Sales & Marketing news

• Paul Ryan calls arguments against the GOP healthcare bill 'hysterical'

  29-06-2017 19:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday suggested opponents of the Republican healthcare proposals are going too far in their criticism.
  "The rhetoric is just over the top," Ryan told local Wisconsin radio station WISN. "I have seen a lot in my day and this rhetoric, it's hysterical, it's hyperbolic. It's really something."
  Ryan also said much of the complaints from Democrats seems to stem from their losses in special elections for House seats in Montana, Georgia, South Carolina, and Kansas.
  "I
  
  Read more

• A top trader at a $12.6 billion hedge fund is going it alone

  29-06-2017 19:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Giles Coppel, a top trader in Brevan Howard's New York office, is prepping his own hedge fund, people familiar with the matter said.
  Brevan Howard is backing Coppel with $200 million, one of the people said.
  Coppel has headed trading since 2012, according to his Bloomberg profile. He previously worked at Tudor Investment Corp. and Lehman Brothers, according to the profile.
  Coppel couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The people familiar with the launch asked not to be
  
  Read more

• MAPPED: The companies under siege by the Whole Foods-Amazon merger (WFM, SFM, WMT, KR)

  29-06-2017 18:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  By now, everyone knows of Amazon's  plan to acquire Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.
  The deal has caused some investors to speculate about which companies will see their business suffer the most.
  It was at least partially responsible for Blue Apron having to lower its IPO price. Additionally, competitors in the grocery and pharmacy fields have seen their shares fall significantly over the last week.
  Morgan Stanley took a novel approach to analyzing the deal, in a recent note to
  
  Read more

• TECH STOCKS ARE GETTING CLOBBERED (SPX)

  29-06-2017 18:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Tech companies in the S&P 500 dropped as much as 2.1% on Thursday amid renewed selling in the mega-caps that have led the market higher this year.
  FANG stocks — Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google — each slipped more than 1.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index fell 1.8% to its lowest level since mid-May.
  The benchmark S&P 500 declined 0.8% to 2,421.37 at 11:56 a.m. Eastern.
  The market's reliance on its heavily-weighted tech leaders has been an issue before, most recently
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• GARY COHN: 'We can't solve every issue in the healthcare bill' but 'America will be happy with what we give them'

  29-06-2017 18:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  National Economic Council chairman Gary Cohn said in an MSNBC interview Thursday morning that "we can't solve every issue in the healthcare bill" but "America will be happy with what we give them."
  Speaking with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle, Cohn said there are "multiple issues that we're trying to solve" by passing healthcare reform.
  Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed a vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act after it became clear Republicans had nowhere near the nu
  
  Read more

• Japan can help us better understand one of the biggest puzzles facing the US economy

  29-06-2017 17:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A hotly debated topic on the US economy is the collapsed relationship between unemployment and inflation. 
  The traditional Phillips curve purports that when unemployment falls, inflation should rise, since more workers with jobs will increase demand in a stronger economy and that should lift prices. 
  But the US unemployment is at a 16-year low, and inflation is going nowhere. 
  Larry Hatheway, the chief economist at GAM, an asset manager with about $130 billion, looks to Japan
  
  Read more

• BLUE APRON CEO: Amazon's grocery business could be 'good for us' (APRN, AMZN)

  29-06-2017 17:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Following a disappointing IPO tainted by Amazon's recent acquisition of Whole Foods, the CEO of Blue Apron isn't giving up hope.
  If Amazon "can help accelerate bringing online dollars into the offline grocery world and accelerate that transition from offline to online, we think that is good for us, and good for others players in online grocery," Matt Salzberg said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday.
  Salzberg is in damage control mode after Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition raised concerns ov
  
  Read more

• Bitcoin's 'bubble' is unlike anything we've ever seen before

  29-06-2017 17:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  There are still some question marks about whether bitcoin is in a bubble. But the speed of its price growth is already nearly unmatched.
  The cryptocurrency has surged 162% in very volatile trading this year amid continued demand. But as the chart below illustrates, bitcoin's longer-term rally by as much as 1,000% was swifter than homebuilder stocks in the lead up to the housing crash. 
  Jeffrey Kleintop, the chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said that "the
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Help us chart the Anatomy of a Leader

  29-06-2017 17:07
  
  The world of business is undergoing rapid and profound change, thanks to consumers’ shifting habits and companies’ digital transformations. That’s why we have launched a new survey, so you can help us understand marketing’s role in shaping the future.
  Marketing Week is investigating the skills, competences and qualities that make up today’s leaders in the field of marketing, and we want you to help us work out which are the most important to possess.
  Are marketers
  
  Read more

• America is hooked on credit cards — and it's pretty clear why (JPM, TSYS)

  29-06-2017 17:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Americans have racked up $1.01 trillion in revolving debt — primarily credit card debt — according to the Federal Reserve. That's the highest tally since the financial crisis in 2008. 
  The credit card is now the preferred method of payment among Americans, edging out debit cards and cash, according to the 2016 US Payment Study by payment processing company Total Systems Services, or TSYS.
  It's the first time credit cards claimed the top spot in the six years TSYS has been conduc
  
  Read more

• GOP senator's joke about Matt Damon shows how Trump's push on the healthcare bill went wrong

  29-06-2017 16:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  During a meeting of Republican senators and President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, Sen. Dean Heller tried to lighten the mood.
  The Nevada senator made reference to ads from a pro-Trump nonprofit group attacking him for opposing the Senate GOP's healthcare bill. He joked, according to The Washington Post, that the ads should have used his real face instead of actor Matt Damon.
  While a few members of the meeting laughed, the moment also offers a crystallization of Trump's
  
  Read more

• California wants to deal with the 'valley of death' for electric cars (TSLA)

  29-06-2017 16:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  On balance, electric cars have been a miserable market failure, despite the massive amounts of hype directed at them. Consumers have been able to purchase a wide range of EVs for a decade, and yet the vehicles make up only about 1% of global sales.
  Even that number could erode as federal tax breaks for new EV purchases expire. Buyers can currently claim up to $7,500 per vehicle, but once a carmaker crosses a certain sales threshold (200,000 cars), the incentive goes away. Tesla, for example
  
  Read more

• Blue Apron opens for trading at $10 (APRN)

  29-06-2017 16:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Blue Apron opened for trading at $10 a share on Thursday.
  The meal-delivery service priced its initial public offering at $10, which was the low end of its expected $10 to $11 range. That was well below the initial IPO range set at $15 to $17.
  At $10 a share, Blue Apron would valued at $1.9 billion. That is a bit lower than its $2 billion private valuation in 2015, according to Crunch Base.
  Blue Apron's IPO launched slightly less than a week after Amazon annou
  
  Read more

• Big banks are about to hand $130 billion to investors, and their stocks are soaring (BAC, COF, CS, WFC, KEY, ALLY, C, JPM, GS)

  29-06-2017 16:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The big banks are getting a big boost going into Thursday trading.
  The Federal Reserved gave across the board approvals for the financial companies' capital plans, most of which included share buybacks and dividend increases.
  The approvals are a signal of strength for the banks, as the Fed no longer thinks holding more capital in reserve to help survive a potential crisis is necessary. Instead of reserving their money, the banks are able to share it with their shareholders.
  Most of the big
  
  Read more

• Blue Apron got Amazoned before it even became a public company (APRN)

  29-06-2017 15:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Sorry Blue Apron, you just got Amazoned.
  Just two weeks ago, the meal prep delivery startup looked like it would coast through its IPO roadshow and start public trading with a juicy valuation around $3 billion. Then deal-happy retail juggernaut Amazon shelled out $13.7 billion to buy Whole Foods.
  It was terrible timing for Blue Apron. Many potential investors quickly identified the possibility of more competition in the food delivery industry and ran the other way.
  As a result, Bl
  
  Read more

• Blue Apron got Amazon'd before it even became a public company (APRN)

  29-06-2017 15:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Sorry, Blue Apron, you just got Amazon'd.
  Just two weeks ago, the meal-prep delivery startup looked as if it would coast through the road show for its initial public offering and start public trading with a juicy valuation of about $3 billion. Then the deal-happy retail juggernaut Amazon shelled out $13.7 billion to buy Whole Foods.
  It was terrible timing for Blue Apron. Many potential investors quickly identified the possibility of more competition in the food-delivery industry and ran the oth
  
  Read more

• Fred's crashes after its plan to buy nearly 1,000 Rite Aid stores is terminated (FRED, RAD, WBA)

  29-06-2017 15:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Walgreens and Rite Aid on Thursday said they scrapped their $17.2 billion merger, following scrutiny from US antitrust regulators. 
  This sent shockwaves to Fred's, the pharmacy chain that had expected to  buy nearly 1,000 stores from Rite Aid. Fred's shares cratered by as much as 24% in early trading. 
  Fred's announced in December that it entered an asset-purchase agreement with Rite Aid and Walgreens to buy 865 stores and some intellectual properties, as well as assume some liabi
  
  Read more

• The CEO of an investing startup taking in $12 million a day on the future of finance, millennials, and happiness

  29-06-2017 15:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  It took a year for the roboadviser Betterment to reach $10 million in assets under management.
  That day, in 2011, was a big one for founder Jon Stein, 37, who set up the company after working at First Manhattan Consulting Group. He recalls going out to dinner that evening and being in awe of having so many people trust him and his company with their money. Now the company pulls in $12 million a day.
  Betterment is the largest independent roboadviser in the world, with $9 billion under management
  
  Read more

• International news: Unilever’s hiring shift and beer designed for brunch

  29-06-2017 15:08
  
  Unilever uses AI and algorithms in hiring shift
  Unilever is handing parts of its hiring process over to technology as it looks to streamline the process and improve diversity among applicants and new hires.
  The process has seen Unilever move away from focusing on job fairs at a small number of universities and instead puts job ads on social media and job sites. An algorithm is then used to weed out roughly half the applicants, with the rest invited to play a series of 12 online games that test s
  
  Read more

• Who should lead digital transformation?

  29-06-2017 14:59
  
  With digital transformation impacting so many different functions there is much debate over who should take responsibility for implementing it.
  Blake Cahill, global head of social and digital marketing at Philips, does not think one person should be brought into a business to lead digital transformation, particularly for an organisation of the size and scale of Philips.
  “If you hire a digital transformation person and think they can reshape the entire company of 100,000 people, I
  
  Read more

• Sign up to our webinar on why sales and marketing need to be better aligned

  29-06-2017 14:35
  
  What makes a high-performing B2B marketer? Breaking silos and making sure all customer-facing teams work towards a common goal.
  To find out how better alignment can help improve customer experience and boost sales join our webinar with Salesforce to hear from their sales and marketing leaders.
  In this webinar you will:
  Find out how a better working relationship between marketing and sales will boost the bottom line
  Learn how to break down the silos between marketing and sales
  Find out
  
  Read more

• Initial claims unexpectedly tick up

  29-06-2017 14:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Initial jobless claims unexpectedly ticked up.
  Claims, which count the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time, rose by 2,000 to 244,000.
  Economists forecast that claims would dip to 240,000 from the upwardly revised 242,000.
  Initial jobless claims are used as a real-time proxy for the pace of layoffs since people usually file for benefits soon after they lose their jobs.
  The four-week moving average came in at 242,250, a drop of 2,750 from the p
  
  Read more

• GDP beats estimates as consumers spend more

  29-06-2017 14:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The US economy grew faster than initially thought in the first quarter, according to the Commerce Department.
  Gross domestic product, the value of everything produced in America, increased by 1.4%, a third estimate released Thursday showed. Consumer spending, the largest part of the economy, and exports were revised higher, though the broader picture of economic growth remained the same.
  The US economy enters its ninth year of expansion in July.
  GDP growth was forecast to be unrevised at 1.2%,
  
  Read more

• Walgreens is buying Rite Aid's assets for $5.18 billion after the 2 sides terminate their merger (WBA, RAD)

  29-06-2017 13:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Walgreens Boots Alliance announced on Thursday that it entered into an agreement to acquire 2,186 Rite Aid stores and related assets for $5.18 billion in cash.
  It's the latest twist in the ongoing saga between the two companies, which drew scrutiny from US antitrust regulators earlier this year after announcing a merger valued at $17.2 billion back in October 2015. The deal would've seen Walgreens acquire all outstanding shares of Rite Aid. The new deal will replace the original merger agreemen
  
  Read more

• 10 things you need to know today (SPY, SPX, QQQ, DIA, TSLA, BAC, APRN, SPLS)

  29-06-2017 12:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Here is what you need to know.
  All big banks pass the Fed's second round of stress tests. All 34 big US banks passed the second round of the Federal Reserve's annual stress test, and only Capital One needs to resubmit its plan. Numerous banks proceeded to announce dividend payouts and share-buyback programs.
  Warren Buffett is on the verge of becoming Bank of America's biggest shareholder. Buffett could trade in his preferred shares for common shares after the bank announced a 60% hike in its div
  
  Read more

• Traders are bracing for the loss of a crucial stock market driver

  29-06-2017 12:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  One of the most compelling reasons to invest in the stock market may be going by the wayside.
  At least that's the thinking of investors who speculate on the size of dividend payments. Often used by companies to sweeten the pot for investors looking for periodic cash distributions, dividends are seen coming in lower than previously forecast.
  The aggregate expected S&P 500 payout of $54.70 a share has slipped by 6.2% since peaking in early March, and it now sits at its lowest since mid-January
  
  Read more

• BANK OF AMERICA: These 11 growth stocks are overowned and expensive

  29-06-2017 12:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Bank of America Merril Lynch released a list of what its equity and quant strategy analysts view to be the most "overowned expensive growth stocks."
  The list is a part of a new report on equity strategies.
  According to BAML, the "overowned" list includes companies that meet the following criteria:"1) high projected long-term growth (top decile of the S&P 500 by consensus LTG),
  2) expensive on valuation (top quintile of S&P 500 based on average rank of forward P/E, EV/Sales
  
  Read more

• Millennials are flocking towards some of the most speculative ways to invest

  29-06-2017 12:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Millennials are big users of some of the most speculative investing instruments in the stock market, according to TD Ameritrade.
  The brokerage firm told Business Insider that the roughly 18-35-year-old demographic made up about 40% of its new customers. Almost half of their trades came from mobile devices, said Victor Jones, the director of trading at TD Ameritrade. 
  "Trades from mobile tend to be more futures-based," Jones said. "More people are gravitating towards derivatives like op
  
  Read more

• ‘Arrogance’ around brand purpose making consumers distrust ads

  29-06-2017 09:00
  
  Consumers are increasingly cynical of brands and advertising, with ‘big business’ scandals and “arrogance” around brand purpose to blame, according to a study by Trinity Mirror.
  The research, done in collaboration with Ipsos Connect, looked at consumers’ trust in advertising. It was done using a three-stage methodology, including a week-long in depth “online community”, three-hour workshops and face-to-face interviews with 1,000 people.
  The results are n
  
  Read more

• How procurement can help, rather than hinder, innovation

  29-06-2017 08:00
  
  The relationship between marketing and procurement has never been an easy one. Marketers need to buy a huge array of marketing services but often find themselves hitting up against procurement, which all too often has different priorities and a reputation for focusing only on cost.
  With an increasing proportion of marketers’ budgets going to digital and a focus on innovation at many major brands, this issue is only going to get worse. Some 42% of procurement professionals questioned by B2B
  
  Read more

• ETFs are being unfairly blamed for one of the market's biggest problems

  29-06-2017 05:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  As the world's fastest-growing investment product, exchange-traded funds are a lightning rod for both effusive praise and cutting criticism.
  On one hand, they provide an easy, low-cost way for investors to get diversified exposure to a number of markets. On the other, they funnel traders into many of the same companies, leaving stocks not included in ETFs fighting for relevance.
  This latter argument is the basis for one complaint about ETFs: that they're homogenizing the market, a
  
  Read more

• A storage startup called off its $109 million IPO the night before it was scheduled to debut

  29-06-2017 03:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Hours before its Wall Street debut, storage startup Tintri threw investors for a loop on Wednesday night with a surprise "change" of plans that left the status of its planned initial public offering in question. 
  The company did not provide an explanation for the highly unusual move. 
  While confirming to Business Insider that Tintri won't begin trading on the NASDAQ exchange on Thursday, a company spokesperson declined to explain why or to give any further upda
  
  Read more

• The richest US families own a startling proportion of America's wealth

  29-06-2017 02:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Distribution matters.
  The United States has long taken pride in being the richest nation in the world. It remains so despite China’s quick game of catch-up and much larger population, at least when it comes to the broadest measure of a country’s economic output, gross domestic product (GDP).
  Yet deep inequalities, which became a hot-button political issue in the wake of a deep recession and financial crisis that highlighted those disparities, paint a different picture of how well off
  
  Read more

• Vivo, adidas take different tacks on Indian sport

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  NEW DELHI: At the same time as Vivo, the Chinese phone manufacturer, has spent heavily to retain its sponsorship of the Indian Premier League, global sportswear brand adidas is championing lesser known sports such as figure skating.The contrasting...
  
  Read more

• Unilever, PepsiCo move to report non-financial performance

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  GLOBAL: A collection of the world's largest companies, representing $20tn under management, are coming together to push for a different way of reporting company performance to investors to include "intangible assets" including brand value and...
  
  Read more

• Strong creative more effective than intrusion online

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  LONDON: Ads that rely on the persuasiveness of their creative rather than the intrusiveness of the ad unit have more success, as both user behaviour and increasingly sophisticated programmatic drive a new conception of online effectiveness.Writing...
  
  Read more

• State Street's next marketing move

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  CANNES: State Street Global Advisors, the financial-services group responsible for the "Fearless Girl" statue in New York, is taking a long-term perspective as it seeks to follow up on this major marketing success story.Stephen Tisdalle, the Chief...
  
  Read more

• P&G exec urges agencies to show leadership

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  TOKYO: Stanislav Vecera, President of Procter and Gamble in Japan, has urged agencies to stand behind the company's principles on media transparency and "not try to tell us that your company has a better way", five months on from Chief Brand Officer...
  
  Read more

• Apple's disruptive decade draws to a close

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  LONDON/CUPERTINO: Apple's entry into the phone market ten years ago today established a new category within a category - the smartphone – and began a seismic shift in consumer expectations for communications which is only now slowing.Writing...
  
  Read more

• Alibaba bets big on Southeast Asia

  29-06-2017 02:00
  
  HANGZHOU/SINGAPORE: Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, has increased its stake in Southeast Asian retail platform Lazada from 51% to approximately 83%, with a payment of close to $1 billion.Back in April 2016, Alibaba invested an initial $1...
  
  Read more

• Blue Apron priced its IPO at $10 a share — after slashing the amount it wanted to raise

  29-06-2017 00:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Blue Apron has priced its initial public offering well below original expectations amid worries that a merger between Amazon and Whole Foods could threaten the startup's future growth. 
  The New York-based meal prep delivery startup has priced its IPO at $10 per share, CNBC reported. At that price, the company could raise about $300 million, and be valued at about $1.9 billion. It will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday under the ticker APRN.
  Earli
  
  Read more

• Trump posts misleading tweet about Medicaid spending under the Senate Republican healthcare bill

  29-06-2017 00:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Donald Trump took exception Wednesday with a Democratic argument regarding Medicaid funding in the new GOP healthcare bill.
  "Democrats purposely misstated Medicaid under new Senate bill - actually goes up," Trump tweeted with a chart.One of the biggest criticisms of the Senate healthcare bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), has been the projected cuts to future Medicaid spending under the legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office said would lead to 2
  
  Read more

Follow @sales_mrktinguk on Twitter!