Sales & Marketing news

• The founder of the world's largest hedge fund shared brutal analysis of the US economy

  28-10-2017 18:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund, just published a note on the state of the US economy.
  He noted that the bottom 60% of Americans are struggling, listing a litany of depressing statistics to make his case. 
  He said that if he were running Federal Reserve policy, he'd keep an eye on the bottom 60%. 
  Brutal.
  There's no other word for Ray Dalio's latest note on the US economy, and the situation it describes. The founder of Bridgewater, the world's lar
  
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• GOLDMAN SACHS: There are only 50 stocks in the world that are perfect for this environment

  28-10-2017 18:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  The global economy is expected to keep growing modestly over the next few years.
  Goldman Sachs has identified 50 stocks poised to perform the best in such an environment.
   
  The global stock market is scorching hot right now, but that may not be enough for longer-term investors looking for opportunities that will remain fruitful well into the future.
  That's why it's important to identify companies with strong growth profiles — ones that will stay attractive on a fundamental basis
  
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• CVS is plotting a $66 billion takeover — and it has a lot to do with fending off Amazon (AET, CVS, AMZN)

  28-10-2017 17:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  CVS Health's potential deal to buy Aetna has a lot to do with Amazon, and it illustrates just how serious a threat the tech giant is to traditional healthcare companies.
  The move would give CVS control over more of the chain between a drugmaker and a patient, possibly bolstering profits. 
  But it remains to be seen if a deal like this can protect healthcare companies from being "Amazon'd."
   
  Amazon's notorious for stepping into new businesses and crushing the competition
  
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• Billionaire hedge funder David Einhorn says Tesla is putting 'inadequately tested and dangerous products on the road' (TSLA)

  28-10-2017 17:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital told clients that Tesla's stock should be performing much worse than it is.Greenlight is short Tesla shares, which means it profits from a decline in the stock price. 
  "Tesla had an awful quarter both in its current results and future prospects," falling 6%, Greenlight wrote in a letter to investors. "We believe it deserved much worse."
  Greenlight threw water on Tesla's driverless car plans, saying "autonomous driving may more likely reflect TSLA&rsq
  
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• Wall Street could be next to get Amazon'd (AMZN)

  28-10-2017 17:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  McKinsey has published a report looking at the threat to Wall Street banks from so-called platform companies like Amazon, Alibaba, and Rakuten.
  These companies could become the "front end" for big finance, taking a big slice of profits.
  The worst-case scenario would put returns on a par with those in 2008, during the worst of the financial crisis.Wall Street could be next to get Amazon'd.
  That's the takeaway from a big report from McKinsey, which just published its annual global banking review,
  
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• The largest options exchange in the US is moving in on a $1.6 billion bitcoin opportunity (CBOE)

  28-10-2017 17:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bitcoin presents a $1.6 billion revenue opportunity for exchanges, according to a wide-ranging report on cryptocurrencies by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
  Cboe, a first mover in cryptocurrencies among exchanges, appears the best positioned to capitalize on the opportunity, according to the bank. 
  Cboe has partnered with Gemini, a digital currency exchange, to roll out bitcoin-linked products as early as this year. 
  Bitcoin represents a $1.6 billion revenue opportunity for W
  
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• Here's how to protect yourself against a stock market 'fragility event'

  28-10-2017 17:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Stock market volatility is locked near record lows.
  Bank of America Merrill Lynch says there's never been a better time to protect against an imminent market shock.
   
  At this point, anyone following the stock market knows that price swings are non-existent.
  The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is locked near record low levels. The benchmark S&P 500 hasn't seen a 3% pullback in 242 days and counting, the longest such streak in history.
  So what should investors do? Bank of America Merrill Lyn
  
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• Here's how to prepare for you financial future if you work in the gig economy

  28-10-2017 17:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  The gig economy makes up 16% of all US workers.
  A lack of benefits is a downside of being part of the gig economy. 
  People who work in the gig economy need to prepare for their financial futures.
   
  Gig workers have freedoms that most full-timers only dream of: setting their own hours, working from home, being their own bosses. No wonder the gig economy comprised 16 percent of all workers by 2015, according to research by economists Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger.However, being a free-
  
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• Trump's plan to rip up NAFTA could cause a big setback in the housing market

  28-10-2017 16:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Donald Trump's administration is renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and has threatened to withdraw from it.This has led to a spike in the cost of lumber, a major Canadian export to the US, amid rising costs of land and construction workers.
  According to Capital Economics, higher lumber prices could prompt homebuilders to focus on more-expensive housing to protect their margins, even with a shortage of affordable housing relative to demand.
   
  NAFTA is intact, fo
  
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• There’s one reason not to completely freak out about Trump’s effort to reverse Obama-era climate change policies

  28-10-2017 16:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Trump administration's efforts to reverse Obama-era policies on climate change face limits. 
  Advances in US energy markets have sharply lowered production costs associated with cleaner energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar.
  US carbon dioxide emissions in 2016 were 14% below their 2005 levels.
  A carbon tax might be the most effective way to combat global warming, but it's not in the cards.
  A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), a top
  
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• The new titans of Wall Street have their eyes on your savings (BX)

  28-10-2017 15:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  Private equity firms are attracting assets, with Blackstone, the biggest name in the industry, expected to see inflows of $100 billion in 2018 and 2019. 
  The bulk of that money is likely to come from big-ticket investors, but Steve Schwarzman, founder and CEO of Blackstone, is also focused on making the firm's investments more accessible to individuals. 
  The retail channel, which covers things like private banks and investment advisers, currently make up 18% of Blackstone's
  
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• McDonald's gave up on winning the 2 biggest battles in fast food — and business is exploding (MCD)

  28-10-2017 15:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  McDonald's is de-emphasizing speed and value as the chain evolves. 
  Typically, quick service and dirt-cheap prices are fast-food chains' biggest weapons. 
  McDonald's sales have been soaring recently. 
   
  McDonald's has changed its priorities — and it's paying off for the fast-food chain. 
  For a long time, the end-all, be-all in the fast-food industry was a race to the bottom on value and speed. If menu items got too pricey, customers stopped showing up. Same f
  
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• BLANCHFLOWER: The looming Bank of England rate hikes rekindles 'feeling of August 2008'

  28-10-2017 09:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  United Kingdom economic growth beat expectations in the third quarter, and inflation has picked up.
  The Bank of England is hinting at possible interest rate hikes in coming months.
  Ex-BOE member David Blanchflower tells us the economy is not ready for higher borrowing costs.
  Stronger economic growth and higher inflation in the United Kingdom have raised market expectations that the Bank of England could begin raising interest rates.
  A rates rise would be aimed at recharging an anaemic economy s
  
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• Xi Jinping is officially China's most powerful leader since Mao — here's what that means for the economy

  28-10-2017 06:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Xi Jinping has been elevated to the same status as Mao Zedong in a shift that might shed some light on the country's economic future.
  Analysts argue the political leadership is becoming more resigned to the reality of lower economic growth. Additionally, the country could see swift progress in certain areas.
  Although Xi says China will be more open to foreign investors, some analysts say that conflicts with his priority for the Communist Party to remain the pr
  
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• The US economy isn't quite as strong as it looks

  28-10-2017 06:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  The US economy grew at a rate of 3% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.
  Both business investment and consumer spending made solid contributions to third-quarter gains.That headline, however, masks the fact that overall growth is still closer to 2%, and some key indicators explain why.Inflation remains well below the Federal Reserve's target.
  Gross domestic product, the measure used to represent the US economy, expanded by a robust 3% in the third quarter, the Commerce Dep
  
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• Amazon is now the size of a small country

  28-10-2017 00:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Amazon's workforce is now larger than the population of dozens of small countries.
  On Thursday, the e-commerce retailer revealed that it employed 541,900 people at the end of the third quarter. That's bigger than the populations of some 63 countries and territories around the world, including well known ones such as Iceland, the Bahamas, and Monaco. Belize, for example, has a population of just 347,369. 
  As we can see in this chart from Statista, which is based on data from the th
  
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• The latest version of Under Armour's signature shoe is delayed — and angry retailers are complaining to Wall Street

  28-10-2017 00:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Curry 4 was supposed to launch on October 27.
  Retailers are telling Wall Street analysts they won't get stock until November 18, however.
  This is just one more setback for Under Armour.
  Customers hoping to get Under Armour's latest Curry 4 sneaker from a third-party retailer were disappointed on Friday.
  The shoe was scheduled to come out on October 27, but after selling through preorder stock on Underarmour.com, the shoe will not ship until November 18, analyst Sam Poser of S
  
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