effect of foreign exchange. The growth in our advertising revenues was also impacted by lapping last year’s elevated growth levels and the challenging macro climate.”
Similar to Amazon, Alphabet is expected to incrementally improve revenue growth throughout 2023. Due to Azure’s deceleration, there will be emphasis on both AWS and Google Cloud revenue. Notably, Google Cloud accelerated last quarter while both AWS and Azure decelerated.
Due to Azure’s deceleration, there will be emphasis on both AWS and Google Cloud revenue. Notably, … [+] Google Cloud accelerated last quarter while both AWS and Azure decelerated.
Meta Platforms Q3 revenue fell by 4.5% YoY to $27.71 billion. Analyst consensus expects Q4 revenue to fall by 5.91% YoY to $31.68 billion. The December quarter will be the third consecutive quarter of declining revenue for the company. Analysts are expecting growth to return in Q2 next year and the stock price has moved 60% since the October low in anticipation of this incremental rebound.
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Apple’s Q3 adj. EPS came at $1.29. Amazon’s adj. EPS came at $0.28 in Q3 and beat estimates by … [+] 35.5%. Alphabet’s Q3 adj. EPS came at $1.06 and missed estimates by 16%. Meta’s Q3 adj.EPS came at $1.64 and missed estimates by 11.3%.
Apple’s bottom line continues to shine with minimal contraction compared to its peers. Although a return to bottom line growth is forecast for Q3 for many of the FAAMG stocks, it will greatly depend on what is stated on the upcoming earnings calls including the fiscal year guides. Microsoft pulling fiscal year guidance with only two quarters left in their fiscal year is a great example of how quickly things can change. As stated, it’s out of character for Microsoft to not guide for fiscal year yet due to unique levers that Microsoft can pull, they expect their operating margins to remain consistent.
EPS Overview:
· Apple’s Q3 adj. EPS came at $1.29. Analysts expect adj. EPS of $1.96 in the next quarter.
· Amazon’s adj. EPS came at $0.28 in Q3 and beat estimates by 35.5%. They expect Q4 adj.EPS of $0.17 and have lowered estimates by 12.5% in the past month.
· Alphabet’s Q3 adj. EPS came at $1.06 and missed estimates by 16%. The analysts expect Q4 adj.EPS to be $1.20.
· Meta’s Q3 adj.EPS came at $1.64 and missed estimates by 11.3%. The company’s expenses are rising coupled with softer revenue growth and softer margins, whereas previously, Meta was one of the strongest FAAMGs on margins. Analysts expect Q4 adj. EPS of $2.22.
Meta has also announced job cuts along with other tech companies. Apple is only the company on the list that has not announced job cuts.
Apple stock has the highest return of 84% in the past three years, as can be seen in the above chart … [+] for the period from 01/29/2020 till 01/27/2023. Alphabet has a return of 38% and Amazon has a return of 10%. Meta is the worst performer with a negative return of (32%).
Apple stock has the highest return of 84% in the past three years, as can be seen in the above chart for the period from 01/29/2020 till 01/27/2023. Alphabet has a return of 38% and Amazon has a return of 10%. Meta is the worst performer with a negative return of (32%).
YTD Meta has the highest return of 24%, compared to 23% for Amazon, 13% for Alphabet, and 11% for … [+] Apple.
YTD Meta has the highest return of 24%, compared to 23% for Amazon, 13% for Alphabet, and 11% for Apple.
Apple has a P/S ratio of 5.97, compared to 4.65 for Alphabet, 3.45 for Meta, and 2.11 for Amazon. … [+] Apple has a five-year average P/S ratio of 5.57, compared to 6.41 for Alphabet, 8.29 for Meta, and 3.71 for Amazon.
Apple has a P/S ratio of 5.97, compared to 4.65 for Alphabet, 3.45 for Meta, and 2.11 for Amazon. Apple has a five-year average P/S ratio of 5.57, compared to 6.41 for Alphabet, 8.29 for Meta, and 3.71 for Amazon.
Amazon has a P/E ratio of 94.66, compared to 23.62 for Apple, 19.63 for Alphabet, and 14.20 for … [+] Meta. Amazon has a five-year average P/E ratio of 97.10, compared to 24.05 for Apple, 30.99 for Alphabet, and 25.07 for Meta.
Amazon has a P/E ratio of 94.66, compared to 23.62 for Apple, 19.63 for Alphabet, and 14.20 for Meta. Amazon has a five-year average P/E ratio of 97.10, compared to 24.05 for Apple, 30.99 for Alphabet, and 25.07 for Meta.
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Alphabet and Apple have the highest free cash flow margin of 23.27% and 23.12%, respectively. The … [+] increase in expenses and Capex has weakened Meta’s cash flow margin in Q3. This is a material change to Meta’s story as the company was the leading FAANG stock on free cash flow yet reported a sudden, drastic reversal in Q3 with a meagre 1.14%.
Alphabet and Apple have the highest free cash flow margin of 23.27% and 23.12%, respectively. The increase in expenses and Capex has weakened Meta’s cash flow margin in Q3. This is a material change to Meta’s story as the company was the leading FAANG stock on free cash flow yet reported a sudden, drastic reversal in Q3 with a meagre 1.14%.
Apple has the highest operating margin of 27.62%, followed by Alphabet with an operating margin of … [+] 24.80%. Meta has seen the largest decline in operating margin from 33.2% in Q1 CY2020 to 20.44% in Q3 2022. Amazon’s margins have declined from 5.29% to 1.99% during this period. While, Apple’s operating margin rose from 22.04% to 27.62% and Alphabet’s from 19.38% to 24.80%.
Apple has the highest operating margin of 27.62%, followed by Alphabet with an operating margin of 24.80%. Meta has seen the largest decline in operating margin from 33.2% in Q1 CY2020 to 20.44% in Q3 2022. Amazon’s margins have declined from 5.29% to 1.99% during this period. While, Apple’s operating margin rose from 22.04% to 27.62% and Alphabet’s from 19.38% to 24.80%.
We have bolded quantitative takeaways from the analyst comments.
Ahead of Apple’s quarterly results, Credit Suisse maintains its quarter estimates including revenue of $121.6B and EPS of $1.92, which the firm lowered on December 9 primarily for iPhone shortages. Further, Credit Suisse sees potential upside to its estimates which are below the Street given weakening of the USD throughout the quarter which benefits revenue from a translation perspective and could benefit margins given Apple raised pricing in many countries as an offset to the strong dollar; and Q1 2022 is a relatively easy comp as quarterly results were constrained by over $6B of backlog including iPhone, Mac and iPad. The firm has an Outperform rating on the shares with a price target of $184.
With Apple’s shares up 12% year-to-date and signs of increasing consumer demand weakness, Wells Fargo is near-term cautious on the name into the company’s upcoming Q1 earnings. The firm moves 2023 revenue and EBIT estimates to 5%/8% below Street, respectively. Wells Fargo has an Overweight rating on the stock with a price target of $185.
Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju raised the firm’s price target on Amazon.com to $171 from $142 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of quarterly results. The firm believes Amazon can drive the most efficiency over time in shipping costs, and thinks 2023 will mark the moderation of Shipping Cost inefficiencies – from an operational perspective, this will mean less miles driven per package as well as more packages per delivery run; from a financial perspective, this will show up in the form of slower Shipping Cost versus gross merchandise value growth.
After conducting a deep dive on Alphabet, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill remains tactically cautious in the near-term given intensifying macro headwinds, but sees attractive value for “investors looking past the looming recession.” The stock currently trades at an EV/EBITDA multiple “materially below” its historical average and “not far from the 7x trough hit in ’08 and ’12,” Jefferies tells investors. The firm, which expects the stock to rebound ahead of revenues, as it did during ’08-’09 Great Financial Crisis, calls out easing comps, possible further cost actions and share buybacks as potential catalysts past the near-term macro hit. Jefferies kept Buy rating and $125 price target on Alphabet shares.
Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion raised the firm’s price target on Meta Platforms to $136 from $116 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst believes Meta’s 2023 expenditures may come in below expectations, boosting earnings and free cash flow forecasts. “Evidence of potential upside is mounting” with the headcount reduction announced November 9 plus recent articles implying the company’s $2B in data center spend is canceled or on hold, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, Piper says Meta’s sales growth remains challenged.
Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju raised the price target on Meta Platforms to $180 from $145 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of quarterly results. Automation/AI-driven ROI improvements to be found in product innovations such as Advantage+, and the ramp in marketer traction from Q3 to Q4 2022 form the building blocks of what the firm expects to be gradual improvements to Meta’s revenue dollar growth. Shifting focus to its updated conversations with advertisers, whereas prior checks indicated 5%-7% growth to total online/digital advertising spend for 2023, the latest data points suggest that the higher end of that range is no longer valid while the lower end drops to flat year-over-year.
Royston Roche, Equity Analyst at the I/O Fund, contributed to this article.
Please note: The I/O Fund conducts research and draws conclusions for the company’s portfolio. We then share that information with our readers and offer real-time trade notifications. This is not a guarantee of a stock’s performance and it is not financial advice. Please consult your personal financial advisor before buying any stock in the companies mentioned in this analysis. Beth Kindig and the I/O Fund owns Microsoft.
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Five Key Considerations With two exceptions, my wife and I have owned at least one dog throughout our 44 years of marriage. The first exception was some thirty years ago when …
With two exceptions, my wife and I have owned at least one dog throughout our 44 years of marriage. The first exception was some thirty years ago when we still had two cats. The second exception is now.
Our beloved border collie, Skye, crossed over the rainbow bridge this past summer and we are still reeling in grief. We miss the joy of the greeting we received when returning home, regardless of whether we were gone 3 hours or 3 weeks. When the refrigerator ice maker grinds, there’s no waiting mouth to catch the one cube that falls outside the glass. We dote on friends’ new puppies and we still go the the dog beach in Jupiter, Florida to get our puppy fix. Witnessing the bond between the playful dog and his owner touches us and we get to explain our longing to a sympathetic ear. And we still have poop bags and dog treats in various pants and jacket pockets.
But after living without Skye for these 6 months, our answer to the inevitable question we’re asked, “Are you going to get another dog?” is now a bit less certain, and we’re a bit more hesitant to answer.
Our lifestyle has certainly changed. I felt no guilt escaping from the dreadful Florida weather this past August and September for what I call our “evacuation vacation.” And I certainly don’t miss having to walk Skye in the rain. But I clearly miss the devotion, companionship, and unconditional love I was granted from our dogs. In the past after we’d lost a pet, that alone always made my answer very simple.
So what’s changed? The answer is “my age.” I’m 74 years old now. Any dog we get will likely live 12 to 15 years, making me almost 90 years old. So as the title of this article says, “Am I too old to get another dog?” Here are some considerations I have as I age.
I don’t have the answers. These are all considerations that I think many of us have or will face. A few years ago, when my wife and I bought a new bed, we joked that it may be the very last bed we buy. When we remodeled our current home we said this was going to be our “forever home.” Can I say that Skye was the last dog I’d ever own? No, definitely not. I love being with dogs too much to spend the rest of my life missing that part of me. Defining the problem is said to be the first step in coming up with a solution. So now on to step 2.
Key News Asian equities had a strong day following US stocks’ positive move yesterday, with the Philippines having a very strong day in advance of today’s Fed +25 bps rate hikes …
Asian equities had a strong day following US stocks’ positive move yesterday, with the Philippines having a very strong day in advance of today’s Fed +25 bps rate hikes which will lead the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise rates +50bps, Bank of England (BOE) +50bps, and a whole host of other central banks doing the same tomorrow.
Malaysia was closed for Federal Territory Day which celebrates “the formation of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 1974” according to Google
GOOG
We are seeing a rebound today in US-listed Chinese stocks due to a nice Hong Kong rally overnight led by Hong Kong’s most heavily traded Tencent +0.73%, Meituan +3.15%, Alibaba HK +2.23%, and BYD +6.12% after yesterday’s massive profit spike we discussed yesterday (net income expected to rise +458% in 2022 versus 2021!). BYD’s strong results lifted EVs and autos in both Hong Kong and China with Li Auto HK +9.37%, XPeng HK +10.34%, Geely Auto +5.06%, and NIO HK +6.33%.
Baidu HK jumped +8.99% as Asian investors cheered their announcement on launching a ChatGPT like search functionality. Worth pointing out that Hong Kong mid-morning dipped negative but rallied over the course of the day, a sign that investors maybe bought the dip as the Hang Seng Index closed back above the big meaningless round number 22K level at 22,072.
All sectors were positive in Hong Kong with only one negative sector in China with very strong breadth/advancers versus decliners. Hong Kong Main Board short turnover did increase with 20% of total Main Board turnover short. This is the first time that short turnover was 20% or more since October 18th, 2022. We also had another net sell day of Hong Kong stocks from Mainland investors via Southbound Stock Connect.
Fair amount of chatter about a Goldman Sachs research report highlighting that hedge funds are overweight China while long only/mutual funds are still underweight China. Remember hedge funds are traders/they don’t marry their positions. Mutual funds appear to be far more skeptical of this rebound. Ouch! Think about that big pension fund that cut its China weight back in October. Imagine what their Q1 recap meeting will be like! “So how did we do by cutting our China weight in half? Ugh…”. Maybe you shouldn’t invest emotionally! Hedge funds are doing it though, the China underweight is why the pain trade is higher in my opinion.
Mainland China’s nice rebound was led by growth stocks as foreign investors bought $1.034 billion of Mainland stocks via Northbound Stock Connect. News that a big pension plan has cut its private equity investments in China which may explain where all this Northbound Connect flow is coming from. Staying in big liquid mega/large caps makes sense versus the lock ups associated with private equity. On Twitter, @ahern_brendan, I put a nice chart of Shanghai and Shenzhen yesterday. Looks good!
The Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech gained +1.05% and +3.37% respectively on volume -10.5% from yesterday which is 124% of the 1-year average. 440 stocks advanced while 57 stocks declined. Main Board short turnover increased +22.68% from yesterday which is 142% of the 1-year average as 20% of turnover was short turnover. Growth factors outperformed value factors as small caps outperformed large caps. All sectors were positive with tech gaining +4.24%, materials finishing higher +2.88%, and discretionary up +2.75% while financials +0.44%. Top sub-sectors were auto, semis, and technical hardware/equipment while household products, banks, and insurance were among the worst. Southbound Stock Connect volumes were moderate/high as Mainland investors sold -$258 million of Hong Kong stocks with Tencent a small net sell though again a big decline from the last two days, Meituan a strong buy, Xpeng a small net sell, Li Auto a small net buy, and Kuaishou a very small net buy.
Shanghai, Shenzhen, and STAR Board gained +0.9%, +1.45%, and +1.19% respectively on volume +11.69% from yesterday which is 111% of the 1-year average. 3,951 stocks advanced while 539 stocks declined. All sectors were positive except real estate finishing lower -0.68%, with discretionary gaining +2.58%, materials up +2.05%, and tech finishing higher +1.55%. Top sub-sectors were auto, diversified financials, and office supplies while power generation equipment, banking, and construction machinery lagged. Northbound Stock Connect volumes were moderate/high as foreign investors bought $1.034 billion of Mainland stocks with mega/large caps stocks favored. CNY gained +0.23% versus the US dollar closing at 6.739, Treasury bonds sold off slightly, Shanghai Copper +0.16%, while Shanghai Steel Rebar closed lower -1.39%.
Back to work!
China Metro Passenger Traffic
China Congestion Delay Index
China COVID-19 Map
MSCI China All Shares Index
Country performance
Stock performance
Hong Kong Top 10
China Top 10
What do all parents have in common? We want the best for our kids. We want our kids to grow up to be independent, healthy adults who can achieve their dreams …
What do all parents have in common? We want the best for our kids. We want our kids to grow up to be independent, healthy adults who can achieve their dreams and live a full life. While money isn’t everything, the ability to manage our money is an important piece of living a healthy life. Our kids ability to manage money will affect every step they take in their adult lives, including getting a job, managing their careers, renting an apartment, buying a home and having a family.
A necessary aspect of managing money is how to earn and grow your money. Teenagers today have an opportunity that most of us never had – the ability to invest in the stock market at an early age and earn compound interest. Most adults were not taught the basics of investing as a teenager, and/or didn’t have access to investing platforms. This means investing may seem too risky, or it could be intimidating to adults. However, if done the right way, investing early can empower teens to create the life they envision.
The ‘right way’, starts with financial education, according to Eddie Behringer, Co-Founder and CEO of Copper Banking, a teen focused banking and financial education platform. Copper was founded with the mission to create the first financially literate generation, and recently launched Copper Investing, the first-ever teen-and-kid-centric Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). Copper research shows that teenagers want to learn about finance and are eager to start investing, but because finance is not taught at schools, most teens don’t understand finance.
– 74%: teens who don’t feel confident about their financial education
– 48%: score on a financial literacy exam given to high school seniors
– 32% of teens can’t tell the difference between a credit and a debit card
– 27%: youth who know what inflation is and can do simple interest rate calculation
“With inflation on the rise, teens need to go beyond saving—they need to learn about growing wealth,” Behringer says. “One of the biggest opportunities for teen wealth-building is time in the market and willingness to take risk. Our research shows teens are eager to get started and with Copper Investing, we will empower them to become savvy investors from a place of financial education so parents can feel secure, too, knowing their teen’s financial future comes first.”
Build Wealth: Although 2022 was a rocky ride, the market is still the best way to build wealth. Most adults have experienced declines and busted bubbles, and that can make the stock market seem dangerous. However, the natural market cycle includes crashes and growth, ups and downs – and even considering every market event over it’s history, the market has still averaged a 10% yearly return. This means that if a 46-year old adult had invested $1000 at the age of 16, today it would be worth about $17,500. That’s the power of compound interest, and teenagers have a huge opportunity to take advantage of this at a young age.
Empowerment and Independence: Many adults don’t understand investing, and have missed opportunities to build wealth. Teenagers who start early will understand investing, which will allow them to be comfortable with more complex investments as an adult. Investing in the market gives teens a head start in life and the opportunity to build real wealth. This can open opportunities and provide the freedom to reach their dreams and goals.
Inflation: Every year prices increase, and which means your money loses value. Inflation is on average 3%, meaning uninvested cash loses 3% of it’s value each year. Last year illustrated the disastrous effects of inflation. The annual inflation rate for the United States is 7.1% for the 12 months ended November 2022. Even a high yield savings account earning 3% means you were guaranteed to lose over 4% this year.
While investing clearly opens opportunities for teens, this does not come without risk. For investors of all ages, there are some proven guidelines to investing in a smart way.
Finance doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating, and platforms like Copper can provide simple financial education targeted to young people. If we as parents can remove the taboo and fear around finance, and expose our kids to saving and investing at an early age, we are setting them on a path to lead financially healthy and independent lives as adults.
Liz Frazier is the Director of Education for Copper Banking.
Key Takeaways Peloton has beaten Q4 revenue forecasts, but still notched their 8th consecutive quarterly loss Despite the loss, the stock was up 7% after the announcement as subscription revenue jumped …
It was the eighth straight quarter of negative profit for Peloton, but the mood from the company and from Wall Street was optimistic. The stock price even jumped 7% on the announcement of the Q4 net loss of $335.4 million.
Why, you ask?
How can a company lose well over a quarter of a billion dollars in just three months, and yet the stock goes up? Well, as with many market moves, it comes down to expectations. Yes, Peloton racked up some continued losses last quarter, but the numbers were lower than a year ago.
The reason this is important is because Peloton are in the middle of a major turnaround, with CEO Barry McCarthy pivoting the company to focus more on their content platform, as opposed to their hardware.
The narrowing of their losses is an encouraging sign that things may be starting to (slowly) turn around.
For investors who want to be at the cutting edge of tech, picking when a company like Peloton might be on the way up is a very tough nut to crack. Luckily, you can enlist the help of AI, and invest in companies like Peloton in our Emerging Tech Kit.
So what are Peloton’s results and what are McCarthy’s plans to turn the company around?
Download Q.ai today for access to AI-powered investment strategies.
Q4 of 2022 ended with Peloton notching a loss of $335.4 million, against losses of $439.4 million from the same time in 2021. The headline revenue figure came in at $792.7 million, which was significantly higher than the $710 million which had been expected according to Refinitiv.
Revenue overall was also down from Q4 of 2021 when it hit $1.13 billion, caused mainly by a 52% drop in the connected fitness product sales. This category is what Peloton initially became known for, and includes their physical hardware including the Bike, Tread and recently launched Peloton Row.
This is particularly noticeable given the time of year. Peloton hardware isn’t cheap, and much like their widely mocked commercial suggested, the holidays is, in fact, a popular time for fitness equipment purchases.
As Barry McCarthy stated in a recent interview, “This is the time of year when, if we’re going to sell a lot of hardware, we have, so you would expect there to be lots of hardware related revenue, and you would expect that maybe that revenue would exceed subscription. It didn’t.”
On the flip side, subscription revenue was up 22%.
While this might not seem like great news, it’s this trajectory which has caused Wall Street to show signs of optimism towards the company. In the same interview, McCarthy said that “It may be a turning point.”
But why?
And it’s that man, Barry McCarthy, who’s been brought in specifically to find that turning point. As a hugely hyped, venture capital backed startup, Peloton’s initial USP was around their proprietary hardware, in conjunction with their high energy, community based content platform.
The company grew fast and managed to achieve unicorn status prior to their IPO. With their stock price remaining relatively flat in the first couple of years in the public markets, the company took off as the pandemic hit.
With the massive spike in at-home fitness, they were very well placed to provide households with workouts with a community aspect, without the need to leave the house. This saw the stock rise from around $20 to hit an all time high of almost $170 at the beginning of 2021.
It has crashed dramatically since then, as the unwinding of the pandemic, supply chain issues, high manufacturing costs and greater competition has made it hard for the company to find a foothold in the current market.
This is particularly the case given Peloton’s positioning as a luxury fitness offering, at a time when cost of living pressure is higher than it’s been in years.
The content behind the hardware has always been the highest margin component of Peloton’s offering, and this is why Barry McCarthy was enlisted to take the reins of the company.
As the previous CFO for Netflix and Spotify, he knows content.
There are a number of reasons why Peloton has decided to pivot their business model to focus on their content and digital subscriptions over their hardware.
Despite a reduction in at-home fitness demand post-pandemic, there’s no denying the trend for digital fitness content. Peloton are by no means the pioneer in this area, and many companies and influencers have had enormous success with digital workout platforms.
With the rise of remote fitness and a shift towards digital fitness solutions, there has been a growing demand for digital content offerings, particularly in the form of online subscriptions.
Peloton’s hardware is very nice. Its high quality and well-designed, and comes at a premium price. Even so, that also means it’s expensive to manufacture.
Digital subscriptions have a higher profit margin compared to hardware sales, and this pivot allows Peloton to generate more revenue while also keeping costs down.
In turn, digital subscriptions allow Peloton to reach a much wider audience, beyond those who can afford their hardware products. The Peloton Digital app is available for just $12.99 per month, and gives users access to all of the Peloton workouts and live classes, without the need to purchase an expensive bike, treadmill or rower.
It allows for workouts on existing equipment they might own, or even simply to access to weights workouts, plus other fitness classes such as stretching, yoga, meditation and boxing.
Obviously, there are far more people who can afford $12.99 a month as opposed to the $1,400+ purchase (or $89 per month rental) price for the Peloton Bike.
Producing hardware involves significant costs, such as production and distribution, while digital content is much cheaper to produce and distribute. It is also essentially a fixed cost which remains unchanged as user numbers scale up. This will allow Peloton to scale their revenue without a corresponding increase in costs.
By focusing more on their digital subscription business, Peloton can better meet the needs of its growing customer base while also increasing profitability and expanding its reach.
When it comes to investing, nothing is certain. No one knows for sure whether Bary McCarthy will be able to turn the company around and generate sustainable profits for Peloton, but it is possible.
Trying to pick the bottom for any stock or market is super hard (or impossible) and there’s no knowing when you’re going to get it right or when you’ll be throwing your money down the drain.
That’s why we created the Emerging Tech Kit, to use the power of AI to help.
This Kit is split between four tech verticals, specifically tech ETFs, large cap tech companies, growth tech companies (like Peloton) and crypto via public trusts.
Every week our AI predicts how these verticals and the holdings within them are likely to perform on a risk adjusted basis for the coming week, and then automatically rebalances the Kit in line with those projections.
It’s like having a personal hedge fund, right in your pocket.
Download Q.ai today for access to AI-powered investment strategies.
Those with happy feelings of nostalgia for McDonald’s classic characters will like the fast-food giant’s new collection of backpacks, crossbody bags and card holders. McDonald’s partnered with Loungefly to mine its …
Those with happy feelings of nostalgia for McDonald’s classic characters will like the fast-food giant’s new collection of backpacks, crossbody bags and card holders. McDonald’s partnered with Loungefly to mine its own intellectual property for the accessories.
The premium collection includes a mini backpack for $80, inspired by Ronald McDonald’s iconic red and white striped shirt and yellow jumpsuit. Hamburglar, who appears on a mini backpack, $90, and there’s a backpack for $80 that looks like a hot and tasty Happy Meal.
McDonald’s Grimace character on a crossbody bag.
There’s also a purple “Crossbuddy” backpack of Grimace, priced at $60, crossbody, $60. A cardholder, $25, is shaped like the perfectly-salted World Famous Fries, while a striped wallet, $40, features Ronald and friends, including Birdie the Early Bird, who gets into the act.
The accessories are part of a trend that has seen mainstream food and beverage brands cash in on the market for sentimentality. Baby Boomers, especially, have a soft spot for the characters they grew up with, while younger cohorts just like the way the products look.
Other food and beverage brands that have leveraged their intellectual property for products include Cheetos, which has had an affinity for introducing clothes with hidden compartments and pockets where fans can hide the snack.
Jumping on the trend for oversize jeans, Cheetos last year created a pair with a pocket large enough to conceal a bag of, yes, Cheetos. The brand’s wearable products are always “tongue in chic.” For example, an earlier Cheetos launch of a Seersucker pair of pants came with detachable “lapkins,” panels made out of white fabric. The Parasol Pocket was an umbrella with a pocket concealed on the inside and was advertised as “a hidden pouch for safe keeping.”
A crossbody bag shaped like McDonadl’s french fries.
“Loungefly intricately designs backpacks, wallets, crossbody bags, apparel and small accessories to tell wearable stories inspired by beloved brands,” the company said. Crafted with care and precision, Loungefly leaves no detail unturned. “Fans can find value in every stitch, from bag zippers to printed linings that showcase an authentic passion for the fandom they proudly wear,” said Loungefly.
Loungefly, which is owned by Funko’s, is the latter’s fan-forward lifestyle brand, and a consistent source of collectible fashion, known for innovative licensed accessories.
From casual fans to major collectors, Loungefly provides its loyal and growing community of followers with designs that allow them to wear their fandom on their sleeves — literally, with everyday wardrobe items and accessories.
Loungefly’s roster of properties includes Disney characters, Hello Kitty, Pokémon, Marvel super heros, Star Wars characters and Peanuts members. There’s also merch for fan-favorite sports teams in the NBA, MLB and NFL.
Loungefly, which was acquired by Funko in 2017, has expanded with Loungefly Apparel, the company’s casual apparel line, and Stitch Shoppe, a body-positive, high-end apparel line offering sizes XS to 4XL. Loungefly is available in specialty stores, boutiques and e-commerce sites.
Funko recently announced that it will be selling unique, Pop! figures of Ronald McDonald and friends, available on Funko.com.
Fans can keep up with Loungefly products and trends, and learn about new accessory releases by following the brand on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter at @Loungefly. The McDonald’s collection and other collections were promoted on Loungefly’s Instagram livestream.
Phillips 66 has been named as a Top 10 dividend paying energy stock, according to Dividend Channel, which published its weekly ”DividendRank” report. The report noted that among energy companies, PSX …
Phillips 66 has been named as a Top 10 dividend paying energy stock, according to Dividend Channel, which published its weekly ”DividendRank” report. The report noted that among energy companies, PSX shares displayed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. For example, the recent PSX share price of $100.27 represents a price-to-book ratio of 1.7 and an annual dividend yield of 3.87% — by comparison, the average energy stock in Dividend Channel’s coverage universe yields 3.8% and trades at a price-to-book ratio of 3.5. The report also cited the strong quarterly dividend history at Phillips 66, and favorable long-term multi-year growth rates in key fundamental data points.
The Top 10 DividendRank‘ed Energy Stocks »
The report stated, ”Dividend investors approaching investing from a value standpoint are generally most interested in researching the strongest most profitable companies, that also happen to be trading at an attractive valuation. That’s what we aim to find using our proprietary DividendRank formula, which ranks the coverage universe based upon our various criteria for both profitability and valuation, to generate a list of the top most ‘interesting’ stocks, meant for investors as a source of ideas that merit further research.”
The annualized dividend paid by Phillips 66 is $3.88/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend ex-date was on 11/16/2022. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for PSX, which Dividend Channel stressed as being of key importance. Indeed, studying a company’s past dividend history can be of good help in judging whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue.
