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<p>The Motley Fool, all rights reserved.</p>
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<p>Traditionally, technology companies haven't paid much, if anything, in the way of dividends, preferring instead to reinvest their profits back into their businesses. However, as some of these companies have matured, that strategy has shifted. Our analysts discuss three technology companies that currently sport dividend yields of at least 4% that belong on most investors' watch lists: HP Inc. , Verizon Communications and Garmin Ltd. .</p>
<p>(HP Inc.): After a spin-off, special-situations investors will usually follow the company that has been spun out, which is considered to be the non-core (i.e., less interesting) business. As institutional investors reflexively sell their shares of the smaller business, it can create opportunities for value-oriented investors.</p>
<p>However, when it came to one of Silicon Valley's most venerable institutions, it was Hewlett-Packard Enterprise that was spun out of HP, despite the fact that the former is the growth business, and the one that commands the higher market capitalization ($30 billion vs. $20.9 billion, based on closing prices on April 22).</p>
<p>So, why focus on a company that operates in a sector that is in secular decline (selling computer hardware and printers)?</p>
<p>It's true that HP will struggle to achieve any sort of growth -- the consensus estimate is that earnings per share will contract at an annualized rate of 1.3% over the next five years. Nevertheless, the company continues to generate large amounts of free cash flow -- $2.86 billion over the trailing twelve months, according to data from research service Morningstar. While I don't think HP is at risk of becoming a Dividend Aristocrat (a classification restricted to those that have provided a quarter-century of consecutive annual dividend increases), its cash flow should support its dividend for some time to come. Its yield is currently 4.8%, according to Morningstar.</p>
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<p>Second, I think the market may not fully appreciate the talent of HP's new CEO, Dion Weisler. While he was operating in Meg Whitman's shadow prior to the spin off (Whitman chose to remain at the helm of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise), I think there is reason to believe that Weisler is every bit as <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/13/meet-dion-weisler-hps-low-profile-ceo.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">talented an operator Opens a New Window.</a> as she is. In fact, I think he may well be more talented (I've long thought that Whitman was somewhat overrated).</p>
<p>Let me be clear: This is a special situation and, if this stock is bought, it needs to be monitored. This is not a case for the "buy-and-forget" strategy. But while HP's best years may be behind it, this a very high-quality "cigar butt," to use Warren Buffett's expression.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> (Verizon Communications):One high yielding stock that I think is worthy of almost every investor's attention is Verizon Communications , the largest cell phone carrier in the U.S. This company holds a strong position in an incredibly important and growing industry, which makes it great stock for income-focused investors to consider.</p>
<p>Verizon's competitive advantages stem from its ability to shell out tens of billions of dollars each year to grow its network, which is a feat only a handful of companies are capable of performing. Verizon has become a leader in the space because its network consistently ranks as one of the best out there, and the company has done a great job of marketing itself to win consumer mind share. Last year, it was able to grow its wireless customer base by 4.5 million, which brought its total to more than 112 million postpaid subscribers as of the end of 2015. Better yet, those customers tend to be extremely loyal, as evidenced by its remarkably low churn rate of only 0.96% for the full year.</p>
<p>That huge customer base gives the company plenty of firepower to continue to invest in its network and still produce the huge cash flow that it uses to reward investors. In 2015, Verizon cranked out more than$18.8billion worth of free cash flow, of which roughly $13.5 billion was returned to shareholders in the form of dividends or share repurchases.</p>
<p>Shares currently yield a tempting 4.4%, and while the company's sheer size will prevent it from being a fast grower, Verzion is an important company that any dividend-focused investor should be following.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/keithnoonan/info.aspx" type="external">Keith Noonan Opens a New Window.</a> (Garmin): Garmin is a high-yield tech stock worth following because of its position in wearable technologies, and its attractive (but potentially unsustainable) dividend payout. Garmin's yield sits at a lofty 4.8%, however the company has twice enacted steep payout cutbacks since it began issuing dividends in 2003, and its current payout ratio is very high at nearly 91%.</p>
<p>Garmin stock has experienced substantial volatility over the last year, trading down roughly 9% over the stretch, but posting gains of roughly 25% over the last six months Its forward price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 19 puts it closely in line with the S&amp;P 500's forward P/E of roughly 18.5.</p>
<p>Garmin has growth opportunities in smart watches and other wearable categories, though demand is weakening for its fitness trackers, according to a recent Morgan Stanley report. Still, the wearables market represents a potentially lucrative growth avenue, and the company could be rewarded greatly if it establishes itself a solid position in it as the broader category takes off.</p>
<p>The potential significance of wide-scale adoption for wearable technologies already makes Garmin a worthwhile stock to keep an eye on, and its pursuits in the space are also relevant to investors interested in the company's dividend profile. Garmin will need to continue heavy R&amp;D investment in order to stay at the forefront of this tech race, and the associated costs could weigh on its ability to continue dividend payouts at current levels. With a market cap of roughly $9 billion and roughly $883 million in cash and equivalent assets, the company is operating at a significant resource disadvantage compared to Samsung and Apple.</p>
<p>Like other, smaller players in the wearable space such as Fitbit, Garmin must find ways to distinguish and maintain the viability of its product lines for the long-term -- and the demands of the wearables space could complicate the company's dividend picture.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/30/3-tech-stocks-yielding-at-least-4-that-you-should.aspx" type="external">3 Tech Stocks Yielding at Least 4% That You Should Be Following Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFAleph1/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Alex Dumortier, CFA Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Verizon Communications. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | motley fool rights reserved continue reading traditionally technology companies havent paid much anything way dividends preferring instead reinvest profits back businesses however companies matured strategy shifted analysts discuss three technology companies currently sport dividend yields least 4 belong investors watch lists hp inc verizon communications garmin ltd hp inc spinoff specialsituations investors usually follow company spun considered noncore ie less interesting business institutional investors reflexively sell shares smaller business create opportunities valueoriented investors however came one silicon valleys venerable institutions hewlettpackard enterprise spun hp despite fact former growth business one commands higher market capitalization 30 billion vs 209 billion based closing prices april 22 focus company operates sector secular decline selling computer hardware printers true hp struggle achieve sort growth consensus estimate earnings per share contract annualized rate 13 next five years nevertheless company continues generate large amounts free cash flow 286 billion trailing twelve months according data research service morningstar dont think hp risk becoming dividend aristocrat classification restricted provided quartercentury consecutive annual dividend increases cash flow support dividend time come yield currently 48 according morningstar advertisement second think market may fully appreciate talent hps new ceo dion weisler operating meg whitmans shadow prior spin whitman chose remain helm hewlettpackard enterprise think reason believe weisler every bit talented operator opens new window fact think may well talented ive long thought whitman somewhat overrated let clear special situation stock bought needs monitored case buyandforget strategy hps best years may behind highquality cigar butt use warren buffetts expression brian feroldi opens new window verizon communicationsone high yielding stock think worthy almost every investors attention verizon communications largest cell phone carrier us company holds strong position incredibly important growing industry makes great stock incomefocused investors consider verizons competitive advantages stem ability shell tens billions dollars year grow network feat handful companies capable performing verizon become leader space network consistently ranks one best company done great job marketing win consumer mind share last year able grow wireless customer base 45 million brought total 112 million postpaid subscribers end 2015 better yet customers tend extremely loyal evidenced remarkably low churn rate 096 full year huge customer base gives company plenty firepower continue invest network still produce huge cash flow uses reward investors 2015 verizon cranked than188billion worth free cash flow roughly 135 billion returned shareholders form dividends share repurchases shares currently yield tempting 44 companys sheer size prevent fast grower verzion important company dividendfocused investor following keith noonan opens new window garmin garmin highyield tech stock worth following position wearable technologies attractive potentially unsustainable dividend payout garmins yield sits lofty 48 however company twice enacted steep payout cutbacks since began issuing dividends 2003 current payout ratio high nearly 91 garmin stock experienced substantial volatility last year trading roughly 9 stretch posting gains roughly 25 last six months forward pricetoearnings ratio approximately 19 puts closely line sampp 500s forward pe roughly 185 garmin growth opportunities smart watches wearable categories though demand weakening fitness trackers according recent morgan stanley report still wearables market represents potentially lucrative growth avenue company could rewarded greatly establishes solid position broader category takes potential significance widescale adoption wearable technologies already makes garmin worthwhile stock keep eye pursuits space also relevant investors interested companys dividend profile garmin need continue heavy rampd investment order stay forefront tech race associated costs could weigh ability continue dividend payouts current levels market cap roughly 9 billion roughly 883 million cash equivalent assets company operating significant resource disadvantage compared samsung apple like smaller players wearable space fitbit garmin must find ways distinguish maintain viability product lines longterm demands wearables space could complicate companys dividend picture article 3 tech stocks yielding least 4 following opens new window originally appeared foolcom alex dumortier cfa opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends apple verizon communications try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 677 |
<p>It's mailbag time again on the <a href="http://www.fool.com/podcasts/rule-breaker-investing?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Rule Breaker Investing Opens a New Window.</a>podcast, and there are plenty of great questions forMotley Fool co-founder David Gardner. In this segment, a longtime listener wants to know why anyone would be interested in a negative-interest-rate bond.</p>
<p>A transcript follows the video.</p>
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<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2759&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>{%video%}</p>
<p>This podcast was recorded on July 27, 2016.</p>
<p>David Gardner: And the last one this month comes from my friend Frank DiPietro. Frank is a longtime Motley Fool member. I've met him at member events over the years. He's @frdip on Twitter. Frank, you wrote @RBIPodcast: "Why would anyone invest in a negative-interest-rate bond? I understand there are $12 trillion invested in these worldwide."</p>
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<p>Well, I've gotten a number of questions about these in recent Mailbags, and I keep kind of ducking it, because the negative-interest-rate world is not something I've studied or thought that much about. And I don't really know too much what to do with it, either, other than to point out that interest rates will ever go too negative, I don't think, because if they do, people will just start sitting on cash and not at all investing in these kinds of instruments.</p>
<p>So what's happened is that interest rates have gotten so low that when they decline a little bit below that, sometimes they can go below 0%. So technically what you're doing is you're giving your money away, and you're paying interest to whoever is keeping your money for you at your bank for them to do that. It's like you're taking out a self-storage unit, except it's for your cash, not for that old sofa that you still haven't given away after college.</p>
<p>So this is a really interesting phenomenon. As Frank points out, there's huge amounts of money that are sitting in things where you're paying a negative interest rate. That is, you're not getting paid. You're paying somebody to hold it.</p>
<p>Now, how has this even happened? It's primarily happened because central banks have set their interest rates extremely low. And what a central bank -- the dominant bank in a country; let's say the Fed in the United States of America -- what they're doing they're is saying to banks, "We're penalizing you if you try to put your money with us. We want you banks, you bankers, active in the world. We want you using Pokemon Go except with your money, not your iPhone. We want you investing your money. We want you loaning it out. We want you starting businesses. Don't just park your money. If you park your money with us, then you will have to pay us to do so. Wouldn't you rather loan your money and make more money doing that?"</p>
<p>And in the same way that a central bank is saying that to its domestic banking system, that's kind of what your local bank is saying to you and me as investors: "Rather than leave your money with us, where arguably you're getting paid almost nothing or might even have to pay us at some point to do that for you, why don't you go out and use your money?"</p>
<p>Now for a lot of us in Rule Breaker Investing, we're using our money in stocks. I think that's a lot better of a place to be, obviously, than in zero-interest-rate or negative-interest-rate things. And good companies that have enough money to pay dividends will have dividend yields, sometimes, of 2% or 3%. That's like the interest rate you and I are getting paid for just holding that stock, assuming that stock stays at its same price. Whether it goes up or down changes it a little bit. But the point is you can find pretty good interest rates just for holding good dividend stocks -- far better than you'll find from your banks.</p>
<p>So I think what our banks are saying to us is, "Go out and use your money. Let's get the velocity of money moving ahead again." A lot of this is still an overhang of the really horrible conditions of 2008-2009. And so, certainly, textbook cases will be written about what's happened here, now, in 2016, when substantial portions of the world -- of Europe, for example -- are operating with a negative interest rate. It's very rare for this to happen. But again, I don't think it's that sustainable. I'm not heavily worried about it. If it were to go more and more negative, no one will put their money with banks, and so it will not be sustainable for the banking system to do that.</p>
<p>But Frank, you're asking why do people do this, because they are doing it. And to try to answer the question briefly here, as we close, the answer is that traditionally, bonds are kind of an offset to the stock market. The reason some people think you should be diversified into bonds is because when stocks go down, bonds often don't. And so if you are a large asset manager, and you're trying to park lots of cash different ways and keep yourself safe and balanced, then you have appreciated having something that protects you in the one out of three years where the stock market loses value.</p>
<p>So you can see why, maybe, if you don't think the market's going to have a good year in the year ahead, if you think that one-third probability is popping up in the next 12 months, well, darn it, let's say the stock market goes down 13% over the next year. For you to have just paid 1% to somebody for your bond, which sounds crazy -- it was a negative interest rate, but you're in that bond instead of in stocks -- then net-net, you've saved yourself 12 percentage points of potentially lost capital.</p>
<p>So that's a reason, certainly, if it is $12 trillion, that a lot of that money is sitting in those things. And part of it is there's just so many assets, globally, that they can't all go just into the stock market. They need to be lots of different places, and there are all kinds of diversification schemes that people ask of their bankers or that asset managers have to obey anyway. So that explains some more of that money there.</p>
<p>I hope this brief meditation on negative interest rates has been a little bit helpful for you as you think through "Why would the world work that way, and what does it mean for me." But I'll admit that the world is very complex, and it's something I haven't read about that deeply, because I just stay invested in stocks as I have been the last 30 years, and as I plan to be the next 30 years.</p>
<p>Why don't we close it on that moment.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSpiffyPop/info.aspx" type="external">David Gardner Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Twitter. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | mailbag time rule breaker investing opens new windowpodcast plenty great questions formotley fool cofounder david gardner segment longtime listener wants know anyone would interested negativeinterestrate bond transcript follows video continue reading secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window video podcast recorded july 27 2016 david gardner last one month comes friend frank dipietro frank longtime motley fool member ive met member events years hes frdip twitter frank wrote rbipodcast would anyone invest negativeinterestrate bond understand 12 trillion invested worldwide advertisement well ive gotten number questions recent mailbags keep kind ducking negativeinterestrate world something ive studied thought much dont really know much either point interest rates ever go negative dont think people start sitting cash investing kinds instruments whats happened interest rates gotten low decline little bit sometimes go 0 technically youre youre giving money away youre paying interest whoever keeping money bank like youre taking selfstorage unit except cash old sofa still havent given away college really interesting phenomenon frank points theres huge amounts money sitting things youre paying negative interest rate youre getting paid youre paying somebody hold even happened primarily happened central banks set interest rates extremely low central bank dominant bank country lets say fed united states america theyre theyre saying banks penalizing try put money us want banks bankers active world want using pokemon go except money iphone want investing money want loaning want starting businesses dont park money park money us pay us wouldnt rather loan money make money way central bank saying domestic banking system thats kind local bank saying investors rather leave money us arguably youre getting paid almost nothing might even pay us point dont go use money lot us rule breaker investing using money stocks think thats lot better place obviously zerointerestrate negativeinterestrate things good companies enough money pay dividends dividend yields sometimes 2 3 thats like interest rate getting paid holding stock assuming stock stays price whether goes changes little bit point find pretty good interest rates holding good dividend stocks far better youll find banks think banks saying us go use money lets get velocity money moving ahead lot still overhang really horrible conditions 20082009 certainly textbook cases written whats happened 2016 substantial portions world europe example operating negative interest rate rare happen dont think sustainable im heavily worried go negative one put money banks sustainable banking system frank youre asking people try answer question briefly close answer traditionally bonds kind offset stock market reason people think diversified bonds stocks go bonds often dont large asset manager youre trying park lots cash different ways keep safe balanced appreciated something protects one three years stock market loses value see maybe dont think markets going good year year ahead think onethird probability popping next 12 months well darn lets say stock market goes 13 next year paid 1 somebody bond sounds crazy negative interest rate youre bond instead stocks netnet youve saved 12 percentage points potentially lost capital thats reason certainly 12 trillion lot money sitting things part theres many assets globally cant go stock market need lots different places kinds diversification schemes people ask bankers asset managers obey anyway explains money hope brief meditation negative interest rates little bit helpful think would world work way mean ill admit world complex something havent read deeply stay invested stocks last 30 years plan next 30 years dont close moment david gardner opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends twitter try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 640 |
<p>Dawson James Securities analyst Justin Colatosti and Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves debate the outlook for Netflix and whether investors should include it in their portfolios.</p>
<p>Investors looking for some definitive direction on Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) may be scratching their heads amid all the hoopla surrounding the stock in recent weeks.</p>
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<p>Ready for some mixed signals?</p>
<p>Citigroup (NYSE:C) last week issued a “screaming buy” on the stock and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company to “overweight” from “equal-weight,” helping Netflix’s shares to surge more than 25% in a week.</p>
<p>The bears were quick to hush the optimism this week, though, with Moody’s saying it has put Netflix on review for a downgrade and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) slapping the company with an “underperform” rating from a “buy.”</p>
<p>The latter cited the recent run-up of Netflix’s stock on little to no news and claimed the “risks outweigh the reward.” The negative notes caused shares of Netflix to tumble more than 10%.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the mixed reviews have been causing a bit of confusion, once again throwing Netflix’s shareholders off balance after what has been a roller coaster year since the movie streamer said it would raise prices last summer.</p>
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<p>So, what’s a shareholder to do?</p>
<p>Investors looking to get a solid “buy” or “sell” argument can’t rely on just one analyst’s note (nor should they) because both sides speak to valid points, from competition and programming to subscriber growth rates and expansion.</p>
<p>Investing in Netflix requires would-be shareholders to do their own research and plow through the various opinions by analysts to cut through the jargon and make their own decision.</p>
<p>“There’s merit to both arguments,” said Rob Enderle, principle analyst at the Enderle Group, who covers the tech industry.</p>
<p>For example, Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at PacificCrest Securities who has a “buy” rating on Netflix, is not worried about Netflix’s subscriber rates because he thinks there is still plenty of room to grow, especially for streaming in international markets.</p>
<p>“You’re getting the stock discounted now because international is losing money, but if you look at that as an investment rather than a perpetual loss that’s something that can turn positive and benefit you over time,” he said in an interview with FOX Business.</p>
<p>Netflix began its streaming service in the U.S. in 2007 before expanding to Canada in 2010, Latin America in 2011 then the U.K. and Ireland, as well as the Nordic countries, earlier this year.</p>
<p>As with many other multinational companies, though, expansion hasn't always been easy, and the bears are always quick to point that out.</p>
<p>“When Netflix moved into Canada it was a very favorable market where they had much name recognition already, and even Canada took several quarters to reach breakeven,” said Justin Colatosti, a Dawson James Securities analyst who has held a “sell” rating on Netflix since its shares hit $275 in 2011. “In much of the international market Netflix faces additional issues,” he said.</p>
<p>The issues he's referring to can be anything from the lack of broadband penetration rates in Latin America to the higher levels of piracy in other parts of the world.</p>
<p>Competition continues to be another point of debate, yet the analysts most upbeat on Netflix don't think it's really anything to worry about. They express doubt that competitors like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) or Coinstar’s (NASDAQ:CSTR) RedBox will be able to knock Netflix off its pedestal.</p>
<p>“We’re always worried about competition but you add all those guys up together right now and you have a subscriber base that’s about a third as big as Netflix’s,” Hargreaves said. Netflix “has massive scale advantages.”</p>
<p>However, the bears have tried to debunk those theories, pointing to Amazon in particular, which already offers through its $79-a-year Amazon Prime service the ability to stream free movies and TV shows. The No. 1 online retailer earlier this week shelled out a considerable amount of money to get its hands on some 3,000 more movies from Epix, a partner between movie studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lionsgate and Paramount Pictures, which had once been exclusively offered by Netflix.</p>
<p>T2 Partners co-manager, Whitney Tilson, has nevertheless said he doesn’t “see any detectable competition showing up.”</p>
<p>At the same time, Netflix has struggled to maintain a steady stream of programs, losing Starz a year ago, which led to the pulling of some 840 films, including big-name releases from Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures.</p>
<p>The company “has been bleeding programming,” Enderle said, adding that the "inability to maintain consistency has been a problem.”</p>
<p>Analysts have bickered over whether this could lead to a cannibalization of Netflix’s subscriber base, with the bears citing the potential for a slowdown amid rising competition and the bulls scoffing at their ability to make a meaningful dent.</p>
<p>But one thing to remember is that many companies, including several major cable companies and even Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), have struggled with content acquisition, and many over time were able to prevail.</p>
<p>“There’s a misperception in all of this that this is a zero-sum game and that if you subscribe to one you &#160;&#160;can’t to the other. I think that’s totally wrong and we see that in our survey data,” Hargreaves said.</p>
<p>Analysts will be watching the number of streaming customers Netflix added last quarter when it reports earnings later this month. In order to meet its target of adding 7 million new U.S. streaming subscribers this year, Netflix, which added about 2.3 million in the first half of this year, said it would have to have a strong third quarter.</p>
<p>No matter the side that ultimately prevails, there’s no doubting that Netflix’s stock is cheaper compared to where it was a year ago. Its shares have fallen some 75% since its high of $295 last July and today sit at just $65, which is up slightly from a low last December but down 5.2% since January.</p>
<p>At least for now, one thing the bulls and bears can agree on is that Netflix remains the market leader in streaming. Whether it becomes successful with its push into original programming or overcomes the programming challenges remains to be seen.</p> | true | 0 | dawson james securities analyst justin colatosti pacific crest securities analyst andy hargreaves debate outlook netflix whether investors include portfolios investors looking definitive direction netflix nasdaqnflx may scratching heads amid hoopla surrounding stock recent weeks continue reading ready mixed signals citigroup nysec last week issued screaming buy stock morgan stanley nysems upgraded los gatos califbased company overweight equalweight helping netflixs shares surge 25 week bears quick hush optimism week though moodys saying put netflix review downgrade bank america nysebac slapping company underperform rating buy latter cited recent runup netflixs stock little news claimed risks outweigh reward negative notes caused shares netflix tumble 10 surprisingly mixed reviews causing bit confusion throwing netflixs shareholders balance roller coaster year since movie streamer said would raise prices last summer advertisement whats shareholder investors looking get solid buy sell argument cant rely one analysts note sides speak valid points competition programming subscriber growth rates expansion investing netflix requires wouldbe shareholders research plow various opinions analysts cut jargon make decision theres merit arguments said rob enderle principle analyst enderle group covers tech industry example andy hargreaves analyst pacificcrest securities buy rating netflix worried netflixs subscriber rates thinks still plenty room grow especially streaming international markets youre getting stock discounted international losing money look investment rather perpetual loss thats something turn positive benefit time said interview fox business netflix began streaming service us 2007 expanding canada 2010 latin america 2011 uk ireland well nordic countries earlier year many multinational companies though expansion hasnt always easy bears always quick point netflix moved canada favorable market much name recognition already even canada took several quarters reach breakeven said justin colatosti dawson james securities analyst held sell rating netflix since shares hit 275 2011 much international market netflix faces additional issues said issues hes referring anything lack broadband penetration rates latin america higher levels piracy parts world competition continues another point debate yet analysts upbeat netflix dont think really anything worry express doubt competitors like amazon nasdaqamzn coinstars nasdaqcstr redbox able knock netflix pedestal always worried competition add guys together right subscriber base thats third big netflixs hargreaves said netflix massive scale advantages however bears tried debunk theories pointing amazon particular already offers 79ayear amazon prime service ability stream free movies tv shows 1 online retailer earlier week shelled considerable amount money get hands 3000 movies epix partner movie studios metrogoldwynmayer lionsgate paramount pictures exclusively offered netflix t2 partners comanager whitney tilson nevertheless said doesnt see detectable competition showing time netflix struggled maintain steady stream programs losing starz year ago led pulling 840 films including bigname releases sony pictures walt disney pictures company bleeding programming enderle said adding inability maintain consistency problem analysts bickered whether could lead cannibalization netflixs subscriber base bears citing potential slowdown amid rising competition bulls scoffing ability make meaningful dent one thing remember many companies including several major cable companies even apple nasdaqaapl struggled content acquisition many time able prevail theres misperception zerosum game subscribe one 160160cant think thats totally wrong see survey data hargreaves said analysts watching number streaming customers netflix added last quarter reports earnings later month order meet target adding 7 million new us streaming subscribers year netflix added 23 million first half year said would strong third quarter matter side ultimately prevails theres doubting netflixs stock cheaper compared year ago shares fallen 75 since high 295 last july today sit 65 slightly low last december 52 since january least one thing bulls bears agree netflix remains market leader streaming whether becomes successful push original programming overcomes programming challenges remains seen | 587 |
<p>Who’s protesting what?</p>
<p>Players are standing up with arms locked, they’re sitting, they’re kneeling, they’re staying in the locker room during the National Anthem, a few owners have come out of their high offices to join with the players on the field, the networks are suddenly airing the pre-game Anthem because TV viewers want to see the protests and it’s all about ratings and ad revenues; viewership for the games is down, one quarterback who stayed with his team in the locker room confessed he wanted to be out on the field and didn’t want to be known for protesting the Anthem, Trump praised fans in the stands for booing the players, it’s a party, a circus, it’s theater, so who’s winning?</p>
<p>According to counts and a survey, 70% of NFL players are black, and 83% of NFL fans are white.</p>
<p>One biracial player, Colin Kaepernick, started the whole business by kneeling during the National Anthem, to protest police brutality against black people.</p>
<p>Colin Kaepernick’s original message, whatever you may think of it, has exploded into pieces all over the landscape. Now people are talking about the flag, the Anthem, patriotism, the veterans, ungrateful millionaire athletes, “unity,” the League, the Commissioner, racism in general, and Trump as a slavemaster according to Jesse Jackson.</p>
<p>But don’t worry. We’re assured these football protests are part of engaging in a “national dialogue on race.”</p>
<p>How many times have we heard that one before?</p>
<p>What dialogue? The whole country is going to assemble in the geographical center of America and begin talking earnestly to one another?</p>
<p>Yes, Trump is “energizing his base,” as they say. But he’s also gleefully attacking the NFL team owners, some of whom were/are his pals. He likes that kind of theater. He’s sticking the owners with the nasty job of defending the players. If the owners remain silent and go away and hide, they’ll be seen as racists. That’s not a good look. So a few of them appeared on football fields Sunday, “standing in solidarity” with their teams. Now they can run away and hide.</p>
<p>“Jeeves, tell my pilot to gas up the jet. I’ve done my duty. We’re heading to the Cape. Let the staff know they’ll have to open up the summer house again…”</p>
<p>Trump also wants his enemies everywhere to understand he’s willing to attack anyone, even the rich owners of NFL franchises. Fallout, no fallout, he doesn’t care.</p>
<p>So today, a Pittsburgh Steeler offensive tackle few people have ever heard of, a decorated ex-Army Ranger, Alejandro Villanueva, is the most popular player in the League, because he didn’t stay in the locker room with the rest of his team during the playing of the National Anthem. He came outside and made himself visible on the field. Suddenly, his jersey has shot up to number one on the best seller list of NFL merchandise.</p>
<p>That 80% of white fans are buying it.</p>
<p>This is supposed to be part of the “national dialogue,” too?</p>
<p>(Update: Villanueva has now apologized for standing alone and “throwing his teammates under the bus.” What’s the policy on returning NFL merchandise?)</p>
<p>The strategic winner in this big NFL story, so far, is Trump. His America-first rhetoric is making a bigger impact than all the NFL protests.</p>
<p>Joe Scarborough, MSNBC: “This may be unpopular but it is a political reality. Every NFL player refusing to stand for the national anthem helps Trump politically.”</p>
<p>Oops.</p>
<p>Of course, the rest of the politically Left media echo chamber refuses to acknowledge that. The echo-chamber denizens always try to convince themselves they’re creating and owning and controlling the narrative.</p>
<p>“If we say the NFL player protestors are smacking Trump down, the American people will believe us.”</p>
<p>Yes, just as people believed the echo chamber when they elected Trump over Hillary “nothing is my fault” Clinton.</p>
<p>Of course, the echo chamber has to drown out a few voices. For example, a player many think is the greatest NFL athlete of all time, hall of famer Jim Brown: “I’m going to give you the real deal: I’m an American. I don’t desecrate my flag and my national anthem. I’m not gonna do anything against the flag and national anthem. I’m going to work within those situations. But this is my country, and I’ll work out the problems, but I’ll do it in an intelligent manner.”</p>
<p>Hmm. That doesn’t work for the preferred narrative, so put it on the back page.</p>
<p>Where is the wild NFL-Trump-media theater piece heading? It’s obvious, isn’t it? More supporters for Trump. More voters on his side.</p>
<p>And who wants that?</p>
<p>The Russians! Yes. Now we see the light. Vladimir Putin is behind all these NFL player protests because, as a chess player, he understands the end game: Trump wins.</p>
<p>Putin somehow manipulated Colin Kaepernick into staging his original kneel during the National Anthem. That’s the op.</p>
<p>Is WikiLeaks going to play a role? We don’t know yet. Stay tuned.</p>
<p>I’m sure James Comey will fit right in. He can return and testify before Congress:</p>
<p>“Well, we know Ivanka Trump met with Putin eighteen months ago. At the time, he expressed an interest in buying the Dallas Cowboys, with gold bars he found in a Venusian UFO that crashed in Siberia. But then the conversation turned to the possibility of triggering player protests, as a way of garnering support for Donald Trump…”</p>
<p>Putin is also behind Black Lives Matter, Antifa, incidents of violence, riots, cops being shot, because all that, too, will swing support over to Trump.</p>
<p>Note to John McCain: Get moving, John. Put together the Committee hearings on the Hill. We’ve got our man. Putin. We’ve got the tiger by the tail…</p>
<p>This article first appeared at <a href="http://www.nomorefakenews.com" type="external">NoMoreFakeNews.com</a>.</p> | true | 0 | whos protesting players standing arms locked theyre sitting theyre kneeling theyre staying locker room national anthem owners come high offices join players field networks suddenly airing pregame anthem tv viewers want see protests ratings ad revenues viewership games one quarterback stayed team locker room confessed wanted field didnt want known protesting anthem trump praised fans stands booing players party circus theater whos winning according counts survey 70 nfl players black 83 nfl fans white one biracial player colin kaepernick started whole business kneeling national anthem protest police brutality black people colin kaepernicks original message whatever may think exploded pieces landscape people talking flag anthem patriotism veterans ungrateful millionaire athletes unity league commissioner racism general trump slavemaster according jesse jackson dont worry assured football protests part engaging national dialogue race many times heard one dialogue whole country going assemble geographical center america begin talking earnestly one another yes trump energizing base say hes also gleefully attacking nfl team owners wereare pals likes kind theater hes sticking owners nasty job defending players owners remain silent go away hide theyll seen racists thats good look appeared football fields sunday standing solidarity teams run away hide jeeves tell pilot gas jet ive done duty heading cape let staff know theyll open summer house trump also wants enemies everywhere understand hes willing attack anyone even rich owners nfl franchises fallout fallout doesnt care today pittsburgh steeler offensive tackle people ever heard decorated exarmy ranger alejandro villanueva popular player league didnt stay locker room rest team playing national anthem came outside made visible field suddenly jersey shot number one best seller list nfl merchandise 80 white fans buying supposed part national dialogue update villanueva apologized standing alone throwing teammates bus whats policy returning nfl merchandise strategic winner big nfl story far trump americafirst rhetoric making bigger impact nfl protests joe scarborough msnbc may unpopular political reality every nfl player refusing stand national anthem helps trump politically oops course rest politically left media echo chamber refuses acknowledge echochamber denizens always try convince theyre creating owning controlling narrative say nfl player protestors smacking trump american people believe us yes people believed echo chamber elected trump hillary nothing fault clinton course echo chamber drown voices example player many think greatest nfl athlete time hall famer jim brown im going give real deal im american dont desecrate flag national anthem im gon na anything flag national anthem im going work within situations country ill work problems ill intelligent manner hmm doesnt work preferred narrative put back page wild nfltrumpmedia theater piece heading obvious isnt supporters trump voters side wants russians yes see light vladimir putin behind nfl player protests chess player understands end game trump wins putin somehow manipulated colin kaepernick staging original kneel national anthem thats op wikileaks going play role dont know yet stay tuned im sure james comey fit right return testify congress well know ivanka trump met putin eighteen months ago time expressed interest buying dallas cowboys gold bars found venusian ufo crashed siberia conversation turned possibility triggering player protests way garnering support donald trump putin also behind black lives matter antifa incidents violence riots cops shot swing support trump note john mccain get moving john put together committee hearings hill weve got man putin weve got tiger tail article first appeared nomorefakenewscom | 547 |
<p />
<p>As curiosity becomes increasingly important to business success, employers must grapple with a difficult question: How do you recruit for and create a team of highly curious individuals?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Many environmental factors inside an organization can nurture or suppress an individual's curiosity, but very little has been done to help hiring managers identify curious candidates. Moreover, we see little evidence organizations have done anything to improve curiosity levels across the business.</p>
<p>Until now, that is. The gap may finally be closing.</p>
<p>Innovating for Success</p>
<p>Change is all around us, and the pace of change only seems to accelerate. The rise of big data and constantly evolving&#160;technologies have added almost incomprehensible levels of complexity to business. As a result, fostering innovation has become the single biggest strategic priority for many executives.</p>
<p>In a&#160; <a href="http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/taking-the-measure-of-your-innovation-performance.aspx" type="external">Bain Company Opens a New Window.</a> survey of 450 executives worldwide, two-thirds of respondents said their companies made innovation one of their top three priorities. However, less than a quarter of respondents said their companies were effective innovators, and just one in five said their companies were "breakthrough" innovators.</p>
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<p>What does curiosity have to do with innovation? One simple formula drives innovation in every company: curiosity + creativity = innovation.</p>
<p>It is impossible to innovate without fostering creativity. Since curiosity is a precursor to creativity, companies aiming to innovate must hire for and embed curiosity across their businesses.</p>
<p>Companies that nurture curiosity will see creativity&#160;increase. As creativity grows, so does a company's ability to innovate. Curious people question the status quo and stretch each other's thinking. They drive improved engagement and business performance.</p>
<p>Intuitively, we know curiosity is important, but we often fail to realize just how critical it is. The <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/recruitment-process.html" type="external">recruiting process Opens a New Window.</a> neither focuses on curiosity nor promotes its value. In fact, while unintentional, many organizations actually create environments that impede curiosity.</p>
<p>Fortunately, this can be changed. Curiosity can be recruited for and grown in any organization.</p>
<p>Recruiting for Curiosity</p>
<p>According to&#160; <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/3057206/careers-staffing/why-curious-people-make-better-employees.html" type="external">a study Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;published in&#160;Perspectives on Psychological Science,&#160;curious people are typically bored with routine, more willing to accept ambiguity, and rarely comfortable with conformity. Always interested in the what's next, curious people&#160;are more likely than the average employee to look at how they can improve the day-to-day business.</p>
<p>It's important to investigate during the interview&#160;process whether a candidate has this type of curiosity. Existing measures of curiosity tend to ask candidates to self-report using standardized composite questionnaire items. While there are lessons to be learned from these measures, they center on personal well-being, and their reliance on self-report limits the usefulness of the insights produced.</p>
<p>For businesses, these curiosity measures leave a high level of speculation and uncertainty. Individuals have a tendency to lean toward the perspective employers want to see versus demonstrating their true curiosity.</p>
<p>Rather than relying on self-report questionnaires, the best way to measure curiosity in professionals&#160;may be through actual and observed behaviors. Through natural language processing (NLP) analyses, we are in the process of identifying language variables that correlate with curiosity. Business professionals are asked to respond to various prompts, some about curiosity specifically and some about their general perspectives. We then analyze their linguistic styles using automated computer analysis.</p>
<p>Through our initial research, we have identified the following traits of highly curious individuals:</p>
<p>They use more words that refer to what is "likely" or "probable," convey openness, and relate to education.</p>
<p>They refer less to general actions (e.g., "act," "adventure," "approach," "arise").</p>
<p>They use intensifiers, which amplify concepts (e.g., "considerably," "enormously," "extremely," "highly").</p>
<p>They seem to speak less about doing stuff and place more emphasis on considering options, using more words that suggest a sense of&#160;likelihood, probability, and providence.</p>
<p>This battery of diagnostics can be easily applied to existing screening tools already available to recruiters. A less formal approach would listening for these cues as part of the interview process and analyzing written correspondences with candidates..</p>
<p>Creating a Culture of Support</p>
<p>Recruiters can seek out curious individuals, but companies need to nurture this trait if they want to reap the benefits of hiring curious people. Unfortunately, this is where most companies fail.</p>
<p>Both culture and climate drastically impact curiosity levels. Supportive organizations have some of the most curious people because they are more nurturing. However, even in these organizations, we see wide variability in curiosity levels across teams. While an organization's overall climate may be supportive, individual team leaders may create climates that are inconsistent with this culture.</p>
<p>Conversely, rigid, hierarchal, or command-and-control organizations suppress and even stifle curiosity. Organizations with high levels of structure and process definitely fall into this category.</p>
<p>The most common ways organizations can support curiosity&#160;include:</p>
<p>Providing flexibility in how work is&#160;accomplished. Success is success, regardless of how it gets done. Organizations should&#160;provide latitude for people to figure out things on their own.</p>
<p>By providing guided judgement, organizations can put boundaries in place that allow employees to be good stewards of the business while giving them the freedom to exercise their own curiosity and creativity.</p>
<p>Empowering employees to own and grow their own ideas.</p>
<p>Letting employees lead teams and making sure they get credit for these accomplishments.</p>
<p>Giving employees the time and resources to explore new ideas. Look for ways to connect people with different skill sets and experiences on shared projects.</p>
<p>Recognizing employees for their&#160;ideas and accomplishments. Public recognition is the best form of recognition, as it energizes both the individual employee and others in the organization.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>To be innovative, a&#160;business must be curious first. Hiring for curiosity definitely helps achieve this goal, but the work doesn't stop there. An organization must continuously engage, develop, and manage its people in a way that promotes curiosity. If not, curiosity will quickly be suppressed. Worse, those curious team members&#160;will soon seek employment elsewhere.</p>
<p>Michael Hvisdos is founder and CEO of <a href="http://www.inquizo.com/" type="external">InQuizo Opens a New Window.</a>. He can be reached directly at <a href="http://www.inquizo.com/about-inquizo/[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>. Janet Gerhard is managing partner and CXO of InQuzio. She can be reached directly at <a href="http://www.inquizo.com/about-inquizo/[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | curiosity becomes increasingly important business success employers must grapple difficult question recruit create team highly curious individuals continue reading many environmental factors inside organization nurture suppress individuals curiosity little done help hiring managers identify curious candidates moreover see little evidence organizations done anything improve curiosity levels across business gap may finally closing innovating success change around us pace change seems accelerate rise big data constantly evolving160technologies added almost incomprehensible levels complexity business result fostering innovation become single biggest strategic priority many executives a160 bain company opens new window survey 450 executives worldwide twothirds respondents said companies made innovation one top three priorities however less quarter respondents said companies effective innovators one five said companies breakthrough innovators advertisement curiosity innovation one simple formula drives innovation every company curiosity creativity innovation impossible innovate without fostering creativity since curiosity precursor creativity companies aiming innovate must hire embed curiosity across businesses companies nurture curiosity see creativity160increase creativity grows companys ability innovate curious people question status quo stretch others thinking drive improved engagement business performance intuitively know curiosity important often fail realize critical recruiting process opens new window neither focuses curiosity promotes value fact unintentional many organizations actually create environments impede curiosity fortunately changed curiosity recruited grown organization recruiting curiosity according to160 study opens new window160published in160perspectives psychological science160curious people typically bored routine willing accept ambiguity rarely comfortable conformity always interested whats next curious people160are likely average employee look improve daytoday business important investigate interview160process whether candidate type curiosity existing measures curiosity tend ask candidates selfreport using standardized composite questionnaire items lessons learned measures center personal wellbeing reliance selfreport limits usefulness insights produced businesses curiosity measures leave high level speculation uncertainty individuals tendency lean toward perspective employers want see versus demonstrating true curiosity rather relying selfreport questionnaires best way measure curiosity professionals160may actual observed behaviors natural language processing nlp analyses process identifying language variables correlate curiosity business professionals asked respond various prompts curiosity specifically general perspectives analyze linguistic styles using automated computer analysis initial research identified following traits highly curious individuals use words refer likely probable convey openness relate education refer less general actions eg act adventure approach arise use intensifiers amplify concepts eg considerably enormously extremely highly seem speak less stuff place emphasis considering options using words suggest sense of160likelihood probability providence battery diagnostics easily applied existing screening tools already available recruiters less formal approach would listening cues part interview process analyzing written correspondences candidates creating culture support recruiters seek curious individuals companies need nurture trait want reap benefits hiring curious people unfortunately companies fail culture climate drastically impact curiosity levels supportive organizations curious people nurturing however even organizations see wide variability curiosity levels across teams organizations overall climate may supportive individual team leaders may create climates inconsistent culture conversely rigid hierarchal commandandcontrol organizations suppress even stifle curiosity organizations high levels structure process definitely fall category common ways organizations support curiosity160include providing flexibility work is160accomplished success success regardless gets done organizations should160provide latitude people figure things providing guided judgement organizations put boundaries place allow employees good stewards business giving freedom exercise curiosity creativity empowering employees grow ideas letting employees lead teams making sure get credit accomplishments giving employees time resources explore new ideas look ways connect people different skill sets experiences shared projects recognizing employees their160ideas accomplishments public recognition best form recognition energizes individual employee others organization innovative a160business must curious first hiring curiosity definitely helps achieve goal work doesnt stop organization must continuously engage develop manage people way promotes curiosity curiosity quickly suppressed worse curious team members160will soon seek employment elsewhere michael hvisdos founder ceo inquizo opens new window reached directly michaelinquizocom opens new window janet gerhard managing partner cxo inquzio reached directly janetinquizocom opens new window | 614 |
<p>The markets welcomed some positive news last week, as the U.S. created 222,000 new jobs in June. That tally was the largest in four months and the second largest year to date. The icing on the cake came in the form of May and April jobs results that were stronger than previously reported. While this is obviously good news for the economy in general, it also continues to send the signal to investors that the Federal Reserve will continue on its path to push interest rates gradually higher.</p>
<p>There were also some big movers and headlines in the markets week week. Here are some of the highlights.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>After a <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/04/qualcomm-wants-to-block-apple-from-importing-iphon.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=6de80054-63f4-11e7-9141-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">couple of months of rumors Opens a New Window.</a>, it's finally official:&#160;Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) announced last week that it filed a patent-infringement suit against Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), its largest customer. In fact, Apple accounts for as much as 30% of Qualcomm's earnings per share, according to Macquarie Capital. While most investors knew suspected was coming, the International Trade Commission will probably start digging into the dispute next month, with the case likely to be tried in 2018.</p>
<p>Here's what Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm's executive vice president and general counsel, had to say.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/07/qualcomm-hits-back-at-apple-with-patent-infringeme.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=6de80054-63f4-11e7-9141-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Here's a closer look Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;at those six important technologies.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is requesting a cease-and-desist order, which would block the sales of infringing iPhones that have already been imported to the U.S. market. Fortunately for Apple investors, these spats take time to be heard, and this one shouldn't negatively affect the launch of the company's 10th-generation iPhone launch.</p>
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<p>This week brought a fairly rare occurrence for Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock price -- a 13% decline. Not that it's unusual for such a high-flying stock to make big swings, but Tesla's stock has mostly been immune to negative press. But even Tesla couldn't escape this week without shedding some value, after the company announced Monday that <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/07/tesla-inc-gives-investors-more-vision-into-quarter.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=6de80054-63f4-11e7-9141-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">it delivered roughly 47,100 Opens a New Window.</a> electric sedans and SUVs during the first-half of 2017, a figure that was toward the lower end of its forecasts.</p>
<p>Later in the week, Tesla added that about 3,500 vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the second quarter and that the shortfall was due to new battery packs that constrained manufacturing. But those comments failed to ignite a recovery for the week. Further, registrations of Tesla vehicles in California fell 24% in April from the prior year, according to IHS Markit.</p>
<p>The major issue investors have with the decline is simple: fears of cannibalization. The concern is that demand for Tesla's Model S sedan, which carries a much higher price tag and a&#160;list of premium options, could wane ahead of the mass-market-focused -- and much cheaper -- Model 3.</p>
<p>When it rains, it pours, and Tesla's week also included a report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that said Tesla's Model S sedan failed to achieve its top crash rating.</p>
<p>But we have to be fair to this young automaker. Even with this week's decline included, shares of Tesla are still up 46% year to date and have made many investors a hefty return from its humble beginnings. Yet Tesla's market cap of $51 billion hardly trails General Motors' (NYSE: GM) $52 billion, which is quite a feat.</p>
<p>Speaking of automakers, the U.S. auto industry posted its sales data last week, and everything that came out seemed backwards from what would have been expected. At a time when Detroit's full-size trucks and SUVs were once again the solid backbone of industry gains, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and General Motors lagged behind its Japanese rivals in year-over-year gains, even as sales of passenger cars slid.</p>
<p>More specifically, Ford's sales declined 5.1% compared with the prior year's June and failed to follow up its only gain of the year in May with any momentum. General Motors' deliveries also fell a similar 4.7%, albeit partly because of a desired decline in less profitable rental fleet sales -- and both automakers trailed the industry's 2.9% decline. Meanwhile, its Japanese counterparts all managed to post gains in the low-single-digit range, transferring some of the U.S. market's market share in their favor.</p>
<p>In terms of the overall market, the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) checked in at 16.54 million in June, the lowest pace of 2017 and slightly below estimates. Further, if you're counting streaks, June was the fourth straight month with a SAAR below 17 million, after a prior run of six straight above that mark.</p>
<p>It's been clear for a while now that the auto industry is peaking, so now the focus must turn to inventory management, incentive-spending restraint, and fresh vehicle portfolios to maintain market share and pricing power -- no easy task on the road ahead.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than TeslaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=02fd6f2e-630b-4008-a945-b37f19b2aee0&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=6de80054-63f4-11e7-9141-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTwoCoins/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=6de80054-63f4-11e7-9141-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Daniel Miller Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple, Ford, Qualcomm, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=6de80054-63f4-11e7-9141-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | markets welcomed positive news last week us created 222000 new jobs june tally largest four months second largest year date icing cake came form may april jobs results stronger previously reported obviously good news economy general also continues send signal investors federal reserve continue path push interest rates gradually higher also big movers headlines markets week week highlights continue reading couple months rumors opens new window finally official160qualcomm nasdaq qcom announced last week filed patentinfringement suit apple nasdaq aapl largest customer fact apple accounts much 30 qualcomms earnings per share according macquarie capital investors knew suspected coming international trade commission probably start digging dispute next month case likely tried 2018 heres rosenberg qualcomms executive vice president general counsel say heres closer look opens new window160at six important technologies qualcomm requesting ceaseanddesist order would block sales infringing iphones already imported us market fortunately apple investors spats take time heard one shouldnt negatively affect launch companys 10thgeneration iphone launch advertisement week brought fairly rare occurrence teslas nasdaq tsla stock price 13 decline unusual highflying stock make big swings teslas stock mostly immune negative press even tesla couldnt escape week without shedding value company announced monday delivered roughly 47100 opens new window electric sedans suvs firsthalf 2017 figure toward lower end forecasts later week tesla added 3500 vehicles transit customers end second quarter shortfall due new battery packs constrained manufacturing comments failed ignite recovery week registrations tesla vehicles california fell 24 april prior year according ihs markit major issue investors decline simple fears cannibalization concern demand teslas model sedan carries much higher price tag a160list premium options could wane ahead massmarketfocused much cheaper model 3 rains pours teslas week also included report insurance institute highway safety said teslas model sedan failed achieve top crash rating fair young automaker even weeks decline included shares tesla still 46 year date made many investors hefty return humble beginnings yet teslas market cap 51 billion hardly trails general motors nyse gm 52 billion quite feat speaking automakers us auto industry posted sales data last week everything came seemed backwards would expected time detroits fullsize trucks suvs solid backbone industry gains ford motor company nyse f general motors lagged behind japanese rivals yearoveryear gains even sales passenger cars slid specifically fords sales declined 51 compared prior years june failed follow gain year may momentum general motors deliveries also fell similar 47 albeit partly desired decline less profitable rental fleet sales automakers trailed industrys 29 decline meanwhile japanese counterparts managed post gains lowsingledigit range transferring us markets market share favor terms overall market seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate saar checked 1654 million june lowest pace 2017 slightly estimates youre counting streaks june fourth straight month saar 17 million prior run six straight mark clear auto industry peaking focus must turn inventory management incentivespending restraint fresh vehicle portfolios maintain market share pricing power easy task road ahead 10 stocks like better teslawhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right tesla wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns july 6 2017 daniel miller opens new window owns shares ford general motors motley fool owns shares recommends apple ford qualcomm tesla motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 562 |
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<p>Warren Buffett is perhaps the most highly regarded stock picker of all time. And while there's no way of knowing for sure which stocks he may buy or sell next, we can certainly apply some of Buffett's wisdom to our own search for great investments. With that in mind, here are five stocks out contributors feel Warren Buffett would love. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a>: Buffett loves to invest in companies that have durable competitive advantages and have positioned themselves for long-term growth. For that reason, I could easily see Buffett being interested picking up a few shares of pharmacy giant CVS Health , which exhibits many of the traits he looks for in a good investment.</p>
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<p>CVS Health operates one of the largest retail pharmacy chains, but the company also owns the second largest pharmacy-benefit manager company in the country. Both of these businesses benefit greatly from having increased size and scale, giving the company huge purchasing power. That helps to give the company a durable competitive advantage that the company relies on to protect itself from competitive forces and produce steady results.</p>
<p>That strong moat isn't the only reason I'd think Buffett would be attracted to CVS Health's stock. The company has also positioned itself nicely for long-term growth. Last yearit spent $1.9 billion to take overTarget'spharmacy and clinic business, which added roughly 1,700 new stores to its network and grew its store count by more than 20%. Those new stores give the company a great new audience to market its pharmacy services to and should prove to be a meaningful long-term tailwind to the company's business.</p>
<p>Beyond simply growing its store count, CVS Health is also working to make the storesthemselvesmore profitable. Consumersseem to really like theconvenienceof using the company's in-store MinuteClinics to help treat minor ailments, and CVS is pushing aggressively to expand theirroll-out. It currentlyoperatesmore than1,135 clinics in 33 states, but it has plans to add hundreds more over the coming years.</p>
<p>Finally, I think Buffett would appreciate that CVS Health has a long history of being shareholder friendly. The company has meaningfully <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/06/will-cvs-health-corporation-raise-its-dividend-in.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">increased its dividend Opens a New Window.</a> annually for more than a decade and regularly repurchases billions of its own stock each year. Add it all up, and I think CVS Health is the kind of company that Buffett likes to buy and hold for the long term.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMathGuy/info.aspx" type="external">Matt Frankel: Opens a New Window.</a> I'm hesitant to speculate on which stocks Warren Buffett might like right now, mainly because I feel that there are so many great Buffett-style bargains, particularly in the financial and energy sectors. However, one stock that definitely deserves mention here is the most obvious choice: Berkshire Hathaway itself.</p>
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<p>First, Berkshire Hathaway is a great business. The company's primary focus is selling insurance through subsidiaries (such as GEICO), and investing its cash in other businesses and stocks that are selling for attractive valuations and have excellent long-term prospects. All of Berkshire's businesses have identifiable competitive advantages, and the company's stock portfolio reads like a who's who of stable American companies.</p>
<p>Warren Buffett has said that his goal is to buy wonderful businesses at fair prices. He also said in his letters to shareholders that he would consider Berkshire to be expensive at around two times book value and cheap around 1.2 times book. In fact, Buffett said that buybacks at the latter valuation would "instantly and meaningfully increase per-share intrinsic value."</p>
<p>Even with the recent stock market rebound, Berkshire is still trading on the lower end of the valuation spectrum, and it has approached the "cheap" 1.2 times book level recently. In short, Berkshire is a fantastic business trading for a fair, if not cheap price right now, which Buffett loves.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>: When I think of Warren Buffett, I think about an investor looking for strong brand-name companies that are capable of remaining profitable in any economic environment. He likes efficient businesses and tends to value companies that deliver an average, or above average, dividend yield. Thus, the stock that I believe should be on Buffett's radar is appliance giant Whirlpool .</p>
<p>Whirlpool owns more than a dozen appliance brands, including Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana, and, of course, Whirlpool. These are brands that have little trouble selling themselves, which is something Buffett can appreciate. Nonetheless, Whirlpool has done what it can to spruce up its existing brands. In 2015 it reintroduced its KitchenAid brand with a more homely look, going back to its roots to design a product that might speak to a more mature homeowner. Having so many different appliance brands at its disposal gives Whirlpool the other opportunity to focus on wide swaths of consumer desires.</p>
<p>Whirlpool is also growing more efficient. As noted in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release from late January, acquisition synergies, capacity-reduction initiatives, and an improvement in product price and mix, helped push not only profits higher, but margins as well. Since 2011, Whirlpool's gross margin has expanded by 390 basis points to 17.7%, and I would look for the company to continue to combine pricing power and organic growth with its prowess for the occasional acquisition. After reporting an adjusted $12.38 in EPS in fiscal 2015, Whirlpool is projecting $20 to $22 in full-year EPS by 2018.</p>
<p>Lastly, we have income potential. Whirlpool is already paying out $3.60 a year, good enough for a 2.3% yield. Since early 2011, Whirlpool's payout has more than doubled, and its EPS growth implies that further dividend increases may be likely.</p>
<p>Sporting a single-digit forward P/E, Whirlpool has all the makings of a Buffett stock, in my opinion.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a>: One thing that Buffett has always demonstrated is his ability to find stocks that have suffered temporary setbacks but return their fundamental core strength. Automaker Ford Motor fits the bill in many ways.</p>
<p>Ford stock has struggled for a couple of years now, despite the unprecedented strength that the auto industry enjoyed in 2015. Short-term disruptions from the conversion of the F-150 line to its innovative aluminum-body construction led to extensive downtime, and that created shortages of the top-selling pickup truck that put pressure on revenue for several months last year. Labor issues also created uncertainty, although a favorable resolution toward the end of 2015 helped ally some of those concerns. More recently, Ford has suffered from concerns that the economic cycle in the U.S. could be near its peak at the same time that many international economies are still sputtering.</p>
<p>Yet Buffett has never hesitated to take the long-term view, and Ford's track record of being the only member of the Big 3 to survive the financial crisis without resorting to bankruptcy protection shows its tenacity in an industry that presents regular challenges. In the long run, Ford should be able to bounce back from the difficulties it faced last year and prove the superiority of its strategic vision. That's something that Buffett would appreciate.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVelvetHammer/info.aspx" type="external">Jason Hall Opens a New Window.</a>(Phillips 66): It may sound foolhardy to offer up a stock in an industry that Buffett has shown to be fallible in over the past several years, with Phillips 66 . After all, one of his biggest investing mistakes ever wasConocoPhillips, which Buffett invested -- and lost -- billions in before and during the recession. More recently, Buffett invested billions in ExxonMobil, only to sell within a few years with middling returns.</p>
<p>What makes Phillips 66 different? A few things make it a classic "Buffett" company.</p>
<p>Additionally, Phillips 66 isn't an oil producer, but a consumer, buying oil to make gas, diesel, and jet fuel, then selling those products. That means it is largely insulated from the volatility of oil prices, making money at essentially any oil price.</p>
<p>There's also growth. Phillips 66 management knows refining isn't a growth business, so they are devoting excess capital to growing its natural gas pipelines and chemicals businesses, which are set for years of higher-return growth. Demand for natural gas and gas-based products like plastics and fertilizers is a solid long-term opportunity, fueled by plentiful U.S. reserves.</p>
<p>Lastly, Phillips 66 is on track to be a dividend dynamo. It only yields 2.6% at recent prices, but has increased payouts by 180% since 2012, and still pays out less than 30% of earnings. Add it all up, and this may be the most "Buffett" energy stock Uncle Warren has ever bought.</p>
<p>The only question in my mind: Will he try to buy the whole company?</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/14/5-stocks-warren-buffett-would-love-right-now.aspx" type="external">5 Stocks Warren Buffett Would Love Right Now Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Dan Caplinger</a> owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Ford. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/elihpaudio/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Jason Hall Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Phillips 66. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/KWMatt82/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Matthew Frankel Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Ford. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil. The Motley Fool recommends CVS Health. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | warren buffett perhaps highly regarded stock picker time theres way knowing sure stocks may buy sell next certainly apply buffetts wisdom search great investments mind five stocks contributors feel warren buffett would love brian feroldi opens new window buffett loves invest companies durable competitive advantages positioned longterm growth reason could easily see buffett interested picking shares pharmacy giant cvs health exhibits many traits looks good investment continue reading cvs health operates one largest retail pharmacy chains company also owns second largest pharmacybenefit manager company country businesses benefit greatly increased size scale giving company huge purchasing power helps give company durable competitive advantage company relies protect competitive forces produce steady results strong moat isnt reason id think buffett would attracted cvs healths stock company also positioned nicely longterm growth last yearit spent 19 billion take overtargetspharmacy clinic business added roughly 1700 new stores network grew store count 20 new stores give company great new audience market pharmacy services prove meaningful longterm tailwind companys business beyond simply growing store count cvs health also working make storesthemselvesmore profitable consumersseem really like theconvenienceof using companys instore minuteclinics help treat minor ailments cvs pushing aggressively expand theirrollout currentlyoperatesmore than1135 clinics 33 states plans add hundreds coming years finally think buffett would appreciate cvs health long history shareholder friendly company meaningfully increased dividend opens new window annually decade regularly repurchases billions stock year add think cvs health kind company buffett likes buy hold long term matt frankel opens new window im hesitant speculate stocks warren buffett might like right mainly feel many great buffettstyle bargains particularly financial energy sectors however one stock definitely deserves mention obvious choice berkshire hathaway advertisement first berkshire hathaway great business companys primary focus selling insurance subsidiaries geico investing cash businesses stocks selling attractive valuations excellent longterm prospects berkshires businesses identifiable competitive advantages companys stock portfolio reads like whos stable american companies warren buffett said goal buy wonderful businesses fair prices also said letters shareholders would consider berkshire expensive around two times book value cheap around 12 times book fact buffett said buybacks latter valuation would instantly meaningfully increase pershare intrinsic value even recent stock market rebound berkshire still trading lower end valuation spectrum approached cheap 12 times book level recently short berkshire fantastic business trading fair cheap price right buffett loves sean williams opens new window think warren buffett think investor looking strong brandname companies capable remaining profitable economic environment likes efficient businesses tends value companies deliver average average dividend yield thus stock believe buffetts radar appliance giant whirlpool whirlpool owns dozen appliance brands including maytag kitchenaid amana course whirlpool brands little trouble selling something buffett appreciate nonetheless whirlpool done spruce existing brands 2015 reintroduced kitchenaid brand homely look going back roots design product might speak mature homeowner many different appliance brands disposal gives whirlpool opportunity focus wide swaths consumer desires whirlpool also growing efficient noted companys fourthquarter earnings release late january acquisition synergies capacityreduction initiatives improvement product price mix helped push profits higher margins well since 2011 whirlpools gross margin expanded 390 basis points 177 would look company continue combine pricing power organic growth prowess occasional acquisition reporting adjusted 1238 eps fiscal 2015 whirlpool projecting 20 22 fullyear eps 2018 lastly income potential whirlpool already paying 360 year good enough 23 yield since early 2011 whirlpools payout doubled eps growth implies dividend increases may likely sporting singledigit forward pe whirlpool makings buffett stock opinion dan caplinger opens new window one thing buffett always demonstrated ability find stocks suffered temporary setbacks return fundamental core strength automaker ford motor fits bill many ways ford stock struggled couple years despite unprecedented strength auto industry enjoyed 2015 shortterm disruptions conversion f150 line innovative aluminumbody construction led extensive downtime created shortages topselling pickup truck put pressure revenue several months last year labor issues also created uncertainty although favorable resolution toward end 2015 helped ally concerns recently ford suffered concerns economic cycle us could near peak time many international economies still sputtering yet buffett never hesitated take longterm view fords track record member big 3 survive financial crisis without resorting bankruptcy protection shows tenacity industry presents regular challenges long run ford able bounce back difficulties faced last year prove superiority strategic vision thats something buffett would appreciate jason hall opens new windowphillips 66 may sound foolhardy offer stock industry buffett shown fallible past several years phillips 66 one biggest investing mistakes ever wasconocophillips buffett invested lost billions recession recently buffett invested billions exxonmobil sell within years middling returns makes phillips 66 different things make classic buffett company additionally phillips 66 isnt oil producer consumer buying oil make gas diesel jet fuel selling products means largely insulated volatility oil prices making money essentially oil price theres also growth phillips 66 management knows refining isnt growth business devoting excess capital growing natural gas pipelines chemicals businesses set years higherreturn growth demand natural gas gasbased products like plastics fertilizers solid longterm opportunity fueled plentiful us reserves lastly phillips 66 track dividend dynamo yields 26 recent prices increased payouts 180 since 2012 still pays less 30 earnings add may buffett energy stock uncle warren ever bought question mind try buy whole company article 5 stocks warren buffett would love right opens new window originally appeared foolcom brian feroldi opens new window position stocks mentioned dan caplinger owns shares berkshire hathaway ford jason hall opens new window owns shares berkshire hathaway phillips 66 matthew frankel opens new window owns shares berkshire hathaway sean williams position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends berkshire hathaway ford motley fool owns shares exxonmobil motley fool recommends cvs health try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 972 |
<p>Addressing the House of Commons on November 11, 1947, Winston Churchill famously said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” I’ll borrow his sentiment and suggest the same rings true of the United States of America. All nations have flaws because they are the product of humans, who in their nature are often deeply flawed. Our great country is no different. The U.S. is home to thieves, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, religious extremists, sexists and racists. But this small minority do not define us and they do not represent We The People.</p>
<p>Colin Kaepernick, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, leftists, and now the NFL are all pushing a pernicious myth that the United States is a bad and racist place. They lie and say that large swaths of our citizenry are oppressed. They lie and say that the United States is a land characterized by white privilege, income inequality, political corruption and persecution. They lie and say that kneeling during our anthem is not disrespecting our flag.</p>
<p>On September 25, the FBI released their violent crime statistics for 2016. According to <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/html/hard-data-hollow-protests-15458.html" type="external">Heather Mac Donald's analysis</a> of this report and Washington Post data, 16 unarmed black men were killed by police officers last year. She makes an important distinction that a suspect’s categorization as “unarmed” does not lend insight into whether they were violently engaging an officer, or putting the lives of others at risk, only that they were not carrying a firearm or knife at the time of the shooting. With this in mind, truly unjustified police shootings of young, unarmed black men are rarer than the 16 identified by the Post.</p>
<p>There are slightly more than 37 million black people living in the United States. This means that, even if it's assumed that all 16 shootings involved excessive use of force, unarmed black Americans have a 0.000043% chance of being shot by a police officer. To put that in perspective, the average person has roughly a 0.033% chance of being struck by lightning in their lifetime.</p>
<p>This is what Colin Kaepernick and the NFL are protesting. Imaginary, fictitious, systemic police racism. This is why they refuse to take pride in our flag. And that begs the question: Is there any flag Kaepernick would stand for?</p>
<p>What country is more generous than the United States? Last year, individuals <a href="https://givingusa.org/giving-usa-2017-total-charitable-donations-rise-to-new-high-of-390-05-billion/" type="external">broke the previous world record</a> (also set by us) by donating $390.05 billion to charitable organizations.</p>
<p>What country treats the LGBT community with more tolerance than the United States? Certainly not Jamaica, where anal intercourse is punishable by up to <a href="https://antigaylaws.org/regional/americas/" type="external">10 years imprisonment with hard labor</a>. Not in <a href="https://antigaylaws.org/regional/middle-east/" type="external">Middle Eastern countries</a>, where homosexuals are punished even more harshly. In Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, to be gay is a death sentence. Here in the U.S., if a private business owner doesn’t want to make a cake for a gay wedding, they’re publicly shamed and make national news.</p>
<p>What country has greater economic opportunity than the United States? The <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-poverty-line-faq" type="external">World Bank</a> lists the global poverty line at $1.90 per day. Assuming one works every day of the year at that rate, their annual income would be only $693.50. Compare that with the United States, which marks it’s poverty line at $22,162 a year. Our poverty line starts 31 times higher than the global rate. Our economy represents 25% of the world’s GDP. The United States and its wealth have been vastly more instrumental in lifting human beings out of poverty than any nation in history.</p>
<p>What country has contributed more to the world than the United States? We invented the modern suspension bridge, the electric light bulb, photographic film, the skyscraper, electric traffic lights, frozen food, automatic car transmissions, the assembly line, airplanes, credit cards, disposable diapers, the integrated circuit, lasers, personal computers, mobile phones, space shuttles, the internet, GPS, and perhaps most importantly, chocolate chip cookies.</p>
<p>And now, the question at hand. What predominantly white country has provided more opportunity and equality to its minority black population than the United States? Yes, the legacy of slavery hangs over our founding like a shroud, but to pretend we are alone in this is pure fiction. Slavery was a worldwide evil. In 1778, the state of Virginia abolished the importation of slaves. This effort was led by Thomas Jefferson, who, as president, also signed legislation that criminalized the international slave trade in 1807. England passed similar legislation that same year. Sweden abolished the slave trade in 1813, The Netherlands in 1814, France in 1826, Brazil in 1851. Almost the entire developed world decided that slavery was evil in a period of about 50 years. No one would pretend that it’s been roses since then. But in fighting the civil war, abolishing Jim Crow, and amending our constitution to provide equal protections and rights under the law, the United States has made more progress toward living our ideals than most modern nations.</p>
<p>There are still approximately 30 million people enslaved in the world today. Slave trading still exists in countries like Haiti, Pakistan, and India, and is still practiced widely across the African continent. Black Americans are afforded more opportunity here than they would be anywhere else on Earth. No country in Europe has ever elected a black Chief Executive. Neither has Canada. In fact, no country with a minority black population, apart from us, has done so. We cherished black musicians, actors, poets, writers, scholars, athletes, politicians, judges, and businessmen. Above all other labels, those people are viewed as great Americans. And why is that?</p>
<p>Because America is not racist.</p>
<p>It’s the worst country on Earth, except for all the others. And that is why I will always stand for our flag and our anthem. Because I’m honored, and grateful to live in what is still, and hopefully always will be, the land of the free and the home of the brave.</p> | true | 0 | addressing house commons november 11 1947 winston churchill famously said democracy worst form government except others ill borrow sentiment suggest rings true united states america nations flaws product humans nature often deeply flawed great country different us home thieves rapists murderers pedophiles religious extremists sexists racists small minority define us represent people colin kaepernick black lives matter antifa leftists nfl pushing pernicious myth united states bad racist place lie say large swaths citizenry oppressed lie say united states land characterized white privilege income inequality political corruption persecution lie say kneeling anthem disrespecting flag september 25 fbi released violent crime statistics 2016 according heather mac donalds analysis report washington post data 16 unarmed black men killed police officers last year makes important distinction suspects categorization unarmed lend insight whether violently engaging officer putting lives others risk carrying firearm knife time shooting mind truly unjustified police shootings young unarmed black men rarer 16 identified post slightly 37 million black people living united states means even assumed 16 shootings involved excessive use force unarmed black americans 0000043 chance shot police officer put perspective average person roughly 0033 chance struck lightning lifetime colin kaepernick nfl protesting imaginary fictitious systemic police racism refuse take pride flag begs question flag kaepernick would stand country generous united states last year individuals broke previous world record also set us donating 39005 billion charitable organizations country treats lgbt community tolerance united states certainly jamaica anal intercourse punishable 10 years imprisonment hard labor middle eastern countries homosexuals punished even harshly yemen saudi arabia iran gay death sentence us private business owner doesnt want make cake gay wedding theyre publicly shamed make national news country greater economic opportunity united states world bank lists global poverty line 190 per day assuming one works every day year rate annual income would 69350 compare united states marks poverty line 22162 year poverty line starts 31 times higher global rate economy represents 25 worlds gdp united states wealth vastly instrumental lifting human beings poverty nation history country contributed world united states invented modern suspension bridge electric light bulb photographic film skyscraper electric traffic lights frozen food automatic car transmissions assembly line airplanes credit cards disposable diapers integrated circuit lasers personal computers mobile phones space shuttles internet gps perhaps importantly chocolate chip cookies question hand predominantly white country provided opportunity equality minority black population united states yes legacy slavery hangs founding like shroud pretend alone pure fiction slavery worldwide evil 1778 state virginia abolished importation slaves effort led thomas jefferson president also signed legislation criminalized international slave trade 1807 england passed similar legislation year sweden abolished slave trade 1813 netherlands 1814 france 1826 brazil 1851 almost entire developed world decided slavery evil period 50 years one would pretend roses since fighting civil war abolishing jim crow amending constitution provide equal protections rights law united states made progress toward living ideals modern nations still approximately 30 million people enslaved world today slave trading still exists countries like haiti pakistan india still practiced widely across african continent black americans afforded opportunity would anywhere else earth country europe ever elected black chief executive neither canada fact country minority black population apart us done cherished black musicians actors poets writers scholars athletes politicians judges businessmen labels people viewed great americans america racist worst country earth except others always stand flag anthem im honored grateful live still hopefully always land free home brave | 562 |
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<p>British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) is one of the top-yielding dividend stocks in the medical sector. Company management has committed to paying a quarterly dividend through 2017 that amounts to a yield of 4.7%at today's exchange rate. A rich payout like that will attract the attention of dividend investors -- but how safe is that return after this year? Probably not safe enough for many conservative investors.</p>
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<p>Image source: GlaxoSmithKline plc</p>
<p>One of the most common measures of dividend sustainability is the <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-the-payout-ratio.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">payout ratio Opens a New Window.</a>, which is the amount the company pays out in dividends divided by net profits during the same period. Anything number over 100% means that the company is returning to shareholders more than it is generating in profits, a situation that generally can't go on forever. In fact, dividend investors usually look for payout ratios much less 100%. As a rule of thumb, anything under 60% is generally considered an acceptable dividend payout ratio.</p>
<p>Over the last four quarters, GSK has generated $323 millionin net profit and has distributed $5.5 billion in regular dividends (not including another $1.4 billion in a special dividend) for a payout ratio of about 1700%. On the surface this would be a major red flag, but let's dig in a little to see what happened.</p>
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<p>In 2014 Glaxo announced a major restructuring, exchanging assets with Novartis, creating a consumer healthcare subsidiary and initiating some major cost cutting initiatives. The deal closed in March 2015, so we have six quarters since then that we can use to assess the restructured company's performance and ability to pay dividends. One important implication of the restructuring is that there have been a number of non-cash charges that have impacted net profit but that are not really relevant for assessing the company's ability to pay dividends. So let's look at free cash flow in the six quarters since the company was restructured and see if the picture is different.</p>
<p>Over the last six quarters, the company generated $536 million in free cash flow and paid out $8.6 billion in regular dividends. That's not much better. But again, there were one-time cash expenses related to the Novartis deal and the purchase of HIV assets from Bristol-Myers Squibbin early 2016. Looking at the free cash flow the core business generated before taking these one-time charges, we get this picture:</p>
<p>Data source: GlaxoSmithKline plc. Chart by author.</p>
<p>As we can see, even if there had been no restructuring expenses, free cash flow still would not have covered the dividend payout in any quarter except the most recent one. Over this year and a half, Glaxo has paid out $3.3 billion more in ordinary dividends than it has generated in free cash flow. This deficit has been absorbed by decreasing cash and increasing debt. Net debt -- debt minus cash and marketable securities -- increased $4.8 billion from Q2 2015 to present.</p>
<p>The company had enough cash from the sale of its oncology business to Novartis to easily handle these demands without endangering its credit rating, but clearly the track record casts doubt on the company's ability to maintain the payout over the long term.</p>
<p>Fortunately there is some good news for shareholders. It's clear from the above chart that the situation in the last two quarters has drastically improved. There are several reasons. One was outside the company's control: exchange rates. The CFO reported last quarter that half of the improvement in free cash flow in the first nine months of 2016 compared with 2015 was due to the decline in the British pound. The benefit to the business is a result of the fact that most of the company's costs are in Britain, whereas most of its sales are outside the country.</p>
<p>But good things are also happening as the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/13/4-signs-glaxos-turnaround-is-taking-hold.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">restructuring is taking hold Opens a New Window.</a>. So far, over $3 billion in annual cost savings have been implemented. Better still, the company's growth profile improved with the restructuring, and those decisions are beginning to pay off. The last two quarters may be more indicative of the company's future than the prior ones have been.</p>
<p>Still, conservative investors should beware. Two quarters of good cash generation are not much of a track record. If the pound stays depressed, the currency benefits should continue, but any reversal of the pound's decline will also reverse the post-Brexit windfall the company has enjoyed. If the company's blockbuster asthma drug Advair gets hit with generic competition sooner rather than later, a large portion of the drug's sales -- 12% of company revenuein the last nine months -- will be at risk.</p>
<p>And finally, there is some risk in the agreements around Glaxo's joint ventures. The other partners have been granted put options -- that is, they have the right to demand that GSK buy out their shares of the subsidiaries at the value of that stake at the time. These options are carried on the balance sheet as a liability of $12 billion, and that amount could grow if the value of the businesses grows. The company believes this won't happen, and if it does, the purchase could be absorbed by the balance sheet. But it would certainly put a major dent in the company's finances if it did.</p>
<p>All in all, GSK has not yet proven itself as a safe bet as a dividend stock, which is probably why the market hasn't bid its stock price up to a level where the yield is more typical for its cohort. Investors who are willing to take a little more risk and are interested in the growth prospects that are beginning to improve should consider GSK. But conservative investors looking for a safe dividend that is likely to grow over time should look elsewhere.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than GlaxoSmithKline When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=45ea17aa-72bd-4215-a07c-187bfde0f8b8&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and GlaxoSmithKline wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSpeyside/info.aspx" type="external">Jim Crumly Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | british drugmaker glaxosmithkline plc nyse gsk one topyielding dividend stocks medical sector company management committed paying quarterly dividend 2017 amounts yield 47at todays exchange rate rich payout like attract attention dividend investors safe return year probably safe enough many conservative investors continue reading image source glaxosmithkline plc one common measures dividend sustainability payout ratio opens new window amount company pays dividends divided net profits period anything number 100 means company returning shareholders generating profits situation generally cant go forever fact dividend investors usually look payout ratios much less 100 rule thumb anything 60 generally considered acceptable dividend payout ratio last four quarters gsk generated 323 millionin net profit distributed 55 billion regular dividends including another 14 billion special dividend payout ratio 1700 surface would major red flag lets dig little see happened advertisement 2014 glaxo announced major restructuring exchanging assets novartis creating consumer healthcare subsidiary initiating major cost cutting initiatives deal closed march 2015 six quarters since use assess restructured companys performance ability pay dividends one important implication restructuring number noncash charges impacted net profit really relevant assessing companys ability pay dividends lets look free cash flow six quarters since company restructured see picture different last six quarters company generated 536 million free cash flow paid 86 billion regular dividends thats much better onetime cash expenses related novartis deal purchase hiv assets bristolmyers squibbin early 2016 looking free cash flow core business generated taking onetime charges get picture data source glaxosmithkline plc chart author see even restructuring expenses free cash flow still would covered dividend payout quarter except recent one year half glaxo paid 33 billion ordinary dividends generated free cash flow deficit absorbed decreasing cash increasing debt net debt debt minus cash marketable securities increased 48 billion q2 2015 present company enough cash sale oncology business novartis easily handle demands without endangering credit rating clearly track record casts doubt companys ability maintain payout long term fortunately good news shareholders clear chart situation last two quarters drastically improved several reasons one outside companys control exchange rates cfo reported last quarter half improvement free cash flow first nine months 2016 compared 2015 due decline british pound benefit business result fact companys costs britain whereas sales outside country good things also happening restructuring taking hold opens new window far 3 billion annual cost savings implemented better still companys growth profile improved restructuring decisions beginning pay last two quarters may indicative companys future prior ones still conservative investors beware two quarters good cash generation much track record pound stays depressed currency benefits continue reversal pounds decline also reverse postbrexit windfall company enjoyed companys blockbuster asthma drug advair gets hit generic competition sooner rather later large portion drugs sales 12 company revenuein last nine months risk finally risk agreements around glaxos joint ventures partners granted put options right demand gsk buy shares subsidiaries value stake time options carried balance sheet liability 12 billion amount could grow value businesses grows company believes wont happen purchase could absorbed balance sheet would certainly put major dent companys finances gsk yet proven safe bet dividend stock probably market hasnt bid stock price level yield typical cohort investors willing take little risk interested growth prospects beginning improve consider gsk conservative investors looking safe dividend likely grow time look elsewhere 10 stocks like better glaxosmithkline investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right glaxosmithkline wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns january 4 2017 jim crumly opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 619 |
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<p>Ramadan…meaning ‘Scorched Earth’…began on July 8th and ended on August 4th, the so-called ‘Night of Power’ (Laylet al-Qadr)…the ‘Night of Revelation’…the ‘Night of Destiny’…when the first verses of the (vile) qur’an were revealed to mohamed…or so the muslims claim.</p>
<p>And on that day, on orders initiating from Barack HUSSEIN Obama, 19 US embassies across the Middle East, North Africa, and certain parts of Asia were closed and locked down as a precautionary measure. Closed and locked down because of what government officials and ‘supposed’ intel operatives said was an ‘unspecified’ terrorist threat coming from al-Qaeda and its affiliates…as in intercepted communiques which ‘supposedly’ included an attack order from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri to Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.</p>
<p />
<p>But of course NOTHING happened as most of us knew it wouldn’t, because Obama gave the game plan away (probably to warn his brethren) giving al-Qaeda time to change their plans…if there were ever any plans to attack our embassies to begin with. And even if this was true, the ONLY embassy that should have been closed was the one in Yemen, the new ground point zero for al-Qaeda operations.</p>
<p>And now a week later as all the embassies are reopening, except for the one in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, the stage has been set for Barack HUSSEIN Obama to do what he does best…campaign about how wonderful he is and what a great decision he made in order to keep our embassy personnel safe. But wonderful he is NOT for whether the threat was real or NOT is quite the distraction from the fact that this miserable excuse of a president once again allowed our beloved America to seem weak in the eyes of the world…allowed America to be seen as backing down to the enemy…allowed America to be seen as a coward who high tails it and runs when threats…’unspecific’ threats at that…get too great.</p>
<p>And this ‘We the People’ can NEVER forgive him for as America caters to and backs down to NO one…to NO nation…especially to NO muslim (YES muslim) terrorist organization…at lest this was so before this man…this muslim…usurped his way into the presidency.</p>
<p>But what can we expect from a man who sides with the enemy every chance he gets…a man who welcomes the enemy into the White House…the American people’s house…to break bread. Remember, just last month Obama hosted his fifth,…YES fifth…White House ‘ iftar’ dinner in the State Dining Room to celebrate Ramadan. Joined by members of his administration, elected officials, religious leaders, and members of the diplomatic corps Obama saluted muslims (on national television NO less) who claim to be Americans (I will NOT hyphenate anyone claiming to be an American) for their, according to him, contributions in helping build the nation as business entrepreneurs, technology innovators, and pioneers in medicine (gagging BIG time on that one).</p>
<p>Remember at that dinner Obama said the holy month of Ramadan was “a time of reflection, a chance to demonstrate ones devotion to God through prayer and through fasting, but it’s also a time for family and friends to come together”…as in his family…his friends…his devotion to his God…the false pseudo-god known as allah…for NO true Christian or Jew would grovel like that before those out to kill them.</p>
<p>Remember it well for this is where Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s allegiances lie…always have and always will.</p>
<p>So knowing where Obama’s true allegiances lie why did he really close all those embassies…why would he do something so drastic, at a huge cost to we taxpayers based on what amounts to little definitive information…why when one year ago direct communications were received from Ambassador Stevens begging for back-up and help at Benghazi…why when Obama saw with his own eyes the video coverage of the attacks from the drones flying above the compound did he and his people claim they didn’t have enough information to act…why…why…why.</p>
<p>Why…could it have something to do with what I’ve said since day one…that Ambassador Stevens caught Obama and his people smuggling guns and military grade weapons to the al-Qaeda supported and financed Syrian rebels and was going to expose him…could those weapons have been the ones unaccounted for that he ILLEGALLY gave to the Libyans in violation of our Constitution’s ‘War Powers Clause’. And why last week were US Navy amphibious ships in the Red Sea moved closer to Yemen and then pulled back…</p>
<p>Or…and this is a biggie…did all these closings have to do with Edward Snowden and Obama’s fear that Snowden found out ‘certain things’ and is ‘talking’ to his nemesis Russian President Vladimir Putin. Could Obama have had to destroy all the evidence housed in our embassies to hide ‘certain’ high-level classified spying programs…to shred documents…to delete files and films…to try and wipe his fingerprints NOT only off of Benghazi with his weapons running but to wipe clean his role in spying on Russia, especially with Russia supporting Assad’s government forces and he supporting the al-Qaeda backed rebels. Could this be the real reason for the closings…what better way to stealthily operate than to do closings in plain sight while the world’s eyes were diverted away by phony terrorist threats…this way he could do his ‘dirty work’ behind closed and sealed doors while the world was fooled into thinking the doors were closed for the safety of our embassy personnel…and doing this to coincide with Ramadan is the perfect cover for it all.</p>
<p>I put NOTHING passed this most vile of men, for Obama is NOT trying to get Snowden back because of his disclosures about spying on ‘We the People’…he needs Snowden back because he might spills the beans on him. And don’t think for a minute that Eric Snowden won’t end up being in an ‘unfortunate accident’ somewhere…but above all else NEVER forget that Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s loyalties will NEVER be with America, with American interests, or with ‘We the People’ but will always be with those out to kill us.</p>
<p>http://thepatriotfactor.blogspot.com/2013/08/op-ed-crying-wolf-for-most-devious-of.html</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p> | true | 0 | ramadanmeaning scorched earthbegan july 8th ended august 4th socalled night power laylet alqadrthe night revelationthe night destinywhen first verses vile quran revealed mohamedor muslims claim day orders initiating barack hussein obama 19 us embassies across middle east north africa certain parts asia closed locked precautionary measure closed locked government officials supposed intel operatives said unspecified terrorist threat coming alqaeda affiliatesas intercepted communiques supposedly included attack order alqaeda leader ayman alzawahri yemenbased alqaeda arabian peninsula course nothing happened us knew wouldnt obama gave game plan away probably warn brethren giving alqaeda time change plansif ever plans attack embassies begin even true embassy closed one yemen new ground point zero alqaeda operations week later embassies reopening except one yemeni capital sanaa stage set barack hussein obama bestcampaign wonderful great decision made order keep embassy personnel safe wonderful whether threat real quite distraction fact miserable excuse president allowed beloved america seem weak eyes worldallowed america seen backing enemyallowed america seen coward high tails runs threatsunspecific threats thatget great people never forgive america caters backs oneto nationespecially muslim yes muslim terrorist organizationat lest manthis muslimusurped way presidency expect man sides enemy every chance getsa man welcomes enemy white housethe american peoples houseto break bread remember last month obama hosted fifthyes fifthwhite house iftar dinner state dining room celebrate ramadan joined members administration elected officials religious leaders members diplomatic corps obama saluted muslims national television less claim americans hyphenate anyone claiming american according contributions helping build nation business entrepreneurs technology innovators pioneers medicine gagging big time one remember dinner obama said holy month ramadan time reflection chance demonstrate ones devotion god prayer fasting also time family friends come togetheras familyhis friendshis devotion godthe false pseudogod known allahfor true christian jew would grovel like kill remember well barack hussein obamas allegiances liealways always knowing obamas true allegiances lie really close embassieswhy would something drastic huge cost taxpayers based amounts little definitive informationwhy one year ago direct communications received ambassador stevens begging backup help benghaziwhy obama saw eyes video coverage attacks drones flying compound people claim didnt enough information actwhywhywhy whycould something ive said since day onethat ambassador stevens caught obama people smuggling guns military grade weapons alqaeda supported financed syrian rebels going expose himcould weapons ones unaccounted illegally gave libyans violation constitutions war powers clause last week us navy amphibious ships red sea moved closer yemen pulled back orand biggiedid closings edward snowden obamas fear snowden found certain things talking nemesis russian president vladimir putin could obama destroy evidence housed embassies hide certain highlevel classified spying programsto shred documentsto delete files filmsto try wipe fingerprints benghazi weapons running wipe clean role spying russia especially russia supporting assads government forces supporting alqaeda backed rebels could real reason closingswhat better way stealthily operate closings plain sight worlds eyes diverted away phony terrorist threatsthis way could dirty work behind closed sealed doors world fooled thinking doors closed safety embassy personneland coincide ramadan perfect cover put nothing passed vile men obama trying get snowden back disclosures spying peoplehe needs snowden back might spills beans dont think minute eric snowden wont end unfortunate accident somewherebut else never forget barack hussein obamas loyalties never america american interests people always kill us httpthepatriotfactorblogspotcom201308opedcryingwolfformostdeviousofhtml | 530 |
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<p>Americans love their coffee. Three-quarters of adults drink coffee and 58% say they drink coffee daily, according to the National Coffee Association. Like other large consumer products in the U.S., a substantial number of brands vie for market share — and for profit. And like other food and beverage products, each brand tries to distinguish itself for consumers based on taste, price, and in some cases, snob appeal.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Based on 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend Rankings, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most popular coffee brands that people make themselves. The seven coffee companies with scores above the coffee product average measured by Harris, did well based on familiarity, quality, purchase consideration and the ability to generate buzz.</p>
<p><a href="http://247wallst.com/2012/05/25/americas-favorite-coffees/" type="external">This content was originally published on 24/7 Wall St. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Green Mountain coffee brand topped the list. Its parent company, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, is often viewed as a competitor to Starbucks, which did not make the list. In fact, the brands that are rated below average are probably better known than those rated above average.The losers include Chock Full O’Nuts, Nescafe, Newman’s Own, Seattle’s Best, and Starbucks.</p>
<p>Because Harris is not the only research firm that polls people on coffee preferences, we looked at other opinion studies, including one by Consumer Reports. Oddly enough, its preference ratings put Starbucks’ house blend as the highest rated brand. The differences in the results show how unpredictable research is when consumer preferences are considered.</p>
<p><a href="http://247wallst.com/2012/05/25/cities-with-the-most-homes-underwater/" type="external">Read: Cities with the Most Homes Underwater Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Because of this, 24/7 also looked beyond subjective measures of preference. We looked at price, based on the assumption that many coffee drinkers consider value. We also examined annual revenue of each brand, as well as the number of bags sold last year. We discovered that the most favored brands are not inexpensive. Folgers Ground Coffee and Green Mountain, two of the most preferred brands, cost well over $7 per bag. Millstone and Eight O’Clock, while still popular, are less preferred, and each of these costs little more than $5 per bag</p>
<p>The relationship of price to quality perception should not come as a surprise. Starbucks has made a fortune selling expensive coffee at trendy stores. Its customers are not complaining that their $3 cup of coffee costs twice as much as it does at the neighborhood deli.</p>
<p><a href="http://247wallst.com/2012/05/24/the-most-dangerous-states-to-drive-in/" type="external">Read: The Most Dangerous States to Drive In Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend Rankings of coffee brands, which quantifies brand strength among consumers, to identify the most popular coffees. We included dollar sales, change in dollar sales from one year ago and unit sales of bagged ground coffee over the latest 52-week period in the United States provided by SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm. The group’s data reflects sales at supermarkets, drugstores, gas/convenience stores and mass market retailers, but excludes Walmart club stores, and liquor stores.</p>
<p>These are America’s favorite coffees.</p>
<p>7. Caribou &gt; Parent company: Caribou Coffee Company &gt; 1-yr. bags sold: 2,134,128 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $16,793,690 &gt; Price per bag: $7.87</p>
<p>Owned by the publicly traded Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee Company, the Caribou brand comes in at seventh in the Harris poll. Founded in 1992, Caribou is the second most expensive coffee on this list at $7.87 a bag. The brand also has the second-lowest annual dollar sales of any coffee brand on the list at less than $17 million. In its most recently reported quarter, Caribou’s parent company sales were $80.5 million for all its brands, up 11% from the same quarter in the prior year. In its coffee blend reviews, Consumer Reports gave Caribou’s “daybreak morning” blend especially poor reviews.</p>
<p><a href="http://247wallst.com/2012/05/22/large-cities-ruined-by-foreclosures/" type="external">Read: Cities With The Most Homes In Foreclosure Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>6. Maxwell House &gt; Parent company: Kraft Foods, Inc. &gt; 1-yr. bags sold:73,285,570 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $467,080,600 &gt; Price per bag: $6.37</p>
<p>A Kraft Foods product, Maxwell House’s 52-week sales through April 15 was in excess of $467 million, making it the second best selling ground coffee in the U.S. Despite strong sales, Maxwell House has performed poorly in coffee blend ratings issued by Consumer Reports, as none of the four blends (decaffeinated, breakfast, original roast medium, and master blend mild) was given a “good” rating. However, at $6.37 a bag, Maxwell House’s brand value is likely bolstered by a middling price in conjunction with customer familiarity with both the brand and its parent company.</p>
<p>5. Eight O’Clock &gt; Parent company: Tata Global Beverages &gt; 1-yr. bags sold:13,519,080 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $74,800,170 &gt; Price per bag: $5.53</p>
<p>First sold in 1859 by the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (now A&amp;P), the Eight O’Clock brand’s longevity is unmatched by any other ground coffee on this list. The brand has been sold under the present trademark since 1919. In the 1920s through the 1950s, the company claims it was the most popular ground coffee brand in the U.S. Since then, however, its popularity has declined. &#160;Since 2006, the brand has been owned by Tata Global Beverages and, as of 2010, was still the best-selling whole bean coffee, according to the company.</p>
<p>4. Millstone &gt; Parent company: J.M. Smucker Company &gt; 1-yr. bags sold: 3,469,959 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $18,187,170 &gt; Price per bag: $5.24</p>
<p>Millstone was started in 1981 by Phil Johnson, who sold arabica coffee beans to shops in the Seattle area. The brand offers a large variety of roasts, from espressos to French roasts and appeals to customers through organic and fair trade offerings. The brand has performed poorly in the last year, with dollar sales down 10.94% and bag sales down 19.69%. The brand’s average price per bag has risen 52 cents in this same time span.</p>
<p>3. Dunkin’ Donuts &gt; Parent company: J.M. Smucker Company &gt; 1-yr. bags sold: 21,499,550 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $190,710,400 &gt; Price per bag: $8.87</p>
<p>Well known for its restaurants, which offer breakfast, baked goods and coffee, the Dunkin’ Donuts brand is owned by the Dunkin’ Brands Group. Dunkin’ Donuts, which has 6,772 franchised restaurants in 35 states, has licensed J.M. Smucker to sell its ground coffee throughout the U.S. Dunkin’ is the most expensive coffee on this list. Its offerings have been given mixed reviews by Consumer Reports — its dark roast is well reviewed and its decaffeinated blend is poorly reviewed. In the last year, dollar sales have increased 11.03% as the average price per bag has risen by 83 cents.</p>
<p>2. Folgers &gt; Parent company: J.M. Smucker Company &gt; 1-yr. bags sold:114,784,800 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $852,350,800 &gt; Price per bag: $7.43</p>
<p>The best-selling ground coffee brand, Folgers sold over 114 million bags of coffee in the past year. The sales don’t include the “Gourmet Selections” and “Coffee Singles” products, which account for an additional $18.6 million and $19 million in sales, respectively. The brand’s offerings received mixed reviews from Consumer Reports, with its house blend receiving a “good” rating and its breakfast, classic and decaf blends receiving “fair” ratings. Though the brand was founded in 1850, it has been part of the J.M. Smucker Company only since November, 2008.</p>
<p>1. Green Mountain &gt; Parent company: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters &gt; 1-yr. bags sold:1,844,802 &gt; 1-yr. sales: $14,422,080 &gt; Price per bag: $7.82</p>
<p>Founded in Waitsfield, Vermont in 1981, Green Mountain has been manufactured in Waterbury, Vermont, since shortly thereafter. Its parent company, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is better-known for its Keurig brands, which account for much of the revenue at the parent company. In the most recently reported quarter, revenue at Green Mountain’s parent company rose 37% to $885 million. Despite a relatively high price per bag of $7.82, Green Mountain’s 52 week sales are less than $15 million. This makes Green Mountain the smallest brand by sales of all brands studied by Harris. The single Green Mountain blend reviewed by Consumer Reports, its signature Nantucket blend medium roast, received the third-highest rating.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | true | 0 | americans love coffee threequarters adults drink coffee 58 say drink coffee daily according national coffee association like large consumer products us substantial number brands vie market share profit like food beverage products brand tries distinguish consumers based taste price cases snob appeal continue reading based 2012 harris poll equitrend rankings 247 wall st identified popular coffee brands people make seven coffee companies scores coffee product average measured harris well based familiarity quality purchase consideration ability generate buzz content originally published 247 wall st opens new window green mountain coffee brand topped list parent company green mountain coffee roasters often viewed competitor starbucks make list fact brands rated average probably better known rated averagethe losers include chock full onuts nescafe newmans seattles best starbucks harris research firm polls people coffee preferences looked opinion studies including one consumer reports oddly enough preference ratings put starbucks house blend highest rated brand differences results show unpredictable research consumer preferences considered read cities homes underwater opens new window 247 also looked beyond subjective measures preference looked price based assumption many coffee drinkers consider value also examined annual revenue brand well number bags sold last year discovered favored brands inexpensive folgers ground coffee green mountain two preferred brands cost well 7 per bag millstone eight oclock still popular less preferred costs little 5 per bag relationship price quality perception come surprise starbucks made fortune selling expensive coffee trendy stores customers complaining 3 cup coffee costs twice much neighborhood deli read dangerous states drive opens new window 247 wall st reviewed 2012 harris poll equitrend rankings coffee brands quantifies brand strength among consumers identify popular coffees included dollar sales change dollar sales one year ago unit sales bagged ground coffee latest 52week period united states provided symphonyiri group chicagobased market research firm groups data reflects sales supermarkets drugstores gasconvenience stores mass market retailers excludes walmart club stores liquor stores americas favorite coffees 7 caribou gt parent company caribou coffee company gt 1yr bags sold 2134128 gt 1yr sales 16793690 gt price per bag 787 owned publicly traded minneapolisbased caribou coffee company caribou brand comes seventh harris poll founded 1992 caribou second expensive coffee list 787 bag brand also secondlowest annual dollar sales coffee brand list less 17 million recently reported quarter caribous parent company sales 805 million brands 11 quarter prior year coffee blend reviews consumer reports gave caribous daybreak morning blend especially poor reviews read cities homes foreclosure opens new window 6 maxwell house gt parent company kraft foods inc gt 1yr bags sold73285570 gt 1yr sales 467080600 gt price per bag 637 kraft foods product maxwell houses 52week sales april 15 excess 467 million making second best selling ground coffee us despite strong sales maxwell house performed poorly coffee blend ratings issued consumer reports none four blends decaffeinated breakfast original roast medium master blend mild given good rating however 637 bag maxwell houses brand value likely bolstered middling price conjunction customer familiarity brand parent company 5 eight oclock gt parent company tata global beverages gt 1yr bags sold13519080 gt 1yr sales 74800170 gt price per bag 553 first sold 1859 great atlantic pacific tea company aampp eight oclock brands longevity unmatched ground coffee list brand sold present trademark since 1919 1920s 1950s company claims popular ground coffee brand us since however popularity declined 160since 2006 brand owned tata global beverages 2010 still bestselling whole bean coffee according company 4 millstone gt parent company jm smucker company gt 1yr bags sold 3469959 gt 1yr sales 18187170 gt price per bag 524 millstone started 1981 phil johnson sold arabica coffee beans shops seattle area brand offers large variety roasts espressos french roasts appeals customers organic fair trade offerings brand performed poorly last year dollar sales 1094 bag sales 1969 brands average price per bag risen 52 cents time span 3 dunkin donuts gt parent company jm smucker company gt 1yr bags sold 21499550 gt 1yr sales 190710400 gt price per bag 887 well known restaurants offer breakfast baked goods coffee dunkin donuts brand owned dunkin brands group dunkin donuts 6772 franchised restaurants 35 states licensed jm smucker sell ground coffee throughout us dunkin expensive coffee list offerings given mixed reviews consumer reports dark roast well reviewed decaffeinated blend poorly reviewed last year dollar sales increased 1103 average price per bag risen 83 cents 2 folgers gt parent company jm smucker company gt 1yr bags sold114784800 gt 1yr sales 852350800 gt price per bag 743 bestselling ground coffee brand folgers sold 114 million bags coffee past year sales dont include gourmet selections coffee singles products account additional 186 million 19 million sales respectively brands offerings received mixed reviews consumer reports house blend receiving good rating breakfast classic decaf blends receiving fair ratings though brand founded 1850 part jm smucker company since november 2008 1 green mountain gt parent company green mountain coffee roasters gt 1yr bags sold1844802 gt 1yr sales 14422080 gt price per bag 782 founded waitsfield vermont 1981 green mountain manufactured waterbury vermont since shortly thereafter parent company green mountain coffee roasters betterknown keurig brands account much revenue parent company recently reported quarter revenue green mountains parent company rose 37 885 million despite relatively high price per bag 782 green mountains 52 week sales less 15 million makes green mountain smallest brand sales brands studied harris single green mountain blend reviewed consumer reports signature nantucket blend medium roast received thirdhighest rating advertisement | 896 |
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<p>In today's so-called smart home, you can dim the lights, order more toothpaste or tell the kids to go to bed simply by talking to a small Wifi-connected speaker, such as Amazon's Echo or Google's Home.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>This voice-first market - combining voice with artificial intelligence (AI) - barely existed in 2014. This year, Voice Labs, a consultancy, expects 24.5 million appliances to be shipped.</p>
<p>Other big tech firms have their own plans: Apple is taking its Siri voice assistant beyond its mobile devices to PCs, cars, and the home; Baidu last month bought Raven, billed as China's answer to Amazon's Alexa intelligent personal assistant; and Samsung Electronics &lt;005930.KS&gt; plans to incorporate Viv, its newly acquired virtual assistant, into its phones and home appliances.</p>
<p>But not everyone��thinks the future of communicating with the Internet of Things needs to be vocal.</p>
<p>Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, for example, was working on Jarvis, his own voice-powered AI home automation, and found he preferred communicating by text because, he wrote, "mostly it feels less disturbing to people around me."</p>
<p>And several major appliance makers have turned to a small Singapore firm, Unified Inbox, which offers a service that can handle ordinary text messages and pass them on to appliances.</p>
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<p>With your home added to the contacts list on, say, WhatsApp, a quick text message can "start the coffee machine"; "turn on the vacuum cleaner at 5 p.m."; or "preheat the oven to 200 degrees at 6.30 p.m."</p>
<p>"Think of it as a universal translator between the languages that machines speak ... and us humans," said Toby Ruckert, a German former concert pianist and now Unified Inbox's CEO.</p>
<p>The company is just a small player, funded by private investors, but Ruckert says its technology is patent-backed, has been several years in the making, and has customers that include half of the world's smart appliance makers, such as Bosch [ROBG.UL].</p>
<p>Unified Inbox connects the devices on behalf of the manufacturer, while the consumer can add their appliance by messaging its serial number to a special user account or phone number. It so far supports more than 20 of the most popular messaging apps, as well SMS and Twitter , and controls appliances from ovens to kettles. Other home appliances being tested include locks, garage openers, window blinds, toasters and garden sprinklers, says Ruckert.</p>
<p>"People aren't going to want a different interface for all the different appliances in their home," says Jason Jameson, of IBM , which is pairing its Watson AI supercomputer with Unified Inbox to better understand user messages. They will this week demonstrate the service working with a Samsung Robot Cleaner.</p>
<p>"The common denominator is the smartphone, and even more common is the messaging app," Jameson notes.</p>
<p>"TROJAN HORSE"</p>
<p>There's another reason, Ruckert says, why more than half of the world's smart appliance manufacturers have signed up.</p>
<p>They're worried the big tech companies' one-appliance-controls-all approach will relegate them to commodity players, connecting to Alexa or another dominant platform, or being cast aside if Amazon moves into making its own household appliances.</p>
<p>"Our customers are quite afraid of the likes of Amazon," Ruckert said. "Having a Trojan horse in a customer's home, like Echo, that they must integrate with to stay competitive is a nightmare for them."</p>
<p>An Amazon spokesperson said the company was "excited by the early response by smart home device manufacturers and even more excited by the customer response," but declined to speculate about future plans.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for Bosch said no single company can knit the Internet of Things together, so "there is a need to collaborate and establish ecosystems," such as working with Unified Inbox.</p>
<p>Already the race is on to incorporate other services into these home hubs.</p>
<p>Amazon allows third parties to develop apps, or "skills", for Alexa. It has more than 10,000 of these, with many added in just the past three months. Most are developed by firms using Amazon's software toolkit, and range from telling jokes to ordering food.</p>
<p>And Amazon makes it easy for other hardware makers to incorporate Alexa into their appliances, increasing its reach.</p>
<p>Chinese device maker Lenovo &lt;0992.HK&gt; has embedded Alexa in its speakers, while General Electric has it in a lamp - meaning users can control these devices by voice, and use them to order products from Amazon. LG Electronics &lt;066570.KS&gt; and Huawei are also working on Alexa-enabled devices, Amazon said.</p>
<p>Text messaging, though, may yet break down those walls.</p>
<p>As Zuckerberg noted, the volume of text messages is growing much faster than the number of voice calls. "This suggests that future AI products cannot be solely focused on voice, and will need a private messaging interface as well," he says.</p>
<p>EVEN SMARTER</p>
<p>Some companies are already looking further ahead, and doing away with the need for any human instruction - whether by voice or text - by making machines smarter at learning our habits and anticipating them.</p>
<p>LG, for example, is using deep learning to make its appliances understand and avoid objects in a room, or fill an ice-tray based on a user's cold drink habits.</p>
<p>At Unified Inbox, Ruckert looks ahead to being able to communicate not only with one's own appliances, but with machines elsewhere. Bosch executives in Singapore, for example, have demonstrated how a user could ask a smart CCTV camera how many people were in a particular room.</p>
<p>Ruckert is also working with Singapore's Nanyang Polytechnic to send updates to family members or staff direct from hospital equipment attached to patients.</p>
<p>And smart appliance entrepreneur James Dyson said in a recent interview that the future lies in what he calls "highly intelligent automation".</p>
<p>"For me, the future is making everything happen for you without you being particularly involved in it."</p>
<p>For a graphic on How Unification Engine works, click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/TECH-IOT-MESSAGE/0100403J07F/unibox.jpg</p>
<p>(Reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)</p> | true | 0 | todays socalled smart home dim lights order toothpaste tell kids go bed simply talking small wificonnected speaker amazons echo googles home continue reading voicefirst market combining voice artificial intelligence ai barely existed 2014 year voice labs consultancy expects 245 million appliances shipped big tech firms plans apple taking siri voice assistant beyond mobile devices pcs cars home baidu last month bought raven billed chinas answer amazons alexa intelligent personal assistant samsung electronics lt005930ksgt plans incorporate viv newly acquired virtual assistant phones home appliances everyonethinks future communicating internet things needs vocal facebook founder mark zuckerberg example working jarvis voicepowered ai home automation found preferred communicating text wrote mostly feels less disturbing people around several major appliance makers turned small singapore firm unified inbox offers service handle ordinary text messages pass appliances advertisement home added contacts list say whatsapp quick text message start coffee machine turn vacuum cleaner 5 pm preheat oven 200 degrees 630 pm think universal translator languages machines speak us humans said toby ruckert german former concert pianist unified inboxs ceo company small player funded private investors ruckert says technology patentbacked several years making customers include half worlds smart appliance makers bosch robgul unified inbox connects devices behalf manufacturer consumer add appliance messaging serial number special user account phone number far supports 20 popular messaging apps well sms twitter controls appliances ovens kettles home appliances tested include locks garage openers window blinds toasters garden sprinklers says ruckert people arent going want different interface different appliances home says jason jameson ibm pairing watson ai supercomputer unified inbox better understand user messages week demonstrate service working samsung robot cleaner common denominator smartphone even common messaging app jameson notes trojan horse theres another reason ruckert says half worlds smart appliance manufacturers signed theyre worried big tech companies oneappliancecontrolsall approach relegate commodity players connecting alexa another dominant platform cast aside amazon moves making household appliances customers quite afraid likes amazon ruckert said trojan horse customers home like echo must integrate stay competitive nightmare amazon spokesperson said company excited early response smart home device manufacturers even excited customer response declined speculate future plans spokesperson bosch said single company knit internet things together need collaborate establish ecosystems working unified inbox already race incorporate services home hubs amazon allows third parties develop apps skills alexa 10000 many added past three months developed firms using amazons software toolkit range telling jokes ordering food amazon makes easy hardware makers incorporate alexa appliances increasing reach chinese device maker lenovo lt0992hkgt embedded alexa speakers general electric lamp meaning users control devices voice use order products amazon lg electronics lt066570ksgt huawei also working alexaenabled devices amazon said text messaging though may yet break walls zuckerberg noted volume text messages growing much faster number voice calls suggests future ai products solely focused voice need private messaging interface well says even smarter companies already looking ahead away need human instruction whether voice text making machines smarter learning habits anticipating lg example using deep learning make appliances understand avoid objects room fill icetray based users cold drink habits unified inbox ruckert looks ahead able communicate ones appliances machines elsewhere bosch executives singapore example demonstrated user could ask smart cctv camera many people particular room ruckert also working singapores nanyang polytechnic send updates family members staff direct hospital equipment attached patients smart appliance entrepreneur james dyson said recent interview future lies calls highly intelligent automation future making everything happen without particularly involved graphic unification engine works click httpfingfxthomsonreuterscomgfxrngstechiotmessage0100403j07funiboxjpg reporting jeremy wagstaff editing ian geoghegan | 579 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>We're going fishing for the best water stocks to invest in today for the long term.Water stocks make compelling investments because they deal in an essential commodity. The supply of fresh water is limited, and demand should grow as the world's population increases and more people in developing countries move into the middle class.Water utility stocks are particularly attractive because their core businesses are monopolies and they pay modest dividends.</p>
<p>Ninewater utility stocks with market caps greater than $300 million trade on major U.S. stock exchanges.</p>
<p>Data sources: YCharts and Finviz.com. Data to Oct. 4, 2016. Returns that have beaten the S&amp;P 500 are boldfaced.SJW Corp. has significant real estate operations, so it's excluded from the analysis.</p>
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<p>American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) is thelargest water utility from a market cap and revenue standpoint. Its size is a huge reason it's the best water utility stock. The water utility industry is very fragmented and capital-intensive, so the bigger companies are more likely to have the resources needed to take advantage of the many potential acquisitions that exist.</p>
<p>American Water operates in 47 U.S. states and Ontario, Canada, and operates as a regulated water and wastewater utility in 16 of these states. Along with its size, its geographic diversification also provides it with a significant competitive advantage. This feature often allows it to expand by acquisition near its current operations without adding entirely new management teams. It also makes it less vulnerable to droughts and other region-specific conditions that could negatively impact its business.</p>
<p>American Water's market-based segment primarily builds, operates, and maintains water systems for military bases. In 2015, the company began supplying water and related services to natural gas exploration and production companies in the Appalachian Basin via its acquisition of Keystone Clearwater Solutions.The "fracking" water business has been negatively affected by the huge downturn in the energy markets that began in mid-2014. However, Keystone is holding its own -- management expects it to have a neutral effect on 2016 earnings. And management is optimistic about Keystone's prospects once the recovery in the natural gas market makes further strides.</p>
<p>Analysts estimate that American Water will grow earnings per share 10.6% this year, which is the highest growth rate projected for the stocks in the chart, and at an average annual rate of 7.6% over the next five years, which is the second highest projected rate (behind California Water Service) among the pure plays operating in the U.S. Management said on the second-quarter conference call that the company is on track to achieve its goal of increasing EPS at a 7% to 10% average annual rate from 2016 through 2020.</p>
<p>American Water's dividend is historically on the low end of the range for the industry, as the chart shows. This can be viewed as a positive unless you're an investor primarily concerned with current income. The company targets a conservative payout ratio (dividends paid/net income) of 50% to 60%. If it paid out more in dividends, it likely wouldn't be able to pursue as many acquisitions.</p>
<p>Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo(NYSE: SBS)-- or "Sabesp" -- is a volatile stock, as its fantastic one-year return coupled with its poor five-year return suggest.Itisnota stock for more typical utility investors who are interested in relatively low-risk stocks that pay dependable modest dividends.</p>
<p>This volatility stems from the fact that Sabesp provides water and wastewater services in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Brazil has frequent water-supply concerns due to droughts, has been mired in political turmoil, and its currency has been experiencing huge swings in value relative to the U.S. dollar. (Sabesp has benefited from exchange rates for the Brazilian real improving significantly relative to the U.S. dollar in 2016 after plunging relative to the dollar in 2015.)</p>
<p>However, Sabesp does have some features that make it a potentially attractive investment for investors comfortable with higher risk levels. Along with more favorable exchange rates, drought conditions in its territory have recently begun to ease. Analysts expect it to grow EPS at an average annual rate of 35.1% over the next five years. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.9 is by far the lowest of the pure plays. It generated $290.4 million in free cash flow over the trailing 12 months -- by far the best in the industry.</p>
<p>Now we'll discuss why most investors should pass on the other water stocks.</p>
<p>A drained reservoir in the Sierra Nevadas, Calif. Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>American States Water(NYSE: AWR)has had a particularly tough year as reflected in its negative 7.3% one-year total return. The primary reason is the epic California drought, now in its fifth year. While the company has a market-based business that provides services at military bases throughout the country, its core regulated water and wastewater business operates solely in the Golden State. The state's mandatory water-use restrictions, enacted in the spring of 2015, resulted in decreased revenue, which flowed down to negatively affect American States' bottom line. Moreover, drought conditions usually increase operating costs.</p>
<p>California lifted its mandatory restrictions on June 1 because conditions had improved somewhat, but much of the state remains in a severe drought. Moreover, American States is still waiting to hear from the California Public Utility Commission about its rate requests for 2016 through 2018. Given the drought challenges and the uncertainties surrounding rates, most investors should pass on American States for now.</p>
<p>Investors should also pass for now on California Water Service (NYSE: CWT) because it's facing the same drought headwinds. However, all its regulated eggs aren't in one dry basket. While its largest regulated operation is in its namesake state, it also has regulated businesses in Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii.</p>
<p>Aqua America (NYSE: WTR)is the second largest water utility operating in the U.S. and thesecond most geographically diversified in the industry. It operates regulated businesses in eight states vs. American Water's 16. Its projected average annual growth rate of 6% over the next five years is solid, but trails American Water's 7.6%. Like American Water, Aqua America is also pursuing a fairly aggressive acquisition strategy. While Aqua America bears watching, American Water is currently the better water stock to invest in unless you're an investor who wants exposure to water utilities and are most concerned withdividend yield; Aqua America's 2.4% yield is tops in the industry.</p>
<p>There are some good things that can be said about Middlesex Water, Connecticut Water, and York Water. For instance, Middlesex and York are two of only four companies (along with American Water and Sabesp) in the chart that were free-cash-flow positive over the trailing 12 months. That said, their small sizes combined with their lack of geographic diversification limit their long-term growth potential, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Middlesex Water has regulated and non-regulated operations in very limited parts of New Jersey and Delaware. Connecticut Water's regulated and non-regulated service territory is comprised of 56 towns in Connecticut. York Water's operations cover48 municipalities within York and AdamsCounties, Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>American Water and the stocks of the other pure play water utilities operating in the U.S. have pulled back since July. American Water's stock, for instance, is down about 15% since hitting an all-time high in early July. These pullbacks were to be expected since valuations ballooned due to the huge price run-ups in this group over the last year. Valuations remain high, so these pullbacks could continue. However, a top water stock like American Water Works should prove an attractive investment for those who hold it for the long term.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2692&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMcKenna/info.aspx" type="external">Beth McKenna Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Companhia de Saneamento Basico. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source getty images continue reading going fishing best water stocks invest today long termwater stocks make compelling investments deal essential commodity supply fresh water limited demand grow worlds population increases people developing countries move middle classwater utility stocks particularly attractive core businesses monopolies pay modest dividends ninewater utility stocks market caps greater 300 million trade major us stock exchanges data sources ycharts finvizcom data oct 4 2016 returns beaten sampp 500 boldfacedsjw corp significant real estate operations excluded analysis advertisement american water works nyse awk thelargest water utility market cap revenue standpoint size huge reason best water utility stock water utility industry fragmented capitalintensive bigger companies likely resources needed take advantage many potential acquisitions exist american water operates 47 us states ontario canada operates regulated water wastewater utility 16 states along size geographic diversification also provides significant competitive advantage feature often allows expand acquisition near current operations without adding entirely new management teams also makes less vulnerable droughts regionspecific conditions could negatively impact business american waters marketbased segment primarily builds operates maintains water systems military bases 2015 company began supplying water related services natural gas exploration production companies appalachian basin via acquisition keystone clearwater solutionsthe fracking water business negatively affected huge downturn energy markets began mid2014 however keystone holding management expects neutral effect 2016 earnings management optimistic keystones prospects recovery natural gas market makes strides analysts estimate american water grow earnings per share 106 year highest growth rate projected stocks chart average annual rate 76 next five years second highest projected rate behind california water service among pure plays operating us management said secondquarter conference call company track achieve goal increasing eps 7 10 average annual rate 2016 2020 american waters dividend historically low end range industry chart shows viewed positive unless youre investor primarily concerned current income company targets conservative payout ratio dividends paidnet income 50 60 paid dividends likely wouldnt able pursue many acquisitions companhia de saneamento basico estado de sao paulonyse sbs sabesp volatile stock fantastic oneyear return coupled poor fiveyear return suggestitisnota stock typical utility investors interested relatively lowrisk stocks pay dependable modest dividends volatility stems fact sabesp provides water wastewater services sao paulo brazil brazil frequent watersupply concerns due droughts mired political turmoil currency experiencing huge swings value relative us dollar sabesp benefited exchange rates brazilian real improving significantly relative us dollar 2016 plunging relative dollar 2015 however sabesp features make potentially attractive investment investors comfortable higher risk levels along favorable exchange rates drought conditions territory recently begun ease analysts expect grow eps average annual rate 351 next five years pricetoearnings pe ratio 159 far lowest pure plays generated 2904 million free cash flow trailing 12 months far best industry well discuss investors pass water stocks drained reservoir sierra nevadas calif image source getty images american states waternyse awrhas particularly tough year reflected negative 73 oneyear total return primary reason epic california drought fifth year company marketbased business provides services military bases throughout country core regulated water wastewater business operates solely golden state states mandatory wateruse restrictions enacted spring 2015 resulted decreased revenue flowed negatively affect american states bottom line moreover drought conditions usually increase operating costs california lifted mandatory restrictions june 1 conditions improved somewhat much state remains severe drought moreover american states still waiting hear california public utility commission rate requests 2016 2018 given drought challenges uncertainties surrounding rates investors pass american states investors also pass california water service nyse cwt facing drought headwinds however regulated eggs arent one dry basket largest regulated operation namesake state also regulated businesses washington new mexico hawaii aqua america nyse wtris second largest water utility operating us thesecond geographically diversified industry operates regulated businesses eight states vs american waters 16 projected average annual growth rate 6 next five years solid trails american waters 76 like american water aqua america also pursuing fairly aggressive acquisition strategy aqua america bears watching american water currently better water stock invest unless youre investor wants exposure water utilities concerned withdividend yield aqua americas 24 yield tops industry good things said middlesex water connecticut water york water instance middlesex york two four companies along american water sabesp chart freecashflow positive trailing 12 months said small sizes combined lack geographic diversification limit longterm growth potential opinion middlesex water regulated nonregulated operations limited parts new jersey delaware connecticut waters regulated nonregulated service territory comprised 56 towns connecticut york waters operations cover48 municipalities within york adamscounties pennsylvania american water stocks pure play water utilities operating us pulled back since july american waters stock instance 15 since hitting alltime high early july pullbacks expected since valuations ballooned due huge price runups group last year valuations remain high pullbacks could continue however top water stock like american water works prove attractive investment hold long term secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window beth mckenna opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool recommends companhia de saneamento basico try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 879 |
<p />
<p>The growth of e-commerce continues to be a bountiful field for investors to find great stocks.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Commerce Department reported that e-commerce sales increased 14.3% year over year to $102.7 billion, while total retail sales increased 4.1% in the same period. E-commerce sales represented only 8.3% of total retail sales in the U.S. alone giving companies like PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) a long growth runway.</p>
<p>These two online behemoths are in the sweet spot of a long-term shift in how people all over the world are transacting in commerce and represent great choices for investors to consider.</p>
<p>E-commerce is booming. Image source: Pixabay.</p>
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<p>According to <a href="https://www.datanyze.com/market-share/payments/" type="external">Datanyze Opens a New Window.</a>, PayPal dominates online shopping with a 76.8% share of websites who offer similar payment options. This online dominance led PayPal to process 6.1 billion total transactions in 2016, an increase of 24% over 2015.The actual dollar amount processed -- or total payment volume (TPV) -- was $354 billion, which increased 28% year over year.</p>
<p>Management's <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/03/paypal-is-powering-growth-by-focusing-on-the-small.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">strategy Opens a New Window.</a> to grow TPV has been to spread PayPal's payment service to as many places as possible. The more ways customers can use PayPal, the more customers it can reach. Since it spun off from eBay, PayPal has been on a tear, signing partnerships with major credit card issuers and banks like Mastercard, Visa, Discover Financial Services, and Citigroup. With these deals, customers will be able to use their credit cards in their PayPal digital wallet wherever contactless payments are accepted.</p>
<p>An additional source of growth in the future will be the social payment service Venmo. Venmo's TPV increased 126% to $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. This is an annual run rate of about $20 billion -- less than 10% of PayPal's total payment volume -- but this percentage should grow over time.</p>
<p>As a result of current business momentum and the expected increase in payment volume from recent partnerships, management expects revenue growth to be 16% to 17% over the next three years, and PayPal's profit should grow in line with revenue.</p>
<p>Taking a look at the stock's current valuation, the <a href="http://www.fool.com/answers/faq/pe-ratio/?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">price-to-earnings Opens a New Window.</a> ratio on expected 2017 earnings is about 25. PayPal generated $10 billion of revenue last year and management places its addressable market near $100 trillion. Given the large runway of growth ahead, the valuation looks very reasonable.</p>
<p>Amazon has completely changed the game for retail. Its rapid growth over the last 20 years left many traditional big box retailers like Wal-Mart Storesscrambling to catch up.</p>
<p>Amazon's net sales have grown from $511 million in its first full year of operation in 1995 to $135.9 billion in 2016, and there are still a lot of areas in the world Amazon has yet to penetrate.</p>
<p>The key ingredient to Amazon's success has been the culture of experimentation that CEO and founder Jeff Bezos has instilled throughout the company. In his 2015 shareholder letter, he wrote:</p>
<p>This approach has a direct connection to Amazon's growth. Amazon's fast-growing cloud-computing service -- Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- seems an odd fit with its retail business, but in fact AWS fits the company's core mission to be the world's "most customer-centric company." AWS has been beating the competition in cloud services through the same relentless focus on giving customers the best value and the best service available.</p>
<p>In addition to AWS, Amazon Prime was started as an experiment and has been a crucial component to the company's growth in recent years. As a marketing pitch for Prime, Jeff Bezos wrote in his 2015 letter, "We want Prime to be such a good value, you'd be irresponsible not to be a member." Being a Prime member myself, I can attest there is a lot of truth to his claim.</p>
<p>The success of Prime has disrupted the entire retail industry and changed the expectations of shoppers with free two-day shipping along with other benefits, making the company the gold standard of how online shopping should be done.</p>
<p>Amazon is constantly piling other goodies on top of free shipping like Prime Video, Music, and special exclusive deals on certain items for Prime members which creates a very sticky service. At the end of the day, Jeff Bezos is right: You really do feel it would be irresponsible to cancel your membership.</p>
<p>All together, Amazon's net sales grew 27% in 2016 and cash from operations ballooned to $16.4 billion. From day one, CEO Jeff Bezos has stated that the goal is to maximize long-term free cash flow. This focus has allowed the company to expand its fulfillment center infrastructure while keeping a sound balance sheet. At the end of 2016, Amazon had $25.9 billion in cash and marketable securities with $7.7 billion in long-term debt.</p>
<p>The stock has tracked the growth in net sales and cash flow over time, and I expect it to do so in the years to come. Which means at the end of the next 10 years, you might be irresponsible for not being an Amazon shareholder.</p>
<p>Find out why Amazon is one of the 10 best stocks to buy now</p>
<p>Motley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. (In fact, the newsletter they run, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market!*)</p>
<p>Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now. Amazon <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0000450%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6313%26ftm_veh%3Darticle_pitch&amp;impression=4efedd05-3136-4b24-9584-5ebb4f7dab25&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">is on the list Opens a New Window.</a> -- but there are nine others you may be overlooking.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0000450%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6313%26ftm_veh%3Darticle_pitch&amp;impression=4efedd05-3136-4b24-9584-5ebb4f7dab25&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here to get access to the full list! Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFRazorback/info.aspx" type="external">John Ballard Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of PayPal Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, eBay, Mastercard, PayPal Holdings, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | growth ecommerce continues bountiful field investors find great stocks continue reading fourth quarter 2016 commerce department reported ecommerce sales increased 143 year year 1027 billion total retail sales increased 41 period ecommerce sales represented 83 total retail sales us alone giving companies like paypal holdings nasdaq pypl amazoncom nasdaq amzn long growth runway two online behemoths sweet spot longterm shift people world transacting commerce represent great choices investors consider ecommerce booming image source pixabay advertisement according datanyze opens new window paypal dominates online shopping 768 share websites offer similar payment options online dominance led paypal process 61 billion total transactions 2016 increase 24 2015the actual dollar amount processed total payment volume tpv 354 billion increased 28 year year managements strategy opens new window grow tpv spread paypals payment service many places possible ways customers use paypal customers reach since spun ebay paypal tear signing partnerships major credit card issuers banks like mastercard visa discover financial services citigroup deals customers able use credit cards paypal digital wallet wherever contactless payments accepted additional source growth future social payment service venmo venmos tpv increased 126 56 billion fourth quarter 2016 annual run rate 20 billion less 10 paypals total payment volume percentage grow time result current business momentum expected increase payment volume recent partnerships management expects revenue growth 16 17 next three years paypals profit grow line revenue taking look stocks current valuation pricetoearnings opens new window ratio expected 2017 earnings 25 paypal generated 10 billion revenue last year management places addressable market near 100 trillion given large runway growth ahead valuation looks reasonable amazon completely changed game retail rapid growth last 20 years left many traditional big box retailers like walmart storesscrambling catch amazons net sales grown 511 million first full year operation 1995 1359 billion 2016 still lot areas world amazon yet penetrate key ingredient amazons success culture experimentation ceo founder jeff bezos instilled throughout company 2015 shareholder letter wrote approach direct connection amazons growth amazons fastgrowing cloudcomputing service amazon web services aws seems odd fit retail business fact aws fits companys core mission worlds customercentric company aws beating competition cloud services relentless focus giving customers best value best service available addition aws amazon prime started experiment crucial component companys growth recent years marketing pitch prime jeff bezos wrote 2015 letter want prime good value youd irresponsible member prime member attest lot truth claim success prime disrupted entire retail industry changed expectations shoppers free twoday shipping along benefits making company gold standard online shopping done amazon constantly piling goodies top free shipping like prime video music special exclusive deals certain items prime members creates sticky service end day jeff bezos right really feel would irresponsible cancel membership together amazons net sales grew 27 2016 cash operations ballooned 164 billion day one ceo jeff bezos stated goal maximize longterm free cash flow focus allowed company expand fulfillment center infrastructure keeping sound balance sheet end 2016 amazon 259 billion cash marketable securities 77 billion longterm debt stock tracked growth net sales cash flow time expect years come means end next 10 years might irresponsible amazon shareholder find amazon one 10 best stocks buy motley fool cofounders tom david gardner spent decade beating market fact newsletter run motley fool stock advisor tripled market tom david revealed ten top stock picks investors buy right amazon list opens new window nine others may overlooking click get access full list opens new window stock advisor returns february 6 2017 john ballard opens new window owns shares paypal holdings motley fool owns shares recommends amazon ebay mastercard paypal holdings visa motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 599 |
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<p>The future of electronic cigarettes is jeopardized by FDA regulations that favor the tobacco giants. Image source: Vaping360.</p>
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<p>Philip Morris International's (NYSE: PM) <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/12/philip-morris-is-planning-for-a-smoke-free-future.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">smoke-free future Opens a New Window.</a> is coming to America. The global cigarette giant plans on marketing its next-generation electronic cigarette in the U.S. next year once it gains FDA approval, but its applications indicate just how much the regulatory agency is helping to protect the interests of the big tobacco companies by crushing the competition.</p>
<p>One of the biggest complaints e-cig users have with the devices currently on the market is taste. Because the typical e-cig heats a nicotine-infused liquid to create a vapor that is inhaled, users say it leaves something of a chemical aftertaste. E-cig usage that had rocketed to annual triple-digit gains after being introduced have suddenly cooled off, and estimates that they would overtake combustible cigarette sales are no longer bandied about.</p>
<p>The iQOS from Philip Morris, though, is an innovative advance for electronic cigarettes. Rather than heat a liquid, the iQOS consists of a rechargeable, pen-like device into which a short, cigarette-looking product is inserted. It is heated just enough to create a tobacco-flavored, nicotine-infused vapor, making it much closer to smoking a regular cigarette, but without the smoke, smell, and toxic chemicals.</p>
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<p>Under a framework signed with Altria (NYSE: MO) in 2013 for commercializing e-cigs and other reduced-risk products, the iQOS's rechargeable devices will be marketed as Marlboro HeatSticks. Since they were introduced in Japan earlier this year, the iQOS has jumped to the forefront of the market there, and Philip Morris now wants to take the e-cig global.</p>
<p>Rival British American Tobacco (NYSEMKT: BTI) is developing a <a href="http://mockup.www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/26/iqos-vs-ifuse-who-is-doing-next-gen-electronic-cig.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">similar heat-not-burn device Opens a New Window.</a>, which it calls "glo," that also heats tobacco in a cigarette-like device called a Neostik that will be marketed under BAT's Kent brand. It has also developed the iFuse, a slightly different type of device that heats an e-liquid just as regular e-cigs do, but then draws the vapor created through real tobacco to give it the tobacco flavor users seek.</p>
<p>Image source: Philip Morris.</p>
<p>However, these devices can only be readily introduced in international markets since the FDA virtually shut off new product introduction in the U.S. with implementation of its so-called deeming rules, which "deemed" electronic cigarettes to be the same as combustible ones even though they don't contain tobacco. Until the iQOS, that is.</p>
<p>It was clear from the start that the new regulations would be a disaster for the e-cig industry. Only devices on the market from before 2007 were to be grandfathered in, with everyone else having to go through the costly and labyrinthine FDA approval process. So onerous were the rules that they were dubbed the " <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/20/the-fdas-electronic-cigarette-rules-are-here-and-t.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Big Tobacco Protection Act Opens a New Window.</a>," and Philip Morris' applications to win FDA approval show how prescient the name was.</p>
<p>The iQOS is going through a two-phase approval process. The first step is getting the e-cig device approved for sale in the U.S., while the second part will be to earn the iQOS a reduced-risk product label. It's that portion of the process that will let Philip Morris own the U.S. e-cig market and virtually stub out the competition.</p>
<p>Despite the obvious benefits to the user from not inhaling the toxic chemicals associated with a cigarette's smoke, e-cig manufacturers aren't allowed to tout them as a healthier alternative without getting prior approval from the FDA. Philip Morris is seeking that designation by submitting a reduced-risk application to the agency -- but the application is expected to run some 2 million to 3 million pages long!</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>It's clear that only the biggest, most financially secure tobacco companies can afford to comply with the new regulations, giving the industry giants the competitive advantage of being able to say their e-cigs are safer than cigarettes. By virtually precluding any small e-cig companies from the field, eventually, only the biggest will survive.</p>
<p>Philip Morris is planning for the day when it can kick the smoking habit. Third-quarter cigarette shipment volumes fell 5% to 207 billion units, and they're down almost 4% so far this year. Volumes were down sharply in its Asia market, falling 9% for the period, and they were also off 8% in its Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment.</p>
<p>Although it's generated $26 billion in revenues from cigarette sales over the last 12 months, the company is planning to invest $100 million in smoking alternatives and expects them to add as much as $1.2 billion to its earnings within the next four years.</p>
<p>When it's able to bill the iQOS as the only reduced-risk product on the U.S. market, Philip Morris International might be able to expect those returns to accrue to its bottom line in a much quicker fashion than it forecast.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Philip Morris International When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=e829479b-37f0-4e20-b818-af21ed36b82a&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and Philip Morris International wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=e829479b-37f0-4e20-b818-af21ed36b82a&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCop/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | future electronic cigarettes jeopardized fda regulations favor tobacco giants image source vaping360 continue reading philip morris internationals nyse pm smokefree future opens new window coming america global cigarette giant plans marketing nextgeneration electronic cigarette us next year gains fda approval applications indicate much regulatory agency helping protect interests big tobacco companies crushing competition one biggest complaints ecig users devices currently market taste typical ecig heats nicotineinfused liquid create vapor inhaled users say leaves something chemical aftertaste ecig usage rocketed annual tripledigit gains introduced suddenly cooled estimates would overtake combustible cigarette sales longer bandied iqos philip morris though innovative advance electronic cigarettes rather heat liquid iqos consists rechargeable penlike device short cigarettelooking product inserted heated enough create tobaccoflavored nicotineinfused vapor making much closer smoking regular cigarette without smoke smell toxic chemicals advertisement framework signed altria nyse mo 2013 commercializing ecigs reducedrisk products iqoss rechargeable devices marketed marlboro heatsticks since introduced japan earlier year iqos jumped forefront market philip morris wants take ecig global rival british american tobacco nysemkt bti developing similar heatnotburn device opens new window calls glo also heats tobacco cigarettelike device called neostik marketed bats kent brand also developed ifuse slightly different type device heats eliquid regular ecigs draws vapor created real tobacco give tobacco flavor users seek image source philip morris however devices readily introduced international markets since fda virtually shut new product introduction us implementation socalled deeming rules deemed electronic cigarettes combustible ones even though dont contain tobacco iqos clear start new regulations would disaster ecig industry devices market 2007 grandfathered everyone else go costly labyrinthine fda approval process onerous rules dubbed big tobacco protection act opens new window philip morris applications win fda approval show prescient name iqos going twophase approval process first step getting ecig device approved sale us second part earn iqos reducedrisk product label portion process let philip morris us ecig market virtually stub competition despite obvious benefits user inhaling toxic chemicals associated cigarettes smoke ecig manufacturers arent allowed tout healthier alternative without getting prior approval fda philip morris seeking designation submitting reducedrisk application agency application expected run 2 million 3 million pages long image source getty images clear biggest financially secure tobacco companies afford comply new regulations giving industry giants competitive advantage able say ecigs safer cigarettes virtually precluding small ecig companies field eventually biggest survive philip morris planning day kick smoking habit thirdquarter cigarette shipment volumes fell 5 207 billion units theyre almost 4 far year volumes sharply asia market falling 9 period also 8 eastern europe middle east africa segment although generated 26 billion revenues cigarette sales last 12 months company planning invest 100 million smoking alternatives expects add much 12 billion earnings within next four years able bill iqos reducedrisk product us market philip morris international might able expect returns accrue bottom line much quicker fashion forecast 10 stocks like better philip morris international investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right nowand philip morris international wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns nov 7 2016 rich duprey opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 578 |
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<p>IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
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<p>If you owe the IRS more in taxes than you can comfortably pay, then you may be able to negotiate an offer in compromise. An offer in compromise is pretty much what it sounds like: a compromise on your existing tax bill, meaning you agree to pay part of what you owe, and the IRS agrees to forgive the rest.</p>
<p>Before you can start the offer in compromise process, you'll need to meet certain requirements. First, you must have filed all required tax returns. Second, you must have received at least one bill from the IRS for your existing tax debt. And third, you must have made all estimated tax payments for the year and (if you're a business owner) made all your payroll deposits as well.</p>
<p>You also need acceptable grounds for making the offer. The IRS will accept one of three official grounds: doubt as to collectibility, effective tax administration, and doubt as to liability. The most frequently used of the three reasons, doubt as to collectibility means that the IRS isn't sure it will ever be able to collect the full amount of your tax bill. Effective tax administration is a fancy way of saying that you have some special circumstance that would make paying your tax bill in full an economic hardship for you, even if you technically have enough assets and/or income to cover the debt. Finally, doubt as to liability means that you can prove you shouldn't owe the taxes at all. This last option is so rarely successful that it's usually not even worth trying.</p>
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<p>Getting started with an offer in compromise means filling out a whole lot of paperwork. First, there's Form 656, the main Offer in Compromise form. It asks for basic information about you and your debt, asks you to select one of the official grounds, and allows you to make a payment offer in the form of either a single lump sum or a periodic payment plan running anywhere from six to 24 months.</p>
<p>Next, you get to fill out Form 433-A (or Form 433-B, if you're requesting an offer in compromise on business taxes). This form requires you to disclose your assets, income and expenses in excruciating detail. Tedious as this form is, you have to fill it out as completely and accurately as possible, as this is the information the IRS will use when deciding whether or not to approve your offer.</p>
<p>You can find Form 656 and both varieties of Form 433 on the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/form-656-offer-in-compromise" type="external">IRS website Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>What the IRS is looking for at this point is an offer equal to either the value of your assets (meaning they expect you to sell everything you own and use the money to pay your tax bill) or your disposable income (meaning the amount of your monthly income that's left over after subtracting your monthly expenses). Form 433 provides a formula that you can use to plug in your income and asset information and spit out an offer to make to the IRS.</p>
<p>If you use the Form 433 formula and the result is more than you're willing to pay, then you'll need to try the "special circumstances" approach. The best way to do so is typically to attach a letter to your paperwork explaining why you can't pay as much as the formula indicates. For example, you might tell the IRS about a serious medical condition you have that will hinder your ability to bring in income and will also result in higher expenses in the near future. If you have medical records or other proof of your condition, attach copies of these documents to the letter.</p>
<p>Once you've filled out the forms, the IRS will want to see some proof of the information you just provided. The agency will typically ask for pay stubs, bank statements, deeds and registration forms for your assets, loan documents, and anything else they can think of. Pulling together and sending in all this paperwork can take quite a lot of time and effort on your part, but it's a necessary part of showing that your offer is a valid one.</p>
<p>If the IRS accepts, you have only to start sending them payments according to the plan you proposed. But if they reject your offer, that doesn't mean you're completely out of luck. The rejection letter will state why your offer was turned down (almost always because it was too low). You can then resubmit your offer at a slightly higher amount. If you send in the new offer within a month of the old one and your circumstances haven't changed, you won't need to fill out all those forms again; just send a letter with the revised offer and payment plan.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you can appeal the decision. A formal appeal requires you to fill out and send in Form 13711 within 30 days of the date on the rejection letter. The IRS will either send your request to the Appeals Office or respond with an offer of their own. You also have the option of calling the officer who signed the rejection letter and asking him or her to reconsider. You may be able to negotiate with the officer directly, rather than going through the standard appeals process.</p>
<p>Whatever approach you choose, hang on to your patience and remember that if all goes well, you'll be able to significantly reduce your tax debt and get a particularly nasty creditor off your back.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source getty images continue reading owe irs taxes comfortably pay may able negotiate offer compromise offer compromise pretty much sounds like compromise existing tax bill meaning agree pay part owe irs agrees forgive rest start offer compromise process youll need meet certain requirements first must filed required tax returns second must received least one bill irs existing tax debt third must made estimated tax payments year youre business owner made payroll deposits well also need acceptable grounds making offer irs accept one three official grounds doubt collectibility effective tax administration doubt liability frequently used three reasons doubt collectibility means irs isnt sure ever able collect full amount tax bill effective tax administration fancy way saying special circumstance would make paying tax bill full economic hardship even technically enough assets andor income cover debt finally doubt liability means prove shouldnt owe taxes last option rarely successful usually even worth trying advertisement getting started offer compromise means filling whole lot paperwork first theres form 656 main offer compromise form asks basic information debt asks select one official grounds allows make payment offer form either single lump sum periodic payment plan running anywhere six 24 months next get fill form 433a form 433b youre requesting offer compromise business taxes form requires disclose assets income expenses excruciating detail tedious form fill completely accurately possible information irs use deciding whether approve offer find form 656 varieties form 433 irs website opens new window irs looking point offer equal either value assets meaning expect sell everything use money pay tax bill disposable income meaning amount monthly income thats left subtracting monthly expenses form 433 provides formula use plug income asset information spit offer make irs use form 433 formula result youre willing pay youll need try special circumstances approach best way typically attach letter paperwork explaining cant pay much formula indicates example might tell irs serious medical condition hinder ability bring income also result higher expenses near future medical records proof condition attach copies documents letter youve filled forms irs want see proof information provided agency typically ask pay stubs bank statements deeds registration forms assets loan documents anything else think pulling together sending paperwork take quite lot time effort part necessary part showing offer valid one irs accepts start sending payments according plan proposed reject offer doesnt mean youre completely luck rejection letter state offer turned almost always low resubmit offer slightly higher amount send new offer within month old one circumstances havent changed wont need fill forms send letter revised offer payment plan alternatively appeal decision formal appeal requires fill send form 13711 within 30 days date rejection letter irs either send request appeals office respond offer also option calling officer signed rejection letter asking reconsider may able negotiate officer directly rather going standard appeals process whatever approach choose hang patience remember goes well youll able significantly reduce tax debt get particularly nasty creditor back 16122 social security bonus retirees completely overlook youre like americans youre years behind retirement savings handful littleknown social security secrets could help ensure boost retirement income example one easy trick could pay much 16122 year learn maximize social security benefits think could retire confidently peace mind simply click discover learn strategies opens new window motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 543 |
<p>Want to know why the gap between the haves and the have-nots keeps growing? Because the haves live within their means. They don’t waste their hard-earned money on all the crap that Americans spend billions, maybe even trillions, on each year.</p>
<p>American consumers seem to have an almost insatiable appetite for just about any type of useless garbage that anyone decides to make in China for a few bucks and sell here for a few hundred. Which is probably why nobody has any savings and everyone complains they don’t have enough money to live on.</p>
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<p>Actually, the problem is much worse than that. The all-consuming consumer is like a lifestyle choice that’s quickly becoming the norm. What’s it all for? Honestly, I really don’t know. All I do know is that it wastes far more than our money. It wastes our time. It wastes our lives. And it doesn’t make us happy. It makes us miserable.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. Buying and selling goods is good for the economy. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about stuff that nobody needs or can afford. I’m talking about stuff that has no benefit. I’m talking about stuff that’s a flat-out scam. Here’s a surprisingly long laundry list, off the top of my head:</p>
<p>Cars for every purpose. We have minivans, SUVs of every size, crossovers of every shape, convertibles, pickups, and options and gadgets for everything but driving. I have a neighbor with a sedan, a minivan, a VW Bug, a pickup, and a convertible – for two adults and two kids (only one can drive and he has his own truck). Of course there’s no room in their garage for any of their vehicles. Too much junk.</p>
<p>Weight loss systems. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve somehow managed to become an entire society of obese people who spend billions on miracle diets, club memberships, and workout equipment. And have you noticed how everything is a system? Even a caffeine pill is a diet system.</p>
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<p>Dog and cat food and toys. The pet food industry is about $20 billion and the fastest growing segment is the pricey stuff. My wife buys it. Does it do any good? I have no idea. They still die of cancer. Yeah, I know they’re like our kids, but still. My dog growing up had Alpo, a leash, a collar, and the occasional Liv-a-Snap. Throw in a stick and she was good to go. And she lived to 17.</p>
<p>Self help books. People are obsessed with self-improvement, time management, and leadership parables and platitudes. We spend billions trying to become someone we’re not. I don’t care whose habits they are, where you put the cheese, or what some guy says he can do in a 4-hour workweek. It’s all a waste. Find yourself, do what you love, work hard, be happy. That’s what works. That’s how you get ahead.</p>
<p>Vitamins, supplements, and miracles cures. Don’t even get me started on homeopathic medicine, colonics, hair growth, male enhancement products, and pills for your libido. They’re all scams.</p>
<p>Gambling. Not just Vegas, Atlantic City, and Indian casinos, either. How about the lottery? A sucker’s bet that rakes in billions. And the stock market. Think you can time the market or pick winning stocks? That’s funny; the pros can’t.</p>
<p>Sneakers for every activity. When did one pair of $20 sneakers become 6 pairs of $100 running shoes, cross trainers, basketball shoes, walking shoes, hiking shoes, and waterproof trail running shoes?</p>
<p>Sporting goods and gear. Everywhere I go I see basketball hoops – and nobody is ever playing. Sneakers are just the tip of the iceberg. We buy more sporting goods and gear than ever before and we’re all in worse shape than ever before. But I bet you’ve got closets and garages just full of all that stuff you don’t use.</p>
<p>Costco. Let me just say this. The Tobaks have enough toilet paper and garbage bags to last a lifetime.</p>
<p>Fast food. It isn’t that fast and it isn’t cheap. On the other hand, it tastes like garbage and is terrible for you. If you just stay home and learn to cook from scratch, you can get a healthy, great-tasting meal on the table for less. And no, it doesn’t take that long.</p>
<p>Foodie food. Just because you call yourself a foodie doesn’t make you a chef. It just means you pay way too much for all sorts of pricey stuff. We have a specialty supermarket near our house, sort of like a Whole Foods. They’re all over California. I don’t know how anyone can afford to shop there. I guess I could if I wanted to, but why? It’s dumb.</p>
<p>Kitchen gadgets. Kitchens are filled with all sorts of gadgets and machines these days. It’s nuts. Want to know how the pros crush garlic? They smash it with the flat blade of their knife. Bam! Crushed garlic. And pro blenders have an on-off switch. Mine has all sorts of settings and sensors, none of which work.</p>
<p>Specialty booze, wine and beer. Ever do a blind taste test of $100 versus $20 wine? I bet most people would like the cheap wine better. And how much of that pricey Patron Tequila with Cointreau and Grand Marnier do you think you can taste in a margarita filled with sour mix?</p>
<p>Water and sports drinks. Bottled water and sports drinks are a huge industry. It’s hard to believe that people spend billions on H2O, sugar, and salt. Don’t even get me started on energy drinks.</p>
<p>Smart appliances. These days everything from stereo systems and refrigerators to washers and dryers are networked and full of sensors and displays. All our homes are full of this stuff. And you know what? The more features and functions, the faster it breaks.</p>
<p>Designer clothes. When exactly did $20 sweatshirts turn into $200 hoodies? And when did $20 Levis become $200 Diesels? Watches, suits, handbags, shoes -- it’s nuts. I wear t-shirts, torn jeans and Vans. Even that ain’t cheap.</p>
<p>Gadgets. Call me reactionary, but I think smartphones are making everyone dumb. I’m from the high-tech industry and get this: I don’t feel the slightest need to own an iPad and I don’t replace my phone or computer anywhere near as frequently as other people do. Why? Because there’s no reason to. I mean, why should I have to be ashamed to have an iPhone 3GS? It works fine. Really.</p>
<p>Beds. The best mattress I ever owned cost like $500, and I think that included the box spring. Know how much a Tempur Pedic or Sleep Number bed costs? Me neither, but I’m pretty sure it’s in the thousands. Our backs evolved for sleeping on the ground. How complicated can a bed be?</p>
<p>Here’s the thing. Life is for living, not owning or buying. Just ask any legitimate Buddhist monk and he’ll tell you: the less you have, the happier you’ll be. The simple things make you happy. Complicated things make you miserable. No kidding.</p> | true | 0 | want know gap haves havenots keeps growing haves live within means dont waste hardearned money crap americans spend billions maybe even trillions year american consumers seem almost insatiable appetite type useless garbage anyone decides make china bucks sell hundred probably nobody savings everyone complains dont enough money live continue reading actually problem much worse allconsuming consumer like lifestyle choice thats quickly becoming norm whats honestly really dont know know wastes far money wastes time wastes lives doesnt make us happy makes us miserable dont get wrong buying selling goods good economy thats im talking im talking stuff nobody needs afford im talking stuff benefit im talking stuff thats flatout scam heres surprisingly long laundry list top head cars every purpose minivans suvs every size crossovers every shape convertibles pickups options gadgets everything driving neighbor sedan minivan vw bug pickup convertible two adults two kids one drive truck course theres room garage vehicles much junk weight loss systems hard believe weve somehow managed become entire society obese people spend billions miracle diets club memberships workout equipment noticed everything system even caffeine pill diet system advertisement dog cat food toys pet food industry 20 billion fastest growing segment pricey stuff wife buys good idea still die cancer yeah know theyre like kids still dog growing alpo leash collar occasional livasnap throw stick good go lived 17 self help books people obsessed selfimprovement time management leadership parables platitudes spend billions trying become someone dont care whose habits put cheese guy says 4hour workweek waste find love work hard happy thats works thats get ahead vitamins supplements miracles cures dont even get started homeopathic medicine colonics hair growth male enhancement products pills libido theyre scams gambling vegas atlantic city indian casinos either lottery suckers bet rakes billions stock market think time market pick winning stocks thats funny pros cant sneakers every activity one pair 20 sneakers become 6 pairs 100 running shoes cross trainers basketball shoes walking shoes hiking shoes waterproof trail running shoes sporting goods gear everywhere go see basketball hoops nobody ever playing sneakers tip iceberg buy sporting goods gear ever worse shape ever bet youve got closets garages full stuff dont use costco let say tobaks enough toilet paper garbage bags last lifetime fast food isnt fast isnt cheap hand tastes like garbage terrible stay home learn cook scratch get healthy greattasting meal table less doesnt take long foodie food call foodie doesnt make chef means pay way much sorts pricey stuff specialty supermarket near house sort like whole foods theyre california dont know anyone afford shop guess could wanted dumb kitchen gadgets kitchens filled sorts gadgets machines days nuts want know pros crush garlic smash flat blade knife bam crushed garlic pro blenders onoff switch mine sorts settings sensors none work specialty booze wine beer ever blind taste test 100 versus 20 wine bet people would like cheap wine better much pricey patron tequila cointreau grand marnier think taste margarita filled sour mix water sports drinks bottled water sports drinks huge industry hard believe people spend billions h2o sugar salt dont even get started energy drinks smart appliances days everything stereo systems refrigerators washers dryers networked full sensors displays homes full stuff know features functions faster breaks designer clothes exactly 20 sweatshirts turn 200 hoodies 20 levis become 200 diesels watches suits handbags shoes nuts wear tshirts torn jeans vans even aint cheap gadgets call reactionary think smartphones making everyone dumb im hightech industry get dont feel slightest need ipad dont replace phone computer anywhere near frequently people theres reason mean ashamed iphone 3gs works fine really beds best mattress ever owned cost like 500 think included box spring know much tempur pedic sleep number bed costs neither im pretty sure thousands backs evolved sleeping ground complicated bed heres thing life living owning buying ask legitimate buddhist monk hell tell less happier youll simple things make happy complicated things make miserable kidding | 652 |
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<p>Risk is a factor in every investment, but the effects of inflation mean that it's also risky to avoid investing. With the U.S. Department of Labor reporting that consumer prices over the last 12-month period have climbed at their fastest rate in five years (up 2.7%), it's a good time to think about stocks that arewell-tuned for beating inflation.</p>
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<p>Read on to learn why our panel of writers identifiedJPMorgan Chase(NYSE: JPM), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners(NYSE: BIP), and PepsiCo(NYSE: PEP)as investments that could help you keep ahead of the depreciation curve.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVelvetHammer/info.aspx" type="external">Jason Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVelvetHammer/info.aspx" type="external">Hall Opens a New Window.</a>(Brookfield Infrastructure Partners): There are a lot of stocks that can do well during inflationary periods, but the businesses that tend to do best are ones which serve markets with consistent demand through every economic environment, and also have pricing power that allows them to increase prices with inflation.Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has both of these attributes in spades.</p>
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<p>First is the relatively steady nature of cash flows from the assets it owns and operates. 90% of cash flows are either contracted with customers or regulated. And since its assets are largely utility-likein nature, including energy transmission, distribution, and other similar infrastructure assets, those businesses generate strong and steady results under nearly all economic conditions. Furthermore, 70% of its cash flows are indexed to inflation, giving it a substantial margin of safety against rising commodity prices that could affect its profits.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Brookfield Infrastructure's business is incredibly geographically diverse. That in and of itself offers some protection against inflationary pressures which may affect one country or economy.</p>
<p>Finally, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is an incredibly well-run business, with its general partner,Brookfield Asset Management, very good at allocating capital for consistent long-term cash flow growth. This has led to strong share price and dividend growth since its IPO:</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/BIP" type="external">BIP</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>And while it's not an ideal investment in a retirement account, since it is a master limited partnership, it's a wonderful business to own in your taxable accounts, whether inflation is a big risk or not.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a>(JPMorgan Chase): The idea that a bank like JPMorgan Chase might benefit from inflation is largely foreign, because under typical circumstances, financial institutions can suffer during inflationary periods. Rising inflation leads to higher interest rates, which in turn can depress levels of economic activity throughout the financial system. Banks don't directly suffer because most of their loans carry variable rates that adjust automatically to the rising-rate environment, but if loan volume falls, then it can hit profits.</p>
<p>However, JPMorgan Chase is attractive now for a couple of reasons. First, interest rates are currentlysolow that banks like JPMorgan can't necessarily maximize their net interest margin because the rates they pay on deposits can't go below zero. Bank stocks have soared recently precisely because rising rates could help restore interest margin levels to more normal conditions, and JPMorgan in particular stands to benefit from higher profits. Moreover, JPMorgan also has an extensive investment banking business, and the need for clients to adjust their strategies to handle inflation could serve that part of the Wall Street bank's business very well. Too much inflation might not be ideal for JPMorgan Chase, but a slight uptick would be welcome news indeed in light of current conditions in the financial markets.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/keithnoonan/info.aspx" type="external">Keith Noonan Opens a New Window.</a>(PepsiCo):Food and beverage giant PepsiCo boasts two key qualities that make it a strong stock for beating inflation: Pricing power and a strong dividend profile.</p>
<p>During high inflationary periods, consumer goods companies that can raise their prices tend to fare better than those that have less pricing flexibility, and brand strength is crucial to passing price increases on to customers in the sector. PepsiCo has it in spades.Between popular products like Lay's potato chips, Gatorade, Tropicana orange juice, Quaker Oats, and its line of soft drinks, PepsiCo has some of the strongest beverage and snack brands around -- and boasts 22 individual brands that each generate at least $1 billion in annual retail sales.</p>
<p>As for the dividend component, stocks with strong yields and histories of payout increases can be counted on for reliable income generation that works to offset inflation. Pepsi stock carries a solid 2.7% dividend yield, and the company is set to deliver its 45th consecutive year of dividend increases, so it's reasonable to expect future payout boosts.Even if PepsiCo's share price were to wind up flat over the next decade, and the company opted not to increase its dividend payout over the stretch, its dividend yield matches the rate of consumer price inflation over the last year and would produce better returns than a 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond (yielding roughly 2.5%).</p>
<p>PepsiCo stock isn't without downside risk, but trading at roughly 21 times forward earnings, it's fairly priced for a well-run company that has significant competitive advantages in its space and looks like a strong choice for staving off inflation.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than JPMorgan ChaseWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=a0189627-96d9-4ed5-b793-0cc0d3b469a1&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and JPMorgan Chase wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=a0189627-96d9-4ed5-b793-0cc0d3b469a1&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/elihpaudio/info.aspx" type="external">Jason Hall Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/keithnoonan/info.aspx" type="external">Keith Noonan</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends PepsiCo. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | risk factor every investment effects inflation mean also risky avoid investing us department labor reporting consumer prices last 12month period climbed fastest rate five years 27 good time think stocks arewelltuned beating inflation continue reading read learn panel writers identifiedjpmorgan chasenyse jpm brookfield infrastructure partnersnyse bip pepsiconyse pepas investments could help keep ahead depreciation curve image source getty images jason opens new window hall opens new windowbrookfield infrastructure partners lot stocks well inflationary periods businesses tend best ones serve markets consistent demand every economic environment also pricing power allows increase prices inflationbrookfield infrastructure partners attributes spades advertisement first relatively steady nature cash flows assets owns operates 90 cash flows either contracted customers regulated since assets largely utilitylikein nature including energy transmission distribution similar infrastructure assets businesses generate strong steady results nearly economic conditions furthermore 70 cash flows indexed inflation giving substantial margin safety rising commodity prices could affect profits furthermore brookfield infrastructures business incredibly geographically diverse offers protection inflationary pressures may affect one country economy finally brookfield infrastructure partners incredibly wellrun business general partnerbrookfield asset management good allocating capital consistent longterm cash flow growth led strong share price dividend growth since ipo bip data ycharts opens new window ideal investment retirement account since master limited partnership wonderful business taxable accounts whether inflation big risk dan caplinger opens new windowjpmorgan chase idea bank like jpmorgan chase might benefit inflation largely foreign typical circumstances financial institutions suffer inflationary periods rising inflation leads higher interest rates turn depress levels economic activity throughout financial system banks dont directly suffer loans carry variable rates adjust automatically risingrate environment loan volume falls hit profits however jpmorgan chase attractive couple reasons first interest rates currentlysolow banks like jpmorgan cant necessarily maximize net interest margin rates pay deposits cant go zero bank stocks soared recently precisely rising rates could help restore interest margin levels normal conditions jpmorgan particular stands benefit higher profits moreover jpmorgan also extensive investment banking business need clients adjust strategies handle inflation could serve part wall street banks business well much inflation might ideal jpmorgan chase slight uptick would welcome news indeed light current conditions financial markets keith noonan opens new windowpepsicofood beverage giant pepsico boasts two key qualities make strong stock beating inflation pricing power strong dividend profile high inflationary periods consumer goods companies raise prices tend fare better less pricing flexibility brand strength crucial passing price increases customers sector pepsico spadesbetween popular products like lays potato chips gatorade tropicana orange juice quaker oats line soft drinks pepsico strongest beverage snack brands around boasts 22 individual brands generate least 1 billion annual retail sales dividend component stocks strong yields histories payout increases counted reliable income generation works offset inflation pepsi stock carries solid 27 dividend yield company set deliver 45th consecutive year dividend increases reasonable expect future payout boostseven pepsicos share price wind flat next decade company opted increase dividend payout stretch dividend yield matches rate consumer price inflation last year would produce better returns 10year us treasury bond yielding roughly 25 pepsico stock isnt without downside risk trading roughly 21 times forward earnings fairly priced wellrun company significant competitive advantages space looks like strong choice staving inflation 10 stocks like better jpmorgan chasewhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right jpmorgan chase wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns february 6 2017 dan caplinger position stocks mentioned jason hall opens new window owns shares brookfield infrastructure partners keith noonan position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends pepsico motley fool recommends brookfield infrastructure partners motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 624 |
<p>In an interview with Romney campaign advisor Ed Gillespie on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie fretted over Republicans dismantling false Obama campaign attacks that Romney outsourced jobs as head of Bain Capital: "I want to get to a new ad that your campaign is putting out today....are you calling the President a liar?" Gillespie didn't shy away from the charge: "What we're saying, Savannah, is that this ad that has been running saying that Governor Romney as CEO of Bain Capital moved American jobs overseas is a lie...independent fact-checking organizations. Just three yesterday came out and said there's no evidence to support the charges in this campaign."</p>
<p>Guthrie acknowledged: "It is true that some of these outsourcing allegations have been disputed by fact-checkers..." Actually, the allegations have been <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/4-pinocchios-for-obamas-newest-anti-romney-ad/2012/06/20/gJQAGux6qV_blog.html" type="external">proven false by fact-checkers</a>, not simply "disputed." Trying to deflect the falsehood of the Obama attacks, Guthrie attempted to undermine Romney's record as a job-creator at Bain: "...the outsourcing happened after Romney left day-to-day control of Bain Capital....if that's going to be the line of demarcation, should Romney not take credit for jobs created by Bain after that point in 1999 when he gave up day-to-day control?" Gillespie explained:</p>
<p>...it is true that jobs were created at places like Staples, Sports Authority, and others, that have resulted in thousands of Americans today being in a job. And the fact is, those companies are successful because of the investments that Bain made in them. But to say that, you know, moving jobs overseas, when it didn't happen while Governor Romney was the CEO of Bain, patently false and Americans have the right to know that.</p>
<p>Gillespie also made sure to point out President Obama's factual record of outsourcing: "...under President Obama we've seen outsourcing from our stimulus dollars, millions of dollars going to create jobs in Finland, in Denmark, in China. So, when you're looking at real facts, the facts are President Obama is the outsourcer-in-chief..." Guthrie bristled at that charge as she wrapped up the segment: "Well, to be continued for sure. I know that's an allegation the Obama campaign likewise disputes, but we'll continue it another day."</p>
<p>Here is a portion of the July 12 interview:</p>
<p>7:16AM ET (...) GUTHRIE: Ed, I want to get to a new ad that your campaign is putting out today, that responds to President Obama's campaign's allegations that Bain Capital – which Romney of course headed up for many, many years – outsourced jobs. Here's a portion of the ad from the Romney campaign today. UNIDENTIFIED MAN [ROMNEY AD NARRATOR]: When a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? The Obama outsourcing attacks, "misleading, unfair and untrue." There was "no evidence" that Mitt Romney shipped jobs overseas. GUTHRIE: Ed, before we get into the specifics of the charge, let's just ask you point-blank, is – are you calling the President a liar? GILLESPIE: What we're saying, Savannah, is that this ad that has been running saying that Governor Romney as CEO of Bain Capital moved American jobs overseas is a lie. If you look at – that's based on numerous independent fact-checking – independent fact-checking organizations. Just three yesterday came out and said there's no evidence to support the charges in this campaign. There's another ad running in northern Virginia by the Obama campaign which completely misrepresents Governor Romney's views on the issue of life. We have an obligation as a campaign to make sure that when voters vote, they vote based on true information, that they have accurate information on which to base their vote, and right now these – the Obama campaign ads have been shown to be demonstrably false and that's a – you know, those – that's another way of saying a lie, obviously. GUTHRIE: It is true that some of these outsourcing allegations have been disputed by fact-checkers, saying that these – the outsourcing happened after Romney left day-to-day control of Bain Capital. I guess my question to you is, if that's going to be the line of demarcation, should Romney not take credit for jobs created by Bain after that point in 1999 when he gave up day-to-day control? GILLESPIE: Well, look, Savannah, the – as you noted, and that is the – you know, one of the central reasons why the ad is false, is that he didn't have control and didn't, you know, shut down jobs. In fact, all of the companies cited in that Washington Post article that while Governor Romney was CEO of Bain added jobs in the United States, created jobs. And it is true that jobs were created at places like Staples, Sports Authority, and others, that have resulted in thousands of Americans today being in a job. And the fact is, those companies are successful because of the investments that Bain made in them. But to say that, you know, moving jobs overseas, when it didn't happen while Governor Romney was the CEO of Bain, patently false and Americans have the right to know that. By the way, it is true, as we know, that under President Obama we've seen outsourcing from our stimulus dollars, millions of dollars going to create jobs in Finland, in Denmark, in China. So, when you're looking at real facts, the facts are President Obama is the outsourcer-in-chief and Governor Romney, while he was at Bain, did not move jobs overseas. GUTHRIE: Well, to be continued for sure. I know that's an allegation the Obama campaign likewise disputes, but we'll continue it another day. Ed Gillespie, thank you. MATT LAUER: And by the way, speaking- GILLESPIE: Thank you, Savannah. LAUER: Pardon me, Ed. Speaking of politics, Savannah tomorrow on Today, you will sit down with former President Bill Clinton to talk about the presidential race, the state of the economy, and his upcoming trip to Africa. GUTHRIE: Lots to talk about.</p> | true | 0 | interview romney campaign advisor ed gillespie thursdays nbc today cohost savannah guthrie fretted republicans dismantling false obama campaign attacks romney outsourced jobs head bain capital want get new ad campaign putting todayare calling president liar gillespie didnt shy away charge saying savannah ad running saying governor romney ceo bain capital moved american jobs overseas lieindependent factchecking organizations three yesterday came said theres evidence support charges campaign guthrie acknowledged true outsourcing allegations disputed factcheckers actually allegations proven false factcheckers simply disputed trying deflect falsehood obama attacks guthrie attempted undermine romneys record jobcreator bain outsourcing happened romney left daytoday control bain capitalif thats going line demarcation romney take credit jobs created bain point 1999 gave daytoday control gillespie explained true jobs created places like staples sports authority others resulted thousands americans today job fact companies successful investments bain made say know moving jobs overseas didnt happen governor romney ceo bain patently false americans right know gillespie also made sure point president obamas factual record outsourcing president obama weve seen outsourcing stimulus dollars millions dollars going create jobs finland denmark china youre looking real facts facts president obama outsourcerinchief guthrie bristled charge wrapped segment well continued sure know thats allegation obama campaign likewise disputes well continue another day portion july 12 interview 716am et guthrie ed want get new ad campaign putting today responds president obamas campaigns allegations bain capital romney course headed many many years outsourced jobs heres portion ad romney campaign today unidentified man romney ad narrator president doesnt tell truth trust lead obama outsourcing attacks misleading unfair untrue evidence mitt romney shipped jobs overseas guthrie ed get specifics charge lets ask pointblank calling president liar gillespie saying savannah ad running saying governor romney ceo bain capital moved american jobs overseas lie look thats based numerous independent factchecking independent factchecking organizations three yesterday came said theres evidence support charges campaign theres another ad running northern virginia obama campaign completely misrepresents governor romneys views issue life obligation campaign make sure voters vote vote based true information accurate information base vote right obama campaign ads shown demonstrably false thats know thats another way saying lie obviously guthrie true outsourcing allegations disputed factcheckers saying outsourcing happened romney left daytoday control bain capital guess question thats going line demarcation romney take credit jobs created bain point 1999 gave daytoday control gillespie well look savannah noted know one central reasons ad false didnt control didnt know shut jobs fact companies cited washington post article governor romney ceo bain added jobs united states created jobs true jobs created places like staples sports authority others resulted thousands americans today job fact companies successful investments bain made say know moving jobs overseas didnt happen governor romney ceo bain patently false americans right know way true know president obama weve seen outsourcing stimulus dollars millions dollars going create jobs finland denmark china youre looking real facts facts president obama outsourcerinchief governor romney bain move jobs overseas guthrie well continued sure know thats allegation obama campaign likewise disputes well continue another day ed gillespie thank matt lauer way speaking gillespie thank savannah lauer pardon ed speaking politics savannah tomorrow today sit former president bill clinton talk presidential race state economy upcoming trip africa guthrie lots talk | 535 |
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<p>If you can't live without your dog, it's time to consider whether you can't live without extra insurance, too. The same goes for other pets, although it's dogs that comprise the focus of home and auto policies.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>We know it's tempting to dismiss the subject of insurance. My dog isn't going to hurt anyone, we think. I'm not going to have an accident with pets in the car. I'll pay with credit in the unlikely event of a veterinary emergency.</p>
<p>All understandable --- if not wishful --&#160; thinking. Until something happens.</p>
<p>In New York state, a mail carrier sued the owner of a golden retriever that ran from the yard to greet her. The mail carrier, apparently stricken with fear, took off in flight and injured herself trying to jump through a car window. Ultimately, the carrier lost that suit, a judge citing the dog's lack of aggression, but not before costing the dog's owner the stress and cost of a trial.</p>
<p>In another case, in California, an owner was held responsible after its dog wandered into the street, causing a pickup truck to crash. Two men were thrown from the back end and suffered serious, permanent injuries. A judge ordered the dog owner's homeowner's insurance to pay $2.6 million in damages.</p>
<p>"A good proposition to keep in mind is that owners certainly could be found financially and legally liable for whatever kind of damage their dog causes. You don't know, but there's always that possibility," says lawyer Mary Randolph, author of "Every Dog's Legal Guide."</p>
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<p>The best course is prevention, Randolph says: "Don't worry so much about the outcome of a lawsuit; just try to avoid the problem in the first place."</p>
<p>But there's no eliminating risk. A pet will sneak out. A frightened animal will bite. Even a cat in a car carrier can distract a driver. Dogs are hurt in cars and flee accident scenes. And, although we don't like to think about it, our pets get sick and injured. For all these events, we as owners are responsible.</p>
<p>Even as the economic downturn slowed the growth of pet health insurance plans, the industry still maintained a 7 to 10% annual growth,&#160;according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Such a clip well outpaces other types of insurance.</p>
<p>Insurers are folding pet coverage into auto policies. Meanwhile, homeowner's insurance companies are writing policies to try and reduce pet-related costs.</p>
<p>It can be baffling for the consumer. But here's a primer on the big three categories of insurance that pertain to pets -- home, auto, pet -- to get you started, whether you've just adopted a new kitten or are padding the pillows for an old dog.</p>
<p>Homeowner's insurance: covered except . . .</p>
<p>In addition to covering your home and belongings from storms and theft, homeowners insurance also covers off-site damage caused by family members that live with you, including your pet. Renters insurance provides the same type of coverage.</p>
<p>That means if your cat scratches a child down the street, homeowners insurance can pay the child's medical bills. If your dog chews a friend's living-room rug, your insurance can replace it. Good relations are maintained.</p>
<p>But -- and "but" is the crucial word in insurance -- there are exceptions, things your insurance won't cover, or will provide less money for. These are tucked inside the policy under "exclusions" and "limits," respectively.</p>
<p>"If you own a dog, you must read the personal liability section and you must look at the exclusions; those are two different sections," says Kenneth M. Phillips, a California lawyer who specializes in dog-bite cases. "It is becoming more and more of an occurrence for insurance companies to exclude coverage for injuries caused by an animal."</p>
<p>Check under "exclusions" for breeds the insurer either won't cover, or breeds for which the insurer requires individual approval due to a propensity for aggression. These may include pit bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Akitas, Chows, wolf hybrids, bull terriers and Presa Canarios.</p>
<p>Insurance companies are trying to cut their losses. In the last decade, dog-bite claims have accounted for more than a third of all homeowner's insurance liability losses, totaling $489 million in this country in 2012, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The average claim paid out &#160;was $29,750.</p>
<p>Without insurance, owners are on the hook. The days when most judges gave owners a pass for a first-time offense are fading fast, says Randolph.</p>
<p>In about half of the states, owners are expected to presume a dog might cause harm, even without any prior indications. Owners can even be sued if a person is injured as a result of being frightened by a dog, as with the mail carrier.</p>
<p>"The trend is definitely to make owners responsible for their dogs," Randolph says. "Even if your state's law hasn't changed, you may be found liable where in the past you might not have."</p>
<p>Homeowner insurance limits pertaining to pets</p>
<p>Homeowner insurance policies typically provide between $100,000 and $300,000 in liability coverage on a standard policy. But, again, don't assume those apply to the pet -- read carefully for any mention of limits.</p>
<p>Phillips had a client who'd been bitten by a friend's dog. "No problem," the dog's owner had said. "I have $300,000 in liability coverage." But the owner's insurer pointed her to a little clause she'd overlooked:&#160; when it came to incidents involving the dog, coverage was only for $50,000.</p>
<p>The medical and other bills exceeded that amount, as can often be the case. Damages can include legal costs, emotional and physical pain, and loss of future wages and enjoyment.</p>
<p>"We had to go after the woman individually to pay," Phillips says. "She was shocked. She hired a lawyer, said, 'I bought a $300,000 policy.' The lawyer said, 'Sorry, you should have read it.'"</p>
<p>Some companies won't exclude breeds outright, or are prohibited by state law from doing so. But they may require the owner to submit behavioral evaluations, and will likely cancel coverage following an incident.</p>
<p>"You're always going to need to check with your carrier," says Paul Vames, a lawyer in Hillsboro, Ore. "Certain breeds require a vicious-breed rider, or endorsement. . . . You need to let the insurance company know you have that kind of breed."</p>
<p>Do you need an umbrella insurance policy?</p>
<p>Also known as a personal excess liability policy, an umbrella policy can extend coverage to other areas, such as libel or rental units, and, more importantly here, raise the total dollar amount for all coverage.</p>
<p>Phillips recommends that anyone with a dog, particularly a medium or large dog or a high-risk breed, buy an umbrella policy.</p>
<p>"It's going to cost you under $100 and it's going to get you $1 million coverage," he says. "And the person who gets hurt by your dog is going to be your niece, or your friend's son, or your neighbor."</p>
<p>Auto insurance for the dog?</p>
<p>You know your auto insurance will provide some medical benefits for your injuries and those of your passengers. But what about your pet?</p>
<p>The answer is a bit complicated. In the insurance world, pets are generally treated as property. As such, if the other driver is at fault, his liability would cover your loss. That would include what you paid to treat your pet.</p>
<p>If you are at fault, however, your collision coverage kicks in, if you have it. And collision doesn't cover the property in your car. You're on the hook for any vet bills.</p>
<p>In response to this gap, some auto insurance companies have begun offering drivers separate pet-injury insurance, so if you are interested in getting such coverage, be sure to ask about it when you <a href="http://www.insurance.com/auto-insurance.aspx?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-177487910" type="external">compare auto insurance companies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Progressive kicked off the trend in 2007, and its coverage is automatically included in collision, paying up to $1,000 for a pet injured due to an accident, fire or theft. Others are doing the same, including Erie and Auto-Owners.</p>
<p>"Pets are part of your family," Progressive states, "they're your passengers, too. So shouldn't they be covered by your auto insurance policy? We think so."</p>
<p>Several other companies offer what Arbella Mutual Insurance calls a "pet lover's endorsement," which for $20 a year buys you $500 in coverage. The Chubb Group offers $2,000 worth of pet-injury coverage. Always check the fine print to make sure your particular pet is covered, particularly if it's an exotic animal.</p>
<p>Of course, the question remains as to whether $500, or even $2,000, will be enough. As anyone with pets knows, vet bills can easily run higher. Which leads to the question that may most haunt new pet owners: is pet health insurance worth the cost?</p>
<p>Veterinary insurance: don't expect an immediate return</p>
<p>Only 1 percent of pets in the United States are covered by pet insurance, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Of the pets covered, 85% are dogs.</p>
<p>In Germany, Scandinavia and the UK, where pet insurance began a century ago, a quarter to three quarters of pets are covered.</p>
<p>In addition to the fact that pet insurance is relatively new in this country -- VPI was the first to open its doors here, in 1982 -- some of the difference in adoption rates may be due to Americans' perception of the role of insurance.</p>
<p>Those in the industry say clients and the media often ask whether pet insurance guarantees an immediate return on investment. They then do the math on an annual basis. By this calculation, the answer is typically "no."</p>
<p>Pet insurance generally costs between $300 and $500 per year, depending on the company and the benefit plan. As with people's health insurance, plans offer varying deductibles and co-pays, as well as treatment maximums and annual limits.</p>
<p>Consumer Reports, which conducted a review of many top plans in 2011, concluded that unless there's a major event, pet insurance isn't worth the investment.</p>
<p>But such reasoning misses the mark, say experts, particularly if you are of moderate means and would prefer not to let finances determine your pet's fate. If you're not wealthy, it can be difficult to save $6,000 for emergency intestinal surgery, $10,000 for cancer treatment, $1,000 for a broken leg, or even $500 for feline diabetic testing and treatment.</p>
<p>"In an ideal world, we wouldn't need pet insurance because we'd put money aside every month," says Kristen Lynch, executive director of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. "But we don't live in an ideal world."</p>
<p>"The whole point of insurance is to pool your capital so when you're not claiming it, other people can," she says. Meanwhile, you have bought peace of mind, knowing the money's there when you need it.</p>
<p>"In an emergency situation, having insurance can take away the sting of an unexpected cost concerning a pet's health," says Dr. Steven Rowell, director of the emergency hospital at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.</p>
<p>The problem is that pet plans vary tremendously. Even if a family member recommends a plan he or she likes, research several plans yourself on a site like PetInsuranceReview.com. Key points to keep in mind:</p>
<p>Hemstreet receives e-mails every week asking whether there's any company that pays for a newly diagnosed condition. "They wait too long," he says. "Then they're upset." He explains that you can't add the applicable car insurance after a tree falls on your car, or flood insurance after a flood. Not for payment on that event anyway.</p>
<p>"Then they all get insurance for their next dog," he says. "That's why it's growing. You don't know how expensive vet bills are until something happens."</p>
<p>Dog is my co-pilot: How to safely transport your pup in your car</p>
<p>If you let your dog ride loose in the car, you may not want to watch the videos of the crash-dog dummies posted by an animal safety group.</p>
<p>The stuffed animals, weighted to approximate real dogs, lurch forward at violent speed, their harness belts tearing apart like paper. The dogs bounce off the front seat and into the back-breaking edge of the back seat bench, bodies folded, necks arched, legs flailing. One dog crashes straight through the front seating material into the driver's seat.</p>
<p>The non-profit organization responsible for the tests, The Center for Pet Safety, wants people to see these videos. Doing so inevitably helps raise awareness of the issue and elicits the right questions.</p>
<p>Why, for example, do nearly all the harnesses or seat-belt attachments break apart at low highway speeds? Why do some products say they're tested, only to fail? How can an owner be expected to safely transport his pet?</p>
<p>More than half of U.S. dog owners (56%) let their dogs ride in the car with them at least once every month, a 2011 survey from AAA and Kurgo, a manufacturer of pet travel devices, found.</p>
<p>Yet only 16% of owners reported using a pet restraint, even though 83% thought an unrestrained dog in a moving vehicle posed a danger.</p>
<p>A body in motion stays in motion. When the car stops, multiply the speed the pet is still traveling by its weight to approximate the pounds of pressure that pet now can exert on a small area in its path.</p>
<p>An 80-pound Labrador hurling forward at 30 mph? That's 2,400 pounds of pressure. A 30-pound dog at 50 mph: 1,500 pounds. Both exceed a boxer's punch and can break necks.</p>
<p>"In the event of a crash, your pet becomes a missile in the car," AAA spokeswoman Heather Hunter says.</p>
<p>Safety experts say this fact often comes as a great surprise to pet owners, nearly one in five of whom let small dogs crawl on their laps. Here are some others:</p>
<p>The problem is that manufacturers aren't required to test pet travel products, nor are their advertising claims regulated by government. A manufacturer may claim its harness has been tested, but no government agency is checking those claims or the testing procedures.</p>
<p>"The word 'safe,' or 'safety,' is so overused in the pet industry," Center for Pet Safety founder Lindsey Wolko says. "It's actually a marketing term. It's not a statement of fact."</p>
<p>But at least one company returned to the drawing board. In the center's tests this year, funded by the automaker Subaru (half of whose customers travel with their dogs), the Sleepypod's Clickit Utility Harness "was the only harness tested to consistently keep a dog from launching off the seat," the study reported.</p>
<p>Those tests were done at 30 mph with simulated 25-, 45- and 75-pound dogs.</p>
<p>Don't forget, too, say highway officials, that pets of all kinds pose a significant distraction. Bicyclists and other drivers have been killed when drivers turned to restrain a puppy. Now police in several states will ticket drivers whose pets aren't restrained. In New Jersey, drivers can be cited under an old animal-cruelty law.</p>
<p>Phillips, the California lawyer who specializes in dog-bite cases, says even drivers who aren't to blame for an accident risk losing money in a settlement if any evidence of a potential distraction surfaces.</p>
<p>"If you have an unrestrained dog you will be accused of causing that accident," Phillips says. "You're exposing yourself to all kinds of hellfire if something happens."</p>
<p>Other safety tips:</p>
<p>The original article can be found at Insurance.com: <a href="http://www.insurance.com/auto-insurance/life-events/complete-guide-to-insurance-for-new-dog-owners.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-177487910" type="external">Complete guide to insurance for new dog owners Opens a New Window.</a></p> | true | 0 | cant live without dog time consider whether cant live without extra insurance goes pets although dogs comprise focus home auto policies continue reading know tempting dismiss subject insurance dog isnt going hurt anyone think im going accident pets car ill pay credit unlikely event veterinary emergency understandable wishful 160 thinking something happens new york state mail carrier sued owner golden retriever ran yard greet mail carrier apparently stricken fear took flight injured trying jump car window ultimately carrier lost suit judge citing dogs lack aggression costing dogs owner stress cost trial another case california owner held responsible dog wandered street causing pickup truck crash two men thrown back end suffered serious permanent injuries judge ordered dog owners homeowners insurance pay 26 million damages good proposition keep mind owners certainly could found financially legally liable whatever kind damage dog causes dont know theres always possibility says lawyer mary randolph author every dogs legal guide advertisement best course prevention randolph says dont worry much outcome lawsuit try avoid problem first place theres eliminating risk pet sneak frightened animal bite even cat car carrier distract driver dogs hurt cars flee accident scenes although dont like think pets get sick injured events owners responsible even economic downturn slowed growth pet health insurance plans industry still maintained 7 10 annual growth160according north american pet health insurance association clip well outpaces types insurance insurers folding pet coverage auto policies meanwhile homeowners insurance companies writing policies try reduce petrelated costs baffling consumer heres primer big three categories insurance pertain pets home auto pet get started whether youve adopted new kitten padding pillows old dog homeowners insurance covered except addition covering home belongings storms theft homeowners insurance also covers offsite damage caused family members live including pet renters insurance provides type coverage means cat scratches child street homeowners insurance pay childs medical bills dog chews friends livingroom rug insurance replace good relations maintained crucial word insurance exceptions things insurance wont cover provide less money tucked inside policy exclusions limits respectively dog must read personal liability section must look exclusions two different sections says kenneth phillips california lawyer specializes dogbite cases becoming occurrence insurance companies exclude coverage injuries caused animal check exclusions breeds insurer either wont cover breeds insurer requires individual approval due propensity aggression may include pit bulls rottweilers german shepherds akitas chows wolf hybrids bull terriers presa canarios insurance companies trying cut losses last decade dogbite claims accounted third homeowners insurance liability losses totaling 489 million country 2012 according insurance information institute average claim paid 160was 29750 without insurance owners hook days judges gave owners pass firsttime offense fading fast says randolph half states owners expected presume dog might cause harm even without prior indications owners even sued person injured result frightened dog mail carrier trend definitely make owners responsible dogs randolph says even states law hasnt changed may found liable past might homeowner insurance limits pertaining pets homeowner insurance policies typically provide 100000 300000 liability coverage standard policy dont assume apply pet read carefully mention limits phillips client whod bitten friends dog problem dogs owner said 300000 liability coverage owners insurer pointed little clause shed overlooked160 came incidents involving dog coverage 50000 medical bills exceeded amount often case damages include legal costs emotional physical pain loss future wages enjoyment go woman individually pay phillips says shocked hired lawyer said bought 300000 policy lawyer said sorry read companies wont exclude breeds outright prohibited state law may require owner submit behavioral evaluations likely cancel coverage following incident youre always going need check carrier says paul vames lawyer hillsboro ore certain breeds require viciousbreed rider endorsement need let insurance company know kind breed need umbrella insurance policy also known personal excess liability policy umbrella policy extend coverage areas libel rental units importantly raise total dollar amount coverage phillips recommends anyone dog particularly medium large dog highrisk breed buy umbrella policy going cost 100 going get 1 million coverage says person gets hurt dog going niece friends son neighbor auto insurance dog know auto insurance provide medical benefits injuries passengers pet answer bit complicated insurance world pets generally treated property driver fault liability would cover loss would include paid treat pet fault however collision coverage kicks collision doesnt cover property car youre hook vet bills response gap auto insurance companies begun offering drivers separate petinjury insurance interested getting coverage sure ask compare auto insurance companies opens new window progressive kicked trend 2007 coverage automatically included collision paying 1000 pet injured due accident fire theft others including erie autoowners pets part family progressive states theyre passengers shouldnt covered auto insurance policy think several companies offer arbella mutual insurance calls pet lovers endorsement 20 year buys 500 coverage chubb group offers 2000 worth petinjury coverage always check fine print make sure particular pet covered particularly exotic animal course question remains whether 500 even 2000 enough anyone pets knows vet bills easily run higher leads question may haunt new pet owners pet health insurance worth cost veterinary insurance dont expect immediate return 1 percent pets united states covered pet insurance according north american pet health insurance association pets covered 85 dogs germany scandinavia uk pet insurance began century ago quarter three quarters pets covered addition fact pet insurance relatively new country vpi first open doors 1982 difference adoption rates may due americans perception role insurance industry say clients media often ask whether pet insurance guarantees immediate return investment math annual basis calculation answer typically pet insurance generally costs 300 500 per year depending company benefit plan peoples health insurance plans offer varying deductibles copays well treatment maximums annual limits consumer reports conducted review many top plans 2011 concluded unless theres major event pet insurance isnt worth investment reasoning misses mark say experts particularly moderate means would prefer let finances determine pets fate youre wealthy difficult save 6000 emergency intestinal surgery 10000 cancer treatment 1000 broken leg even 500 feline diabetic testing treatment ideal world wouldnt need pet insurance wed put money aside every month says kristen lynch executive director north american pet health insurance association dont live ideal world whole point insurance pool capital youre claiming people says meanwhile bought peace mind knowing moneys need emergency situation insurance take away sting unexpected cost concerning pets health says dr steven rowell director emergency hospital tufts university cummings school veterinary medicine problem pet plans vary tremendously even family member recommends plan likes research several plans site like petinsurancereviewcom key points keep mind hemstreet receives emails every week asking whether theres company pays newly diagnosed condition wait long says theyre upset explains cant add applicable car insurance tree falls car flood insurance flood payment event anyway get insurance next dog says thats growing dont know expensive vet bills something happens dog copilot safely transport pup car let dog ride loose car may want watch videos crashdog dummies posted animal safety group stuffed animals weighted approximate real dogs lurch forward violent speed harness belts tearing apart like paper dogs bounce front seat backbreaking edge back seat bench bodies folded necks arched legs flailing one dog crashes straight front seating material drivers seat nonprofit organization responsible tests center pet safety wants people see videos inevitably helps raise awareness issue elicits right questions example nearly harnesses seatbelt attachments break apart low highway speeds products say theyre tested fail owner expected safely transport pet half us dog owners 56 let dogs ride car least every month 2011 survey aaa kurgo manufacturer pet travel devices found yet 16 owners reported using pet restraint even though 83 thought unrestrained dog moving vehicle posed danger body motion stays motion car stops multiply speed pet still traveling weight approximate pounds pressure pet exert small area path 80pound labrador hurling forward 30 mph thats 2400 pounds pressure 30pound dog 50 mph 1500 pounds exceed boxers punch break necks event crash pet becomes missile car aaa spokeswoman heather hunter says safety experts say fact often comes great surprise pet owners nearly one five let small dogs crawl laps others problem manufacturers arent required test pet travel products advertising claims regulated government manufacturer may claim harness tested government agency checking claims testing procedures word safe safety overused pet industry center pet safety founder lindsey wolko says actually marketing term statement fact least one company returned drawing board centers tests year funded automaker subaru half whose customers travel dogs sleepypods clickit utility harness harness tested consistently keep dog launching seat study reported tests done 30 mph simulated 25 45 75pound dogs dont forget say highway officials pets kinds pose significant distraction bicyclists drivers killed drivers turned restrain puppy police several states ticket drivers whose pets arent restrained new jersey drivers cited old animalcruelty law phillips california lawyer specializes dogbite cases says even drivers arent blame accident risk losing money settlement evidence potential distraction surfaces unrestrained dog accused causing accident phillips says youre exposing kinds hellfire something happens safety tips original article found insurancecom complete guide insurance new dog owners opens new window | 1,484 |
<p />
<p>The information technology business is a global industry, and EPAM Systems (NYSE: EPAM) effectively taps into the IT programming and services expertise in oft-neglected areas of the world like Eastern Europe. The company has done a good job of growing to become a leading provider of product development and software engineering services, and coming into Monday's third-quarter financial report, EPAM investors were hoping that the company would sustain its impressive sales growth rate and also boost its bottom line. EPAM's results were slightly stronger even than optimistic investors had expected, and the IT specialist has reason to believe that even better times could come in the future. Let's take a closer look at EPAM Systems' latest results and whether the company can keep delivering on its full potential.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: EPAM Systems.</p>
<p>EPAM Systems' third-quarter results were consistent with its past performance. Sales were up 26%, to $298.3 million, which was slightly better than what most investors had expected to see from the company. Adjusted net income climbed 21%, to $40.8 million, and that produced adjusted earnings of $0.76 per share, topping the consensus forecast among those following the stock by $0.01 per share.</p>
<p>A closer look at EPAM's numbers reveals the IT specialist once again noted that the negative impact of the strong U.S. dollar hurt its performance. On a constant currency basis, revenue would have been up almost 29% from year-ago levels. That's not entirely consistent with what some of EPAM's peers have reported, suggesting that the company remains more exposed to areas that have weaker foreign currencies than the typical IT provider.</p>
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<p>One thing that EPAM has done quite well is to boost its overall workforce. Total head count as of Sept. 30 was 21,720, up by more than a third in just the past year. Among those workers, EPAM had more than 19,000 delivery professionals, up from just 14,000 a year ago.</p>
<p>EPAM continued to do fairly well at controlling its expenses, although not all of its margin figures were able to sustain previous levels. Gross margin fell by about a percentage point as costs of revenues climbed, and even somewhat better containment of overhead expenses wasn't enough to prevent operating margin from falling a fraction of a percentage point as well. Stock-based compensation continued to play a role in the difference between EPAM's GAAP and adjusted earnings figures.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, cash flows strengthened. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $61.8 million, up by more than a ninth from year-ago levels. The company sports more than $330 million in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet, speaking to its financial strength and flexibility to take strategic action if it so chooses.</p>
<p>CEO Arkadiy Dobkin didn't discuss the company's results, instead taking the opportunity to comment on the decision of CFO Anthony Conte to step down in the third quarter of 2017. The CEO pointed to Conte's expertise as invaluable, noting that "Anthony's financial and business leadership has been a key part of EPAM's growth and success." EPAM intends to do a search in which Conte will participate and he will assist in the eventual transition.</p>
<p>Where investors got nervous, however, was in EPAM's expectations for the rest of the year. For the fourth quarter, the company anticipates that revenue will be at least $310 million, predicting about a 2-percentage-point hit from currency impacts. Adjusted earnings should be at least $0.78 per share. Both of those figures are far below the consensus forecasts of $318 million in sales and $0.87 per share in adjusted earnings, raising concerns about EPAM's future growth.</p>
<p>Similarly, EPAM changed its expectations for its full-year results. The company anticipates $1.156 billion or more of revenue for the year, representing growth of 26.5% and actually coming in slightly faster than it previously expected. However, adjusted earnings of just $2.90 per share marked the second straight quarter that EPAM cut its bottom-line guidance.</p>
<p>The departure of the CFO and the cut in earnings guidance spooked investors substantially, sending the stock plunging by nearly 20% in pre-market trading following the announcement. That seems like a huge reaction to the news, but it shows that EPAM Systems will need to work hard to regain the confidence of its investors and keep pushing harder toward finding new growth opportunities.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends EPAM Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | information technology business global industry epam systems nyse epam effectively taps programming services expertise oftneglected areas world like eastern europe company done good job growing become leading provider product development software engineering services coming mondays thirdquarter financial report epam investors hoping company would sustain impressive sales growth rate also boost bottom line epams results slightly stronger even optimistic investors expected specialist reason believe even better times could come future lets take closer look epam systems latest results whether company keep delivering full potential continue reading image source epam systems epam systems thirdquarter results consistent past performance sales 26 2983 million slightly better investors expected see company adjusted net income climbed 21 408 million produced adjusted earnings 076 per share topping consensus forecast among following stock 001 per share closer look epams numbers reveals specialist noted negative impact strong us dollar hurt performance constant currency basis revenue would almost 29 yearago levels thats entirely consistent epams peers reported suggesting company remains exposed areas weaker foreign currencies typical provider advertisement one thing epam done quite well boost overall workforce total head count sept 30 21720 third past year among workers epam 19000 delivery professionals 14000 year ago epam continued fairly well controlling expenses although margin figures able sustain previous levels gross margin fell percentage point costs revenues climbed even somewhat better containment overhead expenses wasnt enough prevent operating margin falling fraction percentage point well stockbased compensation continued play role difference epams gaap adjusted earnings figures nevertheless cash flows strengthened operating cash flow quarter 618 million ninth yearago levels company sports 330 million cash equivalents balance sheet speaking financial strength flexibility take strategic action chooses ceo arkadiy dobkin didnt discuss companys results instead taking opportunity comment decision cfo anthony conte step third quarter 2017 ceo pointed contes expertise invaluable noting anthonys financial business leadership key part epams growth success epam intends search conte participate assist eventual transition investors got nervous however epams expectations rest year fourth quarter company anticipates revenue least 310 million predicting 2percentagepoint hit currency impacts adjusted earnings least 078 per share figures far consensus forecasts 318 million sales 087 per share adjusted earnings raising concerns epams future growth similarly epam changed expectations fullyear results company anticipates 1156 billion revenue year representing growth 265 actually coming slightly faster previously expected however adjusted earnings 290 per share marked second straight quarter epam cut bottomline guidance departure cfo cut earnings guidance spooked investors substantially sending stock plunging nearly 20 premarket trading following announcement seems like huge reaction news shows epam systems need work hard regain confidence investors keep pushing harder toward finding new growth opportunities secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window dan caplinger opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool recommends epam systems try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 521 |
<p>International wine and beer manufacturer Constellation Brands announced fiscal 2016 results last week, marking the completion of another strong year, in which its top-line revenue expanded by 9% to $6.5 billion, and net income increased 26% to $1.1 billion. Is it time for the company to take a breather from a string of acquisitions alongside heavy investment in capacity expansion? Below we review the most significant points management made on <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/edited-transcript-stz-earnings-conference-021557771.html" type="external">its April 6 earnings call Opens a New Window.</a>, which address how Constellation Brands intends to move forward over the next year.</p>
<p>It's considering an IPO for its Canadian wine business</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Canadian wine business has been an important part of Constellation Brands' income statement for several years. The company hasn't yet filed its fiscal 2016 annual report yet (its fiscal year ended on Feb. 28), but a glance at least year's annual report shows that non-U.S. sales, which the company describes as "primarily Canada," reached $668 million, out of a company total of $6.0 billion.</p>
<p>Why would the company want to divest such a large segment from its operations? Management indicated on the earnings call that it would use initial public offering proceeds to tackle debt on its balance sheet. As I've described in the past, Constellation Brands actively employs debt <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/31/constellation-brands-inc-using-debt-the-old-fashio.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">to increase its return on equity Opens a New Window.</a>and also <a href="http://goo.gl/j53vyh" type="external">to increase market share Opens a New Window.</a>. So we can infer that if management wants to put IPO proceeds in service of deleveraging its balance sheet, the company essentially intends to sell one revenue opportunity (Canadian wine) in order to re-tap its borrowing capacity for other, higher-margin revenue opportunities.</p>
<p>Constellation is taking no prisoners in the high-end wine market</p>
<p>Detail from an <a href="http://www.theprisonerwinecompany.com/assets/img/brand/the-prisoner/04-hand-sorting-grapes.jpg" type="external">image Opens a New Window.</a> of the hand sorting of grapes, from the Prisoner Wine Company website.</p>
<p>On the morning of its earnings release, Constellation announced its intention to acquire Prisoner Wine Company's "super-premium" portfolio of five wines from Huneeus Vintners, for anticipated cash paid at closing of $285 million.</p>
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<p>This acquisition follows the company's purchase of the Meoimiluxury pinot noir and chardonnay portfolio in August of last year for $315 million. In just a few months since the purchase, evidence of Constellation's penchant for scaling production of newly acquired premium brands has surfaced. In its 2016 earnings filing from last week, Constellation revealed that it's already sold $74 million of Meiomi label wines in just seven months since the closing of the transaction.</p>
<p>Look for a similar trajectory for Prisoner Wines. The acquisition didn't include land; Prisoner sources its grapes from some 80 vineyards in Napa Valley. This makes for an ideal Constellation acquisition. That is, the company buys an extremely popular, high-end (and high-margin) wine with surging sales, then attempts to meaningfully increase case volume, using its grape purchasing power and connections, high capacity production facilities, and wide distribution network.</p>
<p>Capacity plans are proceeding at pace</p>
<p>Sands reported above on the company's brewery in Nava, California, which will have 20 million hectoliters of capacity up and running within the next few months. The plant's eventual capacity will reach 27.5 million hectoliters in 2018. The Nava plant will be complemented by a sister brewery in Mexicali, Mexico, located not far from the California border. This brewery will have an initial capacity of 10 million hectoliters, scaling up to 20 million hectoliters by 2020.</p>
<p>Constellation Brands is about $1.5 billion deep into its massive $4.5 billion Mexican beer capacity expansion. Steady progress on this initiative is extremely important, as the build-out is largely financed by debt, but also because long-term revenue expectations are tied into new capacity coming on line over the next five years. So far, management has delivered on its capacity promises on, and in some instances, beyond, schedule.</p>
<p>Constellation is raising outlook for fiscal 2017</p>
<p>The company's mix of popular Mexican beer brands in the U.S., and a focus on growing <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/19/instant-analysis-constellation-brands-1-billion-cr.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">craft beer companies such as Ballast Point Brewery Opens a New Window.</a> after acquisition (similar to its wine purchases) is resulting in an annual growth rate in beer that far exceeds the rest of the industry.</p>
<p>According to some projections, the global beer market is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 6% through 2020.The company's own recent CAGR is double this rate. As you can see from the second part of Klein's quote above, this success is pushing the overall business forward. Expansion of its beer business well in excess of the global industry is one of the reasons Constellation's stock has attracted so much interest since the organization started its beer acquisition spree in 2013.</p>
<p>It's not just about acquisition and capacity, but operating leverage as well</p>
<p>The statement above indicates that for all its acquisition activity, Constellation is still working on improving its operating leverage, by leaning into price increases where the market allows, improving productivity, and using its purchasing might to reduce inventory costs. Over the last two years, the company's operating margin has normalized to roughly 25%, which supports fairly robust profitability. Such focus provides great cash flow which shareholders currently applaud, but it's also a sort of insurance policy for a day when the company's organic growth and acquisitions cool. And in the wine and beer business, such periods are not only to be expected; they're inevitable.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/14/5-points-constellation-brands-management-wants-to.aspx" type="external">5 Points Constellation Brands' Management Wants to Emphasize Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFfinosus/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Asit Sharma Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | international wine beer manufacturer constellation brands announced fiscal 2016 results last week marking completion another strong year topline revenue expanded 9 65 billion net income increased 26 11 billion time company take breather string acquisitions alongside heavy investment capacity expansion review significant points management made april 6 earnings call opens new window address constellation brands intends move forward next year considering ipo canadian wine business continue reading canadian wine business important part constellation brands income statement several years company hasnt yet filed fiscal 2016 annual report yet fiscal year ended feb 28 glance least years annual report shows nonus sales company describes primarily canada reached 668 million company total 60 billion would company want divest large segment operations management indicated earnings call would use initial public offering proceeds tackle debt balance sheet ive described past constellation brands actively employs debt increase return equity opens new windowand also increase market share opens new window infer management wants put ipo proceeds service deleveraging balance sheet company essentially intends sell one revenue opportunity canadian wine order retap borrowing capacity highermargin revenue opportunities constellation taking prisoners highend wine market detail image opens new window hand sorting grapes prisoner wine company website morning earnings release constellation announced intention acquire prisoner wine companys superpremium portfolio five wines huneeus vintners anticipated cash paid closing 285 million advertisement acquisition follows companys purchase meoimiluxury pinot noir chardonnay portfolio august last year 315 million months since purchase evidence constellations penchant scaling production newly acquired premium brands surfaced 2016 earnings filing last week constellation revealed already sold 74 million meiomi label wines seven months since closing transaction look similar trajectory prisoner wines acquisition didnt include land prisoner sources grapes 80 vineyards napa valley makes ideal constellation acquisition company buys extremely popular highend highmargin wine surging sales attempts meaningfully increase case volume using grape purchasing power connections high capacity production facilities wide distribution network capacity plans proceeding pace sands reported companys brewery nava california 20 million hectoliters capacity running within next months plants eventual capacity reach 275 million hectoliters 2018 nava plant complemented sister brewery mexicali mexico located far california border brewery initial capacity 10 million hectoliters scaling 20 million hectoliters 2020 constellation brands 15 billion deep massive 45 billion mexican beer capacity expansion steady progress initiative extremely important buildout largely financed debt also longterm revenue expectations tied new capacity coming line next five years far management delivered capacity promises instances beyond schedule constellation raising outlook fiscal 2017 companys mix popular mexican beer brands us focus growing craft beer companies ballast point brewery opens new window acquisition similar wine purchases resulting annual growth rate beer far exceeds rest industry according projections global beer market projected grow compounded annual growth rate cagr 6 2020the companys recent cagr double rate see second part kleins quote success pushing overall business forward expansion beer business well excess global industry one reasons constellations stock attracted much interest since organization started beer acquisition spree 2013 acquisition capacity operating leverage well statement indicates acquisition activity constellation still working improving operating leverage leaning price increases market allows improving productivity using purchasing might reduce inventory costs last two years companys operating margin normalized roughly 25 supports fairly robust profitability focus provides great cash flow shareholders currently applaud also sort insurance policy day companys organic growth acquisitions cool wine beer business periods expected theyre inevitable article 5 points constellation brands management wants emphasize opens new window originally appeared foolcom asit sharma opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 628 |
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<p>Smith &amp; Wesson's stock defied logic last year. Although it's now called American Outdoor Brands (NASDAQ: AOBC) in recognition of its new focus on the rugged outdoors market, firearms still make up virtually all of its annual revenue at the moment and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Despite its handgun sales surging 40% in 2016 and its smaller but growing long-gun business surging 76%, the gunmaker's stock lost more than a fifth of its value last year as it was caught up in the emotions and politics that go along with guns.</p>
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<p>Image source: Flickr: M&amp;R Glasgow.</p>
<p>While the name change is supposed to help smooth out some of that volatility, investors had other, better opportunities to make their money grow in 2016. Sure, had they been smart enough to see the rally in mining that was to occur, they could have placed bets on Cliffs Natural Resources, which an enjoyed a 376% gain last year on iron ore's improbable rally, or on Endeavour Silver, which saw its stock triple as precious-metals prices soared.</p>
<p>But those kinds of finds are fortuitous, really, so it might have been better to dig down into the trenches of a business' operations to find stocks that rose based on their merits. Following are two stocks that meet that criteria: craft brewer Craft Beer Alliance (NASDAQ: BREW) and graphics chipmaker NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA).</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/NVDA" type="external">NVDA</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>For an industry that's slowing, it might be surprising to see Craft Brew Alliance stock so frothy. Mass-produced beer volumes are contracting, not growing, and even the industry's engine, craft beer, is witnessing a slowdown. Analysts everywhere expect the niche to produce just single-digit percentage growth rates after a decade or more of double-digit annual growth, and shares of craft beer leader Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) reflect that dynamic, as they lost 10% of their value in 2016.</p>
<p>So why did Craft Brew Alliance's stock double? Well, decent operational performance for one, as it focused on its Kona brand, which saw shipments increase 17% over the first nine months of the year. While depletions, or shipments to distributors and retailers (considered a reliable proxy for consumer demand by the industry) fell overall as it de-emphasized the Widmer Brothers and Redhook brands, the overall change should be better for future growth.</p>
<p>Image source: Flickr viaCharlotte Buecheler (Dallot).</p>
<p>Yet the real win for Craft Brew Alliance came about from its affiliation with Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD), which is responsible for the distribution of much of its beer. Because A-B completed its merger with Miller, giving it control over 70% of the U.S. beer market, the industry consolidation should give it pricing power that ought to trickle down to Craft Brew Alliance. Moreover, because of A-B's dominance in beer distribution, the craft brewer may have an easier time getting its beers on store shelves.</p>
<p>All that translated into a better than 110% gain for Craft Brew Alliance in 2016.</p>
<p>When one thinks of all the technological marvels that are just starting to break through to the public consciousness -- artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, augmented and virtual reality -- it's hard to imagine a company better positioned than NVIDIA to capitalize on all of them. The graphics-centric nature of each of these advances almost necessitates the use of the chipmaker's platforms. Indeed, the growth it is experiencing is outpacing even its own estimates let alone those of Wall Street analysts.</p>
<p>Check out what the future holds. The industry analysts at Accenture estimate that AI will be able to double economic growth rates in 12 developed countries in 2035, while causing a 40% increase in labor productivity. Juniper Research predicts as many as 14.5 million self-driving cars will be produced by 2025, a huge number when you think that auto manufacturers are producing some 18 million traditional cars today. And you didn't have to get a Samsung Gear VR headset for Christmas to know that augmented and virtual reality is going to be big. Digi-Capital thinks they could combine for a $120 billion market opportunity by 2020.</p>
<p>Image source: NVIDIA.</p>
<p>A company providing the graphics chips that power many, perhaps most, of those platforms will be crazy successful. NVIDIA revenue in the third quarter surged 54% to exceed $2 billion, well ahead of the nearly $1.7 billion management guided toward and trouncing the $1.4 billion Wall Street forecast. It now expects fourth-quarter revenue to hit $2.1 billion, give or take 2%, 50% higher than the $1.4 billion it generated a year ago.</p>
<p>And let's not forget its own products in those niches, like the AI microphone Spot that, together with its Shield TV streaming box, uses Google Assistant to create a smart home of the future. It's with good reason that NVIDIA's stock rose some 225% in 2016.</p>
<p>The graphic chipmaker's market cap of $56.8 billion suggests that success in these technologies is already expected, but further expansion into these markets, as well as extending its reach into other platforms, could help NVIDIA's stock continue its impressive climb.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Nvidia When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=4329d8ba-7bce-49b6-99b5-31e1c0cfccc6&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Nvidia wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCop/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, Boston Beer, and NVIDIA. The Motley Fool owns shares of Cliffs Natural Resources. The Motley Fool recommends Accenture. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | smith amp wessons stock defied logic last year although called american outdoor brands nasdaq aobc recognition new focus rugged outdoors market firearms still make virtually annual revenue moment continue foreseeable future despite handgun sales surging 40 2016 smaller growing longgun business surging 76 gunmakers stock lost fifth value last year caught emotions politics go along guns continue reading image source flickr mampr glasgow name change supposed help smooth volatility investors better opportunities make money grow 2016 sure smart enough see rally mining occur could placed bets cliffs natural resources enjoyed 376 gain last year iron ores improbable rally endeavour silver saw stock triple preciousmetals prices soared kinds finds fortuitous really might better dig trenches business operations find stocks rose based merits following two stocks meet criteria craft brewer craft beer alliance nasdaq brew graphics chipmaker nvidia nasdaq nvda nvda data ycharts opens new window advertisement industry thats slowing might surprising see craft brew alliance stock frothy massproduced beer volumes contracting growing even industrys engine craft beer witnessing slowdown analysts everywhere expect niche produce singledigit percentage growth rates decade doubledigit annual growth shares craft beer leader boston beer nyse sam reflect dynamic lost 10 value 2016 craft brew alliances stock double well decent operational performance one focused kona brand saw shipments increase 17 first nine months year depletions shipments distributors retailers considered reliable proxy consumer demand industry fell overall deemphasized widmer brothers redhook brands overall change better future growth image source flickr viacharlotte buecheler dallot yet real win craft brew alliance came affiliation anheuserbusch inbev nyse bud responsible distribution much beer ab completed merger miller giving control 70 us beer market industry consolidation give pricing power ought trickle craft brew alliance moreover abs dominance beer distribution craft brewer may easier time getting beers store shelves translated better 110 gain craft brew alliance 2016 one thinks technological marvels starting break public consciousness artificial intelligence selfdriving cars augmented virtual reality hard imagine company better positioned nvidia capitalize graphicscentric nature advances almost necessitates use chipmakers platforms indeed growth experiencing outpacing even estimates let alone wall street analysts check future holds industry analysts accenture estimate ai able double economic growth rates 12 developed countries 2035 causing 40 increase labor productivity juniper research predicts many 145 million selfdriving cars produced 2025 huge number think auto manufacturers producing 18 million traditional cars today didnt get samsung gear vr headset christmas know augmented virtual reality going big digicapital thinks could combine 120 billion market opportunity 2020 image source nvidia company providing graphics chips power many perhaps platforms crazy successful nvidia revenue third quarter surged 54 exceed 2 billion well ahead nearly 17 billion management guided toward trouncing 14 billion wall street forecast expects fourthquarter revenue hit 21 billion give take 2 50 higher 14 billion generated year ago lets forget products niches like ai microphone spot together shield tv streaming box uses google assistant create smart home future good reason nvidias stock rose 225 2016 graphic chipmakers market cap 568 billion suggests success technologies already expected expansion markets well extending reach platforms could help nvidias stock continue impressive climb 10 stocks like better nvidia investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right nvidia wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns january 4 2017 rich duprey opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends anheuserbusch inbev nv boston beer nvidia motley fool owns shares cliffs natural resources motley fool recommends accenture motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 607 |
<p>More workers in the global auto industry are relying on Chinese companies to sign their paychecks these days.</p>
<p>China-based businesses have been sinking money into various automotive operations -- from glass and tire makers to technology developers and car makers -- for several years, reflecting Beijing's goal of eventually dominating the world's car business.</p>
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<p>That effort accelerated during the first half of 2017, with eight overseas deals totaling more than $5.5 billion in Chinese investments, compared to nine investments for all of last year.</p>
<p>The list includes the takeover of troubled Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp., the purchase of a flying-car developer and the acquisition of a sizable stake in Tesla Inc. by gaming and social media giant Tencent Holding Ltd.</p>
<p>China's overseas auto-industry investments -- more than $34 billion since 2008 -- have come in spite of a broad government clampdown on foreign acquisitions.</p>
<p>That reflects two factors, according to Michael Dunne, president of Dunne Automotive, an advisory firm. One is that Chinese automotive companies, unlike their peers in other sectors such as entertainment, have picked their targets carefully and secured good value for the money, he said.</p>
<p>The other is that the automotive sector clearly has government support at the highest levels to take a commanding position in the global market, he said.</p>
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<p>"There is no question their ambition is to be No. 1," said Mr. Dunne. He likened the approach to the ancient Chinese game of Go "where you gradually encircle your opponent by taking strategic assets."</p>
<p>In many cases, Chinese companies are doing this by acquiring parts suppliers and small car makers, or setting up joint ventures on foreign soil. U.S. assets have been high on China's shopping list.</p>
<p>Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. is investing $500 million to build a Volvo plant that will employ 2,000 people in Ridgeville S.C., for example, while auto-glass producer Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co. has spent $1 billion on U.S. manufacturing facilities, including reopening a former General Motors Co. plant in Moraine, Ohio, that will employ 2,500.</p>
<p>Among the eight deals chalked up in the first half of 2017 was Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp.'s deal last month for bankrupt air-bag maker Takata. If finalized, the $1.59 billion purchase will be Ningbo Joyson's fourth in two years -- a streak that included last year's $920 million acquisition of Michigan-based Key Safety Systems Inc., maker of air bags and other auto-safety equipment.</p>
<p>Beijing has given vehicle-industry firms free rein to expand even as it tamps down acquisitions in other sectors, said Chen Yang, Ningbo Joyson's communications director, underscoring the car sector's strategic value to Chinese policy makers.</p>
<p>"We have had a lot of support from the relevant government departments," said Mr. Chen. "You can't do overseas acquisitions without government support."</p>
<p>Geely is the most active Chinese car manufacturers in terms of foreign takeovers. It bought struggling Malaysian auto maker Proton along with its Lotus Cars unit for $235 million in March, before acquiring U.S. flying-car start-up Terrafugia in June for an undisclosed fee.</p>
<p>Geely's 2010 acquisition and subsequent turnaround of Volvo Cars, previously a money-losing unit of Ford Motor Co., is often cited as the most successful example of a Chinese auto acquisition to date: as well as reviving the Swedish brand, Geely used Volvo's technology to upgrade its own product lines.</p>
<p>Geely's absorption of foreign technology and knowhow has put it "in a class by itself" among Chinese auto makers, according to Mr. Dunne, vindicating acquisitions that industry analysts initially questioned.</p>
<p>Other Chinese buyers have preferred to take strategic stakes in foreign vehicle makers rather than make outright purchases, as when Tencent Holdings Ltd. spent $1.8 billion on a 5% stake in Tesla in March.</p>
<p>China National Chemical Corp.'s $7.86 billion purchase of Italian tire maker Pirelli in 2015 remains the biggest Chinese auto-sector foray to date. The nation's largest supplier to auto makers, Wanxiang Group, is also a major player, claiming a 12% share of the international car-parts market outside China.</p>
<p>Mr. Chen of Ningbo Joyson said Chinese auto suppliers are still closing the gap on world leaders such as Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH and Japan's Denso Corp., some of which have been offloading surplus units to Chinese buyers as they themselves move into more high-tech fields thought to represent the future of the car business, such as automation and connectivity.</p>
<p>Bosch, for example, sold its starter-motor division to Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group Co. in May.</p>
<p>Ningbo Joyson, however, is investing in cutting-edge technology rather than assets that Western rivals no longer want, but is still playing catch-up, Mr. Chen said. "China does not yet have one single world-class auto company," he said.</p>
<p>Chinese companies that are doubling down on specific sub-sectors of the auto-parts market may have a best chance of securing global dominance than those aiming to diversify, said Robin Zhu, an auto analyst at Bernstein Research.</p>
<p>Ningbo Joyson's acquisition of Key Systems and Takata will make it a top-three global player in the vehicle safety segment, provided it can successfully stitch its various units together, he said, while auto-glass maker Fuyao, car trim maker Minth Group and vehicle interior supplier Yanfeng are among the other Chinese suppliers in growing command of their specialty.</p>
<p>Yet even as China's auto industry racks up overseas purchases, it remains behind overall, Mr. Zhu said: "I don't think we'll see a Chinese Bosch anytime soon."</p>
<p>--Lilian Lin in Beijing contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Trefor Moss at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 18, 2017 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)</p> | true | 0 | workers global auto industry relying chinese companies sign paychecks days chinabased businesses sinking money various automotive operations glass tire makers technology developers car makers several years reflecting beijings goal eventually dominating worlds car business continue reading effort accelerated first half 2017 eight overseas deals totaling 55 billion chinese investments compared nine investments last year list includes takeover troubled japanese air bag maker takata corp purchase flyingcar developer acquisition sizable stake tesla inc gaming social media giant tencent holding ltd chinas overseas autoindustry investments 34 billion since 2008 come spite broad government clampdown foreign acquisitions reflects two factors according michael dunne president dunne automotive advisory firm one chinese automotive companies unlike peers sectors entertainment picked targets carefully secured good value money said automotive sector clearly government support highest levels take commanding position global market said advertisement question ambition 1 said mr dunne likened approach ancient chinese game go gradually encircle opponent taking strategic assets many cases chinese companies acquiring parts suppliers small car makers setting joint ventures foreign soil us assets high chinas shopping list zhejiang geely holding group co investing 500 million build volvo plant employ 2000 people ridgeville sc example autoglass producer fuyao glass industry group co spent 1 billion us manufacturing facilities including reopening former general motors co plant moraine ohio employ 2500 among eight deals chalked first half 2017 ningbo joyson electronic corps deal last month bankrupt airbag maker takata finalized 159 billion purchase ningbo joysons fourth two years streak included last years 920 million acquisition michiganbased key safety systems inc maker air bags autosafety equipment beijing given vehicleindustry firms free rein expand even tamps acquisitions sectors said chen yang ningbo joysons communications director underscoring car sectors strategic value chinese policy makers lot support relevant government departments said mr chen cant overseas acquisitions without government support geely active chinese car manufacturers terms foreign takeovers bought struggling malaysian auto maker proton along lotus cars unit 235 million march acquiring us flyingcar startup terrafugia june undisclosed fee geelys 2010 acquisition subsequent turnaround volvo cars previously moneylosing unit ford motor co often cited successful example chinese auto acquisition date well reviving swedish brand geely used volvos technology upgrade product lines geelys absorption foreign technology knowhow put class among chinese auto makers according mr dunne vindicating acquisitions industry analysts initially questioned chinese buyers preferred take strategic stakes foreign vehicle makers rather make outright purchases tencent holdings ltd spent 18 billion 5 stake tesla march china national chemical corps 786 billion purchase italian tire maker pirelli 2015 remains biggest chinese autosector foray date nations largest supplier auto makers wanxiang group also major player claiming 12 share international carparts market outside china mr chen ningbo joyson said chinese auto suppliers still closing gap world leaders germanys robert bosch gmbh japans denso corp offloading surplus units chinese buyers move hightech fields thought represent future car business automation connectivity bosch example sold startermotor division zhengzhou coal mining machinery group co may ningbo joyson however investing cuttingedge technology rather assets western rivals longer want still playing catchup mr chen said china yet one single worldclass auto company said chinese companies doubling specific subsectors autoparts market may best chance securing global dominance aiming diversify said robin zhu auto analyst bernstein research ningbo joysons acquisition key systems takata make topthree global player vehicle safety segment provided successfully stitch various units together said autoglass maker fuyao car trim maker minth group vehicle interior supplier yanfeng among chinese suppliers growing command specialty yet even chinas auto industry racks overseas purchases remains behind overall mr zhu said dont think well see chinese bosch anytime soon lilian lin beijing contributed article write trefor moss treformosswsjcom end dow jones newswires july 18 2017 0544 et 0944 gmt | 614 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal">Brian Thomas reports</a> that Sen. Chris Murphy responded to last week’s Las Vegas massacre, sparking fear when he claimed “Already this year there have been more mass shootings than days in the year.”</p>
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<p>That was certainly a stretch at best. Following the FBI’s definition of “mass murder” and “mass public shootings” there are about four mass public shooting murders on average in the U.S. annually. Counting armed robberies, gang violence, and domestic disputes in private residences, the number is far higher: 20 to 22 annually.</p>
<p>When Murphy made his statement, it was the 275th day of the year.&#160;So he was exaggerating quite a bit.</p>
<p>Breaking news updates and daily headlines from a news source you can trust.</p>
<p>According to the Wall Street Journal, Murphy would have to make some serious adjustments to the definition of mass shootings in his claim.</p>
<p>To come up with the figure he gave, Murphy would need to include include cases where the shooter, usually shot by police, is counted as the fourth victim, incidents where shooting sprees spanned to separate locations, and friendly fire and crossfire during police intervention. In all these instances, he’d have to include all cases where someone was merely grazed or wounded.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/article_email/are-there-really-more-mass-shootings-than-days-in-the-year-1507487568-lMyQjAxMTE3NTA2OTkwODkyWj" type="external">The Wall Street Journal</a> reports:</p>
<p>The FBI defines “mass murder” as “four or more victims slain, in one event, in one location.” Starting with the FBI’s definition of four or more fatalities, the Congressional Research Service reported that from 1999 through 2013 there were an average of 20 to 22 mass shootings in the U.S. annually. In an average year, four of these would be “mass public shootings”—the kind that often get national media attention. Of the rest, about half were “familicides”—killings within a family or estranged family, usually taking place in a private residence. The other half were “attributable to an underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance,” such as armed robbery, gang activity, insurance fraud or romantic triangles.</p>
<p>The website Mass Shooting Tracker, by contrast, counted 340 mass shootings in the U.S. between New Year’s Day and last Monday—consistent with Mr. Murphy’s claim of more than one a day. The site uses a much broader definition of mass shooting: “an incident where four or more people are shot in a single shooting spree. This may include the gunman himself, or police shootings of civilians around the gunman.” Under this definition, the shootings needn’t be fatal.</p>
<p>The media has sensationalized gun violence to the extent that many people actually think it’s on the rise.</p>
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<p>It isn’t.</p>
<p>Uninformed Americans are surprised to learn that gun homicide has plummeted in the U.S. since the early 1990s.</p>
<p>The huge drop in gun violence isn’t due to less guns or tougher gun control laws. There are far more guns in the U.S. now&#160;and concealed carry laws are more common. Many experts agree that concealed carry is largely responsible for the decline in gun violence. This is common sense.</p>
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<p>Who wants to commit gun crime, after all, when citizens can fight back?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/article_email/are-there-really-more-mass-shootings-than-days-in-the-year-1507487568-lMyQjAxMTE3NTA2OTkwODkyWj" type="external">The Wall Street Journal</a>&#160;continues:</p>
<p>Since peaking in the early 1990s, gun homicide has declined by half nationwide. Overall gun crime victimization is down by three-fourths. In this same period, the American gun supply grew by 80 million, so that there is now slightly more than one gun per person in the U.S.</p>
<p>Scholars suggest diverse causes for the crime decline. To the extent that gun policy has made a difference, Americans in the past quarter-century have made their gun laws both stricter and more permissive. Today, unlike in 1992, there are many laws against gun possession by persons with domestic-violence records, whether misdemeanor convictions or restraining orders. Extensive and uncontradicted social-science indicates that such persons are much likelier to commit gun crimes, especially domestic ones.</p>
<p>Improved interstate data-sharing has facilitated laws against gun possession by prohibited persons. Tougher sentencing for criminals who use firearms in a violent crime has been an important cause of mass incarceration, and those longer sentences have helped reduce gun violence of all types.</p>
<p>On the other hand, unlike in 1992, right-to-carry is now the national norm. In all but a few states, adults with safety training and a background check have a legal right to carry a firearm for lawful self-defense. State preemption laws have eliminated many local anti-gun restrictions.</p>
<p>Although gun crime has been way down, 56% of Americans in a 2013 Pew Research&#160; <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/07/gun-homicide-rate-down-49-since-1993-peak-public-unaware/" type="external">survey</a> thought gun crime was higher than 20 years earlier. Only 12% realized that such crime was lower, and fewer still realized how much lower it was. One cause of public misunderstanding is the widespread repetition of inflated figures about mass shootings.</p>
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<p>The Pew Research survey proves that the tactic used by people like&#160;Sen. Murphy to try and deceive people into thinking gun murders are on the rise is working.</p>
<p>Americans really are being fooled into thinking the world is ending, and drastic measures that don’t work need to be implemented.</p>
<p>We must counter this false narrative at every turn. Every single lie must be exposed for what it is. Our right self-defense is at stake.</p>
<p>What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</p> | true | 0 | brian thomas reports sen chris murphy responded last weeks las vegas massacre sparking fear claimed already year mass shootings days year advertisement story continues certainly stretch best following fbis definition mass murder mass public shootings four mass public shooting murders average us annually counting armed robberies gang violence domestic disputes private residences number far higher 20 22 annually murphy made statement 275th day year160so exaggerating quite bit breaking news updates daily headlines news source trust according wall street journal murphy would make serious adjustments definition mass shootings claim come figure gave murphy would need include include cases shooter usually shot police counted fourth victim incidents shooting sprees spanned separate locations friendly fire crossfire police intervention instances hed include cases someone merely grazed wounded advertisement story continues wall street journal reports fbi defines mass murder four victims slain one event one location starting fbis definition four fatalities congressional research service reported 1999 2013 average 20 22 mass shootings us annually average year four would mass public shootingsthe kind often get national media attention rest half familicideskillings within family estranged family usually taking place private residence half attributable underlying criminal activity commonplace circumstance armed robbery gang activity insurance fraud romantic triangles website mass shooting tracker contrast counted 340 mass shootings us new years day last mondayconsistent mr murphys claim one day site uses much broader definition mass shooting incident four people shot single shooting spree may include gunman police shootings civilians around gunman definition shootings neednt fatal media sensationalized gun violence extent many people actually think rise advertisement story continues isnt uninformed americans surprised learn gun homicide plummeted us since early 1990s huge drop gun violence isnt due less guns tougher gun control laws far guns us now160and concealed carry laws common many experts agree concealed carry largely responsible decline gun violence common sense advertisement story continues wants commit gun crime citizens fight back wall street journal160continues since peaking early 1990s gun homicide declined half nationwide overall gun crime victimization threefourths period american gun supply grew 80 million slightly one gun per person us scholars suggest diverse causes crime decline extent gun policy made difference americans past quartercentury made gun laws stricter permissive today unlike 1992 many laws gun possession persons domesticviolence records whether misdemeanor convictions restraining orders extensive uncontradicted socialscience indicates persons much likelier commit gun crimes especially domestic ones improved interstate datasharing facilitated laws gun possession prohibited persons tougher sentencing criminals use firearms violent crime important cause mass incarceration longer sentences helped reduce gun violence types hand unlike 1992 righttocarry national norm states adults safety training background check legal right carry firearm lawful selfdefense state preemption laws eliminated many local antigun restrictions although gun crime way 56 americans 2013 pew research160 survey thought gun crime higher 20 years earlier 12 realized crime lower fewer still realized much lower one cause public misunderstanding widespread repetition inflated figures mass shootings advertisement story continues pew research survey proves tactic used people like160sen murphy try deceive people thinking gun murders rise working americans really fooled thinking world ending drastic measures dont work need implemented must counter false narrative every turn every single lie must exposed right selfdefense stake think scroll comment | 527 |
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<p>Workers benefit as US businesses struggle to fill jobs</p>
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<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — More American employers are struggling to find enough workers to fill jobs, which might have contributed to slower hiring last month. And workers are benefiting in the meantime: More people who had given up looking for work are renewing their job hunts, more employees are confident enough to quit to look for other jobs and pay is gradually picking up. U.S. employers added just 103,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said Friday, the fewest in six months.</p>
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<p>Powell says Fed expects to stick with gradual rate hikes</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday painted a mostly sunny view of the U.S. economy and said the Fed remains committed to raising its key interest rate gradually unless events change. He said it was too soon to determine how a trade fight with China could affect the U.S. economy.</p>
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<p>Stocks dive as US proposes more China tariffs; Dow falls 572</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended the week the way they began it: tumbling as investors worry that tariffs and harsh words between the U.S. and China will touch off a trade war that derails the global economy. That came with the U.S. considering duties on an additional $100 billion in goods imported from China.</p>
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<p>China vows to 'counterattack' US as trade spat worsens</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — China vows to 'counterattack with great strength' if President Donald Trump hikes tariffs on an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods in an escalating trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. Trump's surprise directive for the U.S. trade representative to consider more tariffs came a day after Beijing announced planned increases in duties on U.S. soybeans, aircraft and other items in response to American tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports.</p>
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<p>Did Cambridge Analytica get your data? You'll know soon</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook will begin alerting users whose private data may have been compromised in the Cambridge Analytica scandal starting Monday. All 2.2 billion Facebook users will receive a notice with a link to information on which Facebook apps they use and what information they have shared with those apps. In addition, 87 million users whose data might have been shared with Cambridge Analytica will get a more detailed message informing them of that fact.</p>
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<p>Nine West files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Nine West Holdings Inc. has become the latest retailer to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an attempt to restructure its debt. The shoe chain says the move was made to help with the sale of its Nine West and Bandolino footwear and handbag business and so it can focus more on its profitable businesses, which include One Jeanswear Group, The Jewelry Group, the Kasper Group and Anne Klein.</p>
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<p>Boss buzzing you after hours? NYC might let you say buzz off</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Technology that offered the promise of freedom from the confines of an office has instead become a ball and chain in its own right, blurring the lines between work hours and well, any other hours. A New York City Council member wants to put a stop to that with a proposal that would bar employers from requiring employees to check and respond to non-emergency electronic communications sent outside of regular work hours.</p>
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<p>US consumer debt rose a slight 3.3 percent in February</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — US consumers increased their debt by just 3.3 percent in February, the weakest monthly change in nearly seven years despite an otherwise healthy economy. The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumer borrowing rose $10.6 billion in March to nearly $3.9 trillion. The gains have slowed sharply from a 10.3 percent jump in debt levels in November. February's increase was the smallest since August 2011, when consumer credit levels declined.</p>
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<p>Foreign worker saves 7 lives as Hawaii fishing boat sinks</p>
<p>HONOLULU (AP) — A federal contractor who was aboard the fishing vessel Princess Hawaii when it sank off the Big Island credits a Vietnamese crewman with saving his life. Khanh Huynh was acting as the de facto captain of the doomed fishing boat. The 28-year-old fisherman is one of hundreds of foreigners who work aboard American-owned fishing vessels in Hawaii. The workers lack visas and live on the boats for the duration of their contracts — often for years at a time.</p>
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<p>The Standard &amp; Poor's 500 lost 58.37 points, or 2.2 percent, to 2,604.47. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 572.46 points, or 2.3 percent, to 23,932.76. The Nasdaq composite slid 161.44 points, or 2.3 percent, to 6,915.11. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks dipped 29.63 points, or 1.9 percent, to 1,513.30.</p>
<p>Benchmark U.S. crude dropped $1.48, or 2.3 percent, to $62.06 a barrel in New York while Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost $1.22, or 1.8 percent, to $67.11 per barrel in London. In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline dipped 3 cents to $1.95 a gallon. Heating oil lost 2 cents to $1.96 a gallon. Natural gas rose 3 cents to $2.70 per 1,000 cubic feet.</p> | true | 0 | ___ workers benefit us businesses struggle fill jobs continue reading washington ap american employers struggling find enough workers fill jobs might contributed slower hiring last month workers benefiting meantime people given looking work renewing job hunts employees confident enough quit look jobs pay gradually picking us employers added 103000 jobs march labor department said friday fewest six months ___ powell says fed expects stick gradual rate hikes chicago ap federal reserve chairman jerome powell friday painted mostly sunny view us economy said fed remains committed raising key interest rate gradually unless events change said soon determine trade fight china could affect us economy ___ advertisement stocks dive us proposes china tariffs dow falls 572 new york ap stocks ended week way began tumbling investors worry tariffs harsh words us china touch trade war derails global economy came us considering duties additional 100 billion goods imported china ___ china vows counterattack us trade spat worsens washington ap china vows counterattack great strength president donald trump hikes tariffs additional 100 billion tariffs chinese goods escalating trade dispute worlds two largest economies trumps surprise directive us trade representative consider tariffs came day beijing announced planned increases duties us soybeans aircraft items response american tariffs 50 billion chinese imports ___ cambridge analytica get data youll know soon new york ap facebook begin alerting users whose private data may compromised cambridge analytica scandal starting monday 22 billion facebook users receive notice link information facebook apps use information shared apps addition 87 million users whose data might shared cambridge analytica get detailed message informing fact ___ nine west files chapter 11 bankruptcy protection new york ap nine west holdings inc become latest retailer file chapter 11 bankruptcy protection attempt restructure debt shoe chain says move made help sale nine west bandolino footwear handbag business focus profitable businesses include one jeanswear group jewelry group kasper group anne klein ___ boss buzzing hours nyc might let say buzz new york ap technology offered promise freedom confines office instead become ball chain right blurring lines work hours well hours new york city council member wants put stop proposal would bar employers requiring employees check respond nonemergency electronic communications sent outside regular work hours ___ us consumer debt rose slight 33 percent february washington ap us consumers increased debt 33 percent february weakest monthly change nearly seven years despite otherwise healthy economy federal reserve said friday consumer borrowing rose 106 billion march nearly 39 trillion gains slowed sharply 103 percent jump debt levels november februarys increase smallest since august 2011 consumer credit levels declined ___ foreign worker saves 7 lives hawaii fishing boat sinks honolulu ap federal contractor aboard fishing vessel princess hawaii sank big island credits vietnamese crewman saving life khanh huynh acting de facto captain doomed fishing boat 28yearold fisherman one hundreds foreigners work aboard americanowned fishing vessels hawaii workers lack visas live boats duration contracts often years time ___ standard amp poors 500 lost 5837 points 22 percent 260447 dow jones industrial average dropped 57246 points 23 percent 2393276 nasdaq composite slid 16144 points 23 percent 691511 russell 2000 index smallercompany stocks dipped 2963 points 19 percent 151330 benchmark us crude dropped 148 23 percent 6206 barrel new york brent crude used price international oils lost 122 18 percent 6711 per barrel london energy trading wholesale gasoline dipped 3 cents 195 gallon heating oil lost 2 cents 196 gallon natural gas rose 3 cents 270 per 1000 cubic feet | 572 |
<p>Unfortunately, I am not kidding when I say that the UN elected Saudi Arabia to the Women’s Rights Commission.&#160;It reminds me of when the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=11&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjav4ifjrzTAhVs4YMKHZ_CAW4QFghPMAo&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Ffreebeacon.com%2Fnational-security%2Firan-wins-top-spots-on-u-n-human-rights-committees%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNGF9eOtjhPtl73QEbsTQGs5N808Vg&amp;sig2=scUbvDN2f8zGlC-6ZQeclQ" type="external">UN elected Iran</a> to the human rights council. Remember that?</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia received its spot when the Economic and Social Council voted on new members for the women’s rights commission, which wants to help promote equality for females. The commission’s <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women" type="external">website states</a> that females “suffer violence and discrimination” and remain “under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes.” Females around the world also “lack decent access to basic education and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps.” Too many countries still deny females “access to basic education and health care.”</p>
<p>Gee, what country falls into most of these categories? Saudi Arabia!</p>
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<p>UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group, criticized <a href="https://www.unwatch.org/no-joke-u-n-elects-saudi-arabia-womens-rights-commission/" type="external">this decision</a>:</p>
<p>“Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s absurd.”</p>
<p>“Every Saudi woman,” said Neuer, “must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death. Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars.”</p>
<p>(Before I continue does anyone else find it ironic that somebody had to form a UN human rights watchdog group?)</p>
<p>In January, when those “progressive” females, which included a convicted terrorist and supporter of Sharia law, held that stupid Women’s March over supposed “female oppression” in America, I lost my mind. I <a href="" type="internal">blogged about actual female oppression</a> in other countries and take a wild guess which country I hit first. SAUDI ARABIA.</p>
<p>Let’s take a look at some of the issues this Women’s Rights Commission wants to weed out from the world and why the board should look at its newest member….Saudi Arabia. Remember, a female must have a male guardian her entire life in Saudi Arabia.</p>
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<p>This is the scariest part of all. Believe it or not, the male guardian <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8373e17c64224cfbb48e9c95b42de6dc/report-saudi-womens-lives-dictated-male-guardianship" type="external">has the ability to make the female’s</a>&#160;medical decisions. He must accompany her to ALL of her <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/news/525696" type="external">doctor appointments</a>:</p>
<p>This came after a member of the Council of Senior Scholars issued a “fatwa” (edict) prohibiting women from visiting male doctors without having male guardians present.</p>
<p>“Islamic law does not permit women to visit their doctors without male guardians,” said Qais Al-Mubarak, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars. “Women are prohibited from exposing body parts to male doctors in Islamic law, especially during childbirth. This does not include medical emergencies. Islamic jurisprudence makes exceptions,” he added.</p>
<p>Male guardians can only be the next of kin in Islam. They are sons, grandsons, husbands, brothers, fathers or uncles.</p>
<p>Females cannot leave their houses without a male guardian. She must receive his permission to travel or conduct official business.</p>
<p>In most of Saudi Arabia, females <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140109161037/http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/saudi-arabia" type="external">must cover</a> their entire bodies except for the hands and feet. A few areas allow females to leave their faces uncovered. But that’s it. I noted how those female marchers in January couldn’t wear their beloved pussy hats in Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>If someone caught a female speaking to a non-relative male, authorities can charge that female with adultery or prostitution.</p>
<p>The country has even urged females not to use public transportation because she might&#160;converse with non-related males.&#160;No public transportation? <a href="" type="internal">Too bad</a>:</p>
<p>Females in Saudi Arabia basically cannot drive. There are no laws, but restrictions basically make it impossible for females to enjoy driving a car. The governments force these citizens to receive a local license to drive and the places do not issue them to females. Rural areas allow a little flexibility.</p>
<p>Due to male guardianship, females do not receive much protection from domestic abuse.&#160; <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-guardianship-system-restricts-women-480735" type="external">According to Kristine Beckerle</a>, researcher for Human Rights Watch:</p>
<p>Despite a 2013 law that criminalized domestic abuse, “the law itself is deeply problematic in that it still maintains the rights of guardians to have some authority over their female dependents,” says Beckerle. In some cases, family reconciliation is given priority over a woman’s safety, according to the report; often, the male guardian is the abuser a woman has tried to escape.</p>
<p>“You can do all these little steps to try and respond to domestic violence, but until guardianship is eliminated there’s going to be this incredible tool in men’s hands to both abuse and exploit women,” she says.</p>
<p>The kingdom <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/women-in-saudi-arabia-are-caught-in-a-system-of-gender-apartheid/a-17330976" type="external">has segregated</a> the schools by sex. But again, the female must receive permission from her male guardian in order to study. However, even with an education, her job will probably not pay her equally to her male counterpart. Yes, an actual gender wage gap. Throughout the years,&#160;Saudi Arabia has ended up towards the bottom of the list on gender wage gaps. From Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2017/01/11/the-countries-with-the-best-and-worst-gender-pay-gap-expectations-and-how-the-u-s-stacks-up/#4090da3cb11e" type="external">this January:</a></p>
<p>In Saudi Arabia, the nation tied for the second-largest gap in expectations and where women can’t legally drive, only 21% of women work or are seeking work.</p>
<p>Well, if you can’t drive, why bother?</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia even has&#160;laws that force OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION except in hospitals. But Saudi Arabia <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=11&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiwyMn3irzTAhWly4MKHaJ1CW44ChAWCCIwAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2012%2Faug%2F12%2Fsaudi-arabia-city-women-workers&amp;usg=AFQjCNFqm_huSPuycTZ_NBSYiJhV0JabWQ&amp;sig2=S2Nkom1PE-MR0QSPb3aPJw" type="external">has attempted</a> to “fix” this by establishing a new city for only female workers. So to comply with sex segregation complaints in the workplace, the kingdom decided to expand it. Okay…I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this because the kingdom’s reaction makes no sense.</p>
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<p>The UN is a joke and will always be a joke if the organization keeps allowing countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran to sit on these councils.</p> | true | 0 | unfortunately kidding say un elected saudi arabia womens rights commission160it reminds un elected iran human rights council remember saudi arabia received spot economic social council voted new members womens rights commission wants help promote equality females commissions website states females suffer violence discrimination remain underrepresented political economic decisionmaking processes females around world also lack decent access basic education face occupational segregation gender wage gaps many countries still deny females access basic education health care gee country falls categories saudi arabia un watch genevabased human rights group criticized decision electing saudi arabia protect womens rights like making arsonist town fire chief said hillel neuer executive director un watch absurd every saudi woman said neuer must male guardian makes critical decisions behalf controlling womans life birth death saudi arabia also bans women driving cars continue anyone else find ironic somebody form un human rights watchdog group january progressive females included convicted terrorist supporter sharia law held stupid womens march supposed female oppression america lost mind blogged actual female oppression countries take wild guess country hit first saudi arabia lets take look issues womens rights commission wants weed world board look newest membersaudi arabia remember female must male guardian entire life saudi arabia scariest part believe male guardian ability make females160medical decisions must accompany doctor appointments came member council senior scholars issued fatwa edict prohibiting women visiting male doctors without male guardians present islamic law permit women visit doctors without male guardians said qais almubarak member council senior scholars women prohibited exposing body parts male doctors islamic law especially childbirth include medical emergencies islamic jurisprudence makes exceptions added male guardians next kin islam sons grandsons husbands brothers fathers uncles females leave houses without male guardian must receive permission travel conduct official business saudi arabia females must cover entire bodies except hands feet areas allow females leave faces uncovered thats noted female marchers january couldnt wear beloved pussy hats saudi arabia someone caught female speaking nonrelative male authorities charge female adultery prostitution country even urged females use public transportation might160converse nonrelated males160no public transportation bad females saudi arabia basically drive laws restrictions basically make impossible females enjoy driving car governments force citizens receive local license drive places issue females rural areas allow little flexibility due male guardianship females receive much protection domestic abuse160 according kristine beckerle researcher human rights watch despite 2013 law criminalized domestic abuse law deeply problematic still maintains rights guardians authority female dependents says beckerle cases family reconciliation given priority womans safety according report often male guardian abuser woman tried escape little steps try respond domestic violence guardianship eliminated theres going incredible tool mens hands abuse exploit women says kingdom segregated schools sex female must receive permission male guardian order study however even education job probably pay equally male counterpart yes actual gender wage gap throughout years160saudi arabia ended towards bottom list gender wage gaps forbes january saudi arabia nation tied secondlargest gap expectations women cant legally drive 21 women work seeking work well cant drive bother saudi arabia even has160laws force occupational segregation except hospitals saudi arabia attempted fix establishing new city female workers comply sex segregation complaints workplace kingdom decided expand okayim hard time wrapping head around kingdoms reaction makes sense un joke always joke organization keeps allowing countries like saudi arabia iran sit councils | 546 |
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<p>Credit scores are an important part of life for most U.S. adults. If you want to buy a house, finance a car, get a credit card, or rent an apartment, good credit makes it easier to do so. However, there are many things about credit scores that are not well understood, and here are 10 you may not be aware of.</p>
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Not all credit scores are the same. When it comes to credit scoring, there's the FICO score and everyone else. The FICO score is used in more than 90% of lending decisions, so this is the one you need to look at if you want to see yourself through lenders' eyes. Many "free credit score" websites use different scoring models such as the Vantage Score, the second most common. These can certainly be useful in identifying credit problems and getting a general sense of how you're doing, but for the best picture of your credit health, make sure you're looking at a FICO score.</p>
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<p>You may not even have a credit score if you don't use your credit. Millions of people don't. In order to have a FICO score, you need to meet these requirements:</p>
<p>You have a FICO score from each of the three major credit bureaus:Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Your scores tend to vary slightly between them. In fact, as of this writing, there is a 22-point difference between my highest and lowest FICO score. Lenders may look at just one, or all three, so it may be worth paying for an all-in-one credit monitoring service that allows you to see them all. For example, mortgage lenders generally look at all three scores and use the middle number.</p>
<p>Here's one that may seem counterintuitive. Generally, the lower your credit utilization, the better your score will be. However, that's only true to a point -- a small credit card balance may be better than none at all. When I <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/11/30/a-perfect-credit-score-is-possible-but-is-it-worth.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">interviewed Opens a New Window.</a> perfect FICO score achiever David Howe a few years ago, he said that part of his magic formula was a small credit card balance. In fact, he even showed me a screenshot of his score dropping from 849 (one point away from perfect) to 824 after paying off a small credit card balance.</p>
<p>The cutoff point for "good" credit depends on what you're trying to buy, and who you ask. In other words, there's no clearly defined number. However, there are some general <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/06/17/what-is-a-good-credit-score-number-and-why-is-good.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">guidelines Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Data source: <a href="http://www.myFICO.com" type="external">www.myFICO.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Most people know that the better your score is, the more loans and credit cards you can qualify for and the lower your interest rate will be. However, many people don't realize the tremendous difference this can make over the long run. For example, consider how much interest you would pay over the life of a 30-year $250,000 mortgage, based on the current average interest rates.</p>
<p>Data source: <a href="http://www.myFICO.com" type="external">www.myFICO.com Opens a New Window.</a>. Rates current as of Dec. 27, 2016.</p>
<p>If your credit is terrible right now, that doesn't mean it always will be. Most negative information will drop off your credit report completely after seven years, and will have a smaller impact before that as time goes on. For instance, a late payment from last year can have a bigger negative effect on your credit score than a late payment from five years ago. There are a few notable exceptions, such as most bankruptcies (which stay on for 10 years) and unpaid tax liens (which stick around for 15 years).</p>
<p>I've written about the information that makes up your FICO score several times ( <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/05/how-to-get-a-perfect-credit-score.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">here's Opens a New Window.</a> a good discussion if you're interested). However, it's also important to know what is not included in your score. Specifically, FICO scores don't consider:</p>
<p>It's true that when your credit is checked, it can hurt your score. However, this only matters for "hard" inquiries, which generally only take place when you apply for new credit. "Soft" inquiries, such as when a credit card company wants to pre-screen you for a credit offer, or when you check your own credit, have no effect whatsoever. You're entitled to a free credit report each year at <a href="http://www.annualcreditreport.com" type="external">www.annualcreditreport.com Opens a New Window.</a>, and if you subscribe to a credit-monitoring service, you can check your credit much more often than that without worry of a negative impact on your score.</p>
<p>Obviously, a good credit score can help you buy a home and car, and can give you the ability to borrow money. In addition to these things, there are a few other reasons good credit is important. For example, nearly half of employers (47%) check potential employees' credit reports (but not scores) as part of the hiring process. The same can be said about landlords and insurance companies.</p>
<p>Why? Simply put, your credit history is viewed as a good picture of your trustworthiness and responsibility. Employers want to know that you follow through with your obligations and landlords want to know that your rent checks will arrive every month on time. The bottom line is that good credit can make your life much easier, and not just in terms of your ability to borrow money.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/KWMatt82/info.aspx" type="external">Matthew Frankel Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | credit scores important part life us adults want buy house finance car get credit card rent apartment good credit makes easier however many things credit scores well understood 10 may aware continue reading image source getty images credit scores comes credit scoring theres fico score everyone else fico score used 90 lending decisions one need look want see lenders eyes many free credit score websites use different scoring models vantage score second common certainly useful identifying credit problems getting general sense youre best picture credit health make sure youre looking fico score advertisement may even credit score dont use credit millions people dont order fico score need meet requirements fico score three major credit bureausexperian equifax transunion scores tend vary slightly fact writing 22point difference highest lowest fico score lenders may look one three may worth paying allinone credit monitoring service allows see example mortgage lenders generally look three scores use middle number heres one may seem counterintuitive generally lower credit utilization better score however thats true point small credit card balance may better none interviewed opens new window perfect fico score achiever david howe years ago said part magic formula small credit card balance fact even showed screenshot score dropping 849 one point away perfect 824 paying small credit card balance cutoff point good credit depends youre trying buy ask words theres clearly defined number however general guidelines opens new window data source wwwmyficocom opens new window people know better score loans credit cards qualify lower interest rate however many people dont realize tremendous difference make long run example consider much interest would pay life 30year 250000 mortgage based current average interest rates data source wwwmyficocom opens new window rates current dec 27 2016 credit terrible right doesnt mean always negative information drop credit report completely seven years smaller impact time goes instance late payment last year bigger negative effect credit score late payment five years ago notable exceptions bankruptcies stay 10 years unpaid tax liens stick around 15 years ive written information makes fico score several times heres opens new window good discussion youre interested however also important know included score specifically fico scores dont consider true credit checked hurt score however matters hard inquiries generally take place apply new credit soft inquiries credit card company wants prescreen credit offer check credit effect whatsoever youre entitled free credit report year wwwannualcreditreportcom opens new window subscribe creditmonitoring service check credit much often without worry negative impact score obviously good credit score help buy home car give ability borrow money addition things reasons good credit important example nearly half employers 47 check potential employees credit reports scores part hiring process said landlords insurance companies simply put credit history viewed good picture trustworthiness responsibility employers want know follow obligations landlords want know rent checks arrive every month time bottom line good credit make life much easier terms ability borrow money 15834 social security bonus retirees completely overlook youre like americans youre years behind retirement savings handful littleknown social security secrets could help ensure boost retirement income example one easy trick could pay much 15834 year learn maximize social security benefits think could retire confidently peace mind simply click discover learn strategies opens new window matthew frankel opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 579 |
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<p>More than a year after federal regulators issued new privacy rules for kids' mobile apps, online stores are flooded with cute and silly software programs that quietly collect vast amounts of data on the youngest consumers, including a person's location and even recordings of their voice, according to privacy researchers and consumer advocates.</p>
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<p>Whether they pass that information on to retailers or seek parental consent first "?" as required by law "?" isn't entirely clear. But if you don't want your family tracked online by fast food chains, toy stores or other retailers, your choices are limited: Stick the phone in "airplane mode" to shut off the wireless connection and risk losing functionality, or wade through a developer's privacy policy to make sure you're OK with how it works.</p>
<p>"Kids are such a lucrative market, especially for apps," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "Unfortunately, there are still companies out there that are more concerned about generating revenue than protecting the privacy of kids."</p>
<p>Americans have traded vast amounts of personal data in exchange for the ease and functionality of fun mobile applications on their phones. But how is industry using that information? Chester and other consumer advocates allege that fast food chains are increasingly focusing advertising dollars on digital media, targeting blacks and Hispanics. They also warn that data from phones can be combined with offline information like home prices, race or income in ways that could violate fair lending laws. And a new site, PrivacyGrade.org, found that many popular kids' apps like Talking Tom and Fruit Ninja collect information in ways parents wouldn't necessarily expect.</p>
<p>Concerned in particular about industries' focus on kids online, the Federal Trade Commission in July 2013 expanded the Child Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, to require app developers to get parental consent before collecting personal data on anyone younger than 13. That includes information like the unique identifying device on a phone, a person's phone number or a device's location.</p>
<p>"It's upped the ante for companies deciding whether they are going to market to kids," said Michelle De Mooy of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "And that's a good thing."</p>
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<p>But with the number of smartphones expected to reach 3.5 billion in the next five years, according to Forrester Research, the mobile app and advertising industry has exploded. Regulators don't have an easy, automated way of analyzing the hundreds of mobile apps popping up each day, forcing them to focus efforts on the most egregious privacy offenders.</p>
<p>Since the updated regulation went into effect, the FTC has brought about only two enforcement actions against mobile apps. Last September, the commission announced that Yelp Inc. agreed to pay $450,000 and TinyCo. $300,000 to settle separate charges that their companies knowingly collected information on young children through their mobile apps.</p>
<p>"Our ultimate goal is compliance," said Kandi Parsons, an attorney in the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. But "that doesn't undermine our desire to bring cases against companies that violate COPPA ... where we find violations, we will bring cases against mobile apps."</p>
<p>According to PrivacyGrade.org, which is run by computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, scores of apps that collect information are still aimed at kids.</p>
<p>For example, Fruit Ninja collects a phone's location, which could be passed on to advertisers. And Talking Tom, where kids can talk to and "tickle" an alley cat using the touch screen, collects a child's audio recordings along with other information that can uniquely identify a phone.</p>
<p>Whether these apps would violate COPPA, would depend on a number of factors, including whether and how they seek parental consent. But because these apps collect information in surprising ways, PrivacyGrade.org gave them both D grades.</p>
<p>Outfit7, the developer behind Talking Tom, said in a statement that personal information and recordings are never shared with advertisers. The developer says its app also complies with COPPA by providing "appropriate gate protections ... to distinguish adults from minors and restrict sharing on social media," according to the statement.</p>
<p>Halfbrick Studios, which developed Fruit Ninja, said in a statement that it planned to release updates to Fruit Ninja and other apps to increase privacy protections.</p>
<p>"Parents and players are understandably cautious about the privacy aspects of online games, and the way their data is handled," said company CEO Shainiel Deo. "Creating a safe and secure app is no longer enough to answer consumers' needs for assurance. Developers must also ensure that permissions are clearly explained and easy to access at every applicable point in a game."</p>
<p>Jason Hong, who runs PrivacyGrade.org, says it's hard to know exactly what developers are doing with the information they collect. And it's possible, he said, that some developers are building apps using popular, pre-fabricated libraries of code that automatically collect information that the developer never uses or passes on to advertisers.</p>
<p>Hong said he thinks the government should devote more resources to evaluating popular apps and working with developers to promote basic privacy standards.</p>
<p>"It's part of a long conversation about what is privacy, and what we should be doing every day," he said.</p>
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<p>Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty</p>
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<p>FTC Consumer Information: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0031-protecting-your-childs-privacy-online</p> | true | 0 | year federal regulators issued new privacy rules kids mobile apps online stores flooded cute silly software programs quietly collect vast amounts data youngest consumers including persons location even recordings voice according privacy researchers consumer advocates continue reading whether pass information retailers seek parental consent first required law isnt entirely clear dont want family tracked online fast food chains toy stores retailers choices limited stick phone airplane mode shut wireless connection risk losing functionality wade developers privacy policy make sure youre ok works kids lucrative market especially apps said jeff chester executive director center digital democracy unfortunately still companies concerned generating revenue protecting privacy kids americans traded vast amounts personal data exchange ease functionality fun mobile applications phones industry using information chester consumer advocates allege fast food chains increasingly focusing advertising dollars digital media targeting blacks hispanics also warn data phones combined offline information like home prices race income ways could violate fair lending laws new site privacygradeorg found many popular kids apps like talking tom fruit ninja collect information ways parents wouldnt necessarily expect concerned particular industries focus kids online federal trade commission july 2013 expanded child online privacy protection act coppa require app developers get parental consent collecting personal data anyone younger 13 includes information like unique identifying device phone persons phone number devices location upped ante companies deciding whether going market kids said michelle de mooy center democracy technology thats good thing advertisement number smartphones expected reach 35 billion next five years according forrester research mobile app advertising industry exploded regulators dont easy automated way analyzing hundreds mobile apps popping day forcing focus efforts egregious privacy offenders since updated regulation went effect ftc brought two enforcement actions mobile apps last september commission announced yelp inc agreed pay 450000 tinyco 300000 settle separate charges companies knowingly collected information young children mobile apps ultimate goal compliance said kandi parsons attorney ftcs bureau consumer protection doesnt undermine desire bring cases companies violate coppa find violations bring cases mobile apps according privacygradeorg run computer scientists carnegie mellon university scores apps collect information still aimed kids example fruit ninja collects phones location could passed advertisers talking tom kids talk tickle alley cat using touch screen collects childs audio recordings along information uniquely identify phone whether apps would violate coppa would depend number factors including whether seek parental consent apps collect information surprising ways privacygradeorg gave grades outfit7 developer behind talking tom said statement personal information recordings never shared advertisers developer says app also complies coppa providing appropriate gate protections distinguish adults minors restrict sharing social media according statement halfbrick studios developed fruit ninja said statement planned release updates fruit ninja apps increase privacy protections parents players understandably cautious privacy aspects online games way data handled said company ceo shainiel deo creating safe secure app longer enough answer consumers needs assurance developers must also ensure permissions clearly explained easy access every applicable point game jason hong runs privacygradeorg says hard know exactly developers information collect possible said developers building apps using popular prefabricated libraries code automatically collect information developer never uses passes advertisers hong said thinks government devote resources evaluating popular apps working developers promote basic privacy standards part long conversation privacy every day said ___ follow anne flaherty twitter httpstwittercomannekflaherty ___ online ftc consumer information httpwwwconsumerftcgovarticles0031protectingyourchildsprivacyonline | 543 |
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<p>FMC Corp.(NYSE: FMC) kicked off the third-quarter earnings season for the big lithium players on Nov. 2 by posting strong adjusted earnings growth, driven in part by continued strength in its lithium business. Lithium companies have been benefiting from the sharp rise in the price of this commodity over the last year or so, thanks largely to increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles and various electronic gadgets.</p>
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<p>FMC's Salar del Hombre Muerto inArgentina. Image source: FMC Corp.</p>
<p>The Philadelphia-based specialty chemical company'srevenue declined 2.8% year over year to $807.7 million topping the $795 million analysts were looking for -- while adjusted earnings per share jumped 60% to $0.67, beating Wall Street's estimates of $0.59. GAAP EPS came in at $0.59 compared to a $0.02 loss in the year-ago period. FMC also raised its full-year 2016 earnings guidance.</p>
<p>FMC's stock soared 10.5% on the day following the earnings release, and it's gained more ground through Tuesday, Nov. 8. The stock has returned 32% over the one-year period through Tuesday, significantly outpacing the S&amp;P 500's 4.2% return. The lithium industry's other two big publicly traded players, Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB)and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, or SQM, have performed even better, returning about 66% and 59%, respectively, over this period. This is largely because lithium makes up a bigger portion of these two companies' total revenue. FMC's lithium business accounted for 8.7% of its revenue in the quarter, while Albemarle's lithium products accounted for 25.4% of its revenue when it reported its Q3 results on Monday. SQM reports on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 23.</p>
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<p>Data source: FMC Corp.YOY = year over year.</p>
<p>Agricultural solutions' revenue declined primarily because of lower sales volume from market weakness and product rationalization, offset partially by price increases. Earnings increased because of better pricing and positive foreign exchange, offset partially by lower sales volumes and higher costs.</p>
<p>Health and nutrition's revenue and earnings declined largely because of lower revenue in its omega-3 business and timing of sales to certain pharmaceutical customers in Asia and Europe. FMC's omega-3 business manufactures high-purity omega-3 fatty acid concentrates used in nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and food.</p>
<p>CEO Pierre Brondeau said on the analyst conference call that the company does not see any notable improvement with respect to the oversupply of omega-3 in the market. He said the company is more in damage-control mode with this business, rather than expecting any growth. That said, the overall segment has been rebounding solidly from last year, as its 52% year-over-year earnings growth shows.</p>
<p>The lithium segment's revenue and earnings soared thanks to higher prices, improved product mix, and lower operating costs in part resulting from the devaluation of the Argentinean peso. (FMC's internal source for lithium is the Salar del Hombre Muerto in Argentina, which it owns. A "salar" is adried lakebed with an underground reservoir of mineral-containing brine.)</p>
<p>The size of the contribution from each of the drivers of the year-over-year earnings growth is shown in the chart below. For instance, higher prices for the company's lithium products combined with an improved product mix contributed $12 million to earnings as compared with the year-ago period.</p>
<p>Image source: FMC Corp.</p>
<p>FMC's lithium strategy is to focus on higher-value downstream specialty products. The company, which is very vertically integrated, produces lithium carbonate from the lithium chloride that it extracts from brine and then further refines the carbonate into various other lithium products, including lithium hydroxide and lithium metals.</p>
<p>Brondeau said in the press release:</p>
<p>Based on the lithium segment's performance to date in 2016 and its expected Q4 performance,FMC Corp. increased its guidance for full-year 2016 adjusted EPS by $0.06 at the midpoint of the range to $2.76 to $2.86. At the midpoint, this represents year-over-year growth of 13.8%.</p>
<p>Here's the company's full outlook for Q4 and full-year 2016:</p>
<p>Image source: FMC Corp.</p>
<p>Ag Solution's operating margin outlook for 2016 of 17% to 18% is low compared to the expected operating margins of the other two segments. This is largely due to the 2015 acquisition of Cheminova, which is helping FMC create a more global business, providing it with a direct access to European markets, and helping it expand its global fungicide business. Prior to the acquisition, Ag Solutions consistently delivered operating margins between 20% and 25%. FMC is making solid progress on its goal of returning margins to that level, as it expanded the segment's operating margin by 600 basis points in the quarter.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMcKenna/info.aspx" type="external">Beth McKenna Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Albemarle. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | fmc corpnyse fmc kicked thirdquarter earnings season big lithium players nov 2 posting strong adjusted earnings growth driven part continued strength lithium business lithium companies benefiting sharp rise price commodity last year thanks largely increasing demand lithiumion batteries power electric vehicles various electronic gadgets continue reading fmcs salar del hombre muerto inargentina image source fmc corp philadelphiabased specialty chemical companysrevenue declined 28 year year 8077 million topping 795 million analysts looking adjusted earnings per share jumped 60 067 beating wall streets estimates 059 gaap eps came 059 compared 002 loss yearago period fmc also raised fullyear 2016 earnings guidance fmcs stock soared 105 day following earnings release gained ground tuesday nov 8 stock returned 32 oneyear period tuesday significantly outpacing sampp 500s 42 return lithium industrys two big publicly traded players albemarle corporation nyse alband sociedad quimica minera de chile sqm performed even better returning 66 59 respectively period largely lithium makes bigger portion two companies total revenue fmcs lithium business accounted 87 revenue quarter albemarles lithium products accounted 254 revenue reported q3 results monday sqm reports thanksgiving eve nov 23 advertisement data source fmc corpyoy year year agricultural solutions revenue declined primarily lower sales volume market weakness product rationalization offset partially price increases earnings increased better pricing positive foreign exchange offset partially lower sales volumes higher costs health nutritions revenue earnings declined largely lower revenue omega3 business timing sales certain pharmaceutical customers asia europe fmcs omega3 business manufactures highpurity omega3 fatty acid concentrates used nutraceuticals pharmaceuticals food ceo pierre brondeau said analyst conference call company see notable improvement respect oversupply omega3 market said company damagecontrol mode business rather expecting growth said overall segment rebounding solidly last year 52 yearoveryear earnings growth shows lithium segments revenue earnings soared thanks higher prices improved product mix lower operating costs part resulting devaluation argentinean peso fmcs internal source lithium salar del hombre muerto argentina owns salar adried lakebed underground reservoir mineralcontaining brine size contribution drivers yearoveryear earnings growth shown chart instance higher prices companys lithium products combined improved product mix contributed 12 million earnings compared yearago period image source fmc corp fmcs lithium strategy focus highervalue downstream specialty products company vertically integrated produces lithium carbonate lithium chloride extracts brine refines carbonate various lithium products including lithium hydroxide lithium metals brondeau said press release based lithium segments performance date 2016 expected q4 performancefmc corp increased guidance fullyear 2016 adjusted eps 006 midpoint range 276 286 midpoint represents yearoveryear growth 138 heres companys full outlook q4 fullyear 2016 image source fmc corp ag solutions operating margin outlook 2016 17 18 low compared expected operating margins two segments largely due 2015 acquisition cheminova helping fmc create global business providing direct access european markets helping expand global fungicide business prior acquisition ag solutions consistently delivered operating margins 20 25 fmc making solid progress goal returning margins level expanded segments operating margin 600 basis points quarter 10 stocks like better fmc investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe ten best stocks opens new window investors buy right fmc wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns november 7 2016 beth mckenna opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares albemarle try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 583 |
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<p>Photo: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshuggett/8843421384/" type="external">Ross Huggett</a>, Flickr.</p>
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<p>Social Security is a big deal, as it generates much of many retirees' income. Thus, as you plan for how you will get by in retirement, be sure to learn more about Social Security -- how to maximize the money you'll get from it and how to steer clear of blunders. Following are three top Social Security mistakes you can avoid.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSelena/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Selena Maranjian</a>: One big Social Security mistake to avoid is assuming that your Social Security benefits will be enough -- or close to enough -- to support you in retirement. It's true that they do largely support many people, but that's often not in the most comfortable fashion. To be precise, per the Social Security Administration (SSA) itself, "Social Security is the major source of income for most of the elderly." About 90% of those 65 or older collect Social Security benefits, which represent about 39% of elderly people's income. Clearly, lots of people are receiving ample income from other sources in retirement, but the majority of elderly beneficiaries get 50% or more of their income from Social Security, while 22% of married elderly beneficiaries and 47% of unmarried ones get fully 90% or more of their income from Social Security.</p>
<p>So how much, exactly, are these folks collecting, and how much might you expect to collect? Well, as of a few months ago, the average monthly retirement benefit was $1,344, which comes to $16,128 per year. That probably won't seem like sufficient retirement income to you, but remember that if you received higher-than-average earnings during your working career, you'll collect higher-than-average benefits. Still -- there's a limit to those, too. The overall maximum monthly Social Security benefit for those retiring at their full retirement age was recently $2,639 -- or about $32,000 for the whole year, which is likely still not seeming like a princely sum to you. Want more? Delay starting to collect benefits until age 70, and the maximum (for 2016) is $3,576, or nearly $49,000 annually.</p>
<p>If the numbers above don't alarm you either because they seem sufficient or because you know you will have plenty of retirement income coming in from other sources, that's good. But if they have you worried, you can take steps now to better your financial condition. Save more aggressively and invest more effectively (perhaps moving more long-term money into the overall stock market instead of accepting what is likely to be slower growth in CDs or bonds). Take advantage of tax-advantaged retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s. Consider delaying retirement for a few years if need be, or taking a second job temporarily. Approach retirement with a good plan for how you'll meet your financial needs.</p>
<p>Avoid wrong moves with Social Security. Image: Pixabay.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Dan Caplinger</a>: One mistake that many older Americans make in their rush to file for Social Security benefits as early as possible is not considering the impact of work income on what they receive from the Social Security Administration. Under current law, if you haven't reached full retirement age and earn above a certain amount of income from a job, then the SSA will make you forfeit a portion of your benefits. For 2016, the relevant limit for someone who won't reach full retirement age this year is $15,720, and the SSA will take away $1 in annual benefits for every $2 you earn above that amount during the year. A higher threshold of $41,880 applies to those reaching full retirement age in 2016. They'll lose $1 for every $3 they make above that limit.</p>
<p>What this means is that if you're still working full-time at a high-paying job and hope to take Social Security to supplement your income, filing early won't necessarily give you any benefits at all. If you forfeit all of your benefits for a given month, the SSA treats you as if you had filed for benefits a month later, giving you credit for waiting the extra month and slightly increasing your future monthly payments. However, it's easier just to forego filing in the first place if you anticipate having a large portion of your benefits taken away.</p>
<p>:One of the most easily avoided mistakes you can make when it comes to Social Security is waiting past age 70 to start claiming benefits. You can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits at any time once you reach age 62. The longer you wait to get started between age 62 and 70, the higher your monthly benefit will be. If you wait past age 70, however, your benefit stops growing, and there's no benefit for further delay.</p>
<p>If you're still working past age 70 or have another decent source of income such as a pension or investments, it's true that up to 85% of your Social Security benefit may be subject to income tax. Still, it's better to get that income and lose some of it to taxes than to get none of that income at all. So if you're age 70 or better and haven't yet claimed your Social Security benefit, go ahead and sign up today.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/05/02/3-top-social-security-mistakes-you-can-avoid.aspx" type="external">3 Top Social Security Mistakes You Can Avoid</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
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<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | true | 0 | photo ross huggett flickr continue reading social security big deal generates much many retirees income thus plan get retirement sure learn social security maximize money youll get steer clear blunders following three top social security mistakes avoid selena maranjian one big social security mistake avoid assuming social security benefits enough close enough support retirement true largely support many people thats often comfortable fashion precise per social security administration ssa social security major source income elderly 90 65 older collect social security benefits represent 39 elderly peoples income clearly lots people receiving ample income sources retirement majority elderly beneficiaries get 50 income social security 22 married elderly beneficiaries 47 unmarried ones get fully 90 income social security much exactly folks collecting much might expect collect well months ago average monthly retirement benefit 1344 comes 16128 per year probably wont seem like sufficient retirement income remember received higherthanaverage earnings working career youll collect higherthanaverage benefits still theres limit overall maximum monthly social security benefit retiring full retirement age recently 2639 32000 whole year likely still seeming like princely sum want delay starting collect benefits age 70 maximum 2016 3576 nearly 49000 annually numbers dont alarm either seem sufficient know plenty retirement income coming sources thats good worried take steps better financial condition save aggressively invest effectively perhaps moving longterm money overall stock market instead accepting likely slower growth cds bonds take advantage taxadvantaged retirement accounts iras 401ks consider delaying retirement years need taking second job temporarily approach retirement good plan youll meet financial needs avoid wrong moves social security image pixabay advertisement dan caplinger one mistake many older americans make rush file social security benefits early possible considering impact work income receive social security administration current law havent reached full retirement age earn certain amount income job ssa make forfeit portion benefits 2016 relevant limit someone wont reach full retirement age year 15720 ssa take away 1 annual benefits every 2 earn amount year higher threshold 41880 applies reaching full retirement age 2016 theyll lose 1 every 3 make limit means youre still working fulltime highpaying job hope take social security supplement income filing early wont necessarily give benefits forfeit benefits given month ssa treats filed benefits month later giving credit waiting extra month slightly increasing future monthly payments however easier forego filing first place anticipate large portion benefits taken away one easily avoided mistakes make comes social security waiting past age 70 start claiming benefits start receiving social security retirement benefits time reach age 62 longer wait get started age 62 70 higher monthly benefit wait past age 70 however benefit stops growing theres benefit delay youre still working past age 70 another decent source income pension investments true 85 social security benefit may subject income tax still better get income lose taxes get none income youre age 70 better havent yet claimed social security benefit go ahead sign today article 3 top social security mistakes avoid originally appeared foolcom try foolish newsletter services free 30 days fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy | 525 |
<p>Shares of Baozun (NASDAQ: BZUN) plunged 17% on Nov. 22 after the e-commerce solutions provider reported its third quarter earnings. That decline was surprising, since Baozun's headline numbers looked solid.</p>
<p>Its revenue rose&#160;19% annually to 890.2 million yuan ($133.8 million), beating expectations by $1.65 million. Its non-GAAP net income grew 25% to 35.1 million yuan ($5.3 million), or 0.59 yuan ($0.09) per ADS, which also topped estimates by a penny.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>So why did Baozun drop so much after that report? Let's dig deeper into the positive and negative points to find out.</p>
<p>Baozun provides retailers with digital storefronts with bundled marketing, customer, fulfillment, and IT services -- making it a "one-stop shop" for digitizing a business. This makes it a smart play on the booming&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/22/jdcom-tencent-and-wal-mart-join-forces-against-ali.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=35cc33da-d0d6-11e7-b73a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Chinese e-commerce market Opens a New Window.</a>, which could grow from $750 billion in 2016 to&#160;$1.7 trillion by 2020, according to Goldman Sachs.</p>
<p>Baozun brings major brands like&#160;Starbucks and Nike to China, and holds partnerships with top e-commerce players Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD). Alibaba is also one of Baozun's biggest investors.</p>
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<p>During the third quarter, Baozun's total number of brand partners rose 15% to 146. Its gross merchandise volume (GMV), or the value of all goods sold on the platform, rose 71% annually.</p>
<p>Baozun has been pivoting away from a distribution model, in which it takes ownership of the inventory that is sold, toward a non-distribution model, in which vendors sell goods directly to customers.</p>
<p>Baozun's non-distribution GMV rose 93% annually to 3.56 billion yuan ($540 million) during the quarter, while its distribution GMV dipped 2% to 546 million yuan ($83 million). That shift lifted its service revenues, which accounted for nearly half of its top line, by 55% annually.</p>
<p>Its non-GAAP operating margin expanded 50 basis points annually to 4.6%, while its GAAP operating margin rose 10 basis points to 3.1%. That improvement was impressive, since Baozun's total operating expenses jumped 19% annually due to higher investments in the expansion of its Shopdog platform with new cloud, analytics, and IT services.</p>
<p>Baozun's guidance for 17%-20% sales growth for the fourth quarter also compared favorably to analyst expectations for 17% growth. For the full year, analysts expect Baozun's revenue and non-GAAP earnings to respectively rise 22% and 106%.</p>
<p>Those numbers look solid, but Baozun's 19% sales growth in the third quarter also marks its slowest growth rate since its IPO in 2015. As its top line growth decelerates and its operating expenses rise, its earnings growth could also fade.</p>
<p>Baozun's cash burn rate is also troubling. Its cash and equivalents dropped from 917 million yuan ($139 million) at the end of 2016 to just 148 million yuan ($22 million) last quarter, mostly due to investments in new features and its cloud ecosystem.</p>
<p>Baozun's stock also remains richly valued after rallying 145% this year. Its trailing P/E of 91 is almost double the industry average of 46 for specialty retailers. So the stock was priced for perfection, but Baozun disappointed investors with its decelerating sales growth, dwindling cash flows, and high valuations.</p>
<p>I believe that Baozun is a "best in breed" player that controls a growing niche market in the crowded Chinese e-commerce space. I also believe that with the support of major brands and marketplaces like Alibaba and JD.com, Baozun will remain the first stop for offline retailers looking to build an online presence.</p>
<p>But I'm also concerned about Baozun's slowing revenue growth amid much higher sales&#160;growth figures from Alibaba and&#160;JD.com over the past few quarters. This indicates that more sellers might be directly setting up shop on Alibaba's Tmall or JD.com, or opening up their own direct-to-consumer channels, without Baozun's help.</p>
<p>I think Baozun still a <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/06/heres-why-the-best-is-yet-to-come-for-baozun-inc.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=35cc33da-d0d6-11e7-b73a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">good speculative play Opens a New Window.</a>, since its growth could accelerate again after its cloud investments pay off, but more risk-averse investors should probably stick with well-established e-commerce leaders like Alibaba instead.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than BaozunWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=13954e1e-3898-41b0-83c2-0adb8a7070f3&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=35cc33da-d0d6-11e7-b73a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Baozun wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=35cc33da-d0d6-11e7-b73a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Baozun. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends JD.com, Nike, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=35cc33da-d0d6-11e7-b73a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | shares baozun nasdaq bzun plunged 17 nov 22 ecommerce solutions provider reported third quarter earnings decline surprising since baozuns headline numbers looked solid revenue rose16019 annually 8902 million yuan 1338 million beating expectations 165 million nongaap net income grew 25 351 million yuan 53 million 059 yuan 009 per ads also topped estimates penny continue reading baozun drop much report lets dig deeper positive negative points find baozun provides retailers digital storefronts bundled marketing customer fulfillment services making onestop shop digitizing business makes smart play booming160 chinese ecommerce market opens new window could grow 750 billion 2016 to16017 trillion 2020 according goldman sachs baozun brings major brands like160starbucks nike china holds partnerships top ecommerce players alibaba nyse baba jdcom nasdaq jd alibaba also one baozuns biggest investors advertisement third quarter baozuns total number brand partners rose 15 146 gross merchandise volume gmv value goods sold platform rose 71 annually baozun pivoting away distribution model takes ownership inventory sold toward nondistribution model vendors sell goods directly customers baozuns nondistribution gmv rose 93 annually 356 billion yuan 540 million quarter distribution gmv dipped 2 546 million yuan 83 million shift lifted service revenues accounted nearly half top line 55 annually nongaap operating margin expanded 50 basis points annually 46 gaap operating margin rose 10 basis points 31 improvement impressive since baozuns total operating expenses jumped 19 annually due higher investments expansion shopdog platform new cloud analytics services baozuns guidance 1720 sales growth fourth quarter also compared favorably analyst expectations 17 growth full year analysts expect baozuns revenue nongaap earnings respectively rise 22 106 numbers look solid baozuns 19 sales growth third quarter also marks slowest growth rate since ipo 2015 top line growth decelerates operating expenses rise earnings growth could also fade baozuns cash burn rate also troubling cash equivalents dropped 917 million yuan 139 million end 2016 148 million yuan 22 million last quarter mostly due investments new features cloud ecosystem baozuns stock also remains richly valued rallying 145 year trailing pe 91 almost double industry average 46 specialty retailers stock priced perfection baozun disappointed investors decelerating sales growth dwindling cash flows high valuations believe baozun best breed player controls growing niche market crowded chinese ecommerce space also believe support major brands marketplaces like alibaba jdcom baozun remain first stop offline retailers looking build online presence im also concerned baozuns slowing revenue growth amid much higher sales160growth figures alibaba and160jdcom past quarters indicates sellers might directly setting shop alibabas tmall jdcom opening directtoconsumer channels without baozuns help think baozun still good speculative play opens new window since growth could accelerate cloud investments pay riskaverse investors probably stick wellestablished ecommerce leaders like alibaba instead 10 stocks like better baozunwhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right baozun wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns november 6 2017 leo sun opens new window owns shares baozun motley fool owns shares recommends jdcom nike starbucks motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 524 |
<p />
<p>2016 was another great year to have money in the markets. The Nasdaq 100 Index rose by 6%, while the S&amp;P 500 andDow Jones both ended the year up by double-digits. Those are solid returns over any twelve-month stretch of time.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Of course, while the indexes themselves did quite well, a handful of individual stocks put up truly stellar performances. Here's a look at the 10 best stocks that are listed on the Nasdaq and a quick summary of what they did that got shareholders so excited last year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/Login.aspx" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Last year's biggest winner (by far) wasWins Finance Holding Group. Although this company is headquartered in New York City, its main business is providing financing to small and medium enterprises in China. The company acts primarily as aguarantor for customers seeking credit facilities to help grow their business operations.</p>
<p>While China is a massive country that provides Wins Finances with plenty of room to grow, it is unclear what caused the company's massive spike at the end of 2016. However, what is clear is that the company's huge run has greatly stretched its valuation. Shares trade for more than 200 times sales and nearly 18 times book value. If Wins' operations don't grow substantially from here, it wouldn't surprise me to see this rocketship come falling back to earth, which it's begun to do in 2017.</p>
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<p>Corbus Pharmaceuticals saw its stock soar on impressivephase 2 clinical data for its systemic sclerosis drug Resunab. The trial showed that patients who used Resunab experienced <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/14/why-corbus-pharmaceuticals-holdings-inc-skyrockete.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a meaningful benefit Opens a New Window.</a> when compared to the placebo group. That result also suggest that Resunab could be useful in treating other autoimmune diseases like lupus, cystic fibrosis, anddermatomyositis.</p>
<p>Image Source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>CoLucid Pharmaceuticals' stock was another rocket ship that soared on the back of encouraging clinical results. Data from a late-stage trial showed the company's lead drug, lasmiditan, was able to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/15/why-colucid-pharmaceuticals-soared-as-much-as-18-o.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">meet both itsprimary and secondary endpoints Opens a New Window.</a> in treating acute migraines. Both doses of the company's drug lead to a statistically significant reduction in headache pain at the two-hour mark when compared to the placebo. The results suggest that CoLucid could have a billion dollar winner on its hands.</p>
<p>NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices both had breakout years thanks to each company producing a steady series of earnings releases that managed to top the market's expectations. In addition, both companies announced brand-new architecturesthat ignited investors' enthusiasm.</p>
<p>AMD's launch of its Polaris series has shareholders buzzing that a turnaround is finally in the cards. Analysts appear to agree with that assessment, since they are projecting that the company will crank out a profit in 2017. If true, that would be a great reversal from the years of losses that this company's shareholders have had to suffer through.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, NVIDIA's Pascal graphics cards are selling like hotcakes, and the company's data center business <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/11/nvidia-stock-rockets-higher-after-blockbuster-earn.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">is on fire Opens a New Window.</a>. Mix in investors' bullishness about the company's connection to driverless cars and virtual reality and it is easy tounderstand why shares outperformed in 2016.</p>
<p>Given the surprise election of Donald Trump, it is no surprise to see an energy company made it onto this list. Westmoreland Coal's stock soared in the aftermath of the election, which makes sense given Trump's calls to revive the coal industry. While it is still unclear what the long-term future holds for the coal industry, thus far Westmoreland has held up better than its peers thanks to its focus on owningmines that are right next door to its customers. That allows the company to minimize transportation costs, which keeps its prices low. If Trump can help the industry to rebound, then this company's future might not be nearly as bleak as was previously though.</p>
<p>Spartan Motors, a maker ofspecialty vehicles and parts, saw its stock climb on a number of key announcements. The company launched its new S-180 line of fire trucks, initiated a dividend, and produced its first units as part of its strategic agreement with General Motors and Isuzu. Mix in triple-digit growth in earnings that greatly surprised on the upside and it is easy to understand why shares were parabolic.</p>
<p>Career Education is another company that stunned market watchers in 2016 with impressive earnings results.This for-profit higher education company was able to produce a profit in three of its last four quarterly reports thanks to a renewed focused on student retention and outcomes. Those efforts are leading to gains in student enrollment, which in turn are causing revenue and profits to rise.</p>
<p>Image Source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>RMR Group, a provider of business and property management services to real estate companies, saw its shares rise throughout 2016 thanks to continued strong execution. The company's customers continue to build out their empires, providing RMR with an ever growing base of properties to manage. That allowed the company's revenue and net income to consistently grow throughout the year, which drove the company's share price higher.</p>
<p>Finally, investors bid up shares of Hudson Technologies' after the company announced that it had won a five-year contract to supplycompressed gasses, cylinders, and related items to theDepartment of Defense. The deal could be worth up to $400 million, which is a massive number for a company that only did $79 million in business in all of 2015.</p>
<p>Will any of these companies be able to keep their momentum going heading into 2017? While there's no telling what the future holds, I'm a firm believer that winners tend to keep on winning. That could make this group of stocks a fine starting point for further research.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Nvidia When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=bfacdab0-282c-4eec-8cc3-20c563134601&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Nvidia wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=bfacdab0-282c-4eec-8cc3-20c563134601&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned.Like this article? Follow him onTwitter where he goes by the handle <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianFeroldi" type="external">@BrianFeroldi Opens a New Window.</a>or connect with him on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-feroldi-mba-46370a5" type="external">LinkedIn Opens a New Window.</a> to see more articles like this.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | 2016 another great year money markets nasdaq 100 index rose 6 sampp 500 anddow jones ended year doubledigits solid returns twelvemonth stretch time continue reading course indexes quite well handful individual stocks put truly stellar performances heres look 10 best stocks listed nasdaq quick summary got shareholders excited last year source sampp global market intelligence opens new window last years biggest winner far waswins finance holding group although company headquartered new york city main business providing financing small medium enterprises china company acts primarily aguarantor customers seeking credit facilities help grow business operations china massive country provides wins finances plenty room grow unclear caused companys massive spike end 2016 however clear companys huge run greatly stretched valuation shares trade 200 times sales nearly 18 times book value wins operations dont grow substantially wouldnt surprise see rocketship come falling back earth begun 2017 advertisement corbus pharmaceuticals saw stock soar impressivephase 2 clinical data systemic sclerosis drug resunab trial showed patients used resunab experienced meaningful benefit opens new window compared placebo group result also suggest resunab could useful treating autoimmune diseases like lupus cystic fibrosis anddermatomyositis image source getty images colucid pharmaceuticals stock another rocket ship soared back encouraging clinical results data latestage trial showed companys lead drug lasmiditan able meet itsprimary secondary endpoints opens new window treating acute migraines doses companys drug lead statistically significant reduction headache pain twohour mark compared placebo results suggest colucid could billion dollar winner hands nvidia advanced micro devices breakout years thanks company producing steady series earnings releases managed top markets expectations addition companies announced brandnew architecturesthat ignited investors enthusiasm amds launch polaris series shareholders buzzing turnaround finally cards analysts appear agree assessment since projecting company crank profit 2017 true would great reversal years losses companys shareholders suffer meanwhile nvidias pascal graphics cards selling like hotcakes companys data center business fire opens new window mix investors bullishness companys connection driverless cars virtual reality easy tounderstand shares outperformed 2016 given surprise election donald trump surprise see energy company made onto list westmoreland coals stock soared aftermath election makes sense given trumps calls revive coal industry still unclear longterm future holds coal industry thus far westmoreland held better peers thanks focus owningmines right next door customers allows company minimize transportation costs keeps prices low trump help industry rebound companys future might nearly bleak previously though spartan motors maker ofspecialty vehicles parts saw stock climb number key announcements company launched new s180 line fire trucks initiated dividend produced first units part strategic agreement general motors isuzu mix tripledigit growth earnings greatly surprised upside easy understand shares parabolic career education another company stunned market watchers 2016 impressive earnings resultsthis forprofit higher education company able produce profit three last four quarterly reports thanks renewed focused student retention outcomes efforts leading gains student enrollment turn causing revenue profits rise image source getty images rmr group provider business property management services real estate companies saw shares rise throughout 2016 thanks continued strong execution companys customers continue build empires providing rmr ever growing base properties manage allowed companys revenue net income consistently grow throughout year drove companys share price higher finally investors bid shares hudson technologies company announced fiveyear contract supplycompressed gasses cylinders related items thedepartment defense deal could worth 400 million massive number company 79 million business 2015 companies able keep momentum going heading 2017 theres telling future holds im firm believer winners tend keep winning could make group stocks fine starting point research 10 stocks like better nvidia investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right nvidia wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns january 4 2017 brian feroldi opens new window position stocks mentionedlike article follow ontwitter goes handle brianferoldi opens new windowor connect linkedin opens new window see articles like motley fool owns shares recommends nvidia motley fool recommends general motors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 673 |
<p />
<p>Image source: General Electric.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The past three months haven't been kind toGeneral Electric(NYSE: GE) or its industrial conglomerate peers:</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/HON" type="external">HON</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>One silver lining isUnited Technologies(NYSE: UTX), which is in positive territory just by the hair of its chinny-chin-chin. Another is that at least all of those stocks are beating the S&amp;P 500's dismal performance.</p>
<p>A third silver lining is that when stock prices drop, dividend yields rise. So the current yields for these manufacturing titansand the rest are all higher than they were three months ago, but that's probably not enough of an incentive to buy.</p>
<p>Where things stand now <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/19/3-industrial-dividends-that-should-be-on-your-rada.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">In December Opens a New Window.</a>, all four of these companies had payout ratios higher than the S&amp;P 500's. As of the first of March, most of the yields had edged upward, but not by much:</p>
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<p>Source: Google Finance.</p>
<p>As expected, most of the yields have seen slight gains because of the modest drops in their stock prices. But the gains aren't that pronounced. Ultimately, a company's stock price would have to drop quite a bit to make an appreciable difference in the dividend yield. These small changes don't fundamentally change the dividend thesis for any of these companies. Both the stock prices and dividend yields of all four are outperforming the S&amp;P, another good sign for investors.</p>
<p>What's up aheadGeneral Electric and Honeywell have been very clear about their upcoming dividend plans.</p>
<p>In his recent letter to shareholders, GE CEO Jeff Immelt reiterated the company's plan to return $26 billion to shareholders in 2016. About $8 billion will come in the form of dividends, while an additional $18 billion will result from share buybacks and repurchases.</p>
<p>GE has frozen its dividend for the time being to focus on its ongoing divestiture of its former GE Capital assets, but the shareholder value created by its share buybacks will more than make up for the freeze. In his letter, Immelt made the further commitment to return $100 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends between 2015 and 2018. That's up from the $90 billion he was promising last year. Whether this increase reflects increased confidence by Immelt about the company's current plans or represents an additional commitment he's willing to make to shareholders, it's welcome news.</p>
<p>Honeywell CEO David Cote has made a commitment to shareholders, too. Cote's 2014-2018 five-year plan has called for the company to grow its dividend faster than it grows earnings.Cote has executed this plan as promised, and investors can expect further dividend increases as the year progresses. Since Honeywell's dividend yield is the smallest of the four, this rapid dividend growth is an essential part of the thesis for investing in the company.</p>
<p>History in the makingEmerson Electric and United Technologies have been less clear about their overall dividend plans, but if history is any guide, they will continue their long streak of dividend increases. United Technologies has raised its dividend every year since 1994, and Emerson Electric has done so since 1956. Even given the current economic climate, it's unlikely that either company would end that history of dividend increases now.</p>
<p>United Technologies recently completed the sale of its Sikorsky aircraft unit toLockheed Martinfor $9 billion. United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes pledged to use $6 billion of the sale to repurchase shares. He'd be unlikely to make such a promise if he was contemplating a dividend freeze -- otherwise he'd use the money to up the dividend.</p>
<p>Emerson Electric has been hit hard by falling oil prices, which could put the dividend at risk. But its status as a Dividend Aristocrat -- a company that has annually raised its dividend for 25 years or more -- is one of its major selling points. Indeed, the board of directors has already voted to increase the company's dividend for the first quarter of 2016 to an annualized $1.90 per share, making 2016 its 60th consecutive year of dividend increases.</p>
<p>In his letter to shareholders, Emerson CEO Dave Farr pointed out that the company returned $3.8 billion to shareholders in 2015, with $2.5 billion in share repurchases and $1.3 billion in dividends. He anticipates the total 2016 payout to be smaller -- just $1.8 billion to $2.5 billion -- and hasn't broken out those numbers. But these numbers indicate the dividend is secure.</p>
<p>The takeaway for dividend investorsAll four of these industrial conglomerates pays a dividend higher than the S&amp;P 500's, and the prospects for dividend growth look positive.</p>
<p>Honeywell's dividend yield is currently the lowest, but it's also the only one of the four that has pledged to grow it faster than earnings. Even though GE's is frozen for the time being, it plans to offer share buybacks to supplement the dividend. Emerson and United Technologies are poised to continue their long histories of dividend increases. Dividend investors should still feel secure that these companies are safe places to park their money.</p>
<p>The events of the past few months have barely changed those dividends, and haven't changed the thesis for investing in any of these companies. So while now is perhaps a slightly more favorable time to buy in to each of these dividend payers, it's not a now-or-never proposition.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/24/is-general-electric-still-a-good-dividend-play-in.aspx" type="external">Is General Electric Still a Good Dividend Play in 2016? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Truth2Power/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">John Bromels Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company. The Motley Fool recommends Emerson Electric. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source general electric continue reading past three months havent kind togeneral electricnyse ge industrial conglomerate peers hon data ycharts opens new window one silver lining isunited technologiesnyse utx positive territory hair chinnychinchin another least stocks beating sampp 500s dismal performance third silver lining stock prices drop dividend yields rise current yields manufacturing titansand rest higher three months ago thats probably enough incentive buy things stand december opens new window four companies payout ratios higher sampp 500s first march yields edged upward much advertisement source google finance expected yields seen slight gains modest drops stock prices gains arent pronounced ultimately companys stock price would drop quite bit make appreciable difference dividend yield small changes dont fundamentally change dividend thesis companies stock prices dividend yields four outperforming sampp another good sign investors whats aheadgeneral electric honeywell clear upcoming dividend plans recent letter shareholders ge ceo jeff immelt reiterated companys plan return 26 billion shareholders 2016 8 billion come form dividends additional 18 billion result share buybacks repurchases ge frozen dividend time focus ongoing divestiture former ge capital assets shareholder value created share buybacks make freeze letter immelt made commitment return 100 billion shareholders share repurchases dividends 2015 2018 thats 90 billion promising last year whether increase reflects increased confidence immelt companys current plans represents additional commitment hes willing make shareholders welcome news honeywell ceo david cote made commitment shareholders cotes 20142018 fiveyear plan called company grow dividend faster grows earningscote executed plan promised investors expect dividend increases year progresses since honeywells dividend yield smallest four rapid dividend growth essential part thesis investing company history makingemerson electric united technologies less clear overall dividend plans history guide continue long streak dividend increases united technologies raised dividend every year since 1994 emerson electric done since 1956 even given current economic climate unlikely either company would end history dividend increases united technologies recently completed sale sikorsky aircraft unit tolockheed martinfor 9 billion united technologies ceo greg hayes pledged use 6 billion sale repurchase shares hed unlikely make promise contemplating dividend freeze otherwise hed use money dividend emerson electric hit hard falling oil prices could put dividend risk status dividend aristocrat company annually raised dividend 25 years one major selling points indeed board directors already voted increase companys dividend first quarter 2016 annualized 190 per share making 2016 60th consecutive year dividend increases letter shareholders emerson ceo dave farr pointed company returned 38 billion shareholders 2015 25 billion share repurchases 13 billion dividends anticipates total 2016 payout smaller 18 billion 25 billion hasnt broken numbers numbers indicate dividend secure takeaway dividend investorsall four industrial conglomerates pays dividend higher sampp 500s prospects dividend growth look positive honeywells dividend yield currently lowest also one four pledged grow faster earnings even though ges frozen time plans offer share buybacks supplement dividend emerson united technologies poised continue long histories dividend increases dividend investors still feel secure companies safe places park money events past months barely changed dividends havent changed thesis investing companies perhaps slightly favorable time buy dividend payers nowornever proposition article general electric still good dividend play 2016 opens new window originally appeared foolcom john bromels opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares general electric company motley fool recommends emerson electric try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 583 |
<p>Rev. Al Sharpton is apparently facing some anxieties about President Barack Obama's pending departure, namely that he's worried about becoming a nobody.</p>
<p>In a lengthy <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/03/al-sharpton-civil-rights-politics" type="external">Vanity Fair</a> profile, Sharpton's expresses concern that when Obama leaves office, "There is not even the symbol of a black family walking out of the White House every day, going to Air Force One. I worry that the despair and emotions on the ground escalate."</p>
<p>But most importantly to Sharpton, he can't fathom the idea of that all the progressive agenda items Obama has advanced could be undone with a new president, which would make Sharpton feel worthless: (emphasis bolded)</p>
<p>Sharpton worries that people don’t see the danger looming in November. “If we get the wrong Supreme Court justice, and the wrong president to stack that court—voting rights, affirmative action, the criminal-justice reform that Holder started, all that is gone. Roe versus Wade? Same-sex marriage? Gone. This is a real moment. This is time to put on your big-boy, big-girl pants, ‘cuz you’re dealing with some craziness.</p>
<p>“I take it personally,” he says. “I get up in the morning worried about that. I go to sleep at night worried. Everything that everybody told you all your adult life that I would never be, I was able to do personally. The rest of my life is about bigger things. Nobody in the world would have believed I would have access to the White House, access to MSNBC, and still have a movement that people come out to. So I got no Al Sharpton points to prove. It all means nothing if we lose voting rights and immigration rights and can’t deal with policing. I mean, nothing. I’ll be just another guy who got known.”</p>
<p>In other words, everything that Sharpton has fought for his whole life would be gone if a Republican wins the White House in November. But the only thing Sharpton has fought for is for various ways to enrich themselves in the race hustling industry.</p>
<p>To their credit, Vanity Fair does discuss the Tawana Brawley incident, where Brawley, then a 15 year-old girl, concocted an elaborate alibi of being abducted and rape by a gang of white men. The Brawley affair was a precursor to race hoaxes occurring on college campuses, as Brawley conjured the fictional to avoid the rage of her stepfather for staying out with her boyfriend too late. But Sharpton turned the affair into an "unbelievable, theatrical performance that went on for months and months," according to Dan Zegart, who covered the incident for a local newspaper. <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/03/al-sharpton-s-long-bill-of-goods-from-tawana-brawley-to-primetime.html" type="external">The Daily Beast</a>'s Stuart Stevens has more details on Sharpton's role in the Brawley hoax:</p>
<p>A trio of increasingly prominent, and radical, New York City black activists represented her and her family: attorneys Alton Maddox and C. Vernon Mason and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Brawley told them said that a cop had been one of her attackers, and Sharpton named that officer as Harry Crist Jr., a police officer from a nearby town who had committed suicide shortly after Brawley was found. Sharpton also named a local prosecutor, Steven Pagones, as one of the attackers. He offered no proof.</p>
<p>Gov. Mario Cuomo dispatched a veteran prosecutor, Jack Ryan, to handle the case. Brawley and her advisers refused to cooperate in any way with Ryan and his team. “That was the decision of the lawyers,” Sharpton says defensively in the Times interview. When asked why Brawley’s team would not meet with New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, Sharpton said it would be “like asking someone who watched someone killed in the gas chamber to sit down with Mr. Hitler.” Sharpton later accused Ryan of kicking a blind man in a scuffle with demonstrators. Ryan was nowhere near the scene.</p>
<p>Despite the grand jury ruling against her, <a href="https://pjmedia.com/blog/revisiting-tawana-brawley-and-al-sharpton/2/" type="external">Brawley continues to stick to her bogus lie,</a> and Sharpton has refused to apologize for his role in perpetuating the hoax.</p>
<p>“If I say I’m sorry I believed them, then I am sorry I believe Eric Garner, and I’m sorry I believe Michael Brown," Sharpton told Vanity Fair. "I mean: what are you supposed to say?"</p>
<p>Vanity Fair didn't mention one despicable event that Sharpton incited: the Crown Heights riots. Stevens explains:</p>
<p>Sharpton was a key player inflaming the 1991 Crown Heights riots following the death of a young African-American who was hit by an ambulance driven by a Hasidic driver. Sharpton called Jews “diamond merchants” with “the blood of innocent babies” on their hands. A mob subsequently attacked and murdered an innocent Hasidic Jewish student visiting from Australia. (Twenty-five years later, he wrote a mealy-mouthed not-quite apology for his rhetoric.)</p>
<p>A few years later, an African-American Pentecostal church asked a Jewish tenant of a church-owned property, Freddie Fashion’s Mart, to evict one of his subtenants, an African-American-run record store. Sharpton led protests crying, “We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.” One of the protesters attacked Freddie Fashion Mart, shot several customers, and started a fire that killed seven employees.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Sharpton continues to live the high life with close access to the Obama administration as well as the administration of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, while <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/11/19/lessons-from-rev-al-sharptons-4-5-million-tax-bill/#3a9504d76699" type="external">he avoids paying $4.5 million in federal and state taxes</a> and benefits from providing racial agitation over the deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, etc. In fact, Garner's daughter, Erica Snipes, <a href="https://nypost.com/2015/02/24/eric-garners-daughter-on-al-sharpton-hes-all-about-the-money/" type="external">admitted on camera</a> that Sharpton sole focus is money. Sharpton and his apologists have roared that the video was taken out of context, but the context is actually quite clear in the video.</p>
<p>Sharpton has warned that if real estate mogul Donald Trump is elected president, <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/al-sharpton-might-get-out-of-here-if-trump-wins/article/2584260" type="external">he might leave the country.</a> That would be a silver lining to a Trump presidency.</p> | true | 0 | rev al sharpton apparently facing anxieties president barack obamas pending departure namely hes worried becoming nobody lengthy vanity fair profile sharptons expresses concern obama leaves office even symbol black family walking white house every day going air force one worry despair emotions ground escalate importantly sharpton cant fathom idea progressive agenda items obama advanced could undone new president would make sharpton feel worthless emphasis bolded sharpton worries people dont see danger looming november get wrong supreme court justice wrong president stack courtvoting rights affirmative action criminaljustice reform holder started gone roe versus wade samesex marriage gone real moment time put bigboy biggirl pants cuz youre dealing craziness take personally says get morning worried go sleep night worried everything everybody told adult life would never able personally rest life bigger things nobody world would believed would access white house access msnbc still movement people come got al sharpton points prove means nothing lose voting rights immigration rights cant deal policing mean nothing ill another guy got known words everything sharpton fought whole life would gone republican wins white house november thing sharpton fought various ways enrich race hustling industry credit vanity fair discuss tawana brawley incident brawley 15 yearold girl concocted elaborate alibi abducted rape gang white men brawley affair precursor race hoaxes occurring college campuses brawley conjured fictional avoid rage stepfather staying boyfriend late sharpton turned affair unbelievable theatrical performance went months months according dan zegart covered incident local newspaper daily beasts stuart stevens details sharptons role brawley hoax trio increasingly prominent radical new york city black activists represented family attorneys alton maddox c vernon mason rev al sharpton brawley told said cop one attackers sharpton named officer harry crist jr police officer nearby town committed suicide shortly brawley found sharpton also named local prosecutor steven pagones one attackers offered proof gov mario cuomo dispatched veteran prosecutor jack ryan handle case brawley advisers refused cooperate way ryan team decision lawyers sharpton says defensively times interview asked brawleys team would meet new york state attorney general robert abrams sharpton said would like asking someone watched someone killed gas chamber sit mr hitler sharpton later accused ryan kicking blind man scuffle demonstrators ryan nowhere near scene despite grand jury ruling brawley continues stick bogus lie sharpton refused apologize role perpetuating hoax say im sorry believed sorry believe eric garner im sorry believe michael brown sharpton told vanity fair mean supposed say vanity fair didnt mention one despicable event sharpton incited crown heights riots stevens explains sharpton key player inflaming 1991 crown heights riots following death young africanamerican hit ambulance driven hasidic driver sharpton called jews diamond merchants blood innocent babies hands mob subsequently attacked murdered innocent hasidic jewish student visiting australia twentyfive years later wrote mealymouthed notquite apology rhetoric years later africanamerican pentecostal church asked jewish tenant churchowned property freddie fashions mart evict one subtenants africanamericanrun record store sharpton led protests crying stand allow move brother white interloper expand business one protesters attacked freddie fashion mart shot several customers started fire killed seven employees meanwhile sharpton continues live high life close access obama administration well administration new york city mayor bill de blasio avoids paying 45 million federal state taxes benefits providing racial agitation deaths michael brown trayvon martin freddie gray etc fact garners daughter erica snipes admitted camera sharpton sole focus money sharpton apologists roared video taken context context actually quite clear video sharpton warned real estate mogul donald trump elected president might leave country would silver lining trump presidency | 579 |
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<p>The job market has changed and whether it's better or worse depends a lot on your training and the type of work you do. Image source: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/andjohan/" type="external">Andreas Klinke Johannsen, Flickr. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have very different takes on the state of the job market in the United States.</p>
<p>One believes that progress has been made over the last eight years while the other would dispute that. How most Americans feels depends at least in part on their own situation. Someone unemployed or underemployed might tend to agree with Trump, while someone who found work during the Barack Obama administration would probably lean toward Clinton's point of view.</p>
<p>In reality, though, while you can debate the health of the job market, a new report from the Pew Research Center, complied in association with the Markle Foundation, shows that there are some cold, hard facts people from both sides of the aisle can agree on. Whether it's getting better or worse, the U.S. job market has changed. The <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/10/06/the-state-of-american-jobs/" type="external">Pew report Opens a New Window.</a>, which analyzed government jobs data, found that "for the past several decades, employment has been rising faster in jobs requiring higher levels of preparation -- that is, more education, training and experience."</p>
<p>In addition, the number of workers in occupations requiring average to above-average education, training, and experience has increased from 49 million in 1980 to 83 million in 2015. That's a 68% increase, Pew said, more than double the 31% increase during the same time period (from 50 million to 65 million) in jobs requiring below-average education, training and experience.</p>
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<p>Pew conducted a survey nationwide from May 25 to June 29, 2016, among 5,006 U.S. adults (including 3,096 employed adults).</p>
<p>Over half of those surveyed (54%) agreed that "it will be essential for them to get training and develop new skills throughout their work life in order to keep up with changes in the workplace." Also, 35% of workers, including 27% who have at least a bachelor's degree, said "they don't have the education and training they need to get ahead at work," Pew reported.</p>
<p>To combat that, 45% of employed adults said they got extra training to improve their job skills in the past 12 months, the survey reported.</p>
<p>It's also worth noting that 72% of those surveyed believe they hold personal responsibility to make sure that they have the right skills and education to be successful in today's economy. But while accepting their role in the process, 60% of those asked "believe public K-12 schools should bear a lot of responsibility for this."</p>
<p>Perhaps most notably, the Pew research also found that many Americans think the current system of higher education does not properly prepare people for work. Just 16% of those surveyed think that a four-year degree "prepares students very well for a well-paying job in today's economy."</p>
<p>"Eight-in-ten adults say increased outsourcing of jobs to other countries hurts American workers, and roughly the same share (77%) say having more foreign-made products sold in the U.S. has been harmful," reported Pew.</p>
<p>Furthermore, 57% of workers believe that the use of contract and temporary workers has hurt the U.S. job market while 49% believe that problems have been caused by declining union membership.</p>
<p>Counter to some of the political rhetoric that suggests American workers have seen wages decline, that's not what the Pew data show.</p>
<p>"The average hourly wage, adjusted for inflation, increased from $19 in 1990 to $22 in 2015, or 16% in 25 years," Pew found.</p>
<p>The research did show that the nature of work has changed, with jobs requiring higher levels of social or analytical skills generally paying more than those requiring higher physical or manual skills. The pay gap between manual and analytical jobs has also grown over the years.</p>
<p>"The average hourly wage of workers in jobs requiring higher levels of analytical skills increased from $23 in 1990 to $27 in 2015, or 19%. And the average wages of workers in jobs requiring higher levels of social skills increased from $22 to $26 over that time period (15%)," Pew noted. "In the meantime, the average hourly wage of workers in jobs in which physical skills are important increased only 7%, from $16 in 1990 to $18 in 2015"</p>
<p>In looking at the data, it's easy to see why there's a political divide when it comes to answering the question "How is the job market?" Workers in jobs requiring physical skills have seen more outsourcing and lower wage increases than those in fields demanding social or analytical skills. In addition, workers across the board have questions about whether the U.S. education system adequately prepares them, and many workers see an increased need to keep training or studying in order to get ahead.</p>
<p>But while this research shows a level of worry about aspects of the job market, it's worth noting that the majority of those surveyed were confident in their job security.</p>
<p>"Today, 60% of employed Americans say it is not at all likely that they will lose their job or be laid off in the next 12 months. An additional 28% say it is not too likely," Pew reported.</p>
<p>And it's also important to point out that while underemployment or job dissatisfaction remains, most people are at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs.</p>
<p>"Overall, 49% of American workers say they are very satisfied with their current job,"while 30% are somewhat satisfied,Pew said. Only 9% are somewhat dissatisfied while 6% are very dissatisfied.</p>
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<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | job market changed whether better worse depends lot training type work image source andreas klinke johannsen flickr opens new window continue reading hillary clinton donald trump different takes state job market united states one believes progress made last eight years would dispute americans feels depends least part situation someone unemployed underemployed might tend agree trump someone found work barack obama administration would probably lean toward clintons point view reality though debate health job market new report pew research center complied association markle foundation shows cold hard facts people sides aisle agree whether getting better worse us job market changed pew report opens new window analyzed government jobs data found past several decades employment rising faster jobs requiring higher levels preparation education training experience addition number workers occupations requiring average aboveaverage education training experience increased 49 million 1980 83 million 2015 thats 68 increase pew said double 31 increase time period 50 million 65 million jobs requiring belowaverage education training experience advertisement pew conducted survey nationwide may 25 june 29 2016 among 5006 us adults including 3096 employed adults half surveyed 54 agreed essential get training develop new skills throughout work life order keep changes workplace also 35 workers including 27 least bachelors degree said dont education training need get ahead work pew reported combat 45 employed adults said got extra training improve job skills past 12 months survey reported also worth noting 72 surveyed believe hold personal responsibility make sure right skills education successful todays economy accepting role process 60 asked believe public k12 schools bear lot responsibility perhaps notably pew research also found many americans think current system higher education properly prepare people work 16 surveyed think fouryear degree prepares students well wellpaying job todays economy eightinten adults say increased outsourcing jobs countries hurts american workers roughly share 77 say foreignmade products sold us harmful reported pew furthermore 57 workers believe use contract temporary workers hurt us job market 49 believe problems caused declining union membership counter political rhetoric suggests american workers seen wages decline thats pew data show average hourly wage adjusted inflation increased 19 1990 22 2015 16 25 years pew found research show nature work changed jobs requiring higher levels social analytical skills generally paying requiring higher physical manual skills pay gap manual analytical jobs also grown years average hourly wage workers jobs requiring higher levels analytical skills increased 23 1990 27 2015 19 average wages workers jobs requiring higher levels social skills increased 22 26 time period 15 pew noted meantime average hourly wage workers jobs physical skills important increased 7 16 1990 18 2015 looking data easy see theres political divide comes answering question job market workers jobs requiring physical skills seen outsourcing lower wage increases fields demanding social analytical skills addition workers across board questions whether us education system adequately prepares many workers see increased need keep training studying order get ahead research shows level worry aspects job market worth noting majority surveyed confident job security today 60 employed americans say likely lose job laid next 12 months additional 28 say likely pew reported also important point underemployment job dissatisfaction remains people least somewhat satisfied jobs overall 49 american workers say satisfied current jobwhile 30 somewhat satisfiedpew said 9 somewhat dissatisfied 6 dissatisfied secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 616 |
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<p>If the various professional sports leagues in the United States, along with their broadcast partners, offered an over-the-top streaming package heavy on live games, a new study shows consumers would pay for it.</p>
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<p>Research from The Center for the Digital Future (CDF) at USC Annenberg and ThePostGame showed that 86% of Americans consider themselves sports fans, with 24% describing themselves as "intense" fans, according to the findings of <a href="http://www.thepostgame.com/center-digital-future-usc-annenberg-changing-sports-fan-behavior-media-advertising" type="external">#Score 16 Opens a New Window.</a>. In addition, almost 90% of those self-identified fans follow more than one team or more than one sport. In fact, the study found that even among those who are not sports fans, one-third say they follow more than one team.</p>
<p>Those are some big numbers, but the biggest might be that 63% of sports fans would be interested in paying for an all-sports over-the-top subscription channel should someone create one, said <a href="http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/sports-fans-might-pay-over-top-games/156493" type="external">Broadcast &amp; Cable Opens a New Window.</a> in a post of its own about CDF/ThePostGame data. Among families with children, the number rises to 70%, suggesting that such a service could be a cable killer, but actually launching one comes with some major hurdles.</p>
<p>"Sports continues to gain importance among all content -- in some cases, it is the only must-see live content left," said CDF founder Jeffrey I. Cole in a <a href="http://www.thepostgame.com/center-digital-future-usc-annenberg-changing-sports-fan-behavior-media-advertising" type="external">press release Opens a New Window.</a> touting the survey results. CDF is a research and policy institute within the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.</p>
<p>It is exactly what Cole said that makes creating a comprehensive over-the-top streaming sports service such a challenge. The National Football League (NFL), for example, has deals with FOX , CBS ,Comcast's NBC, and Walt Disney's ESPN. That group pays a combined $6 billion or so for NFL rights each season covering Sunday and Monday games. Add in in another $1.5 billion per year from AT&amp;T's DirecTV for its Sunday Ticket package along with the $450 million NBC and CBS will each pay to share a new Thursday night package and you can see that protecting the status quo for financial reasons sits as the main barrier to creating an over-the-top streaming service.</p>
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<p>It's a smaller issue for the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Hockey League (NHL), but with billions at stake from traditional broadcast partners, every league is going to tread lightly when it comes to taking away exclusivity from existing broadcast partners.</p>
<p>Live sports keeps people from cutting the cord because only traditional cable offers the full package of sports content.</p>
<p>Disney's ESPN is offered as part ofDISH Network's Sling TVOTT streaming service, which does give subscribers access to Monday Night Football, its selection of MLB games, and NBA games, along with a ton of live college sports. Sling also offers TBS, which has an NBA deal as well. In addition to Sling, a $20-a -onth service, sports fans could also sign up for CBS All Access. That $5.99-a-month OTT offer has some live sports -- like golf and college basketball -- but NFL games are blacked out due to rights issues.</p>
<p>In addition to those two choices, consumers can also get sport- or team-specific packages from some of the leagues. The NFL has no cord-cutting option. You can get access to all the games through DirecTV's Sunday Ticket, but that is not a stand-alone or a streaming service. The NBA offers something called League Pass, which lets members stream games, but to be a member you need a valid cable subscription.</p>
<p>The NHL offers a true streaming service that does not require a cable subscription, but it blacks out local games. That makes it an option for fans of a team other than the one where they live, but not a cord-cutting option for someone who likes the local squad. Major League Baseball offers a similar service through its MLB.TV, which also stops fans from following the team from their market.</p>
<p>While there are some sports streaming options, it's impossible to cut the cord and get everything a fan would want. Specifically, while a cord-cutter might get nationally televised games through ESPN on Sling, it would be impossible to follow your local team on TV without a traditional pay-television subscription.</p>
<p>The NBA Finals are on ABC, not ESPN, so fans need a cable subscription to watch. Image source: ESPN.</p>
<p>Currently, sports fans have no viable cord-cutting option that gives them a similar menu of sports as a cable subscription. That's very different than fans of entertainment programming, who can watch nearly all network shows through streaming services, many as soon as 24 hours after they air.</p>
<p>The CDF survey makes it clear that a clear majority of sports fans would pay for a streaming sports package. It also found that people ages 25-34 would be willing to "pay more" for streaming sports than they do as part of a cable package and 29% of the age group even said they would watch sports streamed live from a mobile phone.</p>
<p>Sports programming may well be the last barrier keeping consumers tethered to their traditional cable subscription. If a true streaming package were to emerge featuring the majority of live sports offered on cable as well as local games (often shown on regional cable networks) it's reasonable to think people -- younger ones especially -- would cut the cord.</p>
<p>But, because Disney, CBS, FOX, and NBC (Comcast) have paid so much for sports rights, they have no financial incentive to create such packages. Big cable, especially Comcast, has no reason to want to push people toward cheaper streaming alternatives and the sports leagues are not likely to bite the hand that feeds them anytime soon. That's why even though a comprehensive live-streaming sports package might be a cable killer and people would probably buy it, you're not likely to see one in the near future.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/19/a-streaming-live-sports-service-could-be-a-cable-k.aspx" type="external">A Streaming Live Sports Service Could Be a Cable Killer Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Dankline/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Daniel Kline Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. He has no intention of cutting the cord because, what if he misses something? The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | various professional sports leagues united states along broadcast partners offered overthetop streaming package heavy live games new study shows consumers would pay continue reading research center digital future cdf usc annenberg thepostgame showed 86 americans consider sports fans 24 describing intense fans according findings score 16 opens new window addition almost 90 selfidentified fans follow one team one sport fact study found even among sports fans onethird say follow one team big numbers biggest might 63 sports fans would interested paying allsports overthetop subscription channel someone create one said broadcast amp cable opens new window post cdfthepostgame data among families children number rises 70 suggesting service could cable killer actually launching one comes major hurdles sports continues gain importance among content cases mustsee live content left said cdf founder jeffrey cole press release opens new window touting survey results cdf research policy institute within usc annenberg school communication journalism exactly cole said makes creating comprehensive overthetop streaming sports service challenge national football league nfl example deals fox cbs comcasts nbc walt disneys espn group pays combined 6 billion nfl rights season covering sunday monday games add another 15 billion per year atampts directv sunday ticket package along 450 million nbc cbs pay share new thursday night package see protecting status quo financial reasons sits main barrier creating overthetop streaming service advertisement smaller issue national basketball association nba major league baseball mlb national hockey league nhl billions stake traditional broadcast partners every league going tread lightly comes taking away exclusivity existing broadcast partners live sports keeps people cutting cord traditional cable offers full package sports content disneys espn offered part ofdish networks sling tvott streaming service give subscribers access monday night football selection mlb games nba games along ton live college sports sling also offers tbs nba deal well addition sling 20a onth service sports fans could also sign cbs access 599amonth ott offer live sports like golf college basketball nfl games blacked due rights issues addition two choices consumers also get sport teamspecific packages leagues nfl cordcutting option get access games directvs sunday ticket standalone streaming service nba offers something called league pass lets members stream games member need valid cable subscription nhl offers true streaming service require cable subscription blacks local games makes option fans team one live cordcutting option someone likes local squad major league baseball offers similar service mlbtv also stops fans following team market sports streaming options impossible cut cord get everything fan would want specifically cordcutter might get nationally televised games espn sling would impossible follow local team tv without traditional paytelevision subscription nba finals abc espn fans need cable subscription watch image source espn currently sports fans viable cordcutting option gives similar menu sports cable subscription thats different fans entertainment programming watch nearly network shows streaming services many soon 24 hours air cdf survey makes clear clear majority sports fans would pay streaming sports package also found people ages 2534 would willing pay streaming sports part cable package 29 age group even said would watch sports streamed live mobile phone sports programming may well last barrier keeping consumers tethered traditional cable subscription true streaming package emerge featuring majority live sports offered cable well local games often shown regional cable networks reasonable think people younger ones especially would cut cord disney cbs fox nbc comcast paid much sports rights financial incentive create packages big cable especially comcast reason want push people toward cheaper streaming alternatives sports leagues likely bite hand feeds anytime soon thats even though comprehensive livestreaming sports package might cable killer people would probably buy youre likely see one near future article streaming live sports service could cable killer opens new window originally appeared foolcom daniel kline opens new window position stocks mentioned intention cutting cord misses something motley fool owns shares recommends walt disney try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 680 |
<p>Jeff Immelt used an empty second private jet to fly while he was CEO of GE. FBN's Liz MacDonald with more.</p>
<p>John Flannery, the leader of General Electric Co. for just 2 1/2 months, has already begun dismantling the legacy of his predecessor, including the planes.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For much of Jeff Immelt's 16-year run atop one of the world's largest conglomerates, an empty business jet followed his GE-owned plane on some trips to destinations around the world, according to people familiar with the matter. The two jets sometimes parked far apart so they wouldn't attract attention, and flight crews were told to not openly discuss the empty plane, the people said.</p>
<p>The second plane was a spare in case Mr. Immelt's jet had mechanical problems. A GE spokeswoman said that "two planes were used on limited occasions for business-critical or security purposes." Mr. Immelt didn't respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>When Mr. Flannery took over on Aug. 1, one of his first belt-tightening moves was to ground GE's entire fleet of six business jets, and that's just the beginning.</p>
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<p>Next month, Mr. Flannery is expected to unveil the results of a strategic review that includes thousands of corporate-level job cuts and scaling back of GE's global structure, people familiar with the matter said.</p>
<p>The new CEO is shutting down research centers in Shanghai, Munich and Rio de Janeiro, shifting some of their engineering work into individual business units, the people said. The retrenchment will leave GE, which spent more than $5 billion on research and development last year, with just two global research sites, located in Niskayuna, N.Y., and Bangalore, India.</p>
<p>Asked about the looming changes, the GE spokeswoman said: "The company will continue to have an intense focus on our global operations and customer base," noting that the company gets 70% of its revenue from outside the U.S.</p>
<p>The company is expected to report quarterly results on Friday that include hefty restructuring charges related to the changes, according to analysts.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery, a GE lifer who is 56 years old, made clear when he was named Mr. Immelt's successor that he was open to wrenching changes. Some of the restructuring moves under way suggest the company could be in worse shape than many outsiders previously thought.</p>
<p>GE is under intense pressure to cut costs and end a stock-price slide that includes a decline of more than 25% this year, erasing nearly $80 billion in value. At the same time, the broader stock market has hit records.</p>
<p>Investors are bracing for the Boston company to cut profit forecasts and possibly reduce its dividend, despite promises by GE that the payout is safe. "The dividend remains a top priority," the GE spokeswoman said.</p>
<p>Martin Sankey, a senior research analyst at mutual-fund giant Neuberger Berman who has followed GE since the 1980s, said it "has gone off the rails" in managing costs. The mutual-fund firm owns about 2.4 million shares of GE, according to a spokesman.</p>
<p>Profit margins at GE's business segments are close to competitors in those sectors, Mr. Sankey said, but the consolidated margins of the entire company lag behind other conglomerates. GE's gross margin was 21.3% last year, compared with 29.9% at Siemens AG and 27.9% at United Technologies Corp.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery has told people there are "no sacred cows" in his strategic review. GE has operations in more than 180 countries and is one of the biggest makers of jet engines, power-plant turbines and MRI machines. He made a similar vow several years ago when he led the deal-making team that moved to shrink GE Capital and sell GE Appliances. He spent most of his career in GE's finance unit and took over GE Healthcare in 2014.</p>
<p>"Good intentions and hard work count for something -- but in the end the only real scorecard is what were the results of all that," he wrote in a letter to employees on his first day as CEO. Including dividends, GE's stock gained 8.2% with Mr. Immelt at the helm, compared with a 213% rise in the S&amp;P 500.</p>
<p>In March, Mr. Immelt pledged to cut $2 billion from the company's annual industrial expenses over two years, while tying part of executive bonuses to that target. It was a concession to activist investor Trian Fund Management LP, which bought a large stake in GE in 2015 and grew frustrated with the company's turnaround progress.</p>
<p>Until his departure, Mr. Immelt continued to invest in marketing and digital efforts, hiring thousands of software programmers in recent years. He announced plans to relocate GE's headquarters to Boston from Fairfield, Conn., partly to be closer to younger workers and software talent.</p>
<p>After taking over, Mr. Flannery delayed part of the headquarters project, a futuristic, 12-story glass tower on the Boston waterfront with a veil of solar panels on its roof. Earlier this month, he agreed to give a Trian executive one of GE's board seats rather than risk losing a proxy fight.</p>
<p>Trian's representative hasn't attended a board meeting yet, and Trian has had no direct say in the moves by the new CEO, according to people familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>In recent weeks, when the heads of GE's major businesses presented their 2018 budget plans and projections, Mr. Flannery sent some executives back to redo the numbers with deeper cuts, said people familiar with the process. Three top lieutenants to Mr. Immelt are leaving at year's end.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery recently told people at GE headquarters the company will be more open about its problems and that his turnaround efforts will be best measured by the company's share price.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery has been answering employee questions in an internal video that goes out every Friday. He recently responded to a question about top executives getting company cars by disclosing that he was killing the program, according to people familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>The perk was started by Jack Welch, who ran the company for two decades, and benefited about 125 executives. Under his successor, Mr. Immelt, the company-car program was extended to roughly 700 executives.</p>
<p>GE's new chief also is canceling an annual three-day, invitation-only retreat to the Boca Raton Resort &amp; Club, a networking event for GE leaders scattered around the globe, who spent afternoons in Florida golfing and fishing, people familiar with the matter said. On the final evening, the CEO doled sought-after internal awards.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery plans to replace the event with a slimmed-down version in January in Boston, which will be attended by fewer participants. Besides saving money, a former GE executive said, the winter event will deliver a message from the new boss: "There's no time for sunshine."</p>
<p>--Ted Mann contributed to this article.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 18, 2017 15:24 ET (19:24 GMT)</p> | true | 0 | jeff immelt used empty second private jet fly ceo ge fbns liz macdonald john flannery leader general electric co 2 12 months already begun dismantling legacy predecessor including planes continue reading much jeff immelts 16year run atop one worlds largest conglomerates empty business jet followed geowned plane trips destinations around world according people familiar matter two jets sometimes parked far apart wouldnt attract attention flight crews told openly discuss empty plane people said second plane spare case mr immelts jet mechanical problems ge spokeswoman said two planes used limited occasions businesscritical security purposes mr immelt didnt respond requests comment mr flannery took aug 1 one first belttightening moves ground ges entire fleet six business jets thats beginning advertisement next month mr flannery expected unveil results strategic review includes thousands corporatelevel job cuts scaling back ges global structure people familiar matter said new ceo shutting research centers shanghai munich rio de janeiro shifting engineering work individual business units people said retrenchment leave ge spent 5 billion research development last year two global research sites located niskayuna ny bangalore india asked looming changes ge spokeswoman said company continue intense focus global operations customer base noting company gets 70 revenue outside us company expected report quarterly results friday include hefty restructuring charges related changes according analysts mr flannery ge lifer 56 years old made clear named mr immelts successor open wrenching changes restructuring moves way suggest company could worse shape many outsiders previously thought ge intense pressure cut costs end stockprice slide includes decline 25 year erasing nearly 80 billion value time broader stock market hit records investors bracing boston company cut profit forecasts possibly reduce dividend despite promises ge payout safe dividend remains top priority ge spokeswoman said martin sankey senior research analyst mutualfund giant neuberger berman followed ge since 1980s said gone rails managing costs mutualfund firm owns 24 million shares ge according spokesman profit margins ges business segments close competitors sectors mr sankey said consolidated margins entire company lag behind conglomerates ges gross margin 213 last year compared 299 siemens ag 279 united technologies corp mr flannery told people sacred cows strategic review ge operations 180 countries one biggest makers jet engines powerplant turbines mri machines made similar vow several years ago led dealmaking team moved shrink ge capital sell ge appliances spent career ges finance unit took ge healthcare 2014 good intentions hard work count something end real scorecard results wrote letter employees first day ceo including dividends ges stock gained 82 mr immelt helm compared 213 rise sampp 500 march mr immelt pledged cut 2 billion companys annual industrial expenses two years tying part executive bonuses target concession activist investor trian fund management lp bought large stake ge 2015 grew frustrated companys turnaround progress departure mr immelt continued invest marketing digital efforts hiring thousands software programmers recent years announced plans relocate ges headquarters boston fairfield conn partly closer younger workers software talent taking mr flannery delayed part headquarters project futuristic 12story glass tower boston waterfront veil solar panels roof earlier month agreed give trian executive one ges board seats rather risk losing proxy fight trians representative hasnt attended board meeting yet trian direct say moves new ceo according people familiar matter recent weeks heads ges major businesses presented 2018 budget plans projections mr flannery sent executives back redo numbers deeper cuts said people familiar process three top lieutenants mr immelt leaving years end mr flannery recently told people ge headquarters company open problems turnaround efforts best measured companys share price mr flannery answering employee questions internal video goes every friday recently responded question top executives getting company cars disclosing killing program according people familiar matter perk started jack welch ran company two decades benefited 125 executives successor mr immelt companycar program extended roughly 700 executives ges new chief also canceling annual threeday invitationonly retreat boca raton resort amp club networking event ge leaders scattered around globe spent afternoons florida golfing fishing people familiar matter said final evening ceo doled soughtafter internal awards mr flannery plans replace event slimmeddown version january boston attended fewer participants besides saving money former ge executive said winter event deliver message new boss theres time sunshine ted mann contributed article end dow jones newswires october 18 2017 1524 et 1924 gmt | 707 |
<p>Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) is the leading maker of <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/26/an-investing-overview-of-the-multiple-sclerosis-ma.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">medicine used to treat multiple sclerosis Opens a New Window.</a>. However, new drugs from Roche Holdings (NASDAQOTH: RHHBY) and Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) threaten its dominance and add pressure to the company to diversify itself.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In March, Roche Holdings earned an FDA green light to begin marketing Ocrevus, a new MS therapy approved for use both in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS).</p>
<p>When the FDA approved this breakthrough-status therapy drug, it became the first drug to notch approval that's shown efficacy in both RMS and PPMS. Ocrevus' potential to help patients across the MS spectrum is welcome because MS can result in progressively worse symptoms, including muscle weakness, blurred vision, and numbness.</p>
<p>There are about 2.3 million people living with MS globally, and typically, MS is diagnosed when patients are in their 20s and 30s. A chronic illness, MS requires a lifetime of treatment, and the large patient pool and lifelong treatment translates into billions of dollars in annual sales.</p>
<p>Teva Pharmaceutical's Copaxone is the most-prescribed MS therapy, yet it's Biogen that holds the crown for taking in the largest amount in MS drug sales. Biogen markets the top-selling oral MS drug, Tecfidera, as well as the commonly used MS drugs, Avonex, Tysabri, and Plegridy. In 2016, Tecfidera's market share was 19%, and it's sales totaled nearly $4 billion. Tysabri's market share was 9.4%, and its sales were $2 billion. Overall, Biogen's MS sales were $8.7 billion in 2016.</p>
<p>Ocrevus, however, threatens those sales. An intravenous infusion&#160;therapy that only needs to be taken once every six months, Ocrevus has a dosing advantage that's attractive to many patients who currently get injected biweekly or monthly with Biogen's drugs.&#160;Ocrevus works in both PPMS and RMS patients, or roughly 90% of MS patients, and that's something Biogen's drugs can't claim.</p>
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<p>its safety profile is also attractive. Biogen's Tysabri and Tecfidera have been associated with a rare brain disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), and so far, there haven't been any PML cases reported in Ocrevus patients.</p>
<p>In addition, Ocrevus is cheaper than Biogen's drugs. Overall, MS drug prices have increased 400% over the past 12 years, and they can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year. Instead of charging premium prices, however,&#160;Ocrevus hit the market with a price that's about 25% lower than its competitors. Two annual infusions will set insurers back $65,000 per year, before discounts,&#160;and that's far less expensive than other competing MS therapies.</p>
<p>Ocrevus' balance of efficacy, safety, and price is turning it into a top seller. In Q2 2017, its first quarter on the market, Ocrevus sales were nearly $200 million. That makes it hard to imagine Ocrevus won't be a multibillion-dollar blockbuster drug. If so, then&#160;a good chunk of its sales will probably come at Biogen's expense. Peak sales estimates should always be viewed with skepticism, but industry watchers think Ocrevus sales could eclipse $4 billion per year by 2022.</p>
<p>Celgene's ozanimod has delivered Avonex-beating performance in two separate phase 3 trials, and that has Celgene planning to file for ozanimod's FDA approval later this year. If Celgene hits its filing goal, then ozanimod could begin competing against Biogen for MS market share as soon as next year.</p>
<p>Unlike, Ocrevus, ozanimod is an oral drug taken daily like Tecfidera. The convenience of oral drugs has made them the fastest growing MS drug over the past five years, and currently, Tecfidera is the market-share leading oral MS drug.</p>
<p>In its trials, ozanimod, a selective SP1 inhibitor, not only <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/23/heres-why-celgenes-latest-drug-is-so-exciting.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">delivered top-notch efficacy Opens a New Window.</a>, but it also did so with arguably best-in-class safety that could make it the preferred choice for patients newly diagnosed with RMS. The safety results suggest that ozanimod could be a better option than Tecfidera and Gilenya, another oral MS drug with $3 billion in sales last year. Gilenya targets SP1 with less selectivity than ozanimod, and Gilenya is associated with cardiovascular risks and kidney toxicity that haven't yet been associated with ozanimod.</p>
<p>Gilenya's market share would probably be at greatest risk following an ozanimod green light, however, if doctors' real-world experience with ozanimod proves positive, than Tecfiera could also lose ground, especially if Celgene prices it at a discount as Roche did with Ocrevus.</p>
<p>Ocrevus doesn't leave Biogen totally out in the cold. Because Roche licensed Ocrevus from Biogen, it pays Biogen royalties equal to about 30% of its sales. However, that only insulates Biogen partially from the threat to its market share.</p>
<p>Add the risk of ozanimod into the mix, and you've got a lot of uncertainty associated with Biogen's current product lineup, which increases the stakes for Biogen's R&amp;D team. Biogen continues to invest big money into developing new drugs, and efforts to&#160;expand itself beyond MS into other indications, such as Alzheimer's disease, could pan out. However, that's not a certainty, because&#160;99% of Alzheimer's disease drugs that have been studied in clinical trials have failed to make it to market.</p>
<p>Overall, Biogen remains a biotechnology leader, but it's got some question marks that should make investors cautious.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than BiogenWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ca0babc1-6291-4255-a2ce-d956eadc9dc3&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Biogen wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ca0babc1-6291-4255-a2ce-d956eadc9dc3&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSpiffyPop/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">David Gardner Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFEBCapital/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Todd Campbell Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Celgene. His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned.&#160; <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTomGardner/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Tom Gardner Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Biogen and Celgene. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff165b8e-8749-11e7-8ad9-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | biogen nasdaq biib leading maker medicine used treat multiple sclerosis opens new window however new drugs roche holdings nasdaqoth rhhby celgene corp nasdaq celg threaten dominance add pressure company diversify continue reading march roche holdings earned fda green light begin marketing ocrevus new ms therapy approved use relapsing multiple sclerosis rms primary progressive multiple sclerosis ppms fda approved breakthroughstatus therapy drug became first drug notch approval thats shown efficacy rms ppms ocrevus potential help patients across ms spectrum welcome ms result progressively worse symptoms including muscle weakness blurred vision numbness 23 million people living ms globally typically ms diagnosed patients 20s 30s chronic illness ms requires lifetime treatment large patient pool lifelong treatment translates billions dollars annual sales teva pharmaceuticals copaxone mostprescribed ms therapy yet biogen holds crown taking largest amount ms drug sales biogen markets topselling oral ms drug tecfidera well commonly used ms drugs avonex tysabri plegridy 2016 tecfideras market share 19 sales totaled nearly 4 billion tysabris market share 94 sales 2 billion overall biogens ms sales 87 billion 2016 ocrevus however threatens sales intravenous infusion160therapy needs taken every six months ocrevus dosing advantage thats attractive many patients currently get injected biweekly monthly biogens drugs160ocrevus works ppms rms patients roughly 90 ms patients thats something biogens drugs cant claim advertisement safety profile also attractive biogens tysabri tecfidera associated rare brain disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy pml far havent pml cases reported ocrevus patients addition ocrevus cheaper biogens drugs overall ms drug prices increased 400 past 12 years cost tens thousands dollars per year instead charging premium prices however160ocrevus hit market price thats 25 lower competitors two annual infusions set insurers back 65000 per year discounts160and thats far less expensive competing ms therapies ocrevus balance efficacy safety price turning top seller q2 2017 first quarter market ocrevus sales nearly 200 million makes hard imagine ocrevus wont multibilliondollar blockbuster drug then160a good chunk sales probably come biogens expense peak sales estimates always viewed skepticism industry watchers think ocrevus sales could eclipse 4 billion per year 2022 celgenes ozanimod delivered avonexbeating performance two separate phase 3 trials celgene planning file ozanimods fda approval later year celgene hits filing goal ozanimod could begin competing biogen ms market share soon next year unlike ocrevus ozanimod oral drug taken daily like tecfidera convenience oral drugs made fastest growing ms drug past five years currently tecfidera marketshare leading oral ms drug trials ozanimod selective sp1 inhibitor delivered topnotch efficacy opens new window also arguably bestinclass safety could make preferred choice patients newly diagnosed rms safety results suggest ozanimod could better option tecfidera gilenya another oral ms drug 3 billion sales last year gilenya targets sp1 less selectivity ozanimod gilenya associated cardiovascular risks kidney toxicity havent yet associated ozanimod gilenyas market share would probably greatest risk following ozanimod green light however doctors realworld experience ozanimod proves positive tecfiera could also lose ground especially celgene prices discount roche ocrevus ocrevus doesnt leave biogen totally cold roche licensed ocrevus biogen pays biogen royalties equal 30 sales however insulates biogen partially threat market share add risk ozanimod mix youve got lot uncertainty associated biogens current product lineup increases stakes biogens rampd team biogen continues invest big money developing new drugs efforts to160expand beyond ms indications alzheimers disease could pan however thats certainty because16099 alzheimers disease drugs studied clinical trials failed make market overall biogen remains biotechnology leader got question marks make investors cautious 10 stocks like better biogenwhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right biogen wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns august 1 2017 david gardner opens new window position stocks mentioned todd campbell opens new window owns shares celgene clients may positions companies mentioned160 tom gardner opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends biogen celgene motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 667 |
<p />
<p>During his campaign, Donald Trump made dozens of promises that he pledged to keep once in office. Yet, throughout his journey, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, always took precedence.</p>
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<p>Obamacare has, in its own right, been a partial success. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it wound up lowering the uninsured rate in the U.S., inclusive of Medicare patients, from 16% to less than 9%, an all-time low. Unfortunately, Obamacare wasn't a sustainable business model for insurers, and consumers have begun to suffer from substantially higher premium costs. With Trump's victory in November and Republicans retaining control of both houses of Congress, Obamacare's demise was all but etched in stone.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>The big question since Nov. 8 has been what a Republican Obamacare replacement bill would look like. On Monday, March 6, we got that answer.</p>
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<p>While you can read a considerably <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/07/23-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-republican-ob.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">more all-encompassing review Opens a New Window.</a> of what will be changed and what stays the same, here's a bulleted rundown of the most important components.</p>
<p>As noted above, there are additional points, but this should give you a pretty good rundown of the Republican Obamacare replacement bill that could become Trumpcare.</p>
<p>In many respects, the GOP bill is intriguing. It would likely reduce government spending on healthcare, which is a critical component to reducing the federal budget deficit. It would also be a positive for healthier young adults, who would presumably have more choice as insurers would have more freedom to adjust their premiums and deductibles. Under the GOP plan, a 27-year-old earning $40,000 would get a $2,000 annual tax credit, whereas a 27-year-old making $40,000 annually would only net $103 in subsidies under Obamacare, based on a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>However, Trumpcare isn't necessarily an improvement for everyone. Here are three groups that could find themselves on worse footing if the current bill is passed through Congress and signed into law by President Trump.</p>
<p>Arguably the biggest criticism of the Republican Obamacare replacement bill is what it might do, or fail to do, for lower-income individuals and families.</p>
<p>Under the ACA, Medicaid expansion allowed around 11 million low-income people to gain coverage in the 31 states that chose to take federal funds and expand their Medicaid programs. Typically, Medicaid coverage kicks in for those individuals and families at or under 100% of the federal poverty level; the expansion allowed those earning up to 138% of the poverty level to be completely covered as long as their state participated.</p>
<p>Trumpcare is going to end the ability of states to expand their Medicaid programs by 2020, and it's also going to dole out Medicaid funds to states on a per-capita basis. Long story short, states would have to come up with the funding difference if they want current Medicaid enrollees to remain on their plans, or, as is more likely considering the poor financial shape of most state budgets, cuts will need to be made. This will almost certainly mean a reduction in the number of low-income folks who'll qualify for Medicaid.</p>
<p>Also, the tax credits simply may not be enough to coerce certain lower-income people to enroll. The same aforementioned Kaiser Family Foundation study found that a 27-year old and 40-year-old earning $20,000 a year would only get $2,000 and $3,000 in respective tax credits under Trumpcare, but would have received $3,225 and $4,150, respectively, under Obamacare.</p>
<p>Between higher premiums costs and potentially more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits, low-income folks may not be satisfied with the Republican Obamacare replacement plan.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Another group of people that could face a double-whammy are older adults who don't qualify for Medicare (think baby boomers up to age 64).</p>
<p>The biggest concern for boomers is that the Republican ACA replacement plan offers a major concession to insurance companies to help make offering insurance more sustainable. Under the ACA, insurers weren't allowed to charge older adults more than three times as much as younger adults. With Trumpcare, this figure inflates by 67%, so that older adults can now be charged premiums that are up to five times higher than that of younger adults. This move was made because older adults are likely to be sicker and cost insurers more money.</p>
<p>In return, baby boomers just aren't going to be compensated anywhere near what they were under Obamacare. Despite the age-based tax credit max-out at $4,000 for people in their 60s, a low-income senior in their 60s would get nearly $9,900 in annual subsidies under Obamacare according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.</p>
<p>Baby boomers already have a saving problem, and higher healthcare costs aren't going to help their cause one iota.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Finally, the Republican Obamacare replacement bill is probably bad news for folks who live in rural communities.</p>
<p>It's no secret that health insurance premiums can vary wildly based on where you live. Generally speaking, premiums tend to be lower when you live near heavily populated areas since the infrastructure and technology needed to seek and get medical treatment is accessible. Conversely, if you live in Alaska or Wyoming, which are both sparsely populated states relative to their size, health insurance premiums can be considerably higher than the national average. Some specialized treatments could require patients to be flown out of state at the expense of the insurance company.</p>
<p>Under Trumpcare, consumers are going to simply get a flat tax credit based on their age, which isn't going to do much for folks who live in rural communities, who'll likely be charged much more than people who live near bigger cities.</p>
<p>It should be noted that while the Republican replacement bill has been proposed, it, like any other proposal, isn't set in stone. A few conservative Republicans in Congress, along with most Democrats, have already rebuffed some of the components of this replacement bill. We're probably going to see some adjustments made in the weeks to come if it has any chance of making its way to President Trump's desk. It's always possible things could improve for the aforementioned three groups, but I wouldn't hold your breath.</p>
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<p>*StockAdvisor returns as of March 6, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | campaign donald trump made dozens promises pledged keep office yet throughout journey repealing replacing affordable care act aca better known obamacare always took precedence continue reading obamacare right partial success according centers disease control prevention wound lowering uninsured rate us inclusive medicare patients 16 less 9 alltime low unfortunately obamacare wasnt sustainable business model insurers consumers begun suffer substantially higher premium costs trumps victory november republicans retaining control houses congress obamacares demise etched stone image source getty images big question since nov 8 republican obamacare replacement bill would look like monday march 6 got answer advertisement read considerably allencompassing review opens new window changed stays heres bulleted rundown important components noted additional points give pretty good rundown republican obamacare replacement bill could become trumpcare many respects gop bill intriguing would likely reduce government spending healthcare critical component reducing federal budget deficit would also positive healthier young adults would presumably choice insurers would freedom adjust premiums deductibles gop plan 27yearold earning 40000 would get 2000 annual tax credit whereas 27yearold making 40000 annually would net 103 subsidies obamacare based kaiser family foundation analysis image source getty images however trumpcare isnt necessarily improvement everyone three groups could find worse footing current bill passed congress signed law president trump arguably biggest criticism republican obamacare replacement bill might fail lowerincome individuals families aca medicaid expansion allowed around 11 million lowincome people gain coverage 31 states chose take federal funds expand medicaid programs typically medicaid coverage kicks individuals families 100 federal poverty level expansion allowed earning 138 poverty level completely covered long state participated trumpcare going end ability states expand medicaid programs 2020 also going dole medicaid funds states percapita basis long story short states would come funding difference want current medicaid enrollees remain plans likely considering poor financial shape state budgets cuts need made almost certainly mean reduction number lowincome folks wholl qualify medicaid also tax credits simply may enough coerce certain lowerincome people enroll aforementioned kaiser family foundation study found 27year old 40yearold earning 20000 year would get 2000 3000 respective tax credits trumpcare would received 3225 4150 respectively obamacare higher premiums costs potentially outofpocket costs doctor visits lowincome folks may satisfied republican obamacare replacement plan image source getty images another group people could face doublewhammy older adults dont qualify medicare think baby boomers age 64 biggest concern boomers republican aca replacement plan offers major concession insurance companies help make offering insurance sustainable aca insurers werent allowed charge older adults three times much younger adults trumpcare figure inflates 67 older adults charged premiums five times higher younger adults move made older adults likely sicker cost insurers money return baby boomers arent going compensated anywhere near obamacare despite agebased tax credit maxout 4000 people 60s lowincome senior 60s would get nearly 9900 annual subsidies obamacare according kaiser family foundation baby boomers already saving problem higher healthcare costs arent going help cause one iota image source getty images finally republican obamacare replacement bill probably bad news folks live rural communities secret health insurance premiums vary wildly based live generally speaking premiums tend lower live near heavily populated areas since infrastructure technology needed seek get medical treatment accessible conversely live alaska wyoming sparsely populated states relative size health insurance premiums considerably higher national average specialized treatments could require patients flown state expense insurance company trumpcare consumers going simply get flat tax credit based age isnt going much folks live rural communities wholl likely charged much people live near bigger cities noted republican replacement bill proposed like proposal isnt set stone conservative republicans congress along democrats already rebuffed components replacement bill probably going see adjustments made weeks come chance making way president trumps desk always possible things could improve aforementioned three groups wouldnt hold breath 10 stocks like better thanwalmartwhen investing geniuses david tomgardner stock tip pay listen newsletter theyhave run decade motley fool stock 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<p />
<p>Imagine this: Person A’s 401(k) grew by 25% last year. Person B’s 401(k) only grew 10% that same year. Does this mean Person A is the better investor?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Not necessarily.</p>
<p>Battle of the 401(k)s: Mary vs John</p>
<p>Mary, a 28-year-old salesperson, told her father that her 401(k) returned more than 25% in 2013.</p>
<p>“How did you do last year, dad?” she asked.</p>
<p>“We gained 10%,” replied her father John, age 65. “That’s just fine for your mother and I.”</p>
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<p>At first, Mary laughed thinking she was a smarter investor than her dad. But then she remembered a similar conversation she had had with her dad in February 2009. His 401(k) only ticked slightly down in 2008, the year of the biggest stock market crash since the Great Depression. Here account suffered a loss of more than 30%.</p>
<p>Comparing Apples and Oranges</p>
<p>Mary and John’s story underscores an important truth: Comparing your 401(k)’s performance to another plan, which is built around a different set of goals and risk considerations, is like comparing apples and oranges.</p>
<p>Mary is not “doing better” than her father--or vice versa. They are in different life stages with varying timelines and risk tolerances. As a result, they have a different asset allocation in their portfolio.</p>
<p>Both Mary and John need to evaluate their portfolios on their own terms, which is a two-step process. They must do a top-down review of their overall asset allocations, followed by a bottom-up evaluation of the performance of each fund they’ve selected.</p>
<p>Top-Down Review</p>
<p>Diversification adds real, measurable value to portfolio performance. &#160;Individuals’ portfolios should be aligned with their goals and tolerance for risk, and these factors will change as retirement draws near. That’s why Mary and John had such different results in 2008 and 2013.</p>
<p>Mary had a higher allocation to riskier, growth-oriented assets. She has enough years left before leaving the labor market to recover from the risk of a steep downturn. John, who is much closer to retirement, had more safe-haven assets like bonds. That’s why his portfolio returns didn’t suffer as much from the crash of 2008, and why his return was lower in 2013.</p>
<p>When Mary and John conduct a “top-down” review, they should ask themselves: “How did my portfolio as a whole perform?” Then they should see whether or not their portfolio performed in-line with its design. If their allocation no longer fits their circumstances, they can modify their allocation to reflect their new situation.</p>
<p>Bottom-Up Evaluation</p>
<p>A bottom-up evaluation means taking a look at the performance of each fund in a portfolio based on the individual funds in each class.</p>
<p>For example, Mary may have large-cap, small-cap, developed markets, emerging markets, and bond funds. She should compare her individual fund performance to a representative benchmark.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 or the Russell 1000 can serve as a large-cap benchmark. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond index is widely used as a benchmark for bond funds, and Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) runs a wide array of international stock benchmarks. Mary should compare the returns of her funds against those benchmarks.</p>
<p>Mary and John should also look at their “risk-adjusted return,” which represents the types of returns they’re enjoying relative to the risk they’re carrying.</p>
<p>The Sharpe Ratio measures an asset’s return (above a risk-free rate like Treasury bills) divided by its standard deviation (a common measure of risk) for the same period. This is one of the best ways to track “risk-adjusted return.”</p>
<p>If any funds in an asset class are not performing well against the benchmark, it is time to see if there are better options within the 401(k) plan.</p>
<p>No Free Lunch</p>
<p>In investment markets, as in life, there is no free lunch. Investors need to decide how much risk they’re willing to accept in pursuit of a greater return. This trade-off is reflected in both Mary and John’s portfolios.</p>
<p>Mary is right to have a higher slice of risky, growth-oriented assets -- but she will have to endure some bumps along the way.</p>
<p>John also has to make trade-offs. He will start drawing annual income from his 401(k) next year, so he cannot pursue aggressive growth. But he still needs returns that can (at least) outpace inflation, and perhaps enjoy modest growth.</p>
<p>Every person’s 401(k) portfolio performance should reflect their specific situation. It doesn’t matter how a child’s portfolio compares to a parent’s plan or a best friend’s plan, or even a colleague’s plan.</p>
<p>What does matter? Two things: whether or not a portfolio is delivering the mix of growth and income that the owner is targeting, and whether the returns are reasonable, relative to the mix of assets involved.</p>
<p>In short: Investors need to design a portfolio around their goals and risk levels and then make sure they’re getting returns that are aligned with that design.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: The persons and performance figures referred to in this article are fictional. They are for illustrative purposes only and make no representations about actual past, present or future performance opportunities for any actual investment strategies.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jemstep.com/?utm_source=foxbusiness&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_campaign=mistakes" type="external">Jemstep.com Opens a New Window.</a> is the leading online investment advisor that provides unbiased advice on how to best invest and manage your retirement portfolio across all your accounts, including your 401(k). Using patented technology and proven portfolio management methodologies, Jemstep tells users exactly what to buy and sell to make the most of their money taking into account, fees taxes and fund quality. Jemstep’s easy-to-use website takes the complexity, difficulty, and anxiety out of investing. Providing the high-caliber, personalized advice that has traditionally been available only to wealthy investors with assets greater than $5 million, Jemstep empowers all investors to take charge of their retirement planning and invest with confidence. A Registered Investment Advisor with the SEC, Jemstep is led by a team of experts with over 100 years’ combined experience in financial management and technology innovation and development. Learn more at <a href="https://www.jemstep.com/?utm_source=foxbusiness&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_campaign=mistakes" type="external">Jemstep.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | imagine person 401k grew 25 last year person bs 401k grew 10 year mean person better investor continue reading necessarily battle 401ks mary vs john mary 28yearold salesperson told father 401k returned 25 2013 last year dad asked gained 10 replied father john age 65 thats fine mother advertisement first mary laughed thinking smarter investor dad remembered similar conversation dad february 2009 401k ticked slightly 2008 year biggest stock market crash since great depression account suffered loss 30 comparing apples oranges mary johns story underscores important truth comparing 401ks performance another plan built around different set goals risk considerations like comparing apples oranges mary better fatheror vice versa different life stages varying timelines risk tolerances result different asset allocation portfolio mary john need evaluate portfolios terms twostep process must topdown review overall asset allocations followed bottomup evaluation performance fund theyve selected topdown review diversification adds real measurable value portfolio performance 160individuals portfolios aligned goals tolerance risk factors change retirement draws near thats mary john different results 2008 2013 mary higher allocation riskier growthoriented assets enough years left leaving labor market recover risk steep downturn john much closer retirement safehaven assets like bonds thats portfolio returns didnt suffer much crash 2008 return lower 2013 mary john conduct topdown review ask portfolio whole perform see whether portfolio performed inline design allocation longer fits circumstances modify allocation reflect new situation bottomup evaluation bottomup evaluation means taking look performance fund portfolio based individual funds class example mary may largecap smallcap developed markets emerging markets bond funds compare individual fund performance representative benchmark sampp 500 russell 1000 serve largecap benchmark barclays us aggregate bond index widely used benchmark bond funds morgan stanley capital international msci runs wide array international stock benchmarks mary compare returns funds benchmarks mary john also look riskadjusted return represents types returns theyre enjoying relative risk theyre carrying sharpe ratio measures assets return riskfree rate like treasury bills divided standard deviation common measure risk period one best ways track riskadjusted return funds asset class performing well benchmark time see better options within 401k plan free lunch investment markets life free lunch investors need decide much risk theyre willing accept pursuit greater return tradeoff reflected mary johns portfolios mary right higher slice risky growthoriented assets endure bumps along way john also make tradeoffs start drawing annual income 401k next year pursue aggressive growth still needs returns least outpace inflation perhaps enjoy modest growth every persons 401k portfolio performance reflect specific situation doesnt matter childs portfolio compares parents plan best friends plan even colleagues plan matter two things whether portfolio delivering mix growth income owner targeting whether returns reasonable relative mix assets involved short investors need design portfolio around goals risk levels make sure theyre getting returns aligned design disclaimer persons performance figures referred article fictional illustrative purposes make representations actual past present future performance opportunities actual investment strategies jemstepcom opens new window leading online investment advisor provides unbiased advice best invest manage retirement portfolio across accounts including 401k using patented technology proven portfolio management methodologies jemstep tells users exactly buy sell make money taking account fees taxes fund quality jemsteps easytouse website takes complexity difficulty anxiety investing providing highcaliber personalized advice traditionally available wealthy investors assets greater 5 million jemstep empowers investors take charge retirement planning invest confidence registered investment advisor sec jemstep led team experts 100 years combined experience financial management technology innovation development learn jemstepcom opens new window | 567 |
<p />
<p>Last year, the Henry County Health Center in Iowa started providing patients with a cost estimate along with pre-surgery medical advice.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The 25-bed rural hospital in the southwest corner of the state implemented the protocol because of mounting unpaid bills from insured patients, a group that had previously not raised red flags.</p>
<p>Henry County is one of hundreds of U.S. hospitals trying to cope with an unexpected consequence of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, known as Obamacare: millions more Americans have health insurance, but it requires them to spend thousands of dollars before their insurer kicks in a dime.</p>
<p>Since U.S. hospitals do not want to end up footing the bill, they are now experimenting with pre-payment strategies for patients, with a growing number requiring payment before scheduled care and offering no interest loans, according to interviews with more than two dozen hospitals, doctors, patients, lenders and healthcare experts.</p>
<p>“Most patients are appreciative that we’re telling them up front,” said David Muhs, chief financial officer for the Henry County hospital, which provides a discount for early payment. The discussion leads some patients to skip care, others to delay it or use a no interest loans available through the hospital, he said.</p>
<p>The ACA extended insurance to 20 million Americans, which initially helped hospitals begin to shrink debt from uninsured patients who could not pay their medical bills. But more and more, people in Obamacare plans or in employer-based health plans are choosing insurance that features low monthly payments. The trade-off is high out of pocket costs when they need care.</p>
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<p>If President Donald Trump dismantles Obamacare as promised, these plans won't disappear. Republicans also believe high-deductible plans curb spending, and Americans faced with medical costs that rise faster than inflation and wages will look for premiums they can afford.</p>
<p>The trend is expected to accelerate this year because unpaid bills are creating massive bad debt for even the most prestigious medical centers. U.S. hospitals had nearly $36 billion in uncompensated care costs in 2015, according to the industry’s largest trade group, a figure that is largely made up of unpaid patient bills.</p>
<p>The largest publicly-traded hospital chain, HCA Holdings Inc, reported in the fourth quarter of 2016 that its ratio of bad debt to gross revenues of more than $11 billion was 7.5 percent.</p>
<p>One of the first to test this new payment strategy was Novant Health, headquartered in North Carolina with 14 medical centers and hundreds of outpatient and physician facilities. It saw patient debt increase when more local employers started adopting high deductible plans, including one that made its executives pay $10,000 in out-of-pocket expenses.</p>
<p>“To remain financially stable, we had to do something,” said April York, senior director of patient finance at Novant, whose patient default rate dropped to 12 percent from 32 percent after it started offering no interest loans through ClearBalance.</p>
<p>“Patients needed longer to pay. They needed a variety of options,” she said.</p>
<p>IMPACT ON PATIENTS</p>
<p>These prepayment strategies are being rolled out by hospitals across the country because the financial equation has changed so much for patients – even the insured ones.</p>
<p>Almost half of Americans – 45 percent - polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they would have difficulty paying an unexpected $500 medical bill. The average deductible this year for the least expensive of the widely used Obamacare health plans is $6,000 for an individual - an 18 percent spike since 2014 - and more than double that for a family, according to government data.</p>
<p>Jessica Curtis, a senior advisor at Community Catalyst, a consumer advocacy group in Boston, said the impact on patients stretches beyond personal finance.</p>
<p>“They delay procedures, they don’t follow advice on prescription drugs, and when they see care, they usually are for more expensive procedures because they’ve waited,” she said.</p>
<p>Brian Sanderson, managing principal of Crowe Horwath's healthcare services group, said communicating with patients and providing longer repayment options is a good strategy since hospital margins have shrunk, thanks to growing unpaid medical bills from consumers.</p>
<p>“A well informed patient is more likely to meet their obligations,” he said. “It’s just good patient relations and it helps to minimize bad debt.”</p>
<p>Hospitals are doing what they can to retain patients while helping them pay medical bills that could run thousands of dollars. Many are expanding charity eligibility, and hiring companies like ClearBalance, AccessOne and Commerce Bank to provide loans to patients no matter what their credit. Most carry no interest rate for the patient, and could be extended far longer than the few months that hospitals once required before sending a bill to collections.</p>
<p>“People are more likely to pay a bank than a hospital,” said Mark Huebner, director of Health Services Financing at Commerce Bank, which offers its line of credit at more than 200 hospitals.</p>
<p>“People are aware that banks will come after them. Banks do collect on debt, and hospitals generally have been more relaxed,” he said.</p>
<p>Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina had seen its bad debt creep up in recent years as more patients saw out of pocket expenses soar, with some deductibles reaching $15,000.</p>
<p>“We’ve seen that many patients are unaware of the increases in their deductibles,” said CFO Chad Eckes. Wake Forest now asks for payment before non-emergency services are provided but also offers zero interest, longer repayment options.</p>
<p>“It’s a challenging position,” he said. “It’s a discussion no one wants to be in, and none of us enjoy.” (Editing by Caroline Humer and Edward Tobin)</p> | true | 0 | last year henry county health center iowa started providing patients cost estimate along presurgery medical advice continue reading 25bed rural hospital southwest corner state implemented protocol mounting unpaid bills insured patients group previously raised red flags henry county one hundreds us hospitals trying cope unexpected consequence affordable care act 2010 known obamacare millions americans health insurance requires spend thousands dollars insurer kicks dime since us hospitals want end footing bill experimenting prepayment strategies patients growing number requiring payment scheduled care offering interest loans according interviews two dozen hospitals doctors patients lenders healthcare experts patients appreciative telling front said david muhs chief financial officer henry county hospital provides discount early payment discussion leads patients skip care others delay use interest loans available hospital said aca extended insurance 20 million americans initially helped hospitals begin shrink debt uninsured patients could pay medical bills people obamacare plans employerbased health plans choosing insurance features low monthly payments tradeoff high pocket costs need care advertisement president donald trump dismantles obamacare promised plans wont disappear republicans also believe highdeductible plans curb spending americans faced medical costs rise faster inflation wages look premiums afford trend expected accelerate year unpaid bills creating massive bad debt even prestigious medical centers us hospitals nearly 36 billion uncompensated care costs 2015 according industrys largest trade group figure largely made unpaid patient bills largest publiclytraded hospital chain hca holdings inc reported fourth quarter 2016 ratio bad debt gross revenues 11 billion 75 percent one first test new payment strategy novant health headquartered north carolina 14 medical centers hundreds outpatient physician facilities saw patient debt increase local employers started adopting high deductible plans including one made executives pay 10000 outofpocket expenses remain financially stable something said april york senior director patient finance novant whose patient default rate dropped 12 percent 32 percent started offering interest loans clearbalance patients needed longer pay needed variety options said impact patients prepayment strategies rolled hospitals across country financial equation changed much patients even insured ones almost half americans 45 percent polled kaiser family foundation said would difficulty paying unexpected 500 medical bill average deductible year least expensive widely used obamacare health plans 6000 individual 18 percent spike since 2014 double family according government data jessica curtis senior advisor community catalyst consumer advocacy group boston said impact patients stretches beyond personal finance delay procedures dont follow advice prescription drugs see care usually expensive procedures theyve waited said brian sanderson managing principal crowe horwaths healthcare services group said communicating patients providing longer repayment options good strategy since hospital margins shrunk thanks growing unpaid medical bills consumers well informed patient likely meet obligations said good patient relations helps minimize bad debt hospitals retain patients helping pay medical bills could run thousands dollars many expanding charity eligibility hiring companies like clearbalance accessone commerce bank provide loans patients matter credit carry interest rate patient could extended far longer months hospitals required sending bill collections people likely pay bank hospital said mark huebner director health services financing commerce bank offers line credit 200 hospitals people aware banks come banks collect debt hospitals generally relaxed said wake forest baptist medical center north carolina seen bad debt creep recent years patients saw pocket expenses soar deductibles reaching 15000 weve seen many patients unaware increases deductibles said cfo chad eckes wake forest asks payment nonemergency services provided also offers zero interest longer repayment options challenging position said discussion one wants none us enjoy editing caroline humer edward tobin | 572 |
<p>The election is over.&#160; Where do we go from here?</p>
<p>The American economy is just as distressed today as it was the day before the election.&#160; The concerns that are stifling growth (increased taxes, increased energy costs, and increased health care costs, among others) are still looming and discouraging investment.&#160; The government has done all it can to stimulate growth ($800 billion in stimulus, interest rates near zero and the Fed printing money with abandon) yet unemployment hovers around 8 percent, people are dropping out of the workforce at a disturbing rate and GDP growth has stagnated at a feeble 2 percent.&#160; Rather than a more traditional cyclical reversal of the 2008 economic downturn, we seem locked in a low growth saw tooth of progress and decline.&#160; Our spending remains out of control, our deficits remain over $1 trillion annually and, at over $16 trillion, our debt is at an historic and unsustainable level.</p>
<p>Reach to the private sector</p>
<p />
<p>America is like an ailing patient who agrees with his doctor's diagnosis but refuses the cure.&#160; We know we're ill, we know we're spending too much, we know we have too much debt and we know this can't continue; but, we need true leadership if we are to pursue policies that seriously address our problems.&#160; A vibrant economy generating and spreading prosperity is far more important to American businesses than a president's party affiliation.&#160; No one wants our current economic stagnation to continue and very few, if any, business leaders are concerned about who get credit for a turnaround.&#160; While we may not have voted for him, American businessmen and women want President Obama to adopt policies that will allow us and him to succeed.</p>
<p>Yet, we need a president who understands that while government has a role, it is incapable of creating a self-sustaining cycle of job creation and economic growth.&#160; Only the private sector can create such a cycle.&#160; As the last four years have demonstrated, even with stimulus and subsidies, the anticipation of growth-discouraging policies can prevent a meaningful recovery.</p>
<p>As a president who has earned the confidence of many and with no pending election to influence his decisions, President Obama is uniquely positioned to make an historic difference for our nation and our future.&#160; I would respectfully encourage the president to look at economic growth in a new light; to involve the private sector and to seek innovative policies that accomplish his goals while encouraging private sector growth.</p>
<p>Start with Obamacare</p>
<p>Start with Obamacare.&#160; As currently structured, American businesses just can't afford it.&#160; I'm sorry, but that's the simple reality.&#160; Businesses only have so many dollars allocated for discretionary spending.&#160; Every additional expense reduces those dollars and discretionary dollars are the ones that businesses invest to grow. &#160;The more dollars we can allocate to growth, the more the economy will prosper.&#160; If businesses have to spend more on health care there are simply fewer dollars left to invest in growth and job creation.</p>
<p>Businesses are already taking action to reduce their Obamacare-related expenses.&#160; As has been widely publicized, to avoid Obamacare's burdensome expense, American businesses are transitioning from full time labor forces to part time wherever they can because they do not have to provide health care coverage to part time employees.&#160; This is a bad result for both employers and employees.&#160; We now know that repeal is not an alternative.&#160; Yet, surely revisions to address the laws more serious shortcomings are appropriate.&#160; Revisions that are supported by both parties and take consideration both the president's goals and the realistic impact this law is having on economic growth.</p>
<p>Taxes on successful individuals stifle growth</p>
<p>Raising taxes on successful individuals also will stifle growth. Particularly because the incomes of such individuals are often the incomes of their businesses, which are organized as flow through entities such as LLCs or sub-chapter S corporations.&#160; A number of alternative less damaging and less divisive means for increasing tax revenues should now be on the table, but so must meaningful reform of entitlement programs.&#160; Another look at the president's Simpson-Bowles Commission's recommendations is certainly in order.&#160; The president once acknowledged that raising taxes in the middle of a recession is a bad idea as it negatively impacts economic growth.&#160; That is still the case and, with the election over, a more sober approach to comprehensive tax reform is a realistic possibility.&#160; The rapidly approaching fiscal cliff is something both parties want to avoid.&#160; This is a truly a unique and remarkable opportunity to implement bi-partisan and comprehensive tax reform but it will require presidential leadership.</p>
<p>Become the Energy President</p>
<p>Finally, energy policy has been a meaningful deterrent to growth.&#160; Energy prices are impacted by supply and demand as well as anticipated supply and demand.&#160; An anticipated increase in supply can have just as meaningful an impact on prices as an actual increase.&#160; Unlike his predecessors over the past 40 years, President Obama has the unique opportunity to put us on a path to North American energy independence.&#160; Our public lands hold vast energy reserves.&#160; Natural gas is environmentally friendly and abundant.&#160; We can now tap into rich oil resources thanks to the fracking process.&#160; The Keystone pipeline is something we need and, whether it brings oil to Texas or the Canadian coast for shipment to China, there is going to be a pipeline carrying Canadian oil.&#160; One need only visit North Dakota to see the incredible impact domestic energy production can have on the economy producing that energy and the companies that support production.</p>
<p>This is certainly a time of great economic risk.&#160; We know we have exceeded the rational limits of our ability to spend and incur debt.&#160; &#160;We are facing serious and potentially devastating economic choices and consequences.&#160; Yet, this is also a time when we are looking at real opportunities to unleash America's entrepreneurial spirit and restore prosperity.&#160; With the right leadership and with the cooperation of the American business community, we can reclaim our place as the most prosperous nation in history.&#160; It will take courage, vision and real presidential leadership, but it can be done. &#160;Mr. President:&#160; It's in your hands.</p>
<p>Andrew Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., which employs about 21,000 people at Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants. He is co-author of "Job Creation: How it Really Works and Why the Government doesn't Understand it." He is an Economic Adviser to presidential candidate Mitt Romney.</p>
<p /> | true | 0 | election over160 go american economy distressed today day election160 concerns stifling growth increased taxes increased energy costs increased health care costs among others still looming discouraging investment160 government done stimulate growth 800 billion stimulus interest rates near zero fed printing money abandon yet unemployment hovers around 8 percent people dropping workforce disturbing rate gdp growth stagnated feeble 2 percent160 rather traditional cyclical reversal 2008 economic downturn seem locked low growth saw tooth progress decline160 spending remains control deficits remain 1 trillion annually 16 trillion debt historic unsustainable level reach private sector america like ailing patient agrees doctors diagnosis refuses cure160 know ill know spending much know much debt know cant continue need true leadership pursue policies seriously address problems160 vibrant economy generating spreading prosperity far important american businesses presidents party affiliation160 one wants current economic stagnation continue business leaders concerned get credit turnaround160 may voted american businessmen women want president obama adopt policies allow us succeed yet need president understands government role incapable creating selfsustaining cycle job creation economic growth160 private sector create cycle160 last four years demonstrated even stimulus subsidies anticipation growthdiscouraging policies prevent meaningful recovery president earned confidence many pending election influence decisions president obama uniquely positioned make historic difference nation future160 would respectfully encourage president look economic growth new light involve private sector seek innovative policies accomplish goals encouraging private sector growth start obamacare start obamacare160 currently structured american businesses cant afford it160 im sorry thats simple reality160 businesses many dollars allocated discretionary spending160 every additional expense reduces dollars discretionary dollars ones businesses invest grow 160the dollars allocate growth economy prosper160 businesses spend health care simply fewer dollars left invest growth job creation businesses already taking action reduce obamacarerelated expenses160 widely publicized avoid obamacares burdensome expense american businesses transitioning full time labor forces part time wherever provide health care coverage part time employees160 bad result employers employees160 know repeal alternative160 yet surely revisions address laws serious shortcomings appropriate160 revisions supported parties take consideration presidents goals realistic impact law economic growth taxes successful individuals stifle growth raising taxes successful individuals also stifle growth particularly incomes individuals often incomes businesses organized flow entities llcs subchapter corporations160 number alternative less damaging less divisive means increasing tax revenues table must meaningful reform entitlement programs160 another look presidents simpsonbowles commissions recommendations certainly order160 president acknowledged raising taxes middle recession bad idea negatively impacts economic growth160 still case election sober approach comprehensive tax reform realistic possibility160 rapidly approaching fiscal cliff something parties want avoid160 truly unique remarkable opportunity implement bipartisan comprehensive tax reform require presidential leadership become energy president finally energy policy meaningful deterrent growth160 energy prices impacted supply demand well anticipated supply demand160 anticipated increase supply meaningful impact prices actual increase160 unlike predecessors past 40 years president obama unique opportunity put us path north american energy independence160 public lands hold vast energy reserves160 natural gas environmentally friendly abundant160 tap rich oil resources thanks fracking process160 keystone pipeline something need whether brings oil texas canadian coast shipment china going pipeline carrying canadian oil160 one need visit north dakota see incredible impact domestic energy production economy producing energy companies support production certainly time great economic risk160 know exceeded rational limits ability spend incur debt160 160we facing serious potentially devastating economic choices consequences160 yet also time looking real opportunities unleash americas entrepreneurial spirit restore prosperity160 right leadership cooperation american business community reclaim place prosperous nation history160 take courage vision real presidential leadership done 160mr president160 hands andrew puzder ceo cke restaurants inc employs 21000 people carls jr hardees restaurants coauthor job creation really works government doesnt understand economic adviser presidential candidate mitt romney | 598 |
<p>In gambling, the house always wins, and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) have both made it their missions to maximize their profits while delivering an entertainment experience that keeps customers coming back again and again. After a long span of weakness in the formerly red-hot Asia-Pacific region, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/21/why-macau-is-still-king-in-gaming.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">times are getting better in the key market of Macau Opens a New Window.</a>, and that's helping to make both Sands and Wynn look more attractive. Investors who are getting interested in the space now want to know which of these casino resort players is the smarter pick. Let's take a closer look at Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts to help you figure out which one belongs in your portfolio.</p>
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<p>Both Sands and Wynn have done very well in the past year, but Wynn has done just a little bit better. Its share price has risen by 48% since July 2016, compared with a 42% increase for Sands.</p>
<p>Turning to valuation, it's important to look beyond the recent slump to get a realistic picture of how these two companies compare. When you focus solely on earnings from the past, Sands looks much cheaper, with a trailing earnings multiple of just 27, compared with more than 50 for Wynn. However, Wynn's bottom-line numbers are anticipated to return to more normal figures in the near future. When you look instead at near-term future expectations, the gap narrows to nearly nothing. Both Wynn and Sands trade around 22 times forward earnings. That leaves Sands and Wynn looking roughly equal in the valuation and performance department.</p>
<p>Dividend investors will have a clear preference for Las Vegas Sands in the casino industry. The company has a dividend yield of 4.7%, which is more than triple the 1.5% yield that Wynn Resorts currently pays its shareholders in dividends.</p>
<p>The difference in yield shows the varied approaches that the two casino giants have taken toward dividend payouts. Las Vegas Sands hasn't hesitated to keep its dividend at current levels, even though some have become nervous about whether earnings growth will help make the payout look more sustainable in the near future. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/10/3-dividend-stocks-for-successful-investors.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Cash flow isn't a problem for Sands' dividend Opens a New Window.</a> right now, and barring a huge opportunity for capital investment, Sands should remain in a good position to be able to continue making its quarterly payouts for the foreseeable future.</p>
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<p>Wynn already has big projects on the horizon, and that led the company to make the strategic decision to conserve cash by cutting its regular dividend. Having finished the Wynn Palace in Macau, the company will turn its attention to its Boston Harbor project. Investors can expect special dividends in the future once more capital is available, but if you need the certainty that sizable quarterly payouts brings, then Las Vegas Sands is the better bet for dividend investors.</p>
<p>Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts face somewhat different situations in terms of growth. For Sands, the big difficulty is figuring out how to move forward now that one of its key competitive advantages has largely disappeared. Given that <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/28/las-vegas-sands-corp-is-losing-its-hold-on-macaus.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">the casino giant's first-mover advantage in Maca Opens a New Window.</a>u has all but dried up in light of new resorts from its primary rivals, including Wynn, Sands will have to decide where to put its attention for the future. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/26/heres-why-the-best-is-yet-to-come-for-las-vegas-sa.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sands wants to win approval for a Japanese casino resort Opens a New Window.</a>, and investors are excited that the company could convince government officials that its expertise in opening up new ground to gaming will result in better results than going with a competitor. Otherwise, Sands will have to identify the most promising alternatives and move accordingly.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/11/5-things-steve-wynn-wants-you-to-know.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Wynn has a full pipeline of projects Opens a New Window.</a> and should start reaping the rewards in the near future. Already, Wynn Palace has made a huge difference in Macau, and the company is optimistic about Boston Harbor despite <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/27/i-still-cant-believe-wynn-resorts-is-spending-24-b.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">concerns from market watchers Opens a New Window.</a> in the space. Wynn is also going back to Las Vegas with planned upgrades to its namesake resorts there, and the ongoing strength of the U.S. economy could make Wynn's domestic focus well-timed if favorable conditions persist in the years to come.</p>
<p>With similar valuations, choosing between Sands and Wynn depends on your immediate investing focus. Dividend investors will be drawn to Sands and its higher yield. Growth investors could prefer the potential that Wynn has for further gains in Macau and the U.S. market. Fundamentally, both companies have great prospects to rebound further from their slump over the past few years.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Wynn ResortsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f44d0f6d-52f5-4c26-b4da-58c99d6f450f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Wynn Resorts wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f44d0f6d-52f5-4c26-b4da-58c99d6f450f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Wynn Resorts. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e1ed0a14-6334-11e7-abaa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | gambling house always wins las vegas sands nyse lvs wynn resorts nasdaq wynn made missions maximize profits delivering entertainment experience keeps customers coming back long span weakness formerly redhot asiapacific region times getting better key market macau opens new window thats helping make sands wynn look attractive investors getting interested space want know casino resort players smarter pick lets take closer look las vegas sands wynn resorts help figure one belongs portfolio continue reading sands wynn done well past year wynn done little bit better share price risen 48 since july 2016 compared 42 increase sands turning valuation important look beyond recent slump get realistic picture two companies compare focus solely earnings past sands looks much cheaper trailing earnings multiple 27 compared 50 wynn however wynns bottomline numbers anticipated return normal figures near future look instead nearterm future expectations gap narrows nearly nothing wynn sands trade around 22 times forward earnings leaves sands wynn looking roughly equal valuation performance department dividend investors clear preference las vegas sands casino industry company dividend yield 47 triple 15 yield wynn resorts currently pays shareholders dividends difference yield shows varied approaches two casino giants taken toward dividend payouts las vegas sands hasnt hesitated keep dividend current levels even though become nervous whether earnings growth help make payout look sustainable near future cash flow isnt problem sands dividend opens new window right barring huge opportunity capital investment sands remain good position able continue making quarterly payouts foreseeable future advertisement wynn already big projects horizon led company make strategic decision conserve cash cutting regular dividend finished wynn palace macau company turn attention boston harbor project investors expect special dividends future capital available need certainty sizable quarterly payouts brings las vegas sands better bet dividend investors las vegas sands wynn resorts face somewhat different situations terms growth sands big difficulty figuring move forward one key competitive advantages largely disappeared given casino giants firstmover advantage maca opens new windowu dried light new resorts primary rivals including wynn sands decide put attention future sands wants win approval japanese casino resort opens new window investors excited company could convince government officials expertise opening new ground gaming result better results going competitor otherwise sands identify promising alternatives move accordingly wynn full pipeline projects opens new window start reaping rewards near future already wynn palace made huge difference macau company optimistic boston harbor despite concerns market watchers opens new window space wynn also going back las vegas planned upgrades namesake resorts ongoing strength us economy could make wynns domestic focus welltimed favorable conditions persist years come similar valuations choosing sands wynn depends immediate investing focus dividend investors drawn sands higher yield growth investors could prefer potential wynn gains macau us market fundamentally companies great prospects rebound slump past years 10 stocks like better wynn resortswhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right wynn resorts wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns july 6 2017 dan caplinger opens new window owns shares wynn resorts motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 539 |
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<p>Image Source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>Dividends have accounted for <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/27/how-to-pick-the-best-dividend-stocks-2.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">nearly half of the total return Opens a New Window.</a> of the S&amp;P 500 index over the past 30 years. Of course, a juicy dividend doesn't do you much good if you pay too high of a price and the stock tanks. It's important to find the right dividend stock, a task made more difficult by the plethora of options available. Thankfully, these three Foolish contributors have some ideas.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBargainBin/info.aspx" type="external">Tim Green Opens a New Window.</a>: It's been a tough year for department stores, and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) is no exception. The retailer has been struggling with slumping comparable-store sales, reporting a 1.8% drop during its latest quarter and a 2.8% drop through the first six months of the year. But Kohl's is managing through this weakness, boosting profits by reducing costs and inventory. During the latest quarter, adjusted EPS rose 14% despite the sales decline.</p>
<p>Like all retailers, Kohl's faces the long-term threat of e-commerce. But the company is somewhat unique among major department stores. Kohl's operates very few of its stores within malls, saving it from the problem of weak mall traffic hurting other department stores. And the company is pushing forward with its own e-commerce initiatives. During the latest quarter, online-generated demand increased by a mid-teens percentage, according to CEO Kevin Mansell. The number of customers buying online and picking up in store, a service that online-only retailers can't offer, also increased compared to the previous quarter.</p>
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<p>Kohl's omni-channel transformation still has a long way to go, and the difficult environment the retailer finds itself in will likely continue to pressure the company's performance. But one upside of a slumping stock price is a rising <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividendyield.asp" type="external">dividend yield Opens a New Window.</a>. With Kohl's stock down 15% over the past year and down 44% since peaking in early 2015, the stock now offers a dividend yield of 4.4%. Dividend growth will likely be slow going forward, given the tough environment, but Kohl's looks like a great dividend stock for those willing to bet that the market has become overly pessimistic.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Feroldi: Opens a New Window.</a>One dividend stock that should appeal to income investors isPebblebrook Hotel Trust(NYSE: PEB), a real estate investment trust that is focused on hotels. The company's business model is tobuy high-end hotels at bargain prices and then spruce them up to turn them into cash machines. Then, when the time is right, the company sells them for a tidy profit.</p>
<p>Pebblebrook has been running this game plan for a few years now and the company's results show that its strategy is working. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), which is a key metric for REIT stocks, have grown by a solid 22% annually over the last five years. Pebblebrook's dividend has grown by an equally impressive 23% over the same time period.</p>
<p>The company's recent results hint that there is still a long runway of growth left for the company. Last quarter AFFO jumped by a solid 12.5%, and at the same time management sold three of its properties for a healthy premium. That gives the company plenty of dry powder to acquire new hotels and keep the growth story going.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, management dialed back its full-year AFFO guidance a bit because of a weaker corporate demand environment than expected. It's currently calling for full-year AFFO growth of about 5%, projecting a range of $2.63 to $2.73. That values shares at just over 11 times full-year estimates, which is an attractive price for a company that is currently yielding 5% and has a history of strong growth.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Nehams/info.aspx" type="external">Neha Chamaria Opens a New Window.</a>: RPM International (NYSE: RPM), a manufacturer of coatings, sealants, and specialty chemicals, caught my attention recently when it delivered strong quarterly numbers and topped it off with solid earnings guidance. Driven by acquisitions and new products, RPM's core consumer segment delivered 10% growth in sales during the last quarter. For its fiscal year 2017, RPM expects its earnings to grow 10% to 12% on mid-single-digit percentage growth in sales.</p>
<p>Those incremental profits should ensure greater dividends for shareholders in the near future as RPM also boasts strong cash flows. In fact, it's among the few companies that converted 100% of its net income into free cash flow during the past 12 months. That translated into a payout ratio of below 40%, which leaves ample scope for RPM to comfortably boost its dividend, even if earnings don't grow as expected next fiscal year. RPM's last dividend hike of 6% in October 2015 marked its 42nd consecutive year with a dividend increase.</p>
<p>A dividend yield of 2% might look small, but RPM's growth prospects are only getting brighter. Given management's focus on and recent streak of successful integration of acquisitions to bolster growth amid challenging business conditions, RPM's dividend looks poised to edge higher in the years to come and September is a tempting time to buy.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2667&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Feroldi</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Nehams/info.aspx" type="external">Neha Chamaria</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBargainBin/info.aspx" type="external">Timothy Green</a> owns shares of Kohl's. The Motley Fool recommends Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and RPM International. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source getty images continue reading dividends accounted nearly half total return opens new window sampp 500 index past 30 years course juicy dividend doesnt much good pay high price stock tanks important find right dividend stock task made difficult plethora options available thankfully three foolish contributors ideas tim green opens new window tough year department stores kohls nyse kss exception retailer struggling slumping comparablestore sales reporting 18 drop latest quarter 28 drop first six months year kohls managing weakness boosting profits reducing costs inventory latest quarter adjusted eps rose 14 despite sales decline like retailers kohls faces longterm threat ecommerce company somewhat unique among major department stores kohls operates stores within malls saving problem weak mall traffic hurting department stores company pushing forward ecommerce initiatives latest quarter onlinegenerated demand increased midteens percentage according ceo kevin mansell number customers buying online picking store service onlineonly retailers cant offer also increased compared previous quarter advertisement kohls omnichannel transformation still long way go difficult environment retailer finds likely continue pressure companys performance one upside slumping stock price rising dividend yield opens new window kohls stock 15 past year 44 since peaking early 2015 stock offers dividend yield 44 dividend growth likely slow going forward given tough environment kohls looks like great dividend stock willing bet market become overly pessimistic brian feroldi opens new windowone dividend stock appeal income investors ispebblebrook hotel trustnyse peb real estate investment trust focused hotels companys business model tobuy highend hotels bargain prices spruce turn cash machines time right company sells tidy profit pebblebrook running game plan years companys results show strategy working adjusted funds operations affo key metric reit stocks grown solid 22 annually last five years pebblebrooks dividend grown equally impressive 23 time period companys recent results hint still long runway growth left company last quarter affo jumped solid 125 time management sold three properties healthy premium gives company plenty dry powder acquire new hotels keep growth story going looking ahead management dialed back fullyear affo guidance bit weaker corporate demand environment expected currently calling fullyear affo growth 5 projecting range 263 273 values shares 11 times fullyear estimates attractive price company currently yielding 5 history strong growth neha chamaria opens new window rpm international nyse rpm manufacturer coatings sealants specialty chemicals caught attention recently delivered strong quarterly numbers topped solid earnings guidance driven acquisitions new products rpms core consumer segment delivered 10 growth sales last quarter fiscal year 2017 rpm expects earnings grow 10 12 midsingledigit percentage growth sales incremental profits ensure greater dividends shareholders near future rpm also boasts strong cash flows fact among companies converted 100 net income free cash flow past 12 months translated payout ratio 40 leaves ample scope rpm comfortably boost dividend even earnings dont grow expected next fiscal year rpms last dividend hike 6 october 2015 marked 42nd consecutive year dividend increase dividend yield 2 might look small rpms growth prospects getting brighter given managements focus recent streak successful integration acquisitions bolster growth amid challenging business conditions rpms dividend looks poised edge higher years come september tempting time buy secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window brian feroldi position stocks mentioned neha chamaria position stocks mentioned timothy green owns shares kohls motley fool recommends pebblebrook hotel trust rpm international try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 609 |
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<p>You don't need to be a professional trader to use options. Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>Whether you're a bull, bear, or you have a neutral outlook on the stock market, there are ways to put the power of options to work for you. And, you don't need to be an investment genius to do it. Here are two basic strategies that you can use to generate income, protect your capital, and profit from volatility.</p>
<p>Selling covered calls is perhaps the most basic options strategy there is. Essentially, you are selling someone else the right to buy stock from you for a certain price at any time before a specified date.</p>
<p>The best way to describe this is through an example. Let's say that I own 100 shares of ExxonMobil, which is trading for about $85 as I write this, and I don't foresee any massive price swings in the near future. I could sell one call option (remember, each option contract is for 100 shares) expiring on the third Friday in January 2017 with a strike price of $90. In return, I get a premium of $140, which I get to keep.</p>
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<p>There are a few different ways that this trade could play out:</p>
<p>1. ExxonMobil could drop, and be below $85 per share in January. This would be unfortunate, but remember that you received a premium of $140 ($1.40 per share) for selling the option. You get to keep that income which helps to lessen your loss, the option expires worthless, and you get to repeat the process.</p>
<p>2. ExxonMobil could rise slightly, but stay below $90 through January. This would be the best-case scenario. Not only would you be sitting on a nice gain with the stock, but you get the premium from selling the option added to your gains. And, you are free to sell another option on your stock.</p>
<p>3. ExxonMobil could have an excellent fourth quarter and be above $90 at expiration. In this case, your shares would be "called away," meaning you'd be forced to sell them for $90 apiece, no matter how high they climbed. This would produce a nice gain -- a $5 rise in price plus a $1.40 options premium translates to a 7.5% return in just four months. The risk, however, is missing out on gains if the stock price goes through the roof. Even if the stock rose to say, $125, you'd be forced to sell for $90.</p>
<p>4. The stock price doesn't move at all -- it expires at the same price as it was when you sold the covered call. From an income standpoint, this is a good outcome. The option you sold expires worthless, and since you still own the stock, you're free to repeat the process.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, a covered call allows you to generate some income and provides some degree of downside protection, in exchange for giving up some of your potential for share price gains.</p>
<p>Option prices have two components -- intrinsic value and time value. Intrinsic value is the amount of money that an options contract would be worth if it expired right now. For example, a contract with a $10 strike price to buy a stock trading for $15 would have an intrinsic value of $5. Time value is the premium you pay for what could happen before expiration. If that options contract was trading for $6, $5 would be intrinsic value and the other $1 would be time value.</p>
<p>As your options get deeper in the money, the time value fades away and intrinsic value makes up most of the option price. Therefore, you don't have to pay a time premium to buy a deep-in-the-money option, and it can be used in place of owning a stock.</p>
<p>Let's say that I want to buy shares of Amazon.com, but I don't want to lay out the $77,000 it would cost to buy 100 shares. Instead, I could buy a call option expiring in January 2018 with a strike price of $400 for a premium of $380. Only about $10 (2.6%) of this is made up of time value, and you'll benefit from price increases of 100 shares of Amazon.com stock for $38,000, about half the price of buying the shares outright. In a way, this is like buying shares on margin, but you don't have to pay margin interest, which is generally far more than the time value you'll pay.</p>
<p>The risk in doing this is if Amazon were to fall below $400 before 2018, you could lose your entire investment. As unlikely as it is, it's certainly possible. Using options as stock replacement certainly has its perks, but at the cost of more risk.</p>
<p>As a final thought, it is admittedly very easy to lose money in options if you don't know what you're doing. Therefore, it's important to start out slow. Maybe buy one deep-in-the-money call option on a stock you'd like to own, and then use it to observe the pricing dynamics of options and get a good feel for how a trade like this plays out over time. Or, maybe sell a far out-of-the-money covered call on one of your current holdings. It won't generate a ton of income, but the point is to learn.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that you can read about options until your eyes cross, but there's no substitute for real-world experience. So, if you do decide to add options to your investment toolkit, it's important to do so slowly.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/KWMatt82/info.aspx" type="external">Matthew Frankel Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | dont need professional trader use options image source getty images continue reading whether youre bull bear neutral outlook stock market ways put power options work dont need investment genius two basic strategies use generate income protect capital profit volatility selling covered calls perhaps basic options strategy essentially selling someone else right buy stock certain price time specified date best way describe example lets say 100 shares exxonmobil trading 85 write dont foresee massive price swings near future could sell one call option remember option contract 100 shares expiring third friday january 2017 strike price 90 return get premium 140 get keep advertisement different ways trade could play 1 exxonmobil could drop 85 per share january would unfortunate remember received premium 140 140 per share selling option get keep income helps lessen loss option expires worthless get repeat process 2 exxonmobil could rise slightly stay 90 january would bestcase scenario would sitting nice gain stock get premium selling option added gains free sell another option stock 3 exxonmobil could excellent fourth quarter 90 expiration case shares would called away meaning youd forced sell 90 apiece matter high climbed would produce nice gain 5 rise price plus 140 options premium translates 75 return four months risk however missing gains stock price goes roof even stock rose say 125 youd forced sell 90 4 stock price doesnt move expires price sold covered call income standpoint good outcome option sold expires worthless since still stock youre free repeat process nutshell covered call allows generate income provides degree downside protection exchange giving potential share price gains option prices two components intrinsic value time value intrinsic value amount money options contract would worth expired right example contract 10 strike price buy stock trading 15 would intrinsic value 5 time value premium pay could happen expiration options contract trading 6 5 would intrinsic value 1 would time value options get deeper money time value fades away intrinsic value makes option price therefore dont pay time premium buy deepinthemoney option used place owning stock lets say want buy shares amazoncom dont want lay 77000 would cost buy 100 shares instead could buy call option expiring january 2018 strike price 400 premium 380 10 26 made time value youll benefit price increases 100 shares amazoncom stock 38000 half price buying shares outright way like buying shares margin dont pay margin interest generally far time value youll pay risk amazon fall 400 2018 could lose entire investment unlikely certainly possible using options stock replacement certainly perks cost risk final thought admittedly easy lose money options dont know youre therefore important start slow maybe buy one deepinthemoney call option stock youd like use observe pricing dynamics options get good feel trade like plays time maybe sell far outofthemoney covered call one current holdings wont generate ton income point learn bottom line read options eyes cross theres substitute realworld experience decide add options investment toolkit important slowly secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window matthew frankel opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends amazoncom motley fool owns shares exxonmobil try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 580 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>On the first trading day of the year, strategists and financial journalists were stepping over each other to pound the table with their view on the stock market in 2017. Here are three reasons you shouldn't care what they have to say.</p>
<p>Over the past decade alone, we suffered the massacre of 2008, during which the S&amp;P 500 Index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) posted a loss, on a total return basis, of 37%; five years later, 2013 produced a gain of 32.4%. The difference between those two performances is nearly 70 percentage points.</p>
<p>The following graph illustrates the huge dispersion of annual (price) returns around the long-term average annualized return 7.6% (green line), beginning in 2008:</p>
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<p>The average annualized return is calculated for the period 1950 through 2016. Data sources: author's calculation, S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices.</p>
<p>Yes, that decade included the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. So let's look at the decade that preceded it, 1997-2006. There, the spread between the best annual performance (1997: +33.4%) and the worst (2002: -22.1%) was still over 50 percentage points.</p>
<p>And yes, that decade covered the dot-com bubble and its bursting. Fine -- let's go back to 1987-1996: The difference between the best and worst years here was still more than 40 percentage points.</p>
<p>Hopefully, you're starting to get the idea: Annual returns are hugely volatile and impossible to predict.</p>
<p>You don't know what the market will do this year, and neither does anyone else. As billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html" type="external">wrote in October 2008 Opens a New Window.</a>, when he said he'd been buying U.S. stocks for his personal account: "Let me be clear on one point: I can't predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven't the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month -- or a year -- from now."</p>
<p>Spending a lot of energy thinking about -- or worse, worrying about -- something that's random and, therefore, unknowable is an utter waste of time.</p>
<p>You might agree that reading forecasts concerning 2017 is a waste of time, but maybe you still want to pay close attention to annual performance once the numbers are in.</p>
<p>However, the randomness in annual returns I referred to also implies that you can basically ignore one-year performance after the fact, too. Why? Because it's your long-term returns that will determine when you can retire and with what lifestyle. And one-year returns tell you nothing about what you will go on to earn over a genuine investing time horizon.</p>
<p>At this point, I need to introduce the statistical concept of correlation, which measures the degree of dependency between two variables and takes values between -1 and +1. The closer the correlation is to either of those values, the stronger the correlation between the variables. At -1, two variables are said to be perfectly negatively correlated. As it gets closer to zero, the less of a relationship exists between the two variables and the closer they are to being uncorrelated.</p>
<p>The following table shows the correlations between one-year S&amp;P 500 returns and subsequent returns achieved over longer periods, for 1950 through 2016.</p>
<p>Data source: author's calculation; based on data from Damodaran Online and S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices.</p>
<p>The table shows that one-year returns exhibit very little correlation with subsequent returns over longer periods. In other words, the stock market's annual return tells you essentially nothing about the stock market's expected long-term return -- which, to repeat, is what matters to investors.</p>
<p>Finally, and most importantly, you ought to avoid according excessive importance to the stock market's annual performance, as doing so risks inciting you to take action -- usually the wrong action at the wrong time. As fund research company Morningstar concluded in its <a href="http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=756711" type="external">Mind the Gap 2016 Opens a New Window.</a> survey [my emphasis]:</p>
<p>When investors try to time fund or individual stock purchases, they are generally driven by the notion that one can divine future performance from recent short-term performance. (Reminder: In the stock market, one year is still the short term.) This is a losing game with significant costs. One-and-a-bit percentage point may not sound like much, but, compounded, a shortfall of that magnitude makes a substantial difference over time.</p>
<p>In sum, stop reading stock market forecasts, try to embrace volatility, and don't let short-term performance disrupt your long-term view or goals. No one knows what the stock market will do in 2017, and it doesn't much matter, anyway. Why not focus your attention on areas of your life over which you have some measure of control instead?</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFAleph1/info.aspx" type="external">Alex Dumortier, CFA Opens a New Window.</a>, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source getty images continue reading first trading day year strategists financial journalists stepping pound table view stock market 2017 three reasons shouldnt care say past decade alone suffered massacre 2008 sampp 500 index snpindex gspc posted loss total return basis 37 five years later 2013 produced gain 324 difference two performances nearly 70 percentage points following graph illustrates huge dispersion annual price returns around longterm average annualized return 76 green line beginning 2008 advertisement average annualized return calculated period 1950 2016 data sources authors calculation sampp dow jones indices yes decade included severe financial crisis since great depression lets look decade preceded 19972006 spread best annual performance 1997 334 worst 2002 221 still 50 percentage points yes decade covered dotcom bubble bursting fine lets go back 19871996 difference best worst years still 40 percentage points hopefully youre starting get idea annual returns hugely volatile impossible predict dont know market year neither anyone else billionaire investor berkshire hathaway ceo warren buffett wrote october 2008 opens new window said hed buying us stocks personal account let clear one point cant predict shortterm movements stock market havent faintest idea whether stocks higher lower month year spending lot energy thinking worse worrying something thats random therefore unknowable utter waste time might agree reading forecasts concerning 2017 waste time maybe still want pay close attention annual performance numbers however randomness annual returns referred also implies basically ignore oneyear performance fact longterm returns determine retire lifestyle oneyear returns tell nothing go earn genuine investing time horizon point need introduce statistical concept correlation measures degree dependency two variables takes values 1 1 closer correlation either values stronger correlation variables 1 two variables said perfectly negatively correlated gets closer zero less relationship exists two variables closer uncorrelated following table shows correlations oneyear sampp 500 returns subsequent returns achieved longer periods 1950 2016 data source authors calculation based data damodaran online sampp dow jones indices table shows oneyear returns exhibit little correlation subsequent returns longer periods words stock markets annual return tells essentially nothing stock markets expected longterm return repeat matters investors finally importantly ought avoid according excessive importance stock markets annual performance risks inciting take action usually wrong action wrong time fund research company morningstar concluded mind gap 2016 opens new window survey emphasis investors try time fund individual stock purchases generally driven notion one divine future performance recent shortterm performance reminder stock market one year still short term losing game significant costs oneandabit percentage point may sound like much compounded shortfall magnitude makes substantial difference time sum stop reading stock market forecasts try embrace volatility dont let shortterm performance disrupt longterm view goals one knows stock market 2017 doesnt much matter anyway focus attention areas life measure control instead 10 stocks like better sampp 500 index investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right sampp 500 index wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns nov 7 2016 alex dumortier cfa opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends berkshire hathaway b shares motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 541 |
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<p>You’ve got to marvel at the man’s sense of timing and showmanship. Whenever there’s <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-tesla-20160404-snap-htmlstory.html" type="external">bad news on the horizon Opens a New Window.</a>, Tesla CEO Elon Musk just takes off his top hat, waves a magic wand, and pulls out a shiny new rabbit. He may have missed last quarter’s production target, but then, he pulled out the shiny new Model 3. And all is forgiven.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Well, not exactly.</p>
<p>The master of hyperbole has proven that Tesla can ship tens of thousands of luxury electric cars – albeit years later and for $30,000 more apiece than originally promised. And, even at $106K, Tesla still burns cash on every car sold, not to mention all the quality and production growing pains the company’s been experiencing.</p>
<p>While that sleight of hand has worked on Musk’s wealthy Silicon Valley fan boys and cult-crazed investors, I doubt it will be effective with everyday consumers as Tesla attempts to challenge the likes of GM, Toyota and Mercedes as a mass-market supplier of a broad range of cars.</p>
<p>Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe this is just another example of an innovative tech entrepreneur disrupting an age-old market like Amazon did in retail, Google in advertising, Netflix in video, Uber in ground transportation, Airbnb in hospitality and GrubHub in food delivery.</p>
<p>Besides, it’s not as if up-selling is limited to tech. Consumers didn’t always fork over $100 for a pair of blue jeans or sneakers. Who knew you could triple the price of a $20 sweatshirt just by calling it a hoody? Or get millions of people to feel good about not working out by selling them a whole new wardrobe of athleisure wear.</p>
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<p>Far be it from me to suggest that the same sort of disruption that worked for clothing may not work when the product in question has all those zeros on the price-tag – not to mention one that’s advertized as sub-$30K for delivery in 2017 and turns out to be more like $40K or $50K in 2018 or 2019.</p>
<p>Make no mistake, that’s exactly the kind of differential we’re talking about as the Mighty Musk tests his magic on mainstream America. Wait, I know what you’re thinking. Tesla got a whopping 300,000 orders since its big Model 3 launch event. That’s $10 billion of revenue in less than a week. Talk about demand, right?</p>
<p>Not so fast. Those were not bookable orders but fully refundable $1,000 deposits. That amounts to a $300 million interest-free loan to Tesla but zero commitments and zero dollars in actual revenue. For all I know, half of those are the Silicon Valley elite thinking Tesla might actually deliver by the time their grade school kids need cars.</p>
<p>Let’s give Musk the benefit of the doubt and assume that all those deposits are from regular folks looking to get their hands on the world’s first affordable electric car. Fair enough. Let’s talk about Tesla’s history of hitting price and delivery targets.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/30/tesla-announces-the-model-s-a-60k-all-electric-five-passenge/" type="external">Model S was announced in June of 2008 Opens a New Window.</a>. It was supposed to sell for $60,000 or, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/elon-musk-colbert_n_5621116.html" type="external">as Musk said in 2010 Opens a New Window.</a>, “about half the price [of the roadster],” which sold for about $110K. While Tesla showed a prototype in March 2009, the first production units didn’t start shipping until mid-2012. And the average transaction price is actually $106K.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a prototype of <a href="" type="internal">Tesla’s first electric SUV, the Model X</a>, was unveiled in February of 2012. It was originally supposed to start shipping two years later, but the first production units weren’t delivered until September of 2015. And while the Model X was supposed to be priced the same as the Model S, it’s actually quite a bit pricier.</p>
<p>To summarize, it usually takes Tesla about three and a half years to go from prototype to initial production. That’s fairly consistent within the automotive industry. Besides, these are not generic, cookie cutter cars. They’re sophisticated and mostly uniquely designed.</p>
<p>And while Musk and company seem to be getting better at price predictability, they differ from traditional auto makers in that consumers end up paying an average of nearly twice Tesla’s quoted base price before they get to drive off with the car.</p>
<p>With that perspective, let’s discuss the Model 3. Musk says shipments will begin in late 2017, but even if Tesla manages to trim a year off its historical time to market, the first units won’t be delivered until late 2018. So, if you make a deposit today, I wouldn’t bet on getting the keys before 2019.</p>
<p>In the meantime, competitors like GM, BMW and Nissan won’t be standing still. And Tesla has just given a whole bunch of automakers with far deeper pockets and experience everything they need to know to compete, should they choose to target the same market. Not exactly the smartest move, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Musk says the Model 3 will have a base price of $35K and he expects the average sale price to be $42K, but no worries, there’s a $7,500 federal tax incentive. Actually, you might want to check his sleeves on that slight of hand. Each carmaker gets 200K incentives total, so by the time the Model 3 ships, Tesla will almost certainly have used up its full allotment on Model S and X customers.</p>
<p>And if history is any indication, the average selling price may end up far north of $42K. And since a new car sells for $33K on average in the U.S., that doesn’t make the Model 3 cheap, by any stretch. If you’re beginning to wonder just how many of those 300,000 depositors will actually write a check three years from now, join the club. It’s anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>On top of which, Tesla will have to raise boatloads of capital and figure out how to mass produce and ship cars without the myriad of quality and delivery problems that have plagued the company in the past. That’s no small feat. Bottom line: If Musk thinks that getting to this point has been challenging, he’d better work on his magic. He’s going to need a whole new set of tricks to pull this rabbit out of a hat.</p> | true | 0 | youve got marvel mans sense timing showmanship whenever theres bad news horizon opens new window tesla ceo elon musk takes top hat waves magic wand pulls shiny new rabbit may missed last quarters production target pulled shiny new model 3 forgiven continue reading well exactly master hyperbole proven tesla ship tens thousands luxury electric cars albeit years later 30000 apiece originally promised even 106k tesla still burns cash every car sold mention quality production growing pains companys experiencing sleight hand worked musks wealthy silicon valley fan boys cultcrazed investors doubt effective everyday consumers tesla attempts challenge likes gm toyota mercedes massmarket supplier broad range cars course could wrong maybe another example innovative tech entrepreneur disrupting ageold market like amazon retail google advertising netflix video uber ground transportation airbnb hospitality grubhub food delivery besides upselling limited tech consumers didnt always fork 100 pair blue jeans sneakers knew could triple price 20 sweatshirt calling hoody get millions people feel good working selling whole new wardrobe athleisure wear advertisement far suggest sort disruption worked clothing may work product question zeros pricetag mention one thats advertized sub30k delivery 2017 turns like 40k 50k 2018 2019 make mistake thats exactly kind differential talking mighty musk tests magic mainstream america wait know youre thinking tesla got whopping 300000 orders since big model 3 launch event thats 10 billion revenue less week talk demand right fast bookable orders fully refundable 1000 deposits amounts 300 million interestfree loan tesla zero commitments zero dollars actual revenue know half silicon valley elite thinking tesla might actually deliver time grade school kids need cars lets give musk benefit doubt assume deposits regular folks looking get hands worlds first affordable electric car fair enough lets talk teslas history hitting price delivery targets model announced june 2008 opens new window supposed sell 60000 musk said 2010 opens new window half price roadster sold 110k tesla showed prototype march 2009 first production units didnt start shipping mid2012 average transaction price actually 106k meanwhile prototype teslas first electric suv model x unveiled february 2012 originally supposed start shipping two years later first production units werent delivered september 2015 model x supposed priced model actually quite bit pricier summarize usually takes tesla three half years go prototype initial production thats fairly consistent within automotive industry besides generic cookie cutter cars theyre sophisticated mostly uniquely designed musk company seem getting better price predictability differ traditional auto makers consumers end paying average nearly twice teslas quoted base price get drive car perspective lets discuss model 3 musk says shipments begin late 2017 even tesla manages trim year historical time market first units wont delivered late 2018 make deposit today wouldnt bet getting keys 2019 meantime competitors like gm bmw nissan wont standing still tesla given whole bunch automakers far deeper pockets experience everything need know compete choose target market exactly smartest move opinion musk says model 3 base price 35k expects average sale price 42k worries theres 7500 federal tax incentive actually might want check sleeves slight hand carmaker gets 200k incentives total time model 3 ships tesla almost certainly used full allotment model x customers history indication average selling price may end far north 42k since new car sells 33k average us doesnt make model 3 cheap stretch youre beginning wonder many 300000 depositors actually write check three years join club anyones guess top tesla raise boatloads capital figure mass produce ship cars without myriad quality delivery problems plagued company past thats small feat bottom line musk thinks getting point challenging hed better work magic hes going need whole new set tricks pull rabbit hat | 598 |
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<p>Alex Lidow is a man on a mission. His Southern California company, <a href="http://epc-co.com/epc/" type="external">Efficient Power Conversion or EPC Opens a New Window.</a>, is using Gallium Nitride (GaN) chips instead of silicon for exciting applications, from wireless power charging and 4G LTE to augmented reality and autonomous vehicles.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But can this hot new technology ultimately displace the ubiquitous silicon chip in a $300 billion semiconductor market?</p>
<p>When I first heard from Lidow’s PR guy, I was admittedly skeptical. After all, this was the same man who was ousted from International Rectifier (IR) over some accounting irregularities and was later sued by the company for intellectual property theft&#160;(the suit has since&#160;been settled&#160;and&#160;IR was acquired by Infineon for $3 billion in January, 2015).</p>
<p>But Dr. Lidow does have major tech cred, at least he did. He received a PhD in applied physics from Stanford, was an early pioneer in power transistors and co-invented the technology that made IR an industry powerhouse, so I was curious to hear his side of the story and learn what the future holds for GaN technology.</p>
<p>I wasn’t disappointed. Lidow’s story would make a pretty juicy mini-drama.</p>
<p>His father Eric ran IR for nearly half a century until turning it over to Alex and his brother Derek in 1995. Derek left four years later to found market research firm iSupply, leaving his younger brother to run the show until 2007, when he was ousted in what Alex calls a board coup that also claimed his CFO and head of global marketing and sales.</p>
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<p>But that was just the beginning of Alex’s problems. He was also mired in a protracted divorce with a restraining order that froze the couple’s “disputed assets,” including his IR stock. The divorce wouldn’t be finalized and the order lifted until 2012. In the mean time, Lidow’s reputation and finances were in tatters.</p>
<p>It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention and, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who better exemplifies both of those truths than Lidow.</p>
<p>Just before his demise at IR, he had begun work on a new type of power transistor made from a very thin layer of GaN grown on a silicon wafer. Believing this new technology could surpass its silicon counterpart but knowing he had to find a way to bootstrap its development with minimal capital, Lidow and two other PhDs with experience in GaN – Joe Cao and Robert Beach – formed EPC and got to work.</p>
<p>The three founders came up with a novel design for a power transistor that was both smaller and faster than those based on silicon. And Lidow found a Taiwan-based manufacturing partner, Archie Huang of Hermes-Epitek, to make the devices on an older production line using fully amortized capital equipment. As a result, the chips are also less expensive to make than silicon. Huang also became an investor in the company.</p>
<p>EPC would spend the next eight years perfecting and marketing their chips and today boasts 700 customers, including a veritable who’s who of electronic product manufacturers such as Google, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and, rumor has it, a certain iconic consumer device company from Cupertino, Calif.</p>
<p>According to Lidow, the first and biggest market opportunity they focused on was envelope tracking for millions of 4G LTE base-stations.</p>
<p>Another exciting application is Light Detection and Ranging or LiDAR, which uses laser pulses to detect and identify nearby objects with a resolution of several inches. EPC’s GaN devices are used in LiDAR systems for Google’s self-driving cars, Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset and autonomous drones.</p>
<p>The third and perhaps most groundbreaking opportunity for GaN is in wireless charging to eliminate power cords. Once the receiver and transmitter standards are developed, the technology will be used to wirelessly charge smartphones, tablets, computers, anything that plugs into a home outlet, and eventually, even electric vehicles.</p>
<p>Lidow explained that electric buses are already being tested in Korea, receiving wireless charges at bus stops – requiring just one minute of charge for one kilometer of travel. Someday, you won’t have to plug in your electric car. Just park near a charger, grab a cappuccino, and voila, you’re ready to go.</p>
<p>The most important thing to keep in mind is that silicon has already had a fifty-year learning curve whereby transistor density has doubled every two years, according to Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) co-founder Gordon Moore’s eponymous observation known as “Moore’s Law.” The aging technology’s scalability is starting to bump up against a wall of physical limitations.</p>
<p>But for GaN, it’s still early days. This promising new technology that’s already faster, smaller and less expensive than silicon is just at the beginning of its own economies of scale. As Lidow says, first power conversion, then analog chips, and someday, the world.</p>
<p>Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.</p>
<p>There are quite a few startups and existing semiconductor companies working on GaN technology. And highly integrated low-voltage devices like processor and memory chips are still a long way off. But it’s clear that GaN has a bright future and the ever-tenacious Alex Lidow, now 61, is on a personal quest to spread the word. Godspeed.</p> | true | 0 | alex lidow man mission southern california company efficient power conversion epc opens new window using gallium nitride gan chips instead silicon exciting applications wireless power charging 4g lte augmented reality autonomous vehicles continue reading hot new technology ultimately displace ubiquitous silicon chip 300 billion semiconductor market first heard lidows pr guy admittedly skeptical man ousted international rectifier ir accounting irregularities later sued company intellectual property theft160the suit since160been settled160and160ir acquired infineon 3 billion january 2015 dr lidow major tech cred least received phd applied physics stanford early pioneer power transistors coinvented technology made ir industry powerhouse curious hear side story learn future holds gan technology wasnt disappointed lidows story would make pretty juicy minidrama father eric ran ir nearly half century turning alex brother derek 1995 derek left four years later found market research firm isupply leaving younger brother run show 2007 ousted alex calls board coup also claimed cfo head global marketing sales advertisement beginning alexs problems also mired protracted divorce restraining order froze couples disputed assets including ir stock divorce wouldnt finalized order lifted 2012 mean time lidows reputation finances tatters said necessity mother invention going gets tough tough get going dont think ive ever met anyone better exemplifies truths lidow demise ir begun work new type power transistor made thin layer gan grown silicon wafer believing new technology could surpass silicon counterpart knowing find way bootstrap development minimal capital lidow two phds experience gan joe cao robert beach formed epc got work three founders came novel design power transistor smaller faster based silicon lidow found taiwanbased manufacturing partner archie huang hermesepitek make devices older production line using fully amortized capital equipment result chips also less expensive make silicon huang also became investor company epc would spend next eight years perfecting marketing chips today boasts 700 customers including veritable whos electronic product manufacturers google microsoft nasdaqmsft rumor certain iconic consumer device company cupertino calif according lidow first biggest market opportunity focused envelope tracking millions 4g lte basestations another exciting application light detection ranging lidar uses laser pulses detect identify nearby objects resolution several inches epcs gan devices used lidar systems googles selfdriving cars microsofts hololens augmented reality headset autonomous drones third perhaps groundbreaking opportunity gan wireless charging eliminate power cords receiver transmitter standards developed technology used wirelessly charge smartphones tablets computers anything plugs home outlet eventually even electric vehicles lidow explained electric buses already tested korea receiving wireless charges bus stops requiring one minute charge one kilometer travel someday wont plug electric car park near charger grab cappuccino voila youre ready go important thing keep mind silicon already fiftyyear learning curve whereby transistor density doubled every two years according intel nasdaqintc cofounder gordon moores eponymous observation known moores law aging technologys scalability starting bump wall physical limitations gan still early days promising new technology thats already faster smaller less expensive silicon beginning economies scale lidow says first power conversion analog chips someday world well lets get ahead yet quite startups existing semiconductor companies working gan technology highly integrated lowvoltage devices like processor memory chips still long way clear gan bright future evertenacious alex lidow 61 personal quest spread word godspeed | 522 |
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<p>Image source: The Motley Fool</p>
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<p>The face of retail has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. At first, mom-and-pop stores dominated the scenes outside of the country's largest urban centers. But then Wal-Martspread its tentacles across the country and provided the first-ever chain that was readily available in most small towns.</p>
<p>For a long time, it played alone in this sandbox. But over the last two decades, Costco (NASDAQ: COST) has become a force to be reckoned with. By adopting a different business strategy -- focused on generous benefits for employees, razor-thin margins, and a membership-driven model -- the company has produced phenomenal returns for investors since going public in the early 1980s.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/COST/total_return_price" type="external">COST Total Return Price</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>But what about today? Costco is still growing its footprint and maintaining its membership roster at impressive rates. At the same time, we are now in the age of e-commerce, and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is the clear king in this sphere.</p>
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<p>Below, two of our analysts debate the merits of owning -- or not owning -- shares of Costco.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/author/11900/index.aspx?source=iapsitlnk0000003&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Daniel B. Kline Opens a New Window.</a>: A retail war has been going on between traditional retailers and the internet, but Costco has managed to be a conscientious objector.</p>
<p>The warehouse chain, which bases its business model on offering low prices, has done very little with its digital experience. It has a website and offers online deals for its members, but its warehouses have remained its focus.</p>
<p>There was a time when that appeared to be a mistake because -- ultimately -- the combination of convenience and price offered byAmazon seemed like it should eventually steal business from Costco. That simply has not proven true. Recent research, which was reported on by <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/rivals-amazon-costco-can-both-thrive-survey-says/" type="external">The Seattle Times Opens a New Window.</a>, actually suggested that the two companies can co-exist, noting that nearly half (45%) of Costco members also had an Amazon Prime membership.</p>
<p>That's at least partly because while other retailers simply sell things, Costco offers an experience. Yes, saving money is part of the equation, but there's also an entertainment factor when it comes to visiting one of the chain's warehouses. In addition to the stock merchandise the company sells, there's always something new and unexpected, along with samples to make store visits part value and part fun.</p>
<p>Because of its unique sales proposition, Costco has held its own while other retailers have suffered. In the company's fiscal 2016, which closed on Aug. 28, it <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83830&amp;p=irol-newsArticle&amp;ID=2206976" type="external">reported Opens a New Window.</a> comparable sales growth of 3% in the United States, 8% in Canada, 4% in the rest of its international stores, and 4% companywide when you factor out lower gas prices. The chain also managed to grow net sales by 2% to $116.07 billion over last year.</p>
<p>Those are very solid numbers that are only likely to get better as traditional retailers go out of business or shrink their footprints. Costco has shown that it has long-term upside, and while it's expensive right now, the company has plenty of runway to grow into -- and beyond -- its valuation.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCheesehead/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Stoffel Opens a New Window.</a>: As Dan said, there's so much to like about Costco. The company has done a fantastic job of looking after all of its stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, and the communities where they are located. That's a model for sustainability in a world that's too often short-sighted.</p>
<p>But the thing I can't get over is the company's price tag. Based on results over the past 12 months, Costco's stock currently trades for 28times earnings, and 103times free cash flow (FCF). I'm usually the last person to haggle over price, but in the case of Costco, I think these expectations are too rosy. Even at the market's elevated levels, Costco trades at a 10% premiumto the S&amp;P 500.</p>
<p>Granted, part of the reason the FCF figure is so high is because Costco opened 29 new stores during the previous year. In the next fiscal year, the company plans to open 31more, meaning FCF will likely continue to remain low. It's a good thing it can finance these openings without having to use too much debt.</p>
<p>Let's consider Costco's business model, though. Virtually all of the profit the company makes comes in via membership fees. Over the past 12 months, the company turned a profit of $2.35 billion. At the same time, it pulled in $2.646 billion from membership fees. In other words, given the business model, the only way to grow enough to justify its valuation is for Costco to add more members.</p>
<p>I think Costco can substantially increase membership, but I don't think it'll be enough. Consider that earnings over the last 12 months came in at $5.33. Analysts expect that to increase 11% over the next two years, after which the growth will only be in the single digits. In my mind, that's simply not a characteristic of a stock trading for almost 30 times earnings.I think investors would be better off waiting for better entry points.</p>
<p>No matter how you feel about Costco's stock, it's hard to find too many problems with the company behind the stock. We'll revisit this topic in the future and see how Dan and Brian's reasoning has played out over time.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Costco Wholesale When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=2fc42c00-a9a5-4ad7-8a3c-f8288680cfa1&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and Costco Wholesale wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCheesehead/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Stoffel</a> owns shares of Amazon.com. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Dankline/info.aspx" type="external">Daniel Kline Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com and Costco Wholesale. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source motley fool continue reading face retail changed dramatically last 50 years first momandpop stores dominated scenes outside countrys largest urban centers walmartspread tentacles across country provided firstever chain readily available small towns long time played alone sandbox last two decades costco nasdaq cost become force reckoned adopting different business strategy focused generous benefits employees razorthin margins membershipdriven model company produced phenomenal returns investors since going public early 1980s cost total return price data ycharts opens new window today costco still growing footprint maintaining membership roster impressive rates time age ecommerce amazoncom nasdaq amzn clear king sphere advertisement two analysts debate merits owning owning shares costco daniel b kline opens new window retail war going traditional retailers internet costco managed conscientious objector warehouse chain bases business model offering low prices done little digital experience website offers online deals members warehouses remained focus time appeared mistake ultimately combination convenience price offered byamazon seemed like eventually steal business costco simply proven true recent research reported seattle times opens new window actually suggested two companies coexist noting nearly half 45 costco members also amazon prime membership thats least partly retailers simply sell things costco offers experience yes saving money part equation theres also entertainment factor comes visiting one chains warehouses addition stock merchandise company sells theres always something new unexpected along samples make store visits part value part fun unique sales proposition costco held retailers suffered companys fiscal 2016 closed aug 28 reported opens new window comparable sales growth 3 united states 8 canada 4 rest international stores 4 companywide factor lower gas prices chain also managed grow net sales 2 11607 billion last year solid numbers likely get better traditional retailers go business shrink footprints costco shown longterm upside expensive right company plenty runway grow beyond valuation brian stoffel opens new window dan said theres much like costco company done fantastic job looking stakeholders customers employees shareholders communities located thats model sustainability world thats often shortsighted thing cant get companys price tag based results past 12 months costcos stock currently trades 28times earnings 103times free cash flow fcf im usually last person haggle price case costco think expectations rosy even markets elevated levels costco trades 10 premiumto sampp 500 granted part reason fcf figure high costco opened 29 new stores previous year next fiscal year company plans open 31more meaning fcf likely continue remain low good thing finance openings without use much debt lets consider costcos business model though virtually profit company makes comes via membership fees past 12 months company turned profit 235 billion time pulled 2646 billion membership fees words given business model way grow enough justify valuation costco add members think costco substantially increase membership dont think itll enough consider earnings last 12 months came 533 analysts expect increase 11 next two years growth single digits mind thats simply characteristic stock trading almost 30 times earningsi think investors would better waiting better entry points matter feel costcos stock hard find many problems company behind stock well revisit topic future see dan brians reasoning played time 10 stocks like better costco wholesale investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right nowand costco wholesale wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns november 7 2016 brian stoffel owns shares amazoncom daniel kline opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends amazoncom costco wholesale try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 623 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>Shares of Idera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDRA) are down around 15% year to date. And that's a good thing, relatively speaking: The clinical-stage biotech's stock was down by more than 55% just a few months ago.</p>
<p>Idera's current market cap of over $300 million stems entirely from the potential for its pipeline. But just how much potential does that pipeline truly have? Let's take a look.</p>
<p>At this point, IMO-8400 looks most likely to make it to market in the foreseeable future. Idera initiated a phase 2 clinical trial for the drug in November 2015, targeting treatment of dermatomyositis, a rare inflammatory muscle and skin disease.</p>
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<p>IMO-8400 is a toll-like receptor (TLR) antagonist.TLRs are proteins that sense micro-organisms and then activate immune responses. TLR antagonists attempt to fight inflammation by inhibiting immune responses triggered by specific toll-like receptors.</p>
<p>Idera initially planned for its phase 2 study of IMO-8400 in treating dermatomyositis toinclude 48 patients randomized into four groups, one receiving placebo and the other three receiving different doses of IMO-8400. However, earlier this year Idera's chief medical officer, Joanna Horobin, said that Idera would reduce the number of doses to be tested. As a result, FDA approval is needed for the amended study protocols. Horobin expects the phase 2 study to resume in the first half of 2017.</p>
<p>Until recently, IMO-8400 was also the focus of two early-stage clinical studies targeting treatment of B-cell lymphomas, includingWaldenstrom macroglobulinemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. However, Idera announced on Sept. 26 that these studies would be suspended. The company said it would "explore strategic options" for these indications.</p>
<p>So where does all of this leave IMO-8400? A year ago, financial research company Cowen &amp; Co. projected peak annual sales of the drug of more than $1 billion.Here's the catch with that estimate: It was based on the B-cell lymphoma indications for which Idera is no longer moving forward with clinical testing.</p>
<p>IMO-8400 could still prove to be successful in treatingdermatomyositis. However, Idera isn't the only company developing a potential treatment for the disease. Corbus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CRBP) expects to complete enrollment in the first half of 2017 for its phase 2 study of Resunab in treating dermatomyositis. Resunab takes a different approach from IMO-8400 by activating the cannabinoid receptor 2.</p>
<p>Idera decided to suspend clinical studies of IMO-8400 for B-cell lymphoma indications in large part because of good news about its other pipeline candidate, IMO-2125. Like IMO-8400, IMO-2125 is a TLR antagonist. Idera recently announced positive results from a phase 1 study of IMO-2125 combined with Yervoy in treating patients with metastatic melanoma who have failed prior PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) therapy.</p>
<p>Note, though, that those are early results for IMO-2125 in an early-stage study. This study includes only 10 patients. Two of them achieved partial response and one achieved complete response. Idera's excitement stems from three patients experiencing good results. It's encouraging, but there's a long way to go.</p>
<p>The company doesn't have any clinical-stage candidates in its pipeline other than IMO-8400 and IMO-2125. However, Idera's preclinical research program showed enough promise to attract interest from a big drugmaker.</p>
<p>GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) inked a deal with Idera in 2015 to develop and market the small biotech's third-generation antisense drugs for treating renal disease. While Idera stands to gain up to $100 million in milestone payments, the company received only $2.5 million up front.</p>
<p>Even if the antisense program is eventually successful, Idera won't necessarily be rolling in additional cash outside of the potential milestone payments. The company's agreement with Glaxo allows Idera to receive royalties up to only 5% -- and they don't kick in until annual sales top $500 million.</p>
<p>So how much potential does Idera's pipeline really have? It's too early to know for sure. There's a chance that the dermatomyositis study withIMO-8400 goes well. But it might not. And even if it succeeds, rival Corbus could end up winning more market share withResunab.</p>
<p>Likewise, IMO-2125 could advance to later clinical stages and demonstrate great results. I wouldn't bet the farm on it, though, and definitely wouldn't bank too heavily on Idera's preclinical antisense program.</p>
<p>At one point, I viewed Idera as a rising star. That was before the company halted two of the phase 2 studies for IMO-8400. Now, my view is to wait and see how things unfold for this small biotech.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2518&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx" type="external">Keith Speights Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source getty images continue reading shares idera pharmaceuticals nasdaq idra around 15 year date thats good thing relatively speaking clinicalstage biotechs stock 55 months ago ideras current market cap 300 million stems entirely potential pipeline much potential pipeline truly lets take look point imo8400 looks likely make market foreseeable future idera initiated phase 2 clinical trial drug november 2015 targeting treatment dermatomyositis rare inflammatory muscle skin disease advertisement imo8400 tolllike receptor tlr antagonisttlrs proteins sense microorganisms activate immune responses tlr antagonists attempt fight inflammation inhibiting immune responses triggered specific tolllike receptors idera initially planned phase 2 study imo8400 treating dermatomyositis toinclude 48 patients randomized four groups one receiving placebo three receiving different doses imo8400 however earlier year ideras chief medical officer joanna horobin said idera would reduce number doses tested result fda approval needed amended study protocols horobin expects phase 2 study resume first half 2017 recently imo8400 also focus two earlystage clinical studies targeting treatment bcell lymphomas includingwaldenstrom macroglobulinemia diffuse large bcell lymphoma however idera announced sept 26 studies would suspended company said would explore strategic options indications leave imo8400 year ago financial research company cowen amp co projected peak annual sales drug 1 billionheres catch estimate based bcell lymphoma indications idera longer moving forward clinical testing imo8400 could still prove successful treatingdermatomyositis however idera isnt company developing potential treatment disease corbus pharmaceuticals nasdaq crbp expects complete enrollment first half 2017 phase 2 study resunab treating dermatomyositis resunab takes different approach imo8400 activating cannabinoid receptor 2 idera decided suspend clinical studies imo8400 bcell lymphoma indications large part good news pipeline candidate imo2125 like imo8400 imo2125 tlr antagonist idera recently announced positive results phase 1 study imo2125 combined yervoy treating patients metastatic melanoma failed prior pd1 programmed cell death protein 1 therapy note though early results imo2125 earlystage study study includes 10 patients two achieved partial response one achieved complete response ideras excitement stems three patients experiencing good results encouraging theres long way go company doesnt clinicalstage candidates pipeline imo8400 imo2125 however ideras preclinical research program showed enough promise attract interest big drugmaker glaxosmithkline nyse gsk inked deal idera 2015 develop market small biotechs thirdgeneration antisense drugs treating renal disease idera stands gain 100 million milestone payments company received 25 million front even antisense program eventually successful idera wont necessarily rolling additional cash outside potential milestone payments companys agreement glaxo allows idera receive royalties 5 dont kick annual sales top 500 million much potential ideras pipeline really early know sure theres chance dermatomyositis study withimo8400 goes well might even succeeds rival corbus could end winning market share withresunab likewise imo2125 could advance later clinical stages demonstrate great results wouldnt bet farm though definitely wouldnt bank heavily ideras preclinical antisense program one point viewed idera rising star company halted two phase 2 studies imo8400 view wait see things unfold small biotech secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window keith speights opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 560 |
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<p>Image source: White House on Flickr.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Affordable Care Act has been a controversial law since the get-go, with Kaiser Family Foundation's near-monthly Health Tracking Poll showing that in far more months than not, respondents have a more "unfavorable" than "favorable" view of the program.</p>
<p>Despite its unpopularity and the criticism, there's little denying that the ACA, which is more commonly referred to as Obamacare, is the program responsible for pushing the uninsured rate in the U.S. to its lowest levels on record. Data from Gallup during the first quarter found that the uninsured rate had dipped to 11%, which is 6.1% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2013, the quarter just prior to Obamacare's individual market implementation. The latest figures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that 11.1 million people were enrolled paying customers as of March 31, 2016.</p>
<p>However, these gains could be short-lived with the long-term survival of Obamacare coming into question.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>Recently, three national insurers have announced their intent to dramatically reduce coverage options in the upcoming enrollment period. UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), the nation's largest insurers, has chosen to remain in just three states in the upcoming year after offering individual plans in 34 states in 2016. ACA-related losses expected to total around $500 million this year pre-empted the move. Also following suit are Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Humana (NYSE: HUM), which had been set to merge until the Justice Department thwarted that idea. Humana is reducing its county-based coverage by close to 90%, while Aetna is paring back its county-based coverage by a little less than 70%.</p>
<p>A number of low-cost options have also been disappearing from the marketplace. More than two-thirds of Obamacare's 23 approved healthcare cooperatives closed their doors in 2016 or announced their intent to shutter operations by year's end due to excessive losses. Healthcare co-ops are low-cost options for consumers designed to run with minimal overhead. Unfortunately, they appear to have attracted a cost-conscious consumer who visit their physician often, resulting in steep losses. The risk corridor, which was a type of risk-pooling fund expected to save money-losing insurers on the ACA, simply didn't have the funds to pay out needy insurers, causing 16 co-ops to close up shop.</p>
<p>With competition shrinking, Obamacare rate hikes are soaring. A recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation in 14 major cities estimated that the lowest- and second-lowest-cost silver plans could rise by an average of 9% next year, albeit weighted rate hikes in select counties and states could be much higher. In other words, Obamacare's "affordability" could be called into question.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>On the surface, there's a lot of finger-pointing as to what's wrong with Obamacare. As noted above, reduced competition and the failure of the risk corridor to provide a financial foundation for insurers are part of the problem.</p>
<p>It should also be mentioned that Obamacare's mandate that denies insurers the right to pick and choose their members is probably also partly to blame. Prior to Obamacare, insurers could deny coverage to persons with preexisting conditions, since they could be costly for insurers to cover. Now, insurers are required to accept applications regardless of their medical history, which means accepting an influx of potentially sicker people who'd been on the outside looking in prior to the implementation of Obamacare. These sicker members are hurting insurers' bottom line.</p>
<p>But none of these problems is likely to jeopardize Obamacare's long-term survival. Instead, the programs' potentially fatal flaw could be the Shared Responsibility Payment, or SRP.</p>
<p>The SRP is the penalty you pay for not purchasing health insurance as required by the individual mandate. When Obamacare was first implemented in 2014, the SRP was the greater of $95 or 1% of your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). Data from H&amp;R Block shows the average penalty for not having health insurance in 2014 was just $150. By 2015, the penalty jumped to the greater of $325 or 2% of MAGI, and in 2016 it's now the greater of $695 or 2.5% of MAGI. Forecasts from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) anticipate that median SRP's for the uninsured in 2016 could be $969, or more than five times what they were two years prior.</p>
<p>The purpose of the SRP is to coerce consumers to buy health insurance. More importantly, it's a nudge to younger, healthier adults who may be reluctant to purchase health insurance. Young adults are far less likely to seek medical care, meaning their premium payments are usually pure profit for insurers. The premiums of young adults are typically used to offset the higher costs associated with treating older and/or sicker patients.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Obamacare's potentially fatal flaw is that the SRP just doesn't work. Assuming KFF is correct in its estimation that SRPs hit $969 in 2016, this is a far cry from what it would cost a person to be fully insured with even the lowest-cost bronze plan. In 2015, the average bronze plan across the country cost $207 per month, or $2,484 a year. Taking the penalty for 2015, which KFF estimated at a median of $661, would have saved someone almost $1,800. Admittedly, healthcare premiums can be tax-deductible for some people, but even then, we'd still be looking at substantial savings by remaining uninsured and paying the SRP.</p>
<p>The logic is pretty simple: If not purchasing health insurance and paying a penalty is substantially cheaper than purchasing the lowest-cost bronze plan available in your state, then young, healthy adults are probably going to choose to remain on the sidelines. If they do, insurers will be forced to dramatically hike premiums to ensure their coverage is sustainable, which could reduce the affordability of the program and send Obamacare into a slow death spiral.</p>
<p>In theory, the SRP can be fixed pretty easily by lawmakers to bring the penalty closer to the cost of a bronze plan to coerce consumers to enroll. However, a resolution appears unlikely given the dislike for Obamacare from lawmakers in the House and Senate.</p>
<p>It's always possible that Obamacare could survive over the long term and that my thinking is short-sighted. But watching three national insurers wave the white flag and exit a market with more than 11 million enrollees reminds me that where there's smoke, there's usually fire.</p>
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<p>The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. 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potentially fatal flaw could shared responsibility payment srp srp penalty pay purchasing health insurance required individual mandate obamacare first implemented 2014 srp greater 95 1 modified adjusted gross income magi data hampr block shows average penalty health insurance 2014 150 2015 penalty jumped greater 325 2 magi 2016 greater 695 25 magi forecasts kaiser family foundation kff anticipate median srps uninsured 2016 could 969 five times two years prior purpose srp coerce consumers buy health insurance importantly nudge younger healthier adults may reluctant purchase health insurance young adults far less likely seek medical care meaning premium payments usually pure profit insurers premiums young adults typically used offset higher costs associated treating older andor sicker patients image source getty images obamacares potentially fatal flaw srp doesnt work assuming kff correct estimation srps hit 969 2016 far cry would cost person fully insured even lowestcost bronze plan 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<p><a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s president ridiculed President <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> at the United Nations on Wednesday as an “ignorant” novice in world affairs and said the U.S. would damage its credibility by following through on <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s threat to pull out of the nuclear deal with <a href="/topics/tehran/" type="external">Tehran</a>.</p>
<p>Speaking at the same rostrum where <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> criticized <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s “rogue” regime a day earlier, Iranian President <a href="/topics/hassan-rouhani/" type="external">Hassan Rouhani</a> warned the U.S. that <a href="/topics/tehran/" type="external">Tehran</a> will “respond decisively” to any violation of the nuclear accord.</p>
<p>“It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by ‘rogue’ newcomers to the world of politics,” <a href="/topics/hassan-rouhani/" type="external">Mr. Rouhani</a> told the U.N. General Assembly. “The world will have lost a great opportunity, but such unfortunate behavior will never impede <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s course of progress and advancement.”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> told reporters in New York that he has made up his mind about whether to withdraw next month from the nuclear deal, but he is keeping the decision to himself for now.</p>
<p>“I have decided,” he said with a big smile.</p>
<p>In his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> said the nuclear agreement, struck by President Obama with other world powers in 2015, was “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”</p>
<p>“Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it — believe me,” <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> said.</p>
<p>U.S. officials have given conflicting signals about the nuclear agreement forged with <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> and five other major powers: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.</p>
<p>Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s criticisms showed his unhappiness but not a decision to withdraw from the deal.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> faces a deadline of Oct. 15 to certify that <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> is complying with the pact. If he decides that <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> is out of compliance, then <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> will have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that were lifted by the agreement.</p>
<p>Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, emerging Wednesday night from a meeting of the countries that signed the nuclear deal, said all parties agree that <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> is in “technical compliance” with the accord.</p>
<p>But he said the U.S. has other “significant issues” with the agreement, including its sunset provisions and the continuation of <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s destabilizing activities such as military support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and extremists in Yemen.</p>
<p>He said <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> finds the planned expiration of the agreement’s provisions within 10 to 15 years “simply unacceptable.”</p>
<p>The Iranian president said <a href="/topics/tehran/" type="external">Tehran</a> would not make the first move against the pact, which was years in the making.</p>
<p>“I declare to you the <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Islamic Republic of Iran</a> will not be the first country to violate the agreement, but it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party,” he told the General Assembly.</p>
<p>He accused the Trump administration of hurting U.S. interests.</p>
<p>“By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in negotiating with it or accepting its word or promise,” he said.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/hassan-rouhani/" type="external">Mr. Rouhani</a> said he was democratically elected on a platform of moderation and international engagement, suggesting to his audience that hard-liners in <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> are hoping for the deal to fail.</p>
<p>The Iranian leader told reporters later that he doesn’t think the U.S. will pull out of the nuclear deal despite <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s rhetoric, and he said any country that withdraws from the accord would isolate and embarrass itself. He said a decision by <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> to withdraw from the agreement would be “condemned by the American people” and that U.S. allies wouldn’t support it “because breaking the agreement is not something that can be defensible.”</p>
<p>He denied that <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> wants nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>“ <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> has never sought nuclear weapons, will never seek nuclear weapons, is now not seeking nuclear weapons,” <a href="/topics/hassan-rouhani/" type="external">Mr. Rouhani</a> said. “We are talking about enrichment, not building an atom bomb. Even in Japan today they have enrichment, and with enrichment their power plants are receiving the needed fuel through enriched uranium.”</p>
<p>In his speech Tuesday, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> criticized <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s “murderous” regime for supporting terrorism around the globe and called on the United Nations to confront <a href="/topics/tehran/" type="external">Tehran</a> more forcefully to end its sponsorship of violent Islamist extremism. He said <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s leaders have turned the once-prosperous nation “into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos.”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/hassan-rouhani/" type="external">Mr. Rouhani</a> said <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s “ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric, filled with ridiculously baseless allegations, that was uttered before this august body” wasn’t appropriate for an organization dedicated to promoting peace.</p>
<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vehemently criticized Mr. Obama for signing the nuclear deal, called again this week for scrapping it or changing it to permanently ban production of nuclear weapons. Mr. Netanyahu said <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>, which has sent military aid to Syria, is undertaking a “campaign of conquest across the Middle East.”</p>
<p>In response, <a href="/topics/hassan-rouhani/" type="external">Mr. Rouhani</a> said it was “reprehensible that the rogue Zionist regime that threatens regional and global security with its nuclear arsenal … has the audacity to preach to peaceful nations.”</p>
<p>Some allies of the U.S. have been urging <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> not to abandon the nuclear deal, which imposes limits on <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a>’s nuclear research and requires international inspections. Some foreign leaders have expressed concern that withdrawing from an accord designed to prevent nuclear weapons would undermine any efforts to scale back North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development.</p>
<p>French President Emmanuel Macron said it would be a mistake to pull out of the Iranian agreement.</p>
<p>“We have to keep the 2015 agreement because it was a good one,” Mr. Macron told reporters.</p>
<p>Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Wednesday that Moscow is concerned about <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s warnings about withdrawing from the deal.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir suggested that his country wants the agreement to be strengthened rather than abandoned. <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> is Saudi Arabia’s chief rival in the region.</p>
<p>“We believe that it must be strictly reinforced. <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> has not lived up to the terms of the agreement,” Mr. Jubeir told reporters. “We expect the international community to do whatever it takes to make sure <a href="/topics/iran/" type="external">Iran</a> is in compliance with it.”</p>
<p>Seven senior Senate Democrats wrote to top <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> administration officials Wednesday, reminding them of their legal obligation to report to <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> on potential breaches of the Iranian nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.</p>
<p>The senators said a 2015 law “requires the president to provide information to <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> on any potentially significant Iranian breach or compliance concern related to the JCPOA within ten calendar days of receiving the information.”</p>
<p>“To date, the Senate has received no such notification and the administration has provided little public testimony to <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> on the status of Iranian compliance with the agreement,” they wrote to Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats.</p>
<p>The letter was signed by Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Mark R. Warner of Virginia.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2017/sep/20/rouhani-blasts-trump-ignorant-over-nuclear-deal/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 0 | irans president ridiculed president trump united nations wednesday ignorant novice world affairs said us would damage credibility following mr trumps threat pull nuclear deal tehran speaking rostrum mr trump criticized irans rogue regime day earlier iranian president hassan rouhani warned us tehran respond decisively violation nuclear accord great pity agreement destroyed rogue newcomers world politics mr rouhani told un general assembly world lost great opportunity unfortunate behavior never impede irans course progress advancement mr trump told reporters new york made mind whether withdraw next month nuclear deal keeping decision decided said big smile speech general assembly tuesday mr trump said nuclear agreement struck president obama world powers 2015 one worst onesided transactions united states ever entered frankly deal embarrassment united states dont think youve heard last believe mr trump said us officials given conflicting signals nuclear agreement forged iran five major powers britain china france germany russia nikki haley us ambassador united nations said mr trumps criticisms showed unhappiness decision withdraw deal mr trump faces deadline oct 15 certify iran complying pact decides iran compliance congress 60 days decide whether reimpose sanctions lifted agreement secretary state rex w tillerson emerging wednesday night meeting countries signed nuclear deal said parties agree iran technical compliance accord said us significant issues agreement including sunset provisions continuation irans destabilizing activities military support regime syrian president bashar assad extremists yemen said mr trump finds planned expiration agreements provisions within 10 15 years simply unacceptable iranian president said tehran would make first move pact years making declare islamic republic iran first country violate agreement respond decisively resolutely violation party told general assembly accused trump administration hurting us interests violating international commitments new us administration destroys credibility undermines international confidence negotiating accepting word promise said mr rouhani said democratically elected platform moderation international engagement suggesting audience hardliners iran hoping deal fail iranian leader told reporters later doesnt think us pull nuclear deal despite mr trumps rhetoric said country withdraws accord would isolate embarrass said decision mr trump withdraw agreement would condemned american people us allies wouldnt support breaking agreement something defensible denied iran wants nuclear weapons iran never sought nuclear weapons never seek nuclear weapons seeking nuclear weapons mr rouhani said talking enrichment building atom bomb even japan today enrichment enrichment power plants receiving needed fuel enriched uranium speech tuesday mr trump criticized irans murderous regime supporting terrorism around globe called united nations confront tehran forcefully end sponsorship violent islamist extremism said irans leaders turned onceprosperous nation economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports violence bloodshed chaos mr rouhani said mr trumps ignorant absurd hateful rhetoric filled ridiculously baseless allegations uttered august body wasnt appropriate organization dedicated promoting peace israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu vehemently criticized mr obama signing nuclear deal called week scrapping changing permanently ban production nuclear weapons mr netanyahu said iran sent military aid syria undertaking campaign conquest across middle east response mr rouhani said reprehensible rogue zionist regime threatens regional global security nuclear arsenal audacity preach peaceful nations allies us urging mr trump abandon nuclear deal imposes limits irans nuclear research requires international inspections foreign leaders expressed concern withdrawing accord designed prevent nuclear weapons would undermine efforts scale back north koreas nuclear weapon ballistic missile development french president emmanuel macron said would mistake pull iranian agreement keep 2015 agreement good one mr macron told reporters russian foreign minister sergey lavrov told reporters wednesday moscow concerned mr trumps warnings withdrawing deal saudi arabian foreign minister adel aljubeir suggested country wants agreement strengthened rather abandoned iran saudi arabias chief rival region believe must strictly reinforced iran lived terms agreement mr jubeir told reporters expect international community whatever takes make sure iran compliance seven senior senate democrats wrote top trump administration officials wednesday reminding legal obligation report congress potential breaches iranian nuclear deal formally called joint comprehensive plan action senators said 2015 law requires president provide information congress potentially significant iranian breach compliance concern related jcpoa within ten calendar days receiving information date senate received notification administration provided little public testimony congress status iranian compliance agreement wrote secretary state rex w tillerson defense secretary james mattis treasury secretary steven mnuchin energy secretary rick perry director national intelligence daniel coats letter signed sens benjamin l cardin maryland patrick j leahy vermont richard j durbin illinois jack reed rhode island maria cantwell washington sherrod brown ohio mark r warner virginia copyright 2018 washington times llc click reprint permission 160 | 731 |
<p>General Electric Co. said its third-quarter earnings fell as it incurred hefty restructuring charges during Chief Executive John Flannery's first official quarter at the helm, and the new CEO outlined plans to exit more than $20 billion of the company's businesses.</p>
<p>GE reported a third-quarter profit of $1.8 billion, or 21 cents a share, down from $2 billion, or 22 cents a share a year earlier. Excluding costly restructuring charges and other items, adjusted per-share earnings fell to 29 cents from 32 cents. Impairments and restructuring charges during the period dented GE's per-share earnings by 16 cents.</p>
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<p>GE said it is looking to streamline its portfolio of businesses by more than $20 billion in the next one to two years. The company also forecast adjusted earnings for the full year that were significantly below the previous target.</p>
<p>GE shares dropped 5% premarket Friday after closing Thursday at $23.58. The company's stock has fallen 25% this year.</p>
<p>Since Mr. Flannery took over two months ago, he has begun implementing his ideas to cut costs at the company and review a far-reaching portfolio of business.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery is slated to release updated financial targets and lay out his vision Nov. 13. It is likely to include cutting thousands of jobs and scaling back GE's structure.</p>
<p>"We are focused on redefining our culture, running our businesses better, and reducing our complexity," Mr. Flannery said in prepared remarks Friday.</p>
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<p>He also wants to streamline the company's global research efforts, which could include shutting down research centers in Shanghai, Munich and Rio de Janeiro.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery, a GE lifer who has made it clear he is open to change, has also grounded a fleet of six corporate jets often used by his predecessor.</p>
<p>GE's revenue jumped 14% to $33.5 billion in its third quarter, up from $29.3 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenue of $32.56 billion, boosted by a merger of GE's oil-and-gas unit with Baker Hughes.</p>
<p>Oil-and-gas revenue rose 81% from a year ago. All segments saw growth other than power, lighting and transportation. Transportation revenues dropped 14%.</p>
<p>Write to Cara Lombardo at [email protected]</p>
<p>General Electric Co. slashed its 2017 projections as new Chief Executive John Flannery started to outline his plans to restructure the struggling conglomerate, setting a goal to sell more than $20 billion of assets and cut an additional $1 billion in spending.</p>
<p>"Our results are unacceptable to say the least," Mr. Flannery said on a conference call Friday, noting that he was reviewing whether the company could afford to maintain its current dividend payout. "Things will not stay the same at GE."</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery, who took the job in August and recently became chairman with the early exit of Jeff Immelt, has expressed an urgency to reduce costs and rethink the sprawling company. In addition to lowering earnings targets by a third, the company Friday cut its forecast for 2017 cash flow by half from a July projection.</p>
<p>GE shares gained 18 cents in Friday trading to $23.76, after tumbling as much as 7% earlier in the day. The shares had fallen 25% this year, erasing nearly $80 billion in market value even as the stock market has surged to record highs.</p>
<p>The Boston company's third-quarter earnings fell as it incurred hefty restructuring charges, reporting a profit of $1.8 billion, down from $2 billion a year earlier. Excluding restructuring charges and other items, adjusted per-share earnings fell to 29 cents from 32 cents, still well below Wall Street expectations of 49 cents.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery is slated to update investors at a Nov. 13 meeting on the details of his strategic review. He has already been cutting jobs, research operations and executive perks, such as corporate jets. On Friday, Mr. Flannery said he planned to cut an additional $1 billion in expenses next year, bringing total reductions to $3 billion over two years.</p>
<p>Under Mr. Immelt, GE pivoted away from financial services that once accounted for the lion's share of its profits as well as consumer businesses that made it a household name. It invested in energy markets and moved deeper into emerging economies. Two thirds of its employees and about 70% of its revenue are outside the U.S.</p>
<p>Mr. Immelt sold GE's ownership of NBCUniversal and shrunk GE Capital, which was one of the country's biggest lenders before the financial crisis. He also struck deals meant to diversify, acquiring Alstom SA's power-plant business and merging GE's oil-and-gas business with Baker Hughes, an oil-field-services provider.</p>
<p>But the company was under pressure from investors, including activist Trian Fund Management LP, to streamline operations and boost profits. GE, which had about 295,000 employees at the start of the year, is still one of the world's biggest makers of jet engines, power-plant turbines, MRI machines and diesel locomotives.</p>
<p>On Friday, Mr. Flannery said he is looking to sell off about $20 billion worth of assets in the next 1 to 2 years. Mr. Flannery said the company has many strong divisions but also "a number of other businesses which drain investment and management resources without the prospects for a substantial reward."</p>
<p>The company lowered its adjusted 2017 per-share profit target to $1.05-$1.10 from a previous view of $1.60-$1.70. Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.53 a share in 2017.</p>
<p>The company now projects cash flow from operating activities to be about $7 billion, a steep revision from the previous view of $12 billion to $14 billion. A big part of the drop is coming from the power division, which primarily makes turbines for gas and coal-fire power plants.</p>
<p>In an interview, Mr. Flannery said he was surprised with the results from the power business, GE's largest, and blamed the former management of the division. He said the other divisions of the company were "quite strong" when looking at their orders.</p>
<p>"I'm disappointed in the power business. Deeply," Mr. Flannery said, noting there was an overestimation of demand in the power market, along with too much inventory and not enough cost cuts to adjust to the pressures.</p>
<p>"We have not run the business well of late," he said. GE expanded the division, now its largest by revenue, following the Alstom deal.</p>
<p>The drop in cash flow has raised questions about how the company will fund its dividend, pensions and capital investments. On Friday, Mr. Flannery said the current cash-flow projections aren't going to be the norm at GE, but the company is looking to balance investing in growth and paying the dividend.</p>
<p>He said investors should think of 2018 as a "reset year." He wouldn't commit to the company maintaining its current dividend. Mr. Flannery previously had pledged the dividend wouldn't change, but said Friday that his view is "continuing to evolve."</p>
<p>"Expected bad. Got bad," said analyst Scott Davis, CEO of Melius Research, noting the quarterly results raise questions about whether the company is fixable. "Pressure to break this up just went through the roof."</p>
<p>GE cut $500 million in industrial costs in the third quarter and has reduced that annual spending by $1.2 billion for the year so far. Earlier this year, GE set a goal to cut $1 billion in such costs this year and next, under pressure from Trian, which recently gained a seat on the company's board.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery said he would look at potential changes to the board, which was mostly appointed during Mr. Immelt's tenure.</p>
<p>"The board is big at 18 people, there is no doubt about that, and that is one of the topics being discussed," he said.</p>
<p>Incoming Chief Financial Officer Jamie Miller said the company would simplify how it reports results. It will revise how it measures free cash flow to be in line with others in the industry with a "back to basics approach," she said.</p>
<p>Mr. Flannery already has called on company leaders to review their divisions and plans to streamline the company's global research efforts. That could include shutting down research centers in Shanghai, Munich and Rio de Janeiro, people familiar with the matter have said.</p>
<p>GE's revenue jumped 14% to $33.5 billion in the quarter, up from $29.3 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenue of $32.56 billion, boosted by the Baker Hughes deal.</p>
<p>Oil-and-gas revenue rose 81% from a year ago driven by Baker Hughes; without the new assets, revenue fell 7%. Revenue growth was mixed with aviation and health care businesses expanding, but power, lighting and transportation all shrinking. Transportation revenues dropped 14%.</p>
<p>--Cara Lombardo contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Thomas Gryta at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 20, 2017 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)</p> | true | 0 | general electric co said thirdquarter earnings fell incurred hefty restructuring charges chief executive john flannerys first official quarter helm new ceo outlined plans exit 20 billion companys businesses ge reported thirdquarter profit 18 billion 21 cents share 2 billion 22 cents share year earlier excluding costly restructuring charges items adjusted pershare earnings fell 29 cents 32 cents impairments restructuring charges period dented ges pershare earnings 16 cents continue reading ge said looking streamline portfolio businesses 20 billion next one two years company also forecast adjusted earnings full year significantly previous target ge shares dropped 5 premarket friday closing thursday 2358 companys stock fallen 25 year since mr flannery took two months ago begun implementing ideas cut costs company review farreaching portfolio business mr flannery slated release updated financial targets lay vision nov 13 likely include cutting thousands jobs scaling back ges structure focused redefining culture running businesses better reducing complexity mr flannery said prepared remarks friday advertisement also wants streamline companys global research efforts could include shutting research centers shanghai munich rio de janeiro mr flannery ge lifer made clear open change also grounded fleet six corporate jets often used predecessor ges revenue jumped 14 335 billion third quarter 293 billion year earlier analysts expected revenue 3256 billion boosted merger ges oilandgas unit baker hughes oilandgas revenue rose 81 year ago segments saw growth power lighting transportation transportation revenues dropped 14 write cara lombardo caralombardowsjcom general electric co slashed 2017 projections new chief executive john flannery started outline plans restructure struggling conglomerate setting goal sell 20 billion assets cut additional 1 billion spending results unacceptable say least mr flannery said conference call friday noting reviewing whether company could afford maintain current dividend payout things stay ge mr flannery took job august recently became chairman early exit jeff immelt expressed urgency reduce costs rethink sprawling company addition lowering earnings targets third company friday cut forecast 2017 cash flow half july projection ge shares gained 18 cents friday trading 2376 tumbling much 7 earlier day shares fallen 25 year erasing nearly 80 billion market value even stock market surged record highs boston companys thirdquarter earnings fell incurred hefty restructuring charges reporting profit 18 billion 2 billion year earlier excluding restructuring charges items adjusted pershare earnings fell 29 cents 32 cents still well wall street expectations 49 cents mr flannery slated update investors nov 13 meeting details strategic review already cutting jobs research operations executive perks corporate jets friday mr flannery said planned cut additional 1 billion expenses next year bringing total reductions 3 billion two years mr immelt ge pivoted away financial services accounted lions share profits well consumer businesses made household name invested energy markets moved deeper emerging economies two thirds employees 70 revenue outside us mr immelt sold ges ownership nbcuniversal shrunk ge capital one countrys biggest lenders financial crisis also struck deals meant diversify acquiring alstom sas powerplant business merging ges oilandgas business baker hughes oilfieldservices provider company pressure investors including activist trian fund management lp streamline operations boost profits ge 295000 employees start year still one worlds biggest makers jet engines powerplant turbines mri machines diesel locomotives friday mr flannery said looking sell 20 billion worth assets next 1 2 years mr flannery said company many strong divisions also number businesses drain investment management resources without prospects substantial reward company lowered adjusted 2017 pershare profit target 105110 previous view 160170 analysts currently expect earnings 153 share 2017 company projects cash flow operating activities 7 billion steep revision previous view 12 billion 14 billion big part drop coming power division primarily makes turbines gas coalfire power plants interview mr flannery said surprised results power business ges largest blamed former management division said divisions company quite strong looking orders im disappointed power business deeply mr flannery said noting overestimation demand power market along much inventory enough cost cuts adjust pressures run business well late said ge expanded division largest revenue following alstom deal drop cash flow raised questions company fund dividend pensions capital investments friday mr flannery said current cashflow projections arent going norm ge company looking balance investing growth paying dividend said investors think 2018 reset year wouldnt commit company maintaining current dividend mr flannery previously pledged dividend wouldnt change said friday view continuing evolve expected bad got bad said analyst scott davis ceo melius research noting quarterly results raise questions whether company fixable pressure break went roof ge cut 500 million industrial costs third quarter reduced annual spending 12 billion year far earlier year ge set goal cut 1 billion costs year next pressure trian recently gained seat companys board mr flannery said would look potential changes board mostly appointed mr immelts tenure board big 18 people doubt one topics discussed said incoming chief financial officer jamie miller said company would simplify reports results revise measures free cash flow line others industry back basics approach said mr flannery already called company leaders review divisions plans streamline companys global research efforts could include shutting research centers shanghai munich rio de janeiro people familiar matter said ges revenue jumped 14 335 billion quarter 293 billion year earlier analysts expected revenue 3256 billion boosted baker hughes deal oilandgas revenue rose 81 year ago driven baker hughes without new assets revenue fell 7 revenue growth mixed aviation health care businesses expanding power lighting transportation shrinking transportation revenues dropped 14 cara lombardo contributed article write thomas gryta thomasgrytawsjcom end dow jones newswires october 20 2017 1855 et 2255 gmt | 906 |
<p />
<p>GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) has had a rough go of it over the past couple of years. With respiratory drug Advair losing market share and supposed savior Breo and Anoro Ellipta not generating impressive uptake, it looked like the British drugmaker might be permanently in the doldrums. Add to that the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/09/23/glaxosmithkline-keeps-setting-records-but-not-in-a.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">massive bribery scandal Opens a New Window.</a> that engulfed the company, and things looked even rougher.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Yet hope springs eternal -- and there's good reason to be hopeful about Glaxo's future. Let's check under the hood.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>With Advair's patent expiry, GlaxoSmithKline has been fighting a rearguard action to retain market share by cutting prices. (This without an actual Advair generic on the market -- although one is expected in the first half of 2016.) And it shows: In the third quarter of 2014, Advair brought in $1.6 billion -- that's down to $1.1 billion two years later. In fact, CEO Andrew Witty predicts that GlaxoSmithKline has "absorbed 50% of the ... economic effect of genericization already" (this and other quotes courtesy of <a href="http://marketintelligence.spglobal.com/" type="external">S&amp;P Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>).</p>
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<p>But here's what's really interesting: The Elliptas, led by main products Breo and Anoro, are finally (finally!) starting to get some traction in the market. All told, they're generating 42% of the script volume that Advair is, and Breo Ellipta is annualizing at over $800 million based on the most recent quarter's sales. They still aren't big enough to plug the Advair-sized hole, but fortunately, GlaxoSmithKline has other irons in the fire.</p>
<p>Chief among them: HIV drugs Triumeq and Tivicay, which are combined annualizing to well over $3 billion based on last quarter's results and grew by a combined 72% in U.S. dollars year over year. Influenza vaccines FluLaval and Fluarix achieved 54% revenue growth and brought in almost $500 million last quarter, and meningitis vaccine Bexsero nearly tripled year over year to $180 million in revenue last quarter. Witty was particularly bullish on Bexsero, noting, "you're probably in the 10% territory, maybe not even that of the overall opportunity of this particular vaccine. So there's an awful lot of opportunity to go on a global basis."</p>
<p>When GlaxoSmithKline announced its big transaction with Novartis -- which gave GlaxoSmithKline Novartis' vaccines business, Novartis GlaxoSmithKline's oncology portfolio, and both companies a portion of a new joint consumer healthcare business -- I was skeptical. To be honest, I felt Novartis was clearly getting the better end of the deal, and that GlaxoSmithKline had sacrificed its growth opportunities in exchange for a little more stability, all but guaranteeing its relegation to "also-ran" status in the pharma space as it struggled along with subscale businesses.</p>
<p>So far, it looks like I was wrong.</p>
<p>GlaxoSmithKline's revenue and core operating profit this past quarter were excellent, and the trend lines are all in the right directions. What's more, all three of its divisions (pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and consumer healthcare) are growing and rapidly bringing a number of new products to market. And they've achieved that without slowing the pipeline -- GlaxoSmithKline is expecting a slew of data on 20-30 potential drugs over the next two years, which highlights both the company's optionality and diverse growth opportunities.</p>
<p>That's not to say it's all coming up roses. While GlaxoSmithKline has gradually reduced its debt, it's still sitting on over $20 billion in debt-- and its net debt position has actually worsened given that it has been drawing down its cash faster over the past six quarters. Management expects to reverse that over the next year or two, and I'm hopeful to see precisely that.</p>
<p>Companies can look good on paper, and GlaxoSmithKline is actually edging back into that camp. But a great deal depends on what management's plans for the future are. With CEO Andrew Witty stepping down to be replaced by Emma Walmsley, I'm less certain about GlaxoSmithKline's planned way forward. And rightfully so -- she has not yet announced her planned capital allocation and growth strategies. Until those are in place, and we've seen her begin executing, it's unclear whether GlaxoSmithKline's recovery will be sustained over the longer term.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than GlaxoSmithKline When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=0cfe76ec-e303-46c5-8b77-73391924a244&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and GlaxoSmithKline wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFEnterprise/info.aspx" type="external">Michael Douglass Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | glaxosmithkline nyse gsk rough go past couple years respiratory drug advair losing market share supposed savior breo anoro ellipta generating impressive uptake looked like british drugmaker might permanently doldrums add massive bribery scandal opens new window engulfed company things looked even rougher continue reading yet hope springs eternal theres good reason hopeful glaxos future lets check hood image source getty images advairs patent expiry glaxosmithkline fighting rearguard action retain market share cutting prices without actual advair generic market although one expected first half 2016 shows third quarter 2014 advair brought 16 billion thats 11 billion two years later fact ceo andrew witty predicts glaxosmithkline absorbed 50 economic effect genericization already quotes courtesy sampp market intelligence opens new window advertisement heres whats really interesting elliptas led main products breo anoro finally finally starting get traction market told theyre generating 42 script volume advair breo ellipta annualizing 800 million based recent quarters sales still arent big enough plug advairsized hole fortunately glaxosmithkline irons fire chief among hiv drugs triumeq tivicay combined annualizing well 3 billion based last quarters results grew combined 72 us dollars year year influenza vaccines flulaval fluarix achieved 54 revenue growth brought almost 500 million last quarter meningitis vaccine bexsero nearly tripled year year 180 million revenue last quarter witty particularly bullish bexsero noting youre probably 10 territory maybe even overall opportunity particular vaccine theres awful lot opportunity go global basis glaxosmithkline announced big transaction novartis gave glaxosmithkline novartis vaccines business novartis glaxosmithklines oncology portfolio companies portion new joint consumer healthcare business skeptical honest felt novartis clearly getting better end deal glaxosmithkline sacrificed growth opportunities exchange little stability guaranteeing relegation alsoran status pharma space struggled along subscale businesses far looks like wrong glaxosmithklines revenue core operating profit past quarter excellent trend lines right directions whats three divisions pharmaceuticals vaccines consumer healthcare growing rapidly bringing number new products market theyve achieved without slowing pipeline glaxosmithkline expecting slew data 2030 potential drugs next two years highlights companys optionality diverse growth opportunities thats say coming roses glaxosmithkline gradually reduced debt still sitting 20 billion debt net debt position actually worsened given drawing cash faster past six quarters management expects reverse next year two im hopeful see precisely companies look good paper glaxosmithkline actually edging back camp great deal depends managements plans future ceo andrew witty stepping replaced emma walmsley im less certain glaxosmithklines planned way forward rightfully yet announced planned capital allocation growth strategies place weve seen begin executing unclear whether glaxosmithklines recovery sustained longer term 10 stocks like better glaxosmithkline investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right nowand glaxosmithkline wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns november 7 2016 michael douglass opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 520 |
<p>Since 2015, Chipotle&#160;(NYSE: CMG)&#160;has done a lot to make their food safer for consumers, but apparently the issue still isn't solved. After reports of more food safety issues and norovirus broke a few weeks ago, the stock plummeted to the lowest levels it's seen since 2013.</p>
<p>In this week's episode of <a href="https://www.fool.com/podcasts/industry-focus?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff781e88-7244-11e7-be1a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Industry Focus: Consumer Goods Opens a New Window.</a>, Motley Fool analysts Dylan Lewis and Sarah Priestley talk about how Chipotle could recover from this, and the most important numbers that listeners should be watchful for in their earnings report this week.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Also, the hosts look at Lululemon's (NASDAQ: LULU) climb back to the top after their fall from grace in early 2017, Michael Kors' (NYSE: KORS) acquisition of fashion company Jimmy Choo, and more.</p>
<p>A full transcript follows the video.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Chipotle Mexican GrillWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=cad5aada-4fda-4c75-be72-7a3a0d5d2382&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff781e88-7244-11e7-be1a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Chipotle Mexican Grill wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p>This video was recorded on July 25, 2017.</p>
<p>Dylan Lewis:&#160;Welcome to Industry Focus, the podcast that dives into a different sector of the stock market every day. It's Tuesday&#160;July 25th, so we're talking Consumer Goods, doing a rundown on some retailer news, and a little update on&#160;Chipotle. I'm your host, Dylan Lewis, and I'm joined in the studio by Fool.com Sarah Priestley.</p>
<p>Sarah Priestley:&#160;Hi! It's nice to be here!</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Yeah. I think maybe some of our Tuesday listeners were a little surprised to hear my voice.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah, they wanted to hear Vince's voice, but sadly not to be. Back next week.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Yes. We'll be talking CG, but I think really we'll be doing our best Vincent Shen impression today. [laughs]</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;[laughs] Absolutely.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;He's out of the office, so we're covering for him. Sarah, what do you think a good Vince impression be? What would it be based on?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Oh, it would definitely involve flip flops, of course.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;I am wearing my office moccasin slippers right now, which is about as close as you can get to Vince's flip flops.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;I'm sure our listeners really wanted to know that. And, it would involve food.&#160;Any impression has to involve something with food.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Maybe something about endless buffets.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yes, gaming a buffet.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Going to a gym, Fool Fitness.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yes. Being swole, is that the word?</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Yes. Swole guy, Vincent Shen. So, we're talking retailers today. A decent amount of retailer news, and a company that has struggled for a long time but might be getting back to its winning ways.&#160;Lululemon&#160;was one that we wanted to talk about. This stock is almost back to where it was in early 2017, before the company issued some weak guidance and predicted its first same-store sales decline in the past 28 quarters. Sarah, you actually bought shares of them after that post-earnings sell-off. Do you want to talk a little bit about what you saw and what you liked in the company then?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;The stock was down 20% on what I would deem to be an overreaction on some sort of short-term bad news. Revenue for that quarter was actually up 12%. EPS came in slightly short of the $1.01 anticipated, it came in at $0.99. Total comps were up 8%, gross margin was crazy good for the industry at 54.2%, up 4%. What really knocked the share price was the fact that the spring apparel collection missed the mark, it lacked a lot of color, and they noticed this was going to happen watch on these first quarter trends.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;When you say color, because ... I don't know what I'm talking about, [laughs] when it comes to the apparel world, do you mean literal color?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;I mean actual color. If you go into their store, everything was very much blacks, and maybe some maroons and dark blues, things like that, whereas the spring trend was very much for whites and neutrals and splashes of color here and there.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;So the kind of missed the mark with planning what the fashion taste would be.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Absolutely, they did. It was kind of an issue with their design team, and they were very upfront about that, and quickly moved to correct&#160;what they were doing. So, my belief was that the drop and share price presented an opportunity. I've been looking at the stock for a while. The current P/E now that it's up is 26X, which is still quite high compared to the industry average. But I still think it has a lot of growth potential ahead of it, in international and in the men's segment, they're&#160;probably $1 billion each. I also think they command some pricing power from their loyal customer base.</p>
<p>I honestly do believe that they offer a very good premium product. I think they focus on form fit and function, and they're quite technology advanced, and you can see that in some of their more recent announcements.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Checking in on some of those thoughts and the results that have backed them up, because we now have two quarters to look at what your case was and how it's played out, what has it been? How has the company performed?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;The lower projection that people panicked about, they lowered the&#160;revenue projection for between $510-515 million. That actually came up $520.3 million. So, it's up to 5% year over year. EPS was at $0.32 per share. It had been estimated between $0.25-$0.27. So, they did better than people were expecting. However, the big blow was the brick and mortar comps decline of 1%. And that was the first comps decline that they'd anticipated for 28 quarters. So, that was a shock, but it shouldn't have been a shock because it was expected.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;In some ways, that reminds me of&#160;Under Armour&#160;(NYSE: UA) (NYSE: UAA).</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yes, exactly.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Any time you have this company that has this long history of blowing it out of the water, and I think it&#160;Under Armour's case, it was double-digit growth --</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah,&#160;over 20%.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;-- for 20 straight quarters or something like that, any time that starts to sink and it's been the flagship metric that management has pointed to for a really long time, it has an outsized impact on investor opinion of the company.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Totally. And part of that is the problem of Wall Street analysts, and part of that is also management's own problem for keeping harping on that figure.&#160;And it's exactly the same thing. It was in a very high-growth industry in the athleisure segment, and they were really a front-runner, they had the first-mover advantage with the yoga apparel. Now you're seeing as steadying off and a slower growth, which is to be expected. It's still a good stock.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;What led to that out-performance? That reduced guidance, obviously management&#160;didn't think, knowing they were missing the fashion mark with some of the stuff they would be rolling out in the spring, that they were going to be performing all that well. What caused them to wind up beating some of those estimates?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;I think that one of the biggest things, if you listen to the earnings call and look at the balance sheet this quarter, they have some one-time expenses for their e-commerce, because they redesigned their website. If you look at their website now as opposed to three months ago, it's much more image heavy. It has some videos in it, it's much more focused on the usability and the function of their products. And that has had some great results for them. They've had two campaigns. The one I'm thinking of, I think it's the This Is Yoga campaign, it's been really successful. It's had 26 million views, it's trying to reach people that don't traditionally know Lululemon's products. They have a rap star on there talking about breathing, and all those kinds of things. So they're really trying to reach out to different segments of the market, and I think they're achieving that. What's driven some of their improvement is, honestly, the gross margin being up, and some of that is some supply chain work that they've been doing to try to get some efficiencies back into the supply chain and make it more of a flexible dynamic supply chain that they can go back into when they notice a trend is really taking off, and that's been successful.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;That focus on e-commerce and that pivot to digital makes sense when brick and mortar stores are struggling for them. You've enjoyed a nice 20% pop since you bought the stock, in quite a short time. Now that they're back to where they have been historically, I think they're an $8.5 billion company right now, and you look at their long-term market cap and it's between that $8-11 billion, they haven't been able to break much beyond that, do you see a lot of the efforts that they're investing in as being things that make them a company that you want to own for a long time?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;I do. And I honestly think that some of the recent management moves have impressed me. They're divesting, I'm going to say this incorrectly, their ivivva&#160;brand, which is their girls brand. It's now going to be online only, which means it might actually be accretive to their bottom line, which it hasn't been before. I think that's a good move. That show some strong leadership to me, the decision to actually cut something off before it gets bigger and more of a challenge to bring back. The men's segment is still only 20% of the total business, but 30% of new customers coming to the store are men. And I think there's some innovation in products there that are actually very attractive. I think it's going to take a lot to convince some men to shop at Lululemon, but it might be a secret, on-the-side, where-did-you-get-that-from Lululemon, for a while.&#160;[laughs]</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;I will say, one of my best friends from college works in a job that's&#160;kind of manufacturing, kind of&#160;corporate, in that he works in logistics for a company that handles big-time&#160;infrastructure and industrial work. So,&#160;he spends some of his time on plant floors&#160;and some of it in an office, and he wears the Lululemon ABC Pants, the office pants that are these very&#160;breathable and flexible pants that&#160;look like your average work slacks. He owns three or four pairs, and that's all he wears to work.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;And&#160;I can see why. They're expensive,&#160;I think they're $100 a pair, but&#160;I think people are willing to pay when something is well-made and functionally excellent.&#160;I also think they have a lot of growth in Asia, and&#160;you can see that they're expanding heavily over there. They're&#160;much more slow and steady in Europe, which&#160;I think is good. The approach suits the market. Overall, the bottom line is,&#160;I should say I'm an Under Armour shareholder as well, and I'm bullish on the overall athleisure trend.&#160;I think there are a lot of analysts right now that are thinking the trend&#160;isn't going to last out, it's going to peter out because it's fashion-based.&#160;I don't think it is. I think&#160;it's a lifestyle, generation change base. I think&#160;Millennials are much more focused on health and wellness,&#160;they're much more likely to spend money on experiences, and I think these&#160;products are tied to experiences. You can wear it hiking, you can wear it to the office in a lot of cases, now, and&#160;that makes it a more valuable product.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;It's&#160;something that we see quite often here at Fool HQ. We&#160;have a very wellness and health oriented group of employees here, and I think it's&#160;very common to see people in yoga pants after they do Fool Fitness, or&#160;coming from the gym in the morning and going down to the showers and&#160;getting ready for work. I certainly see it a lot.&#160;I don't think it's going anywhere. I&#160;participate in that trend quite a bit myself. I think, as other people get into the space, you talked about how some of the big retailers are doing it, and there are concerns about that&#160;crunching Lulu's margins. But, for a long time, Lulu&#160;has been able to command,&#160;because of its premium product, these great margins. I know that right now, the gross profit margin is better than&#160;Nike&#160;and Under Armour.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah, way better. Vince&#160;and I have talked about this before. We've&#160;talked about Under Armour and Lulu and Nike in the same show. The pie is so huge for this market,&#160;I think there are some estimates that peg the health and wellness trend, which&#160;obviously encompasses a lot of different things, as the next $1 trillion market. And I really feel like people are looking at this as if it's a zero-sum game,&#160;and it's not going to be. There's&#160;going to be a lot of winners. Lulu already has a loyal base of customers. If they can build on that, I think they can defend their margins.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Switching gears over to&#160;something I know even less about,&#160;[laughs] in other retail news,&#160;Michael Kors&#160;announced that it was buying&#160;Jimmy Choo&#160;for&#160;£896 million.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;My money!</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;[laughs] Which I am told translates to $1.17 billion. I'm going to have to take Sarah's word for that. This really ends a period where&#160;JAB Holding Company, the major&#160;owner and influencer&#160;with Jimmy Choo, had been trying to shop this business for a while.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah,&#160;they put it up for sale in April. They've been&#160;pretty prolific buying up&#160;American companies. They bought Krispy Kreme --&#160;was that at the end of last year?</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Something like that.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;They just&#160;recently bought Panera, too. As you can see from those two acquisitions, it's much more&#160;restaurant and coffee focused.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Yeah,&#160;one of these things is not like the other.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yes,&#160;absolutely. I think they're really trying to focus on that,&#160;it makes sense for them. So yeah,&#160;Michael Kors has finally taken the bait. They bought Jimmy Choo for $1.17 billion. I think the&#160;decision was probably influenced a little bit by&#160;Coach's&#160;purchase of&#160;Kate Spade&#160;back in May for $2.4 billion.&#160;I think they're really trying to get into different areas of the market. I think&#160;Kate Spade is obviously going to offer Coach access to a younger and more fashion-forward, some could argue, market. Michael Kors, known for its handbags, known for&#160;issues with commoditization of its products, really wants to break into the designer shoe industry. It's actually grown at 9% in the past decade, as opposed to 5% for the larger luxury sector.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;This seems a little bit like it's less them&#160;aggressively going for growth,&#160;and more them trying to keep pace with Coach.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;That is&#160;what it appears to be. They just posted a loss for the last quarter,&#160;and they are struggling. I think they recently pivoted away from more of an expansion-based plan to now shrinking back the number of store bases that they have, limiting the amount of products that they put in department stores to have more&#160;ownership of pricing. So, they're obviously struggling,&#160;they're obviously having problems.&#160;I personally believe this is a good move for them.&#160;I think Jimmy Choo does have a strong brand. You see people still,&#160;like Michelle Obama,&#160;I'm thinking Princess Diana&#160;because she was one of the proponents for the brand, but recently&#160;Michelle Obama. It's a good, current brand,&#160;it's kind of timeless. I think it will work well with them if they can integrate it.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Switching gears&#160;yet a third time, we're&#160;going to talk a little bit about Chipotle. Shares&#160;of the company took a huge hit&#160;last week. They are now down at their lowest levels since 2013 after news broke of another incident of food-borne&#160;illness getting customers sick. This time, it was actually at a location in&#160;Sterling, Virginia, which is only about 40 minutes from Fool HQ.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah,&#160;we could go check it out.&#160;[laughs]</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Be careful.&#160;[laughs] The&#160;company reports after market close today, and my gosh, it seems like they could use some good news.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Oh,&#160;absolutely. A lot of the recent issues aren't&#160;going to be included in those quarterly earnings,&#160;but they definitely have to comment on it. I would say that's probably even the biggest rally cry&#160;I've heard about the company so far, is,&#160;the lack of response to some of these issues. So, if you've been under a rock&#160;for the past couple of weeks, they close&#160;a Virginia location&#160;after a norovirus outbreak, and then a video went viral showing mice running around a&#160;Chipotle restaurant in Dallas. Earlier this year, in April,&#160;the company disclosed a payment card&#160;security breach. So, they're kind of on a long run of bad news.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Of course,&#160;this is not the first issue with food-borne illnesses. So, in some ways, it kind of compromises any customer confidence that they had worked so hard to rebuild.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Absolutely.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;And&#160;it will not be cheap for them to continue to do that. Before we get&#160;over to that part of the discussion, the looking-forward stuff,&#160;why don't we talk a little bit about what's going on with the company, and&#160;knowing that the report is&#160;coming up, what to expect?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Absolutely. The&#160;report is coming out today. I think people will be focusing on comps. They&#160;projected high single digits, so you want to see them deliver on that. Again,&#160;as I said, I would like to see them give some kind of&#160;projection on what the recent events have done in the past couple of days.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;I'm sure analysts will ask.&#160;[laughs]</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;[laughs] Yeah. We&#160;also want to keep an eye on the store openings. They're&#160;projecting 195-210 new stores this year, so we want to see&#160;how they are with that plan. Analysts are predicting between $2.21&#160;EPS on revenues of about $1.19 billion. So,&#160;again, we want to see them look for that free cash flow. General financial security with the company&#160;has always been great, even despite recent troubles. So,&#160;I think, free cash flow in the realm of $50 million&#160;is what would be expected. Then,&#160;generally, look for an update on their online business. Last&#160;quarter they disclosed that it was up 50%. It's very new,&#160;so the comps aren't going to be right hard to beat, but I would like to see an update on that.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;They've&#160;also made some menu changes,&#160;and I hope we get some color there, too.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah,&#160;absolutely. Chorizo, desserts, queso,&#160;all of these things have been tested. Chorizo actually hasn't been too&#160;accretive, because it just replaces the protein&#160;that you would have already bought. But,&#160;desserts could certainly add a lot, and queso,&#160;because it's an added extra.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;And&#160;queso also puts them on par&#160;with some of the other fast-casual burrito&#160;makers out there. I know for myself,&#160;one of the things that separated&#160;the&#160;Qdoba&#160;and&#160;Moe's&#160;of&#160;the world from&#160;Chipotle was, if I wanted queso,&#160;I had to go there. I couldn't get that at Chipotle.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Personally&#160;I never want queso.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Really?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah,&#160;it's an alien concept to outside of the U.S.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;I think it's delicious.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;So, generally,&#160;updates on those issues,&#160;and then, they've been&#160;trialing price increases too,&#160;and they've suggested it's been going well, so we want to see&#160;how those price increases are going to be rolled out.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;And&#160;looking at how some of the&#160;recent developments with the company might trickle down&#160;into the financial statements,&#160;I know the company had talked in the past about how marketing and&#160;promotion costs were going to be somewhere in the mid 3% of revenue this quarter, which was&#160;going to be up. That's something that&#160;reflects the fact that they have had to do&#160;quite a bit to get customers back into stores. Some of that is discounting and offering BOGOs,&#160;buy-one-get-one's,&#160;things like that. In light of a lot of the recent news we've seen,&#160;I think that might even inch up more. It won't be reflected in&#160;what we see in this financial result,&#160;like you talked about, because it doesn't cover that time series. But, you might get some guidance coverage on that as&#160;the company provides some commentary. I think, given the flurry of bad news,&#160;that's one of the easiest ways to get people back in stores, and&#160;interacting with the brand again and&#160;building customer confidence. So,&#160;I would not be surprised to see that tick up.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;No,&#160;definitely. It really kind of&#160;puts them back at square one, in a sense.&#160;I don't think this is as serious, obviously, as what happened to them before, but from a PR perspective, it's&#160;really bringing them back to where they had been. And their&#160;previous campaign, I don't know if you remember the TV ads, they were great,&#160;they had some comedians in and it was called As Real As It Gets, and they'd&#160;give them hard truths.&#160;I'm sure we're going to see some parodies of that coming up.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Something that made me laugh&#160;with the Chipotle stuff that I've seen is&#160;some of the conspiracy theories floating around --</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Oh,&#160;I haven't seen these.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;-- about&#160;these issues with Chipotle. There are two in particular,&#160;I think they were circulating back when&#160;the original food-borne illness outbreak happened a couple years ago, but&#160;they have since resurfaced. One of them is, because&#160;Chipotle is anti-GMO, there are people who are doing some sort of biochemical&#160;warfare against the company. The other one was that&#160;Chipotle shorts are deliberately going out of their way to&#160;create problems for the company.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Wow.&#160;I could see a movie coming out of this.&#160;[laughs]</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Jeez,&#160;that's diabolical. I am&#160;inclined to not believe those conspiracy theories, and think this is just&#160;something that unfortunately happens in the restaurant business, and&#160;it can be inescapable at times. But, you look back&#160;at the history of companies that have had to weather&#160;this type of issue,&#160;I don't know that it's been as much of a snowball effect in the past with&#160;repeated incidents, but&#160;Jack and the Box&#160;was&#160;able to navigate this,&#160;and they actually had people die from their&#160;undercooked meat incidents. And they&#160;managed to weather it and come back just fine. So, I think,&#160;if you're sold on the concept of&#160;Chipotle, this is obviously a really&#160;unfortunate thing as a shareholder, because it does set you back to 2013 prices. But, as someone who is a shareholder, I'm holding on and doubling down on the idea that,&#160;I like this concept, they're still&#160;opening a ton of stores.&#160;I think there's still quite a bit to like here.</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;Yeah,&#160;absolutely, I agree. And&#160;as we talked about with the Lulu thing, it's&#160;the same issue. It's,&#160;hopefully, a short-term concern that's had an outsized impact on the share price. So,&#160;as you said, if you're still bullish on the whole concept. And that really&#160;ties into the whole healthy eating trend, and the real food and all that. If you buy into that, then absolutely, now is almost a buy opportunity.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;And I'm sure Vince will be&#160;following up when he's back in the studio next week, with some info following Chipotle's earnings,&#160;and probably a little info on the Jimmy Choo acquisition,&#160;maybe a little bit more color there as&#160;details come out. Sarah, anything else before I let you go?</p>
<p>Priestley:&#160;No,&#160;thank you for having me.</p>
<p>Lewis:&#160;Thank you for hopping on.&#160;[laughs] You&#160;saved me from half an hour of Dylan rambling into a microphone. Listeners, that does it for this episode of Industry Focus. Like I said, don't worry, Vince will be back next week to talk CG. If you have any questions for me, Vince, or any of the hosts, just shoot us an email at <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>, or you can tweet us @MFIndustryFocus. If you're looking for more of our stuff, you can subscribe on iTunes, or check out The Fool's family of shows at Fool.com/podcasts. As always, people on the program may own companies discussed on the show, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against stocks mentioned, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. Thanks to Ann Henry for all her work behind the glass. For Sarah Priestley, I'm Dylan Lewis. Thanks for listening and Fool on!</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSarahp/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff781e88-7244-11e7-be1a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sarah Priestley Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Lululemon Athletica and Under Armour (C Shares). <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFlewis/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff781e88-7244-11e7-be1a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dylan Lewis Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Under Armour (A Shares), and Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill, Coach, Lululemon Athletica, Nike, Under Armour (A Shares), and Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of Michael Kors Holdings. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=ff781e88-7244-11e7-be1a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | since 2015 chipotle160nyse cmg160has done lot make food safer consumers apparently issue still isnt solved reports food safety issues norovirus broke weeks ago stock plummeted lowest levels seen since 2013 weeks episode industry focus consumer goods opens new window motley fool analysts dylan lewis sarah priestley talk chipotle could recover important numbers listeners watchful earnings report week continue reading also hosts look lululemons nasdaq lulu climb back top fall grace early 2017 michael kors nyse kors acquisition fashion company jimmy choo full transcript follows video 10 stocks like better chipotle mexican grillwhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right chipotle mexican grill wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks advertisement stock advisor returns july 6 2017 video recorded july 25 2017 dylan lewis160welcome industry focus podcast dives different sector stock market every day tuesday160july 25th talking consumer goods rundown retailer news little update on160chipotle im host dylan lewis im joined studio foolcom sarah priestley sarah priestley160hi nice lewis160yeah think maybe tuesday listeners little surprised hear voice priestley160yeah wanted hear vinces voice sadly back next week lewis160yes well talking cg think really well best vincent shen impression today laughs priestley160laughs absolutely lewis160hes office covering sarah think good vince impression would based priestley160oh would definitely involve flip flops course lewis160i wearing office moccasin slippers right close get vinces flip flops priestley160im sure listeners really wanted know would involve food160any impression involve something food lewis160maybe something endless buffets priestley160yes gaming buffet lewis160going gym fool fitness priestley160yes swole word lewis160yes swole guy vincent shen talking retailers today decent amount retailer news company struggled long time might getting back winning ways160lululemon160was one wanted talk stock almost back early 2017 company issued weak guidance predicted first samestore sales decline past 28 quarters sarah actually bought shares postearnings selloff want talk little bit saw liked company priestley160the stock 20 would deem overreaction sort shortterm bad news revenue quarter actually 12 eps came slightly short 101 anticipated came 099 total comps 8 gross margin crazy good industry 542 4 really knocked share price fact spring apparel collection missed mark lacked lot color noticed going happen watch first quarter trends lewis160when say color dont know im talking laughs comes apparel world mean literal color priestley160i mean actual color go store everything much blacks maybe maroons dark blues things like whereas spring trend much whites neutrals splashes color lewis160so kind missed mark planning fashion taste would priestley160absolutely kind issue design team upfront quickly moved correct160what belief drop share price presented opportunity ive looking stock current pe 26x still quite high compared industry average still think lot growth potential ahead international mens segment theyre160probably 1 billion also think command pricing power loyal customer base honestly believe offer good premium product think focus form fit function theyre quite technology advanced see recent announcements lewis160checking thoughts results backed two quarters look case played company performed priestley160the lower projection people panicked lowered the160revenue projection 510515 million actually came 5203 million 5 year year eps 032 per share estimated 025027 better people expecting however big blow brick mortar comps decline 1 first comps decline theyd anticipated 28 quarters shock shouldnt shock expected lewis160in ways reminds of160under armour160nyse ua nyse uaa priestley160yes exactly lewis160any time company long history blowing water think it160under armours case doubledigit growth priestley160yeah160over 20 lewis160 20 straight quarters something like time starts sink flagship metric management pointed really long time outsized impact investor opinion company priestley160totally part problem wall street analysts part also managements problem keeping harping figure160and exactly thing highgrowth industry athleisure segment really frontrunner firstmover advantage yoga apparel youre seeing steadying slower growth expected still good stock lewis160what led outperformance reduced guidance obviously management160didnt think knowing missing fashion mark stuff would rolling spring going performing well caused wind beating estimates priestley160i think one biggest things listen earnings call look balance sheet quarter onetime expenses ecommerce redesigned website look website opposed three months ago much image heavy videos much focused usability function products great results theyve two campaigns one im thinking think yoga campaign really successful 26 million views trying reach people dont traditionally know lululemons products rap star talking breathing kinds things theyre really trying reach different segments market think theyre achieving whats driven improvement honestly gross margin supply chain work theyve try get efficiencies back supply chain make flexible dynamic supply chain go back notice trend really taking thats successful lewis160that focus ecommerce pivot digital makes sense brick mortar stores struggling youve enjoyed nice 20 pop since bought stock quite short time theyre back historically think theyre 85 billion company right look longterm market cap 811 billion havent able break much beyond see lot efforts theyre investing things make company want long time priestley160i honestly think recent management moves impressed theyre divesting im going say incorrectly ivivva160brand girls brand going online means might actually accretive bottom line hasnt think thats good move show strong leadership decision actually cut something gets bigger challenge bring back mens segment still 20 total business 30 new customers coming store men think theres innovation products actually attractive think going take lot convince men shop lululemon might secret ontheside wheredidyougetthatfrom lululemon while160laughs lewis160i say one best friends college works job thats160kind manufacturing kind of160corporate works logistics company handles bigtime160infrastructure industrial work so160he spends time plant floors160and office wears lululemon abc pants office pants very160breathable flexible pants that160look like average work slacks owns three four pairs thats wears work priestley160and160i see theyre expensive160i think theyre 100 pair but160i think people willing pay something wellmade functionally excellent160i also think lot growth asia and160you see theyre expanding heavily theyre160much slow steady europe which160i think good approach suits market overall bottom line is160i say im armour shareholder well im bullish overall athleisure trend160i think lot analysts right thinking trend160isnt going last going peter fashionbased160i dont think think160its lifestyle generation change base think160millennials much focused health wellness160theyre much likely spend money experiences think these160products tied experiences wear hiking wear office lot cases and160that makes valuable product lewis160its160something see quite often fool hq we160have wellness health oriented group employees think its160very common see people yoga pants fool fitness or160coming gym morning going showers and160getting ready work certainly see lot160i dont think going anywhere i160participate trend quite bit think people get space talked big retailers concerns that160crunching lulus margins long time lulu160has able command160because premium product great margins know right gross profit margin better than160nike160and armour priestley160yeah way better vince160and talked weve160talked armour lulu nike show pie huge market160i think estimates peg health wellness trend which160obviously encompasses lot different things next 1 trillion market really feel like people looking zerosum game160and going theres160going lot winners lulu already loyal base customers build think defend margins lewis160switching gears to160something know even less about160laughs retail news160michael kors160announced buying160jimmy choo160for160896 million priestley160my money lewis160laughs told translates 117 billion im going take sarahs word really ends period where160jab holding company major160owner influencer160with jimmy choo trying shop business priestley160yeah160they put sale april theyve been160pretty prolific buying up160american companies bought krispy kreme 160was end last year lewis160something like priestley160they just160recently bought panera see two acquisitions much more160restaurant coffee focused lewis160yeah160one things like priestley160yes160absolutely think theyre really trying focus that160it makes sense yeah160michael kors finally taken bait bought jimmy choo 117 billion think the160decision probably influenced little bit by160coachs160purchase of160kate spade160back may 24 billion160i think theyre really trying get different areas market think160kate spade obviously going offer coach access younger fashionforward could argue market michael kors known handbags known for160issues commoditization products really wants break designer shoe industry actually grown 9 past decade opposed 5 larger luxury sector lewis160this seems little bit like less them160aggressively going growth160and trying keep pace coach priestley160that is160what appears posted loss last quarter160and struggling think recently pivoted away expansionbased plan shrinking back number store bases limiting amount products put department stores more160ownership pricing theyre obviously struggling160theyre obviously problems160i personally believe good move them160i think jimmy choo strong brand see people still160like michelle obama160im thinking princess diana160because one proponents brand recently160michelle obama good current brand160its kind timeless think work well integrate lewis160switching gears160yet third time were160going talk little bit chipotle shares160of company took huge hit160last week lowest levels since 2013 news broke another incident foodborne160illness getting customers sick time actually location in160sterling virginia 40 minutes fool hq priestley160yeah160we could go check out160laughs lewis160be careful160laughs the160company reports market close today gosh seems like could use good news priestley160oh160absolutely lot recent issues arent160going included quarterly earnings160but definitely comment would say thats probably even biggest rally cry160ive heard company far is160the lack response issues youve rock160for past couple weeks close160a virginia location160after norovirus outbreak video went viral showing mice running around a160chipotle restaurant dallas earlier year april160the company disclosed payment card160security breach theyre kind long run bad news lewis160of course160this first issue foodborne illnesses ways kind compromises customer confidence worked hard rebuild priestley160absolutely lewis160and160it cheap continue get160over part discussion lookingforward stuff160why dont talk little bit whats going company and160knowing report is160coming expect priestley160absolutely the160report coming today think people focusing comps they160projected high single digits want see deliver again160as said would like see give kind of160projection recent events done past couple days lewis160im sure analysts ask160laughs priestley160laughs yeah we160also want keep eye store openings theyre160projecting 195210 new stores year want see160how plan analysts predicting 221160eps revenues 119 billion so160again want see look free cash flow general financial security company160has always great even despite recent troubles so160i think free cash flow realm 50 million160is would expected then160generally look update online business last160quarter disclosed 50 new160so comps arent going right hard beat would like see update lewis160theyve160also made menu changes160and hope get color priestley160yeah160absolutely chorizo desserts queso160all things tested chorizo actually hasnt too160accretive replaces protein160that would already bought but160desserts could certainly add lot queso160because added extra lewis160and160queso also puts par160with fastcasual burrito160makers know myself160one things separated160the160qdoba160and160moes160of160the world from160chipotle wanted queso160i go couldnt get chipotle priestley160personally160i never want queso lewis160really priestley160yeah160its alien concept outside us lewis160i think delicious priestley160so generally160updates issues160and theyve been160trialing price increases too160and theyve suggested going well want see160how price increases going rolled lewis160and160looking the160recent developments company might trickle down160into financial statements160i know company talked past marketing and160promotion costs going somewhere mid 3 revenue quarter was160going thats something that160reflects fact do160quite bit get customers back stores discounting offering bogos160buyonegetones160things like light lot recent news weve seen160i think might even inch wont reflected in160what see financial result160like talked doesnt cover time series might get guidance coverage as160the company provides commentary think given flurry bad news160thats one easiest ways get people back stores and160interacting brand and160building customer confidence so160i would surprised see tick priestley160no160definitely really kind of160puts back square one sense160i dont think serious obviously happened pr perspective its160really bringing back their160previous campaign dont know remember tv ads great160they comedians called real gets theyd160give hard truths160im sure going see parodies coming lewis160something made laugh160with chipotle stuff ive seen is160some conspiracy theories floating around priestley160oh160i havent seen lewis160 about160these issues chipotle two particular160i think circulating back when160the original foodborne illness outbreak happened couple years ago but160they since resurfaced one because160chipotle antigmo people sort biochemical160warfare company one that160chipotle shorts deliberately going way to160create problems company priestley160wow160i could see movie coming this160laughs lewis160jeez160thats diabolical am160inclined believe conspiracy theories think just160something unfortunately happens restaurant business and160it inescapable times look back160at history companies weather160this type issue160i dont know much snowball effect past with160repeated incidents but160jack box160was160able navigate this160and actually people die their160undercooked meat incidents they160managed weather come back fine think160if youre sold concept of160chipotle obviously really160unfortunate thing shareholder set back 2013 prices someone shareholder im holding doubling idea that160i like concept theyre still160opening ton stores160i think theres still quite bit like priestley160yeah160absolutely agree and160as talked lulu thing its160the issue its160hopefully shortterm concern thats outsized impact share price so160as said youre still bullish whole concept really160ties whole healthy eating trend real food buy absolutely almost buy opportunity lewis160and im sure vince be160following hes back studio next week info following chipotles earnings160and probably little info jimmy choo acquisition160maybe little bit color as160details come sarah anything else let go priestley160no160thank lewis160thank hopping on160laughs you160saved half hour dylan rambling microphone listeners episode industry focus like said dont worry vince back next week talk cg questions vince hosts shoot us email industryfocusfoolcom opens new window tweet us mfindustryfocus youre looking stuff subscribe itunes check fools family shows foolcompodcasts always people program may companies discussed show motley fool may formal recommendations stocks mentioned dont buy sell stocks based solely hear thanks ann henry work behind glass sarah priestley im dylan lewis thanks listening fool sarah priestley opens new window owns shares lululemon athletica armour c shares dylan lewis opens new window owns shares chipotle mexican grill armour shares armour c shares motley fool owns shares recommends chipotle mexican grill coach lululemon athletica nike armour shares armour c shares motley fool owns shares michael kors holdings motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 2,152 |
<p>Failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton may have gotten help by the government of Ukraine, according to an investigation by <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/ukraine-sabotage-trump-backfire-233446" type="external">Politico</a>. An adversary of Russia since Kremlin-puppet Victor Yanukovych was booted from the presidential office, Ukraine’s government not only broke diplomatic protocol by questioning then-Republican candidate Donald Trump’s competence, but officials in Kiev reportedly “disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election.”</p>
<p>Most notably, “they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump,” Politico’s report alleges.</p>
<p>Ukraine’s meddling mirrored Russia’s alleged influence campaign to get Trump elected except for the fact that Kiev’s pro-Clinton push was far less systematically organized and methodically executed.</p>
<p>The intelligence community’s report on Russian hacking accuses Moscow of conducting a cyber-espionage and propaganda war directed from the top-down, implicating high-ranking Russian officials at the top of the chain of command, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, according to US intelligence services, Putin may have personally involved in spearheading the operation, which included covert and overt methods of subverting Clinton’s public image and bolstering Trump’s candidacy.</p>
<p>But Ukraine’s influence-peddling didn’t even come close to reaching the level of sophistication seen by Russian operatives. Politico explains:</p>
<p>A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.</p>
<p>The Ukrainian efforts had an impact in the race, helping to force Manafort’s resignation and advancing the narrative that Trump’s campaign was deeply connected to Ukraine’s foe to the east, Russia. But they were far less concerted or centrally directed than Russia’s alleged hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails.</p>
<p>The Ukranian-American operative’s name is Alexandra Chalupa. She’s a longtime Democratic party operative and a Bill Clinton administration alumna.</p>
<p>“Chalupa went on to work as a staffer, then as a consultant, for Democratic National Committee. The DNC paid her $412,000 from 2004 to June 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records, though she also was paid by other clients during that time, including Democratic campaigns and the DNC’s arm for engaging expatriate Democrats around the world,” notes Politico.</p>
<p>Chalupa had seedy political veteran Paul Manafort on her radar long before he was chosen as Trump’s campaign manager. By the time he officially joined Team Trump, she had compiled an encyclopedia of opposition research.</p>
<p>She shared this information with then-DNC communications director Luis Miranda as well as DNC research director Lauren Dillon.</p>
<p>According to Chalupa, Ukrainian government officials helped inform her opposition research against Manafort.</p>
<p>She met with “Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Valeriy Chaly, and one of his top aides, Oksana Shulyar, during a March 2016 meeting at the Ukrainian Embassy,” Politico reports, citing her own testimony.</p>
<p>“If I asked a question, they would provide guidance, or if there was someone I needed to follow up with,” Chalupa said of the Ukranian government officials while maintain that her official request for coordination were denied. “There were no documents given, nothing like that.”</p>
<p>Claiming that the Ukrainian embassy worked directly with reporters researching the Russia-Trump-Manafort axis, the Democratic party operative contended that Ukrainian government officials made a point of marinating an illusion of neutrality.</p>
<p>“They were being very protective and not speaking to the press as much as they should have,” suggested Chalupa. “I think they were being careful because their situation was that they had to be very, very careful because they could not pick sides. It’s a political issue, and they didn’t want to get involved politically because they couldn’t.”</p>
<p>Predictably, the DNC has downplayed its connection with Chalupa.</p>
<p>“A DNC official stressed that Chalupa was a consultant paid to do outreach for the party’s political department, not a researcher,” reports Politico. “She undertook her investigations into Trump, Manafort and Russia on her own, and the party did not incorporate her findings in its dossiers on the subjects, the official said, stressing that the DNC had been building robust research books on Trump and his ties to Russia long before Chalupa began sounding alarms.”</p>
<p>The Clinton campaign may have also indirectly received help from a “former Ukrainian investigative journalist and current parliamentarian named Serhiy Leshchenko, who was elected in 2014 as part of Poroshenko’s party, held a news conference to highlight the ledgers, and to urge Ukrainian and American law enforcement to aggressively investigate Manafort,” explains Politico, adding:</p>
<p>Documents released by an independent Ukrainian government agency — and publicized by a parliamentarian — appeared to show $12.7 million in cash payments that were earmarked for Manafort by the Russia-aligned party of the deposed former president, Yanukovych.</p>
<p>The New York Times, in the August story revealing the ledgers’ existence, reported that the payments earmarked for Manafort were “a focus” of an investigation by Ukrainian anti-corruption officials, while CNN reported days later that the FBI was pursuing an overlapping inquiry.</p>
<p>Clinton’s campaign seized on the story to advance Democrats’ argument that Trump’s campaign was closely linked to Russia. The ledger represented “more troubling connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine,” Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, said in a statement. He demanded that Trump “disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort’s and all other campaign employees’ and advisers’ ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump’s employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them.”</p>
<p>The negative media attention forced Manafort to resign as Trump’s campaign manager, opening the door for experienced pollster Kellyanne Conway.</p>
<p>For his part, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has attempted to distance himself from any allegation suggesting that he may have been involved in a sabotage campaign against Trump. Despite his efforts, Poroshenko’s feigned oblivion, performing the role of neutral foreign dignitary with no preference for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, strains credulity.</p>
<p>“But an operative who has worked extensively in Ukraine, including as an adviser to Poroshenko, said it was highly unlikely that either Leshchenko or the anti-corruption bureau would have pushed the issue without at least tacit approval from Poroshenko or his closest allies,” notes Politico.</p>
<p>Moreover, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, openly penned an editorial questioning Trump’s unconventional judgment calls about Russia’s imperial takeover of Crimea.</p>
<p>Eager to forge a closer anti-terrorism partnership with Russia, Trump has avoided directly criticizing Putin, opting instead for parroting Kremlin talking points, chief among which was the historically revisionist assertion that the Crimean Peninsula never really belonged to Ukraine.</p>
<p>Clearly, Trump’s Russia-sympathetic stances and seemingly Russian-friendly advisers (i.e. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn) unsettled the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Euromaidan" type="external">Euromaidan</a>-inspired, precariously-formed government in Kiev.</p>
<p>But Kiev has started to back peddle in the days following Trump’s unexpected election victory. With President-elect Trump set to take the oath of office on January 20th, Poroshenko’s government knows that if wants to continue to enjoy US support (or at least symbolic support), it’s going to need to play nice with the next president and his incoming administration.</p>
<p>That’s why Poroshenko has hired an expensive lobbying firm based out of New York to improve relations with the Trump team. So far, they’ve had little success at turning over a new leaf.</p>
<p>Trump has welcomed Manafort into the fold once again, this time, as his unofficial adviser. For now, team Trump wants nothing to do with the Ukrainians.</p> | true | 0 | failed democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton may gotten help government ukraine according investigation politico adversary russia since kremlinpuppet victor yanukovych booted presidential office ukraines government broke diplomatic protocol questioning thenrepublican candidate donald trumps competence officials kiev reportedly disseminated documents implicating top trump aide corruption suggested investigating matter back away election notably helped clintons allies research damaging information trump politicos report alleges ukraines meddling mirrored russias alleged influence campaign get trump elected except fact kievs proclinton push far less systematically organized methodically executed intelligence communitys report russian hacking accuses moscow conducting cyberespionage propaganda war directed topdown implicating highranking russian officials top chain command including russian president vladimir putin fact according us intelligence services putin may personally involved spearheading operation included covert overt methods subverting clintons public image bolstering trumps candidacy ukraines influencepeddling didnt even come close reaching level sophistication seen russian operatives politico explains ukrainianamerican operative consulting democratic national committee met top officials ukrainian embassy washington effort expose ties trump top campaign aide paul manafort russia according people direct knowledge situation ukrainian efforts impact race helping force manaforts resignation advancing narrative trumps campaign deeply connected ukraines foe east russia far less concerted centrally directed russias alleged hacking dissemination democratic emails ukranianamerican operatives name alexandra chalupa shes longtime democratic party operative bill clinton administration alumna chalupa went work staffer consultant democratic national committee dnc paid 412000 2004 june 2016 according federal election commission records though also paid clients time including democratic campaigns dncs arm engaging expatriate democrats around world notes politico chalupa seedy political veteran paul manafort radar long chosen trumps campaign manager time officially joined team trump compiled encyclopedia opposition research shared information thendnc communications director luis miranda well dnc research director lauren dillon according chalupa ukrainian government officials helped inform opposition research manafort met ukraines ambassador us valeriy chaly one top aides oksana shulyar march 2016 meeting ukrainian embassy politico reports citing testimony asked question would provide guidance someone needed follow chalupa said ukranian government officials maintain official request coordination denied documents given nothing like claiming ukrainian embassy worked directly reporters researching russiatrumpmanafort axis democratic party operative contended ukrainian government officials made point marinating illusion neutrality protective speaking press much suggested chalupa think careful situation careful could pick sides political issue didnt want get involved politically couldnt predictably dnc downplayed connection chalupa dnc official stressed chalupa consultant paid outreach partys political department researcher reports politico undertook investigations trump manafort russia party incorporate findings dossiers subjects official said stressing dnc building robust research books trump ties russia long chalupa began sounding alarms clinton campaign may also indirectly received help former ukrainian investigative journalist current parliamentarian named serhiy leshchenko elected 2014 part poroshenkos party held news conference highlight ledgers urge ukrainian american law enforcement aggressively investigate manafort explains politico adding documents released independent ukrainian government agency publicized parliamentarian appeared show 127 million cash payments earmarked manafort russiaaligned party deposed former president yanukovych new york times august story revealing ledgers existence reported payments earmarked manafort focus investigation ukrainian anticorruption officials cnn reported days later fbi pursuing overlapping inquiry clintons campaign seized story advance democrats argument trumps campaign closely linked russia ledger represented troubling connections donald trumps team prokremlin elements ukraine robby mook clintons campaign manager said statement demanded trump disclose campaign chair paul manaforts campaign employees advisers ties russian prokremlin entities including whether trumps employees advisers currently representing paid negative media attention forced manafort resign trumps campaign manager opening door experienced pollster kellyanne conway part ukrainian president petro poroshenko attempted distance allegation suggesting may involved sabotage campaign trump despite efforts poroshenkos feigned oblivion performing role neutral foreign dignitary preference either hillary clinton donald trump strains credulity operative worked extensively ukraine including adviser poroshenko said highly unlikely either leshchenko anticorruption bureau would pushed issue without least tacit approval poroshenko closest allies notes politico moreover ukraines ambassador united states valeriy chaly openly penned editorial questioning trumps unconventional judgment calls russias imperial takeover crimea eager forge closer antiterrorism partnership russia trump avoided directly criticizing putin opting instead parroting kremlin talking points chief among historically revisionist assertion crimean peninsula never really belonged ukraine clearly trumps russiasympathetic stances seemingly russianfriendly advisers ie lt gen michael flynn unsettled euromaidaninspired precariouslyformed government kiev kiev started back peddle days following trumps unexpected election victory presidentelect trump set take oath office january 20th poroshenkos government knows wants continue enjoy us support least symbolic support going need play nice next president incoming administration thats poroshenko hired expensive lobbying firm based new york improve relations trump team far theyve little success turning new leaf trump welcomed manafort fold time unofficial adviser team trump wants nothing ukrainians | 762 |
<p>AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) Q1 2018 Earnings Conference CallDec, 5, 2017 10:00 a.m. ET</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Good morning and welcome to the Autozone conference call. Your lines have been placed on listen-only until the question-and-answer session after the conference. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. If you object, you may disconnect at this time.</p>
<p>In this conference call, we will discuss Autozone's first-quarter earnings release. Bill Rhodes, the company's chairman, president, and CEO will be making a short presentation on the highlights of the quarter. The conference call will end promptly at 10 a.m. Central time or 11 a.m. Eastern time. Before Mr. Rhodes begins, the company has requested that you listen to the following statement regarding forward-looking statements.</p>
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<p>Recorded Statement</p>
<p>Certain statements contained in this presentation are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically use words such as "believe," "anticipate," "should," "intend," "plan," "will," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned," "strategy," and similar expressions. These are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments, and other factors that we believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation product demand; energy prices; weather; competition; credit market conditions; access to available and feasible financing; the impact of recessionary conditions; consumer debt levels; changes in laws or regulations; war and the prospect of war, including terrorist activity; inflation; the ability to hire and retain qualified employees; construction delays; compromising of the confidentiality, availability, or integrity of information, including cyber security attacks; and raw material cost of our suppliers.</p>
<p>Certain of these risks are discussed in more detail in the Risk Factors section contained in Item 1A under Part 1 of the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 26, 2017, and these risk factors should be read carefully. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments, and business decisions may differ from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements, and events described above and in the risk factors could materially or adversely affect our business. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made except as required by applicable law. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.</p>
<p>Actual results may materially differ from anticipated results.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Good morning and thank you for joining us today for Autozone's 2018 First-Quarter Conference Call. With me today are Bill Giles, executive vice president, chief financial officer, and Brian Campbell, vice president, treasurer, Investor Relations and Tax. Regarding the first quarter, I hope you've had an opportunity to read our press release and learn about the quarter's results. If not, the press release along with slides complementing our comments today are available on our website www.AutozoneInc.com. Please click on Quarterly Earnings Conference Calls to see them.</p>
<p>To begin this morning, I want to thank all Autozoners across the company for their tremendous efforts this past quarter. The quarter started out with Hurricane Harvey and finished up with five more natural disasters across North America, causing our Autozoners and customers living in those regions tremendous disruptions in their lives. From hurricanes to earthquakes in Mexico to wildfires out west, we incurred cost and property damage in each one. While we were able to get back on our feet quickly with hurricanes Harvey and Irma incurring minimal damage to our stores, Hurricane Maria hit our stores and customers hard in Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>We have 43 stores in Puerto Rico and unfortunately, we still have several that are unable to open due to the damage incurred. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to all the folks on the island for the horrible effects the storm has had on their lives. Our Autozoners throughout the organization have responded incredibly well and swiftly so that we've been able to get the vast majority of our stores open very quickly following these disasters so our Autozoners could service our customers when they needed us most. Our support for our Autozoners and customers in Puerto Rico continues so we can aid them in their rebuilding efforts.</p>
<p>Now for the business results. Our business strengthened during the quarter with improved same-store sales results, including the acceleration in our domestic commercial sales. As mentioned in our press release, the natural disasters impacted both our sales and earnings for the quarter. Following the storms, our sales benefited by an estimated 50 to 60 basis points while we experienced costs and damages of $9 million resulting in a net negative estimated impact to EPS of $0.07.</p>
<p>We were encouraged that our sales gained momentum from Q4 excluding the estimated disaster benefit, and our sales strengthened in the later stages of the quarter. We continued executing our inventory-availability initiatives during the quarter, and we are pleased with our results, all with a focus on improving our ability to say yes to our customers' parts needs. We opened two additional megahubs and further refined and tested the delivery frequency to our stores to determine the optimal service levels. Our supply chain team implemented various tactics to optimize activity and reduce cost and were able to deliver leverage in our warehouse and delivery costs this past quarter.</p>
<p>This marks the first quarter in many where cost increases have abated, and we feel very good about the direction costs are headed over the remaining three quarters of Fiscal 2018 in our supply chain. And with our new Pasco, Washington D.C., open, combined with our new Ocala, Florida, DC and our expansion of our Danville, Illinois, DC coming online soon, we feel we're positioning our supply chain to improve efficiencies, enhance capacity, and improve service. We're on the right path and on our plan with these initiatives. Additionally, we saw a nice improvement in our commercial business's sales results in Q1.</p>
<p>Total commercial sales increased 6.7% compared to 5.9% in Q4 and 5.7% for all of last year. We continue to grow our business faster than the overall industry by executing on our game plan. We continue to focus on growing business with existing customers. With fewer year-over-year program openings, more of our sales growth is coming from existing customers or new customers in older programs.</p>
<p>We believe our inventory-availability work is vital to these efforts and is enhancing our position in commercial and we will continue to improve.</p>
<p>Before getting to more detail about the quarter, I want to share our perspective on the trajectory of our industry sales. In recent years, there have been macro headwinds, specifically two consecutive mild winters negatively impacting demand in the upper Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeastern markets, along with delayed tax refunds last year that did not translate to an increase in business during that time period in a manner that was similar to previous years. In addition, there's been a lot of discussions concerned about the effects of online sales negatively impacting the industry. While automotive parts and products have been sold online for more than a decade, we simply haven't seen any material shift in our business, past or present.</p>
<p>Weather effects will even out over time but remain negative as the effect of the mild winters have reduced demand for failure- and maintenance-related parts. This past quarter we continued to see the impact as the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeastern stores underperformed the remaining country by over 200 basis points in cost. Although these markets have underperformed for the last couple of years, we've begun to see improving trends in the Northeastern markets, which encourages us heading into the new calendar year. As history has shown, when extreme cold and significant snowfall returns, those markets traditionally have seen a significant resurgence in sales.</p>
<p>These markets are very good markets for us. They're just much more volatile. They underperform in mild weather years and excel in extreme weather years. If we experience more normal weather in these parts of the country in 2018, we would expect stronger sales performance.</p>
<p>Turning to our online efforts, we continue to invest in our strategy to enhance the customer shopping experience in an omnichannel world. We continue to see growth in our website traffic, particularly mobile, ship-to-home sales, and "buy online, pick up in store." The "buy online, pick up in store" is growing much, much faster than ship-to-home as our customers value the convenience of immediate availability and trustworthy advice our Autozoners provide them. This also further highlights the importance of inventory availability at the store level. We're also working to enhance our digital capabilities with our commercial customers, and they continue to increase their interactions with us over AutozonePro.com.</p>
<p>We will continue to invest in our omnichannel strategy to ensure we can interact with our customers in the manner that best fits their needs and desires. On the cost front, I've highlighted on the last two quarters' conference calls the impacts we're experiencing from accelerated pressure on wages. Those pressures continue to exist and are more than our historical norms. The regulatory changes are going to continue, as evidenced by the areas that have passed legislation to increase their wages substantially over the next few years.</p>
<p>We're constantly working diligently to find new innovations to better manage our cost structure, and those efforts will continue but we believe this particular area will have continued pressure in the current state regulatory and low unemployment environments. Our management team remains committed to managing this business for the long term to provide great service for our customers and great opportunities for our Autozoners, ultimately delivering strong shareholder value. We operate in an industry driven by inelastic demand. If the part breaks, our customers need to fix it to get to work and get on with their lives.</p>
<p>Because of this predictability based on miles driven and an aging car population, we remain committed to continually improving our ability to aid customers in saying yes to their needs.</p>
<p>Now let me provide more detail in the quarter. For the quarter, our sales increased 4.9% and our domestic same-store sales were up 2.3%. All three months of the quarter -- September, October, and November -- were positive, with November being stronger on both a one- and two-year stack basis. As I previously said, our Northeastern, Midwestern, and Mid-Atlantic markets representing roughly 25% of our state sales continue to underperform by approximately 200 basis points as a result of two consecutive mild winters.</p>
<p>During the quarter we opened 15 net new stores in the U.S. and our commercial business expanded by 6.7% while opening 30 programs. Our commercial growth accelerated from last quarter's 5.9% increase as we continued to execute our strategies to grow sales. We expect to open approximately 150 net new commercial programs this fiscal year.</p>
<p>Currently, 84% of our domestic stores have a commercial program. During the quarter we continued to expand in Mexico, opening five new stores, and we did not open any new stores in Brazil or additional IMC branches, consistent with our plans.</p>
<p>Now I'd like to provide an update on our learnings around our multiple frequency of delivery model. As a reminder, multiple frequencies of delivery is solely focused on improving the in-stock levels for SKUs that are stocked in those stores, while the megahubs are focused on adding additional coverage to the local markets, meaning adding SKUs that would not have been available locally in our network before. We made some fairly significant changes to the number of stores on our multiple frequency of delivery test. Changes to frequency from three times a week to two times a week in a small set of stores mainly improved our replenishment algorithms in Q4 of last year.</p>
<p>We've seen improved sales results in the three-time-per-week stores as a result of the replenishment changes that have encouraged us. While the two-time-per-week stores have underperformed, we're not yet prepared to conclude these tests and as we enter our most volatile selling season, Q2, it will likely be spring before we can make definitive conclusions. While we continue to learn from our frequency of delivery tests, we remain committed to the rollout of our megahubs strategy. As a reminder, these supersized Autozone stores carry 80,000 to 100,000 unique SKUs, approximately twice what a hub store carries today.</p>
<p>They provide coverage to both surrounding stores and other hub stores multiple times a day or on an overnight basis. Our sales results thus far in our open megahubs continue to exceed our expectations both for retail and commercial. Currently, we have over 4,000 stores with access to megahub inventory. A majority or about two-thirds of these 4,000 stores receive their service on an overnight basis today, but as we expand our megahubs, more of them will receive this service the same day and many will receive it multiple times per day.</p>
<p>We continue to expect to ultimately operate up to 40 megahubs. The constraint on the speed with which we can open these is availability and location of real estate. On average, an Autozone location is just under 7,000 square feet and a megahub is 30,000 square feet or more. Identifying and developing these locations in prime retail areas is challenging and it takes time.</p>
<p>While there is incremental cost of these rollouts, we continue to feel these investments will provide a better customer experience and increased market share. Along with improving our local parts availability and assortment, we continue to manage this organization to provide exceptional service for our customers, provide our Autozoners with a great place to work with opportunities for advancement, and ensure we do it on a long-term profitable basis to provide strong returns for our shareholders. We will continue to stress the importance of going the extra mile to fulfill our customers' needs regardless of how difficult the request. With our commitment to service intact, we continued to be share-gainers over the quarter for the data we have available to us and in fact, our share has continued to improve over the last several months.</p>
<p>Regarding Mexico, we opened five new stores this quarter and ended the quarter with 529 stores. Mexico now represents just under 9% of our store base. Sales in our other businesses for the quarter were up 0.9% over last year's first quarter, showing continued improvement each of the last five quarters. As a reminder, our all data and e-commerce businesses, which include Autozone.com and Autoanything, make up this segment of sales.</p>
<p>This compares [inaudible] down 0.8% last quarter and reflects stronger performance in Autoanything's business for Q1. Also, as I previously mentioned, we continued to see strong growth in our "buy online, pick up in store" sales. The strength in "pick up in store" encourages us to continue investing in our in-store experience. We recognize that the majority of our site traffic is providing information for our customers prior to purchase, and our e-commerce platform represents an important part of our omnichannel experience.</p>
<p>We see customers doing lots of research to learn about the product and how to do repairs. While these businesses are small for us, at less than 5% of our total sales, our omnichannel experience is very important for the customer experience and we will continue to invest in our e-commerce platform. With continued aging of the car population, we continue to be optimistic regarding trends for our industry in both DIY and DIFM. As new-vehicle sales are near all-time highs and gas prices on average are quite low, miles driven continue to increase.</p>
<p>The lower-end customer benefits the most from lower gas prices relative to income. This trend remains encouraging. Regarding our expectations for the winter of 2018, if we return to more normal weather patterns, we expect sales performance to improve as the year moves forward.</p>
<p>Now let me review our highlights regarding the execution of our ongoing operating theme from 2017 that we carried over into 2018, "Yes, we've got it." The key priorities for the year are great people providing great service, profitably growing our commercial business, leveraging the internet, "Yes, we've got it" and leveraging IT. On the retail front this past quarter under the "great people providing great service" theme, we're committed to supporting our store Autozoners, helping get both the stores themselves and their customers up and running post the disasters and this was no easy task. We're focused on enhanced training to store-level Autozoners and increasing the share of voice regarding availability with the "Yes, we've got it" theme. We hosted our national sales meeting at the end of September, and our communications were around training our Autozoners to enhance the customer experience.</p>
<p>We also remain aggressive with our technology investments and believe these investments will help differentiate us on a go-forward basis. We realize as customers have become much more tech and mobile savvy, we have to have a sales proposition that touches all the ways they desire to interact with us. Our future and current technology investments will lead to sales growth across all of our businesses. Regarding commercial, we opened 30 net new programs during the quarter.</p>
<p>Our expectation is we will continue to open new programs in the range of 150 in 2018. As we continue to improve our product assortments and availability and as we make other refinements to our commercial offerings, we expect the estimated sales potential to grow. We should also highlight another strong performance in return on invested capital as we were able to finish the quarter at 29.6%. We continue to be pleased with this metric, as it is one of the best in all of hard-line retailing.</p>
<p>However, our primary focus has been and continues to be that we ensure every incremental dollar of capital that we deploy in this business provides an acceptable return well in excess of our cost to capital. It is important to reinforce that we always maintain our diligence regarding capital stewardship, as the capital we invest is our investors' capital.</p>
<p>Before I pass the discussion over to Bill Giles to talk about our financial results, I'd like to thank and reinforce how appreciative we are of our entire team's efforts to continue to meet and exceed our customers' wants, needs, and desires. We are bullish on 2018 sales potential because we have a great business, operated by exceptional Autozoners.</p>
<p>Now, I'll turn the call over to Bill Giles. Bill.</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Thanks, Bill and good morning everyone. To start this morning, let me take a few moments to talk more specifically about our retail, commercial, and international results. For the quarter, total auto parts sales, which include our domestic retail and commercial businesses, our Mexico and Brazil stores, and our 26 IMC branches, increased 5%. For the trailing 52 weeks ended, total sales per domestic Autozone store were $1,770,000.</p>
<p>Total commercial sales increased 6.7% and the quarter commercial represented 19% of our total sales and grew $31 million over last year's Q1. We opened 30 net new programs versus 35 programs opened in our first quarter last year, and we now have our commercial program in 4,622 stores, or 84% of our domestic stores, supported by 188 hub stores. Over 700 of our programs are three years old or younger. In 2018 we expect to open approximately 150 new programs.</p>
<p>As Bill mentioned earlier, we remain focused on growing this business, as we see this business as our most significant growth opportunity and we are treating it accordingly. We're committed to having a great sales team supplemented with a stronger engagement of our store managers and district managers. We remain confident we will continue to gain market share with our commercial customers. We are encouraged by the initiatives we have in place and feel we can further grow sales and market share.</p>
<p>While we've completed the majority of our commercial project and we have some new thoughts and concepts, they're just that: ideas. We will now move to implement and test these on a small scale in order to refine and enhance them. For competitive reasons, we won't be sharing our detailed findings at this stage. Once we have proven concepts with concrete plans, we will share our plans but that will take some time.</p>
<p>While we are working on these new ideas, we are continuing with our existing strategies to grow commercial sales and profits. Our Mexico stores continue to perform well. We opened five new stores during the first quarter, ending the quarter with 529 stores. We expect to open approximately 40 new stores in Fiscal 2018.</p>
<p>Mexico's business was challenged throughout 2016 and 2017 by a weakening peso foreign exchange rate to the U.S. dollar. Our hope is 2018's exchange rate will settle down and will potentially be favorable. We've been quite pleased the way our Mexico leadership team has managed this business through all of this volatility.</p>
<p>Regarding Brazil, we continue to operate 14 stores. Our plans are to grow to approximately 25 total stores by the end of the fiscal year. Our performance continues to improve and gives us optimism about the long-term future of this market. If we can prove success, this market has the potential to be much larger than Mexico.</p>
<p>So, while challenging, the size of the prize is significant. Gross margin for the quarter was 52.8% of sales and was effectively flat for the quarter, with higher merchandise margins being offset by higher inventory shrink results. While our shrink expense is higher in support of inventory-availability initiatives, we were pleased with the supply chain's ability to leverage cost on a percent of sales basis. We believe initiatives we have in place to manage shrink can reduce the leverage over the remainder of the year.</p>
<p>Our primary focus remains growing absolute gross profit dollars in our total auto parts segment. SG&amp;A for the quarter was 34.6% of sales, higher by 50 basis points from last year's first quarter. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales were higher than last year primarily due to storm-related expenses incurred during the quarter and de-leverage on occupancy cost. EBIT for the quarter was $469 million, up 2.1% over the last year's first quarter.</p>
<p>Our EBIT margin was 18.1%. Interest expense for the quarter was $39 million, compared with $33 million in Q1 a year ago. We're planning interest at $39.4 million in the second quarter Fiscal 2018 versus $34.2 million last year Q2. The higher expense is due to tenor and size of the bond completed this April of $600 million or 3.75% coupon.</p>
<p>Debt outstanding at the end of the quarter was $4.983 billion, or approximately $14 million below last year's balance of $4.997 billion. Our adjusted debt level metrics finished the quarter at 2.5 times EBITDA. While in any given quarter we may increase or decrease our leverage metrics based on management's opinion regarding debt and equity market conditions, we remain committed to both our invest-grade rating and our capital allocation strategy and share repurchases are an important element of that strategy. For the quarter our tax rate was 34.6%, down slightly from last year's Q1 of 34.7%.</p>
<p>I want to take a moment and remind listeners of our adoption of the new accounting standard. The new standard requires us to recognize the tax benefit received from the gains employees have on stock options as a credit to income tax expense on the P&amp;L. This past quarter it lowered our tax rate 52 basis points. This compares to the benefit we had of 74 basis points to the tax rate in last year's Q1.</p>
<p>This accounting change also increases the diluted share count calculation. While the impact on this adoption was minimal to the tax rate at 52 basis points this quarter, it is worth highlighting that it had a 358-basis-point impact on our rate in Q2 of last year. Because it is impossible for us to predict when individuals will exercise options, we encourage folks to model us on a rate assuming no stock option impact, roughly 35.5%, and we will report both rates. Net income for the quarter was $281 million, up 1% over the last year.</p>
<p>Our diluted share count of 28.1 million was down 5.4% from last year's first quarter. The combination of these factors drove earnings per share for the quarter to $10, up 6.8% over the prior year's first quarter. Excluding the impact of the previously mentioned change and accounting for stock option exercises from both this year's Q1 and last year's Q1, our EPS would have increased at the same rate, 6.8% for the quarter. Related to the cash flow statement for the first quarter, we generated $565 million of operating cash flow.</p>
<p>Net fixed assets were up 8.2% versus last year. Capital expenditures for the quarter totaled $110 million and reflected the additional expenditures required to open 22 new locations this quarter, capital expenditures on existing stores, hub and megahub store remodels or openings, work on the development of new stores for upcoming quarter's investments, and our new domestic DCs and information technology investments. With the new stores opened, we finished this past quarter with 5,480 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 529 stores in Mexico, and 14 in Brazil, for a total Autozone store count of 6,023. We also had 26 IMC branches open at the end of Q1, taking our total locations to 6,049.</p>
<p>Depreciation totaled $78 million for the quarter versus last year's first-quarter expense of $71.8 million. This is generally in line with recent quarter growth rates. We repurchased $253 million of Autozone stock in the first quarter and at quarter-end we had $471 million remaining under our share-buyback authorization, and our leverage metric was 2.5 times at quarter-end. Again, I want to stress we managed to appropriate credit ratings and not any one metric.</p>
<p>The metric we report is meant as a guide only, as each rating firm has its own criteria. We continue to view our share-repurchase program as an attractive capital deployment strategy.</p>
<p>Next, I'd like to update you on our inventory levels in total and on a per-store basis. The company's inventory increased 6.3% over the same period last year. Inventory per location was $663,000 versus $647,000 last year and $644,000 last quarter. Net inventory defined as merchandise inventories less accounts payable on a per-location basis was a -$52,000 versus a -$67,000 last year and a -$48,000 last quarter.</p>
<p>As a result, accounts payable as a percent of gross inventory finished the quarter at a 107.8%. Finally, as Bill previously mentioned, our continued disciplined capital management approach resulted in a return on invested capital for the trailing four quarters of 29.6%. We have and we will continue to make investments that we believe will generate returns that significantly exceed our cost of capital.</p>
<p>Now, I'll turn it back to Bill Rhodes.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Thank you, Bill. While we're encouraged with the start of our fiscal year, we're careful to not overcommit to any outcomes when it comes to our second fiscal quarter. The second quarter has perpetually been our most volatile quarter due to weather patterns, holidays, and timing of tax refunds. Last year we were impacted negatively by the delay in income tax refunds and the impact of a second consecutive mild winter.</p>
<p>We did not foresee the impacts on sales these events would have on our business for the second and third quarters last year. While we are pleased with our progress and the acceleration in our business, we want to highlight some of the potential points of volatility, both positive and negative, in the upcoming quarters. One, if we experience a cold and high-precipitation winter, our sales should be strong later in the quarter and into the balance of the year. Two, tax refund timing should be the same as last year so it shouldn't have any bearing on our second-quarter results.</p>
<p>As for Q3, we don't know if those sales will return. Three, as the holidays shift, we will lose two selling days in our DIFM business, which will negatively impact our sales growth in DIFM. It's important to note this has an insignificant impact on our DIY business. Fourth, we encourage you to be mindful of the significant EPS benefit due to stock option exercises in the second quarter of last year and adjust for this non-operating unpredictable event.</p>
<p>We're excited about our balance model for growth around domestic retail, commercial, international online, and "pick up in store." We believe our hubs and megahubs, Mexico, all data e-commerce, our other businesses can all grow their top lines in 2018. To execute a high level, we have to consistently adhere to living the pledge. We cannot and we will not take our eye off of the execution. We must stay committed to executing day in and day out on our game plan.</p>
<p>Success will be achieved with an attention to detail and exceptional execution. Our customers have choices, and we must exceed their expectations in whatever way they choose to shop with us. We're fortunate to operate in one of the strongest retail segments and we continue to be excited about our industry's growth prospects for 2018 and beyond. As consumers continually look to save money while taking care of their vehicles, we're committed to providing the trustworthy advice they expect.</p>
<p>It truly is the value-add that differentiates us from other faceless transactions. Customers have come to expect that advice from us. It is with this focus we will implement more enhancements on both our DIY and commercial websites and in-store experience to provide even more knowledgeable service. We don't ever expect an online experience to replace the advice our customers want, but today's customers do expect more information on repairing their vehicles.</p>
<p>This aspect of service has been our most important cultural cornerstone and it will continue to be for a long time. Our charge remains to optimize our performance regardless of market conditions and continue to ensure we're investing in the key initiatives that will drive our long-term performance. In the end, delivering strong EPS growth and ROIC each and every quarter is how we measure ourselves. This formula has been extremely successful over the last 38 years and we continue to be excited about our future.</p>
<p>Now, I'd like to open up the call for questions.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session of today's conference and to ask a question, press * followed by the No. 1 on your phone, un-mute your phone, and record your name when prompted. Your name will be required to deduce your question.</p>
<p>To cancel your question press * followed by the No. 2.</p>
<p>Our first question is coming from Alan Rifkin from BTIG. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Alan Rifkin -- BTIG -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thank you. Congratulations on a nice quarter. Bill Rhodes, certainly you expressed your enthusiasm about the megahub strategy. What's the revenue lift to your store base once they move to being supported by a megahub? And then related to that, what is the average revenue per store in 40 stores versus stores that are still not supported by the megahubs? Thank you very much.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah, thank you for the comment, Alan. I would say the megahub service in and of itself can drive between 1% and 2% growth in the local store. As far as the volumes go, the volumes are all over the spectrum because anybody that's within a reasonable service area, we're providing service to them from megahubs. So, they may be on the low end of the scale or they may be on the high end of the scale but generally, they'll grow between 1% and 2%.</p>
<p>Some of the factors within that depends on whether or not they're serviced multiple times a day or once a day or serviced on an overnight basis. A big part of our strategy now, as we mentioned, is about 4,000 of our domestic stores already have megahub service, but many of those today are only getting it on an overnight basis. As we continue to expand our megahubs, which by the way we couldn't be more pleased with, as we continue to expand it, we will have more and more that will get same-day service versus overnight service and some of those will even get multiple times per day service from that megahub. So, it's all part of our objective to enhance the inventory availability across the local marketplace.</p>
<p>Alan Rifkin -- BTIG -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, understood. And a follow-up, if I may, Bill. With respect to your vendor base, what if anything are you now seeing in terms of more vendors possibly taking Dorman's lead and implementing map pricing in terms of e-commerce and what has its effectiveness been thus far?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>I think, No. 1, we've had many vendors that have had map pricing or some form of map pricing for years if not decades. Dorman recently went, I believe, they went in October. So I think it's a little bit too early to tell what happens.</p>
<p>They're making those decisions on their own. We certainly support our vendors in a way of making sure that there's price transparency, and we're all providing great values to our customers over time but that's their decisions, not ours.</p>
<p>Alan Rifkin -- BTIG -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thank you. Best of luck for your happy holiday season.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>You too, Alan. Thank you.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you and our next question is coming from Christopher Horvers of JP Morgan. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Christopher Horvers -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thanks. Good morning. Follow-up on the megahub commentary. What's the gating factors on servicing the store same day and multiple times per day? Is it cost, systems? Is that you just don't have the right facilities? Can you talk about that and maybe sort of quantify as you move from an overnight to same-day and multiple times per day? How does the business respond?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Sure. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify that, Chris. It's an excellent point. So, one of our megahubs, for instance, is in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Today, that store may be providing service to San Diego but it's doing it on an overnight basis. As we potentially build a megahub in a San Diego-type market, then all of a sudden those stores can move from overnight service to same-day service. It's simply the proximity of the store to the megahub. If they're within 100 miles, we might be able to service them three times a day.</p>
<p>If they're 200 miles, we might be able to get there one time a day. If they're 400 miles, we're going to get there overnight.</p>
<p>Christopher Horvers -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst</p>
<p>I understand. And so, I think long term you've talked about perhaps 40 to 50 megahubs. I think you're around 18 right now. So, how is that sort of one-third of the stores fulfilled in the same day, how does that progress over time and if you get to 45 to 50, what would the service look like to the stores on a same-day basis?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah, we haven't laid it out because part of it is we're looking and learning about the economics of this as we go. As you mentioned, we have 18 today. We said in our prepared remarks we're going to 25 this year hopefully if we can get them all open. That's our plan.</p>
<p>When we originally rolled it out, we said 25 to 40 and we've made a small tweak in what we're saying. We don't talk about 25 anymore because we're going to be there by the end of the year, we say up to 40 and the more we learn about it, someday that number could go up as well. It's been one of those initiatives that continue to outperform our expectations, and as it outperforms our expectations, it allows us to expand it further. But I also think it's important to understand we're also not competing in a stagnant environment.</p>
<p>Our competitors are also, be them the public companies that you're accustomed to or the warehouse distributors, everybody's changing their operations and we're looking at ways to enhance our competitive position.</p>
<p>Christopher Horvers -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst</p>
<p>And then the last the last question I have is, as you look at the tax bills that are in front of the House and the Senate, is there anything in there that could be either positive for you -- understand the potential corporate tax benefit -- but is there anything in those bills that concerns you from a financial or business operation perspective? Thanks very much.</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Sure. Yeah, I don't think there's anything in the tax bills that we're aware of today that would concern us per se. Obviously, as you mentioned, the tax rates being lower on a corporate basis for most retailers will be very beneficial. And so, we expect it to be positive.</p>
<p>We'll wait and see what ultimately comes out of committee and what gets signed, including the timing of the implementation, and plan accordingly but certainly from a capital allocation strategy, we expect our strategy to continue to remain intact and feel really good about it.</p>
<p>Christopher Horvers -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thank you. Have a great holiday.</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>You too.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. And our next question is coming from Matt Fassler of Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Matt Fassler -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thanks so much and good morning. My first question relates to the sales outlook. I think on last quarter's call, you as a company offered a somewhat subdued perspective on the sales potential for the business. Understanding that you got a bit of a bump from the hurricane, the sales accelerated nicely.</p>
<p>They certainly exceeded Wall Street expectations and you're talking about the potential for the business to pick up. I'm not sure if it's off current levels or from prior assumptions if the weather turns seasonable in the calendar fourth quarter into winter. Anything changed in the backdrop or anywhere else to alter your prognosis of the forward year? Is it just that the business did pick up and showed its potential? Is there something else happening in the world that drove your incremental enthusiasm here?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Thanks, Matt, for that question. I think it's a great question. If you'll recall, in the last quarter I talked about the fact that the perception of our industry's performance over the last two or three quarters was that we had reached a new all-time low in performance and I was very careful to talk about that that truly wasn't the case, but if you look at our industry's performance or Autozone's performance over a five- or 10-year period of time that our performance last year was operating within the normal bands of what we've experienced. They were toward the lower end but we weren't dealing with catastrophic performance.</p>
<p>I cautioned everybody because with that notion of "Oh things are so bad, then all of a sudden the pendulum's gonna swing and they're going to be fantastic," we went to say, "No, we believe that it will get better and operate this normal band." I think I've talked about we were like 140 basis points below our average for the last five years. And so, we were trying to say "Yeah, we think that they will improve, particularly when some of these factors, these macro factors that we can't do anything about, like two mild winters and delayed tax refunds." Once those normalized, we believed and continue to believe we would go back to that normal band. Now, in Q1 we outperformed our expectations, but part of that outperformance was the 50 or 60 basis points from the hurricane-impacted markets. But we're pleased with the performance that we've seen in our store sales, both on the retail end, particularly on the commercial side in Q1 but I was also very intentional about making comments about Q2 only because Q2 is incredibly volatile.</p>
<p>If the weather hits and hits at the right time, our sales could be really strong. If we have a third consecutive mild winter, it'll take some momentum out of it. We just have to be careful, and part of what I'm trying is let's understand that Q2 is a very low-volume quarter. We're closed a few days during the quarter.</p>
<p>It's our lowest-volume quarter of the year and I, for one, don't want to put too much focus on Q2. If we get a strong winter, we believe Q2 and the latter part of Q2 will be strong and more importantly, we believe the balance of the year will be more positive, but we also continue to believe we will operate in that normalized band that we've been in for five or ten years.</p>
<p>Matt Fassler -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst</p>
<p>Bill, that's very helpful. A quick follow-up to that. On the storm sales, was that kind of a one-time pop or is there any spillover into subsequent quarters in your view?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>I think there will be a little bit of spillover into Q2 from it, Matt. What generally happens when the storm hits, we're closed for days. And so, we actually take a net negative for the first week or so and then as the markets begin to recover, we see increased economic activity and it lasts for three or four months, depends on the order of magnitude of the storm. But we would expect to see some benefits, probably not a benefit that we'd be calling out on the next quarter, but some benefit early in the second quarter.</p>
<p>Matt Fassler -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst</p>
<p>Great. And then finally, while you're clearly testing and probing a lot with supply chain, absent from the dialogue this quarter was the impact to gross margin of excess supply chain cost. So, should we consider that chapter essentially closed and no longer look for much gross margin impact from that?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Yeah, I wouldn't categorize it as closed per se, Matt, but you're totally right. We've anniversaried a lot of the impact that we've had. And so, we expect it to be more normalized going forward and I think the supply chain team has done a terrific job of managing it in spite of opening two distribution centers over the last six months.</p>
<p>Matt Fassler -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thank you very much, guys.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. And our next question is coming from Simeon Gutman of Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Joshua Siber -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst</p>
<p>Good morning. It's Josh Siber on for Simeon. Can you talk about what's driving the commercial improvement, whether you can parse it out between industry growth versus internal drivers?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah. I think I haven't seen enough and it's very hard to see the industry growth perspective on commercial on a short-term period. Over the long term, we believe we have a pretty good handle and it's growing 4.5%. In short term, it's hard to see that.</p>
<p>I think what is improving our performance is our team's core blocking and tackling is getting better. We've been talking a lot about getting the store managers and the district managers more engaged in the business, and I think that that's helping over time. Our sales teams continue to get better and better and inventory-availability [inaudible] biggest reason we are doing the megahubs and the MFD are to try to spur on commercial growth and I think those efforts are beginning to help us in the commercial. I think it's also important to highlight here we grew almost 7%.</p>
<p>So, we're close to 2X the growth of the market.</p>
<p>Joshua Siber -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst</p>
<p>Okay. And my follow-up, you mentioned, if we return to more normal weather. So, I'm curious how you characterize the winter so far?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>I don't think you need to even try to characterize it. We're two and a half weeks into our quarter and who knows what's going to happen. I feel it starts getting cold this week. It's not about what happens between Thanksgiving and December 15.</p>
<p>It's really what happens from December 15 to February 10. That'll really be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>Joshua Siber -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah, thank you.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. Our next question is coming from Seth Sigman of Credit Suisse. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Seth Sigman -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thanks a lot and good morning. One question just on the cost side. So, your expenses grew roughly 5.5% excluding the hurricane. I know you talked about a number of future headwinds and you talked about that last quarter as well.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering if this is the run rate to think about? Does this 5.5% essentially capture those headwinds or is there reason to believe there will be a further step-up at some point?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>We think that that 5% range captures those headwinds and those headwinds are, as Bill talked about before, you've got a little bit of wage rate pressure that continues to exist, although the team's done a terrific job of managing their way through that, and we have a little bit of occupancy pressure as you're seeing that coming from megahubs and hubs, as well as we're seeing rising real estate tax cost across the country as well. So, those are some of the things that are a little bit of headwinds. We think we can manage our way through those but I think that's a pretty good run rate to look at.</p>
<p>Seth Sigman -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst</p>
<p>And do you start to lap some of that in the second half of this fiscal year? You did see a pickup in expenses late in the year last year.</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>I think late in the year we will start the laps [inaudible].</p>
<p>Seth Sigman -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, great. And then my follow-up is just around pricing. I'm wondering are you starting to see any signs of inflation? Did that impact the quarter at all? And just in general, a lot of talk about price transparency in the category and in retail in general. Do you feel like if you see inflation, you'll be able to push that through?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>We have, historically. I mean to answer the first part of the question, we haven't seen a significant amount of inflation and frankly, we haven't for probably a couple of years now. And so, historically, we've been able, as an industry, to push much of that costs along to the consumer. Today we don't see that changing necessarily but we'll have to wait and see when it comes.</p>
<p>Seth Sigman -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thanks very much.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. Our next question is coming from Michael Lasser of UBS. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Michael Lasser -- UBS -- Analyst</p>
<p>Good morning. Thanks a lot for taking my question. Bill Rhodes, you mentioned that Midwest and the Northeast continue to underperform, yet the business accelerated in large part because of the commercial program. Should we take that to mean that your commercial business within those underperforming regions also underperformed? And why would that be the case?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>I think, No. 1, both parts of our business saw acceleration during Q1. Commercial's a little bit more visible to you because we called it out specifically but both of them improved in Q1. As we look at what's going on with the industry, part of what's happened is, those mild winters have put less strain on the under-car components.</p>
<p>So, think about chassis, brake components, shocks, and struts. That didn't go away when the summer went. That lack of wear and tear has continued and those jobs are done by both DIYers and DIFMers. So, that's why it impacts both markets in a similar fashion.</p>
<p>Michael Lasser -- UBS -- Analyst</p>
<p>My follow-up question is on the potential for a sharp reduction in your tax rate. If that happened, how would you think about the prospect of returning the benefits back to shareholders versus redeploying the savings back into the business?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Yeah, I think that we kind of think about it as we feel good about our capital allocation strategy. That remains intact. It's served us well over time, we'll continue investing in those initiatives that we believe will result in adequate returns to the corporation overall. We'll continue to invest in our infrastructure and we'll continue to execute our capital allocation strategy.</p>
<p>Time will tell. I mean, the bill hasn't been signed yet. So, we'll have to wait and see what's in the final bill and the timing of it.</p>
<p>Michael Lasser -- UBS -- Analyst</p>
<p>I guess I was less-so referring to the capital allocation and more-so the margin structure of the business. If your earnings-growth is going to sharply accelerate, would you look to maybe slow down that earnings-growth acceleration?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>The earnings growth will be below EBIT. So, the question really is, you're asking what's going to happen below the EBIT line and I said that's going to increase. So, we don't see from a tax perspective something changing fundamental to the operating margin of the organization.</p>
<p>Michael Lasser -- UBS -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, that's very helpful. Thank you very much.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. And our next question is coming from Matt McClintock of Barclays. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Matt McClintock -- Barclays -- Analyst</p>
<p>Yes. Good morning, everyone. I'm just trying to conceptualize the volatility in the business due to weather. As we think about the potential for weather finally cooperate this quarter and maybe going forward, is that something that would potentially drive a closing of the 200-basis-point gap in those regions that you're experiencing this year? Is that something that could actually drive a closing of the multiple years of gap that you have in those regions un-relative to the company effort?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>I think there's no question about it. And as I mentioned, those are really good markets for us and historically really good markets but because the weather patterns can be so extremely different, they are more volatile. It's not as predictable as California, for instance, where the weather patterns are pretty predictable what you're going to get. You don't know what you're going to get in the upper Midwest.</p>
<p>Therefore, we just have to deal with it. There's nothing we can do to plan our business any differently or anything like that. We just have to kind of ride the storm, on both the good side and the bad side.</p>
<p>Matt McClintock -- Barclays -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK. And then I think you were pretty clear about online competition and nothing really to see there but could you maybe talk about nontraditional competition and brick-and-mortar channel, big-box competition or other non-specialty auto parts stores?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>I guess I would say it very similar to what we said about online. The mass merchants, they've been competing in our industry for longer than I've been here. So, I haven't seen any significant change I how they're going to market or impacting our business one way or the other.</p>
<p>Matt McClintock -- Barclays -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the color.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah, thank you.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. And our next question is coming from Dan Wewer of Raymond James. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Dan Wewer -- Raymond James -- Analyst</p>
<p>Thanks. Bill, since 2009 Autozone's gross margin rate has increased about 260 basis points. Do you think there is a gross margin expansion basis going forward or do you think that current gross margin rates, maybe give or take 10 basis points, is what the next, say, three or four years would look like?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Yeah, I think as we think about it, Dan, we think of it more positively than that. And so, we continue to believe that there are opportunities for us to expand gross margin certainly as we continue to increase some of our direct import initiatives that will help reduce our acquisition cost. And so, we continue to believe that there are opportunities to lower acquisition cost. There will probably continue to be opportunities to optimize the expenses both in supply chain and in shrink but always continue to have some pressures from a competitive set and an industry set relative to promotions, etc.</p>
<p>So, I think overall we're somewhat bullish relative to gross margin going forward and if you look over time, you're right, we've done a terrific job in spite of a lot of things going on and continuing to increase our gross margin. So, it remains healthy and we feel pretty positive about it going forward.</p>
<p>Dan Wewer -- Raymond James -- Analyst</p>
<p>And then now a follow-up question on the sales benefits from the megahubs. I think in response to Alan's question, you talked about a 1- or 2-percentage-point benefit. Is there a difference if the store is getting same-day coverage from a megahub compared to the next-day example that you talked about with San Diego?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah, there certainly is a difference, Dan. It's probably not as big as you would expect because you got to remember, these SKUs that we're talking about are really on the tails of a bell curve. And so, having them available even for next day, that they'll be there first thing in the morning, and when you talk about rural markets and those kinds of things, that's pretty amazing that we can get them there. So, there is a difference but it's not 50% or so.</p>
<p>Dan Wewer -- Raymond James -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, thank you.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Yeah, thank you.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. And our last question is coming from Steve Forbes of Guggenheim. Your line is now open.</p>
<p>Steve Forbes, your line is now open.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Let's go ahead and take the next question.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>Thank you. Our next question is coming from Mike Baker of Deutsche Bank.</p>
<p>Mike Baker -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst</p>
<p>Worked out well for me. I want to talk about Mr. Wewer's question and, Bill Giles, your answer about gross margins continue to have some pressure from a competitive set and industry set relative to promotions. Is that changed at all with some online guys doing a little bit more in your business or is that sort of the outlook you've always had?</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>That's the outlook we've always had. I wouldn't say that we've seen any change necessarily from that perspective whatsoever. I was just trying to balance out positive aspects of gross margin offset by some of the pressures that you might always consider but overall, again, we continue to believe our margin remains healthy, and we've got a positive outlook.</p>
<p>Mike Baker -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, thanks. That makes sense. Two more quick follow-ups, if I could. One, I think it was Bill Rhodes who said at one point that if the weather cooperated, you'd expect trends get better in the back half of the quarter.</p>
<p>Is that just simply a function of you just have much more difficult compares. As I recall, from last year early in the quarter and the compares get much easier in the second half or is there some other reason why weather would only impact the back half of the quarter?</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>And I said the back half of the quarter and also the balance of the year. So, last year we did get a cold snap and it was kind of December 1 to Christmas. And so, we had some really strong sales during that period of time and then it got warm. So, if the weather hits, it's going to a little bit later than it did last year, then we should see this strengthen in the back half.</p>
<p>The other part of it is, it's kind of the tale of two stories on what happens with this extreme winter weather. One, is when it gets really cold really fast, we get an immediate bounce in our business like in batteries but what happens over time, the longer tail on the winter is when the road conditions get bad, we will get a longer tail on under-car parts – chassis, brakes, ride control, those kinds of things. Those are things that you wake up that day and your car can't get you to work. Those are things that put more stress on the components.</p>
<p>And so, the maintenance cycles accelerate. So, that will put a tail not only for the back half of Q2 but on into Q3 and some into Q4.</p>
<p>Mike Baker -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, that makes sense. If I could ask one more quick one here and hopefully a quick answer. With some of the pluses and minuses on the gross margin that you described in wages and other costs higher, what kind of same-store sales number do you need to get back to a double-digit earnings growth and let's assume that tax rates stay similar to where it is now because obviously if it goes to 20%, you're going to grow your earnings 10% or higher but assume that doesn't happen.</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Yeah, we don't think about on a same-store sales basis like that, Mike, and everybody wants to be able to think through it that way. I think we're just thinking about there's opportunities for us to improve gross margin. We talked about the operating expense growth rates. And so, just those are the ways you should be thinking through your model overall but, I mean, we feel great about the health of the industry, we feel good about the momentum that we've got.</p>
<p>And so, we're encouraged by the business.</p>
<p>Mike Baker -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst</p>
<p>OK, I really appreciate the time. Thanks, guys.</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Thank you, Mike.</p>
<p>Before we conclude the call, I'd like to take a moment to reiterate that our business model continues to be very solid. We're excited about our growth prospects for the year. We will not take anything for granted, as we understand our customers have alternatives. We have a solid plan to succeed this fiscal year but I want to stress that this is a marathon and not a sprint.</p>
<p>As we continue to focus on the basics and focus on optimizing long-term shareholder value, we are confident Autozone will continue to be very successful. We thank you for participating in today's call and we'd like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season and a prosperous New Year. Thank you for your time today.</p>
<p>Operator</p>
<p>And that concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.</p>
<p>Duration: 63 minutes</p>
<p>Bill Rhodes -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman</p>
<p>Bill Giles -- Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Information Technology</p>
<p>Alan Rifkin -- BTIG -- Analyst</p>
<p>Christopher Horvers -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst</p>
<p>Matt Fassler -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst</p>
<p>Joshua Siber -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst</p>
<p>Seth Sigman -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst</p>
<p>Michael Lasser -- UBS -- Analyst</p>
<p>Matt McClintock -- Barclays -- Analyst</p>
<p>Dan Wewer -- Raymond James -- Analyst</p>
<p>Mike Baker -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst</p>
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The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=cd2511ba-dae1-11e7-b6de-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | autozone nyse azo q1 2018 earnings conference calldec 5 2017 1000 et continue reading operator good morning welcome autozone conference call lines placed listenonly questionandanswer session conference please advised todays call recorded object may disconnect time conference call discuss autozones firstquarter earnings release bill rhodes companys chairman president ceo making short presentation highlights quarter conference call end promptly 10 central time 11 eastern time mr rhodes begins company requested listen following statement regarding forwardlooking statements advertisement recorded statement certain statements contained presentation forwardlooking statements forwardlooking statements typically use words believe anticipate intend plan expect estimate project positioned strategy similar expressions based assumptions assessments made management light experience perception historical trends current conditions expected future developments factors believe appropriate forwardlooking statements subject number risks uncertainties including without limitation product demand energy prices weather competition credit market conditions access available feasible financing impact recessionary conditions consumer debt levels changes laws regulations war prospect war including terrorist activity inflation ability hire retain qualified employees construction delays compromising confidentiality availability integrity information including cyber security attacks raw material cost suppliers certain risks discussed detail risk factors section contained item 1a part 1 annual report form 10k year ended august 26 2017 risk factors read carefully forwardlooking statements guarantees future performance actual results developments business decisions may differ contemplated forwardlooking statements events described risk factors could materially adversely affect business forwardlooking statements speak date made except required applicable law undertake obligation update publicly forwardlooking statements whether result new information future events otherwise actual results may materially differ anticipated results bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman good morning thank joining us today autozones 2018 firstquarter conference call today bill giles executive vice president chief financial officer brian campbell vice president treasurer investor relations tax regarding first quarter hope youve opportunity read press release learn quarters results press release along slides complementing comments today available website wwwautozoneinccom please click quarterly earnings conference calls see begin morning want thank autozoners across company tremendous efforts past quarter quarter started hurricane harvey finished five natural disasters across north america causing autozoners customers living regions tremendous disruptions lives hurricanes earthquakes mexico wildfires west incurred cost property damage one able get back feet quickly hurricanes harvey irma incurring minimal damage stores hurricane maria hit stores customers hard puerto rico 43 stores puerto rico unfortunately still several unable open due damage incurred thoughts prayers continue go folks island horrible effects storm lives autozoners throughout organization responded incredibly well swiftly weve able get vast majority stores open quickly following disasters autozoners could service customers needed us support autozoners customers puerto rico continues aid rebuilding efforts business results business strengthened quarter improved samestore sales results including acceleration domestic commercial sales mentioned press release natural disasters impacted sales earnings quarter following storms sales benefited estimated 50 60 basis points experienced costs damages 9 million resulting net negative estimated impact eps 007 encouraged sales gained momentum q4 excluding estimated disaster benefit sales strengthened later stages quarter continued executing inventoryavailability initiatives quarter pleased results focus improving ability say yes customers parts needs opened two additional megahubs refined tested delivery frequency stores determine optimal service levels supply chain team implemented various tactics optimize activity reduce cost able deliver leverage warehouse delivery costs past quarter marks first quarter many cost increases abated feel good direction costs headed remaining three quarters fiscal 2018 supply chain new pasco washington dc open combined new ocala florida dc expansion danville illinois dc coming online soon feel positioning supply chain improve efficiencies enhance capacity improve service right path plan initiatives additionally saw nice improvement commercial businesss sales results q1 total commercial sales increased 67 compared 59 q4 57 last year continue grow business faster overall industry executing game plan continue focus growing business existing customers fewer yearoveryear program openings sales growth coming existing customers new customers older programs believe inventoryavailability work vital efforts enhancing position commercial continue improve getting detail quarter want share perspective trajectory industry sales recent years macro headwinds specifically two consecutive mild winters negatively impacting demand upper midwest midatlantic northeastern markets along delayed tax refunds last year translate increase business time period manner similar previous years addition theres lot discussions concerned effects online sales negatively impacting industry automotive parts products sold online decade simply havent seen material shift business past present weather effects even time remain negative effect mild winters reduced demand failure maintenancerelated parts past quarter continued see impact midwestern midatlantic northeastern stores underperformed remaining country 200 basis points cost although markets underperformed last couple years weve begun see improving trends northeastern markets encourages us heading new calendar year history shown extreme cold significant snowfall returns markets traditionally seen significant resurgence sales markets good markets us theyre much volatile underperform mild weather years excel extreme weather years experience normal weather parts country 2018 would expect stronger sales performance turning online efforts continue invest strategy enhance customer shopping experience omnichannel world continue see growth website traffic particularly mobile shiptohome sales buy online pick store buy online pick store growing much much faster shiptohome customers value convenience immediate availability trustworthy advice autozoners provide also highlights importance inventory availability store level also working enhance digital capabilities commercial customers continue increase interactions us autozoneprocom continue invest omnichannel strategy ensure interact customers manner best fits needs desires cost front ive highlighted last two quarters conference calls impacts experiencing accelerated pressure wages pressures continue exist historical norms regulatory changes going continue evidenced areas passed legislation increase wages substantially next years constantly working diligently find new innovations better manage cost structure efforts continue believe particular area continued pressure current state regulatory low unemployment environments management team remains committed managing business long term provide great service customers great opportunities autozoners ultimately delivering strong shareholder value operate industry driven inelastic demand part breaks customers need fix get work get lives predictability based miles driven aging car population remain committed continually improving ability aid customers saying yes needs let provide detail quarter quarter sales increased 49 domestic samestore sales 23 three months quarter september october november positive november stronger one twoyear stack basis previously said northeastern midwestern midatlantic markets representing roughly 25 state sales continue underperform approximately 200 basis points result two consecutive mild winters quarter opened 15 net new stores us commercial business expanded 67 opening 30 programs commercial growth accelerated last quarters 59 increase continued execute strategies grow sales expect open approximately 150 net new commercial programs fiscal year currently 84 domestic stores commercial program quarter continued expand mexico opening five new stores open new stores brazil additional imc branches consistent plans id like provide update learnings around multiple frequency delivery model reminder multiple frequencies delivery solely focused improving instock levels skus stocked stores megahubs focused adding additional coverage local markets meaning adding skus would available locally network made fairly significant changes number stores multiple frequency delivery test changes frequency three times week two times week small set stores mainly improved replenishment algorithms q4 last year weve seen improved sales results threetimeperweek stores result replenishment changes encouraged us twotimeperweek stores underperformed yet prepared conclude tests enter volatile selling season q2 likely spring make definitive conclusions continue learn frequency delivery tests remain committed rollout megahubs strategy reminder supersized autozone stores carry 80000 100000 unique skus approximately twice hub store carries today provide coverage surrounding stores hub stores multiple times day overnight basis sales results thus far open megahubs continue exceed expectations retail commercial currently 4000 stores access megahub inventory majority twothirds 4000 stores receive service overnight basis today expand megahubs receive service day many receive multiple times per day continue expect ultimately operate 40 megahubs constraint speed open availability location real estate average autozone location 7000 square feet megahub 30000 square feet identifying developing locations prime retail areas challenging takes time incremental cost rollouts continue feel investments provide better customer experience increased market share along improving local parts availability assortment continue manage organization provide exceptional service customers provide autozoners great place work opportunities advancement ensure longterm profitable basis provide strong returns shareholders continue stress importance going extra mile fulfill customers needs regardless difficult request commitment service intact continued sharegainers quarter data available us fact share continued improve last several months regarding mexico opened five new stores quarter ended quarter 529 stores mexico represents 9 store base sales businesses quarter 09 last years first quarter showing continued improvement last five quarters reminder data ecommerce businesses include autozonecom autoanything make segment sales compares inaudible 08 last quarter reflects stronger performance autoanythings business q1 also previously mentioned continued see strong growth buy online pick store sales strength pick store encourages us continue investing instore experience recognize majority site traffic providing information customers prior purchase ecommerce platform represents important part omnichannel experience see customers lots research learn product repairs businesses small us less 5 total sales omnichannel experience important customer experience continue invest ecommerce platform continued aging car population continue optimistic regarding trends industry diy difm newvehicle sales near alltime highs gas prices average quite low miles driven continue increase lowerend customer benefits lower gas prices relative income trend remains encouraging regarding expectations winter 2018 return normal weather patterns expect sales performance improve year moves forward let review highlights regarding execution ongoing operating theme 2017 carried 2018 yes weve got key priorities year great people providing great service profitably growing commercial business leveraging internet yes weve got leveraging retail front past quarter great people providing great service theme committed supporting store autozoners helping get stores customers running post disasters easy task focused enhanced training storelevel autozoners increasing share voice regarding availability yes weve got theme hosted national sales meeting end september communications around training autozoners enhance customer experience also remain aggressive technology investments believe investments help differentiate us goforward basis realize customers become much tech mobile savvy sales proposition touches ways desire interact us future current technology investments lead sales growth across businesses regarding commercial opened 30 net new programs quarter expectation continue open new programs range 150 2018 continue improve product assortments availability make refinements commercial offerings expect estimated sales potential grow also highlight another strong performance return invested capital able finish quarter 296 continue pleased metric one best hardline retailing however primary focus continues ensure every incremental dollar capital deploy business provides acceptable return well excess cost capital important reinforce always maintain diligence regarding capital stewardship capital invest investors capital pass discussion bill giles talk financial results id like thank reinforce appreciative entire teams efforts continue meet exceed customers wants needs desires bullish 2018 sales potential great business operated exceptional autozoners ill turn call bill giles bill bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology thanks bill good morning everyone start morning let take moments talk specifically retail commercial international results quarter total auto parts sales include domestic retail commercial businesses mexico brazil stores 26 imc branches increased 5 trailing 52 weeks ended total sales per domestic autozone store 1770000 total commercial sales increased 67 quarter commercial represented 19 total sales grew 31 million last years q1 opened 30 net new programs versus 35 programs opened first quarter last year commercial program 4622 stores 84 domestic stores supported 188 hub stores 700 programs three years old younger 2018 expect open approximately 150 new programs bill mentioned earlier remain focused growing business see business significant growth opportunity treating accordingly committed great sales team supplemented stronger engagement store managers district managers remain confident continue gain market share commercial customers encouraged initiatives place feel grow sales market share weve completed majority commercial project new thoughts concepts theyre ideas move implement test small scale order refine enhance competitive reasons wont sharing detailed findings stage proven concepts concrete plans share plans take time working new ideas continuing existing strategies grow commercial sales profits mexico stores continue perform well opened five new stores first quarter ending quarter 529 stores expect open approximately 40 new stores fiscal 2018 mexicos business challenged throughout 2016 2017 weakening peso foreign exchange rate us dollar hope 2018s exchange rate settle potentially favorable weve quite pleased way mexico leadership team managed business volatility regarding brazil continue operate 14 stores plans grow approximately 25 total stores end fiscal year performance continues improve gives us optimism longterm future market prove success market potential much larger mexico challenging size prize significant gross margin quarter 528 sales effectively flat quarter higher merchandise margins offset higher inventory shrink results shrink expense higher support inventoryavailability initiatives pleased supply chains ability leverage cost percent sales basis believe initiatives place manage shrink reduce leverage remainder year primary focus remains growing absolute gross profit dollars total auto parts segment sgampa quarter 346 sales higher 50 basis points last years first quarter operating expenses percentage sales higher last year primarily due stormrelated expenses incurred quarter deleverage occupancy cost ebit quarter 469 million 21 last years first quarter ebit margin 181 interest expense quarter 39 million compared 33 million q1 year ago planning interest 394 million second quarter fiscal 2018 versus 342 million last year q2 higher expense due tenor size bond completed april 600 million 375 coupon debt outstanding end quarter 4983 billion approximately 14 million last years balance 4997 billion adjusted debt level metrics finished quarter 25 times ebitda given quarter may increase decrease leverage metrics based managements opinion regarding debt equity market conditions remain committed investgrade rating capital allocation strategy share repurchases important element strategy quarter tax rate 346 slightly last years q1 347 want take moment remind listeners adoption new accounting standard new standard requires us recognize tax benefit received gains employees stock options credit income tax expense pampl past quarter lowered tax rate 52 basis points compares benefit 74 basis points tax rate last years q1 accounting change also increases diluted share count calculation impact adoption minimal tax rate 52 basis points quarter worth highlighting 358basispoint impact rate q2 last year impossible us predict individuals exercise options encourage folks model us rate assuming stock option impact roughly 355 report rates net income quarter 281 million 1 last year diluted share count 281 million 54 last years first quarter combination factors drove earnings per share quarter 10 68 prior years first quarter excluding impact previously mentioned change accounting stock option exercises years q1 last years q1 eps would increased rate 68 quarter related cash flow statement first quarter generated 565 million operating cash flow net fixed assets 82 versus last year capital expenditures quarter totaled 110 million reflected additional expenditures required open 22 new locations quarter capital expenditures existing stores hub megahub store remodels openings work development new stores upcoming quarters investments new domestic dcs information technology investments new stores opened finished past quarter 5480 stores 50 states district columbia puerto rico 529 stores mexico 14 brazil total autozone store count 6023 also 26 imc branches open end q1 taking total locations 6049 depreciation totaled 78 million quarter versus last years firstquarter expense 718 million generally line recent quarter growth rates repurchased 253 million autozone stock first quarter quarterend 471 million remaining sharebuyback authorization leverage metric 25 times quarterend want stress managed appropriate credit ratings one metric metric report meant guide rating firm criteria continue view sharerepurchase program attractive capital deployment strategy next id like update inventory levels total perstore basis companys inventory increased 63 period last year inventory per location 663000 versus 647000 last year 644000 last quarter net inventory defined merchandise inventories less accounts payable perlocation basis 52000 versus 67000 last year 48000 last quarter result accounts payable percent gross inventory finished quarter 1078 finally bill previously mentioned continued disciplined capital management approach resulted return invested capital trailing four quarters 296 continue make investments believe generate returns significantly exceed cost capital ill turn back bill rhodes bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman thank bill encouraged start fiscal year careful overcommit outcomes comes second fiscal quarter second quarter perpetually volatile quarter due weather patterns holidays timing tax refunds last year impacted negatively delay income tax refunds impact second consecutive mild winter foresee impacts sales events would business second third quarters last year pleased progress acceleration business want highlight potential points volatility positive negative upcoming quarters one experience cold highprecipitation winter sales strong later quarter balance year two tax refund timing last year shouldnt bearing secondquarter results q3 dont know sales return three holidays shift lose two selling days difm business negatively impact sales growth difm important note insignificant impact diy business fourth encourage mindful significant eps benefit due stock option exercises second quarter last year adjust nonoperating unpredictable event excited balance model growth around domestic retail commercial international online pick store believe hubs megahubs mexico data ecommerce businesses grow top lines 2018 execute high level consistently adhere living pledge take eye execution must stay committed executing day day game plan success achieved attention detail exceptional execution customers choices must exceed expectations whatever way choose shop us fortunate operate one strongest retail segments continue excited industrys growth prospects 2018 beyond consumers continually look save money taking care vehicles committed providing trustworthy advice expect truly valueadd differentiates us faceless transactions customers come expect advice us focus implement enhancements diy commercial websites instore experience provide even knowledgeable service dont ever expect online experience replace advice customers want todays customers expect information repairing vehicles aspect service important cultural cornerstone continue long time charge remains optimize performance regardless market conditions continue ensure investing key initiatives drive longterm performance end delivering strong eps growth roic every quarter measure formula extremely successful last 38 years continue excited future id like open call questions operator thank begin questionandanswer session todays conference ask question press followed 1 phone unmute phone record name prompted name required deduce question cancel question press followed 2 first question coming alan rifkin btig line open alan rifkin btig analyst thank congratulations nice quarter bill rhodes certainly expressed enthusiasm megahub strategy whats revenue lift store base move supported megahub related average revenue per store 40 stores versus stores still supported megahubs thank much bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah thank comment alan would say megahub service drive 1 2 growth local store far volumes go volumes spectrum anybody thats within reasonable service area providing service megahubs may low end scale may high end scale generally theyll grow 1 2 factors within depends whether theyre serviced multiple times day day serviced overnight basis big part strategy mentioned 4000 domestic stores already megahub service many today getting overnight basis continue expand megahubs way couldnt pleased continue expand get sameday service versus overnight service even get multiple times per day service megahub part objective enhance inventory availability across local marketplace alan rifkin btig analyst ok understood followup may bill respect vendor base anything seeing terms vendors possibly taking dormans lead implementing map pricing terms ecommerce effectiveness thus far bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman think 1 weve many vendors map pricing form map pricing years decades dorman recently went believe went october think little bit early tell happens theyre making decisions certainly support vendors way making sure theres price transparency providing great values customers time thats decisions alan rifkin btig analyst thank best luck happy holiday season bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman alan thank operator thank next question coming christopher horvers jp morgan line open christopher horvers jpmorgan chase analyst thanks good morning followup megahub commentary whats gating factors servicing store day multiple times per day cost systems dont right facilities talk maybe sort quantify move overnight sameday multiple times per day business respond bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman sure thanks opportunity clarify chris excellent point one megahubs instance los angeles today store may providing service san diego overnight basis potentially build megahub san diegotype market sudden stores move overnight service sameday service simply proximity store megahub theyre within 100 miles might able service three times day theyre 200 miles might able get one time day theyre 400 miles going get overnight christopher horvers jpmorgan chase analyst understand think long term youve talked perhaps 40 50 megahubs think youre around 18 right sort onethird stores fulfilled day progress time get 45 50 would service look like stores sameday basis bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah havent laid part looking learning economics go mentioned 18 today said prepared remarks going 25 year hopefully get open thats plan originally rolled said 25 40 weve made small tweak saying dont talk 25 anymore going end year say 40 learn someday number could go well one initiatives continue outperform expectations outperforms expectations allows us expand also think important understand also competing stagnant environment competitors also public companies youre accustomed warehouse distributors everybodys changing operations looking ways enhance competitive position christopher horvers jpmorgan chase analyst last last question look tax bills front house senate anything could either positive understand potential corporate tax benefit anything bills concerns financial business operation perspective thanks much bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology sure yeah dont think theres anything tax bills aware today would concern us per se obviously mentioned tax rates lower corporate basis retailers beneficial expect positive well wait see ultimately comes committee gets signed including timing implementation plan accordingly certainly capital allocation strategy expect strategy continue remain intact feel really good christopher horvers jpmorgan chase analyst thank great holiday bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology operator thank next question coming matt fassler goldman sachs line open matt fassler goldman sachs analyst thanks much good morning first question relates sales outlook think last quarters call company offered somewhat subdued perspective sales potential business understanding got bit bump hurricane sales accelerated nicely certainly exceeded wall street expectations youre talking potential business pick im sure current levels prior assumptions weather turns seasonable calendar fourth quarter winter anything changed backdrop anywhere else alter prognosis forward year business pick showed potential something else happening world drove incremental enthusiasm bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman thanks matt question think great question youll recall last quarter talked fact perception industrys performance last two three quarters reached new alltime low performance careful talk truly wasnt case look industrys performance autozones performance five 10year period time performance last year operating within normal bands weve experienced toward lower end werent dealing catastrophic performance cautioned everybody notion oh things bad sudden pendulums gon na swing theyre going fantastic went say believe get better operate normal band think ive talked like 140 basis points average last five years trying say yeah think improve particularly factors macro factors cant anything like two mild winters delayed tax refunds normalized believed continue believe would go back normal band q1 outperformed expectations part outperformance 50 60 basis points hurricaneimpacted markets pleased performance weve seen store sales retail end particularly commercial side q1 also intentional making comments q2 q2 incredibly volatile weather hits hits right time sales could really strong third consecutive mild winter itll take momentum careful part im trying lets understand q2 lowvolume quarter closed days quarter lowestvolume quarter year one dont want put much focus q2 get strong winter believe q2 latter part q2 strong importantly believe balance year positive also continue believe operate normalized band weve five ten years matt fassler goldman sachs analyst bill thats helpful quick followup storm sales kind onetime pop spillover subsequent quarters view bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman think little bit spillover q2 matt generally happens storm hits closed days actually take net negative first week markets begin recover see increased economic activity lasts three four months depends order magnitude storm would expect see benefits probably benefit wed calling next quarter benefit early second quarter matt fassler goldman sachs analyst great finally youre clearly testing probing lot supply chain absent dialogue quarter impact gross margin excess supply chain cost consider chapter essentially closed longer look much gross margin impact bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology yeah wouldnt categorize closed per se matt youre totally right weve anniversaried lot impact weve expect normalized going forward think supply chain team done terrific job managing spite opening two distribution centers last six months matt fassler goldman sachs analyst thank much guys bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman thank operator thank next question coming simeon gutman morgan stanley line open joshua siber morgan stanley analyst good morning josh siber simeon talk whats driving commercial improvement whether parse industry growth versus internal drivers bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah think havent seen enough hard see industry growth perspective commercial shortterm period long term believe pretty good handle growing 45 short term hard see think improving performance teams core blocking tackling getting better weve talking lot getting store managers district managers engaged business think thats helping time sales teams continue get better better inventoryavailability inaudible biggest reason megahubs mfd try spur commercial growth think efforts beginning help us commercial think also important highlight grew almost 7 close 2x growth market joshua siber morgan stanley analyst okay followup mentioned return normal weather im curious characterize winter far bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman dont think need even try characterize two half weeks quarter knows whats going happen feel starts getting cold week happens thanksgiving december 15 really happens december 15 february 10 thatll really deciding factor joshua siber morgan stanley analyst ok thanks lot bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah thank operator thank next question coming seth sigman credit suisse line open seth sigman credit suisse analyst thanks lot good morning one question cost side expenses grew roughly 55 excluding hurricane know talked number future headwinds talked last quarter well im wondering run rate think 55 essentially capture headwinds reason believe stepup point bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology think 5 range captures headwinds headwinds bill talked youve got little bit wage rate pressure continues exist although teams done terrific job managing way little bit occupancy pressure youre seeing coming megahubs hubs well seeing rising real estate tax cost across country well things little bit headwinds think manage way think thats pretty good run rate look seth sigman credit suisse analyst start lap second half fiscal year see pickup expenses late year last year bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology think late year start laps inaudible seth sigman credit suisse analyst ok great followup around pricing im wondering starting see signs inflation impact quarter general lot talk price transparency category retail general feel like see inflation youll able push bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology historically mean answer first part question havent seen significant amount inflation frankly havent probably couple years historically weve able industry push much costs along consumer today dont see changing necessarily well wait see comes seth sigman credit suisse analyst thanks much operator thank next question coming michael lasser ubs line open michael lasser ubs analyst good morning thanks lot taking question bill rhodes mentioned midwest northeast continue underperform yet business accelerated large part commercial program take mean commercial business within underperforming regions also underperformed would case bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman think 1 parts business saw acceleration q1 commercials little bit visible called specifically improved q1 look whats going industry part whats happened mild winters put less strain undercar components think chassis brake components shocks struts didnt go away summer went lack wear tear continued jobs done diyers difmers thats impacts markets similar fashion michael lasser ubs analyst followup question potential sharp reduction tax rate happened would think prospect returning benefits back shareholders versus redeploying savings back business bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology yeah think kind think feel good capital allocation strategy remains intact served us well time well continue investing initiatives believe result adequate returns corporation overall well continue invest infrastructure well continue execute capital allocation strategy time tell mean bill hasnt signed yet well wait see whats final bill timing michael lasser ubs analyst guess lessso referring capital allocation moreso margin structure business earningsgrowth going sharply accelerate would look maybe slow earningsgrowth acceleration bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology earnings growth ebit question really youre asking whats going happen ebit line said thats going increase dont see tax perspective something changing fundamental operating margin organization michael lasser ubs analyst ok thats helpful thank much operator thank next question coming matt mcclintock barclays line open matt mcclintock barclays analyst yes good morning everyone im trying conceptualize volatility business due weather think potential weather finally cooperate quarter maybe going forward something would potentially drive closing 200basispoint gap regions youre experiencing year something could actually drive closing multiple years gap regions unrelative company effort bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman think theres question mentioned really good markets us historically really good markets weather patterns extremely different volatile predictable california instance weather patterns pretty predictable youre going get dont know youre going get upper midwest therefore deal theres nothing plan business differently anything like kind ride storm good side bad side matt mcclintock barclays analyst ok think pretty clear online competition nothing really see could maybe talk nontraditional competition brickandmortar channel bigbox competition nonspecialty auto parts stores bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman guess would say similar said online mass merchants theyve competing industry longer ive havent seen significant change theyre going market impacting business one way matt mcclintock barclays analyst thank much color bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah thank operator thank next question coming dan wewer raymond james line open dan wewer raymond james analyst thanks bill since 2009 autozones gross margin rate increased 260 basis points think gross margin expansion basis going forward think current gross margin rates maybe give take 10 basis points next say three four years would look like bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology yeah think think dan think positively continue believe opportunities us expand gross margin certainly continue increase direct import initiatives help reduce acquisition cost continue believe opportunities lower acquisition cost probably continue opportunities optimize expenses supply chain shrink always continue pressures competitive set industry set relative promotions etc think overall somewhat bullish relative gross margin going forward look time youre right weve done terrific job spite lot things going continuing increase gross margin remains healthy feel pretty positive going forward dan wewer raymond james analyst followup question sales benefits megahubs think response alans question talked 1 2percentagepoint benefit difference store getting sameday coverage megahub compared nextday example talked san diego bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah certainly difference dan probably big would expect got remember skus talking really tails bell curve available even next day theyll first thing morning talk rural markets kinds things thats pretty amazing get difference 50 dan wewer raymond james analyst ok thank bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman yeah thank operator thank last question coming steve forbes guggenheim line open steve forbes line open bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman lets go ahead take next question operator thank next question coming mike baker deutsche bank mike baker deutsche bank analyst worked well want talk mr wewers question bill giles answer gross margins continue pressure competitive set industry set relative promotions changed online guys little bit business sort outlook youve always bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology thats outlook weve always wouldnt say weve seen change necessarily perspective whatsoever trying balance positive aspects gross margin offset pressures might always consider overall continue believe margin remains healthy weve got positive outlook mike baker deutsche bank analyst ok thanks makes sense two quick followups could one think bill rhodes said one point weather cooperated youd expect trends get better back half quarter simply function much difficult compares recall last year early quarter compares get much easier second half reason weather would impact back half quarter bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman said back half quarter also balance year last year get cold snap kind december 1 christmas really strong sales period time got warm weather hits going little bit later last year see strengthen back half part kind tale two stories happens extreme winter weather one gets really cold really fast get immediate bounce business like batteries happens time longer tail winter road conditions get bad get longer tail undercar parts chassis brakes ride control kinds things things wake day car cant get work things put stress components maintenance cycles accelerate put tail back half q2 q3 q4 mike baker deutsche bank analyst ok makes sense could ask one quick one hopefully quick answer pluses minuses gross margin described wages costs higher kind samestore sales number need get back doubledigit earnings growth lets assume tax rates stay similar obviously goes 20 youre going grow earnings 10 higher assume doesnt happen bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology yeah dont think samestore sales basis like mike everybody wants able think way think thinking theres opportunities us improve gross margin talked operating expense growth rates ways thinking model overall mean feel great health industry feel good momentum weve got encouraged business mike baker deutsche bank analyst ok really appreciate time thanks guys bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman thank mike conclude call id like take moment reiterate business model continues solid excited growth prospects year take anything granted understand customers alternatives solid plan succeed fiscal year want stress marathon sprint continue focus basics focus optimizing longterm shareholder value confident autozone continue successful thank participating todays call wed like wish everyone happy healthy holiday season prosperous new year thank time today operator concludes todays conference thank participation may disconnect duration 63 minutes bill rhodes chief executive officer president chairman bill giles chief financial officer executive vice president finance information technology alan rifkin btig analyst christopher horvers jpmorgan chase analyst matt fassler goldman sachs analyst joshua siber morgan stanley analyst seth sigman credit suisse analyst michael lasser ubs analyst matt mcclintock barclays analyst dan wewer raymond james analyst mike baker deutsche bank analyst azo analysis opens new window article transcript conference call produced motley fool strive foolish best may errors omissions inaccuracies transcript articles motley fool assume responsibility use content strongly encourage research including listening call reading companys sec filings please see terms conditions opens new window additional details including obligatory capitalized disclaimers liability 10 stocks like better autozonewhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right autozone wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns december 4 2017 motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 5,756 |
<p>Week in and week out, at least a handful of biotech stocks generate huge gains. It comes with the territory, since biotechs tend to have plenty of potential catalysts, including clinical updates and regulatory approvals. But some weeks produce bigger winners than others.</p>
<p>Last week, the best-performing biotech stock <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/24/3-biotech-stocks-that-skyrocketed-this-week-are-th.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=51a94d4d-b66e-4d28-a402-e38d296619ad&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">shot up more than 70% Opens a New Window.</a>. This week, however, the big winner -- Allena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNA) -- gained less than half of that amount. Still, that's an impressive jump in just four days (it was an abbreviated week for the stock market due to the Good Friday holiday).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Two other biotech stocks also turned in great performances this week -- Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) and Vital Therapies (NASDAQ: VTL). But are Allena, Shire, and Vital Therapies smart picks for investors after this week's big gains?</p>
<p>Allena Pharmaceuticals stock soared 23% this week. You might wonder why, considering that an analyst lowered its price target for Allena.</p>
<p>That price target cut was actually good in one way, however. Credit Suisse lowered the one-year price target for Allena from $22 to $21. The good news, though, is that the firm still maintained an "outperform" rating for the stock. And the lower price target still represents a 91% upside from Allena's current share price. The bad news of the lower price target served as a reminder of just how much potential Allena could have.</p>
<p>The bigger story for Allena was that the company provided its fourth-quarter update on Tuesday. As a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Allena continues to lose money. However, the company stated that it has enough cash to fund operations into 2020.</p>
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<p>Allena also highlighted its pipeline progress. Everything appears to be on track for its first phase 3 study of ALLN-177 in treating enteric hyperoxaluria, an excessive urinary excretion of oxalate that can produce kidney stones. Allena expects to begin the second phase 3 study later this year. The company also continues to talk with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about pursuing an accelerated approval pathway for ALLN-177.</p>
<p>Shire stock jumped 18% this week. There's no mystery behind the nice gain: Japanese drugmaker Takeda announced that it was thinking about acquiring Shire.</p>
<p>At least for now, though, all Takeda appears to have done is think about a deal. Shire confirmed on Wednesday that it "has not received an approach from Takeda." The company added that "there can be no certainty that any firm offer for the company will be made nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be made."</p>
<p>It's been a rough few years for Shire, with the stock dropping around 40% since 2015. Investors soured on Shire after the company took on a lot of debt to fund acquisitions. Shire has tried to get its balance sheet in better shape. However, those efforts were apparently too little and too late for billionaire investor George Soros, who <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/20/george-soros-dumped-these-3-healthcare-stocks-shou.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=51a94d4d-b66e-4d28-a402-e38d296619ad&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">dumped his stake in Shire Opens a New Window.</a> in Q4 of 2017.</p>
<p>Shire shareholders would likely welcome an acquisition by Takeda at this point. It could take a divestiture of Shire's ADHD business to make a deal happen, though. A sale or spinoff of the ADHD business should lower the price tag for Takeda enough to make financing an acquisition more palatable. Shire announced in August 2017 that it was considering a spin-off of the ADHD business.</p>
<p>Vital Therapies stock moved 17% higher this week. What was the biotech's big news? Actually, there wasn't any -- at least not this week.</p>
<p>The nice gain for Vital Therapies over the past few days is really just a continuation of momentum that began last week. On March 22, the company announced that it had reached the target enrollment of 150 patients in a phase 3 study of its ELAD system in treating severe alcoholic hepatitis. Vital Therapies stated that it's on track to report top-line results from the study in the third quarter of this year, most likely in September.</p>
<p>ELAD is what Vital Therapies calls a "human-cell bio-artificial liver." It's a type of cell therapy, where hundreds of billions of VTL C3A cells -- cloned human liver cells -- are added to patients' blood during continuous treatment over five days. Based on earlier studies, it appears that these VTL C3A cells can reduce liver inflammation and inhibit liver cell death.</p>
<p>If Vital Therapies' late-stage study is successful, there could be a significant market opportunity for the company. An estimated 60,000 people in the U.S. and Europe suffer from severe alcoholic hepatitis, which is caused by binge drinking. Patients are frequently treated with steroids, but many don't respond to the therapy.</p>
<p>Two of this week's big biotech winners -- Allena Pharmaceuticals and Vital Therapies -- are clinical-stage biotechs. While successful late-stage clinical studies could cause the stocks to move much higher, I think these stocks are too risky for most investors.</p>
<p>What about Shire? Despite its challenges, the stock appears to be attractively valued. My concern, though, is that the Takeda announcement has already driven Shire stock up so much that there isn't a lot more room to run. There's also a risk that the deal won't go through, which would send Shire's share price spiraling downward.</p>
<p>If the acquisition by Takeda falls through, buying Shire stock could be a smart move for bargain hunters. For now, though, I think holding off is the best course of action.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than ShireWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=1d3726cd-c3be-4a5b-b8c1-dd9dbe31918c&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=51a94d4d-b66e-4d28-a402-e38d296619ad&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Shire wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=1d3726cd-c3be-4a5b-b8c1-dd9dbe31918c&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=51a94d4d-b66e-4d28-a402-e38d296619ad&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of March 5, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=51a94d4d-b66e-4d28-a402-e38d296619ad&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Speights Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=51a94d4d-b66e-4d28-a402-e38d296619ad&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | week week least handful biotech stocks generate huge gains comes territory since biotechs tend plenty potential catalysts including clinical updates regulatory approvals weeks produce bigger winners others last week bestperforming biotech stock shot 70 opens new window week however big winner allena pharmaceuticals nasdaq alna gained less half amount still thats impressive jump four days abbreviated week stock market due good friday holiday continue reading two biotech stocks also turned great performances week shire plc nasdaq shpg vital therapies nasdaq vtl allena shire vital therapies smart picks investors weeks big gains allena pharmaceuticals stock soared 23 week might wonder considering analyst lowered price target allena price target cut actually good one way however credit suisse lowered oneyear price target allena 22 21 good news though firm still maintained outperform rating stock lower price target still represents 91 upside allenas current share price bad news lower price target served reminder much potential allena could bigger story allena company provided fourthquarter update tuesday clinicalstage biopharmaceutical company allena continues lose money however company stated enough cash fund operations 2020 advertisement allena also highlighted pipeline progress everything appears track first phase 3 study alln177 treating enteric hyperoxaluria excessive urinary excretion oxalate produce kidney stones allena expects begin second phase 3 study later year company also continues talk us food drug administration fda pursuing accelerated approval pathway alln177 shire stock jumped 18 week theres mystery behind nice gain japanese drugmaker takeda announced thinking acquiring shire least though takeda appears done think deal shire confirmed wednesday received approach takeda company added certainty firm offer company made terms firm offer might made rough years shire stock dropping around 40 since 2015 investors soured shire company took lot debt fund acquisitions shire tried get balance sheet better shape however efforts apparently little late billionaire investor george soros dumped stake shire opens new window q4 2017 shire shareholders would likely welcome acquisition takeda point could take divestiture shires adhd business make deal happen though sale spinoff adhd business lower price tag takeda enough make financing acquisition palatable shire announced august 2017 considering spinoff adhd business vital therapies stock moved 17 higher week biotechs big news actually wasnt least week nice gain vital therapies past days really continuation momentum began last week march 22 company announced reached target enrollment 150 patients phase 3 study elad system treating severe alcoholic hepatitis vital therapies stated track report topline results study third quarter year likely september elad vital therapies calls humancell bioartificial liver type cell therapy hundreds billions vtl c3a cells cloned human liver cells added patients blood continuous treatment five days based earlier studies appears vtl c3a cells reduce liver inflammation inhibit liver cell death vital therapies latestage study successful could significant market opportunity company estimated 60000 people us europe suffer severe alcoholic hepatitis caused binge drinking patients frequently treated steroids many dont respond therapy two weeks big biotech winners allena pharmaceuticals vital therapies clinicalstage biotechs successful latestage clinical studies could cause stocks move much higher think stocks risky investors shire despite challenges stock appears attractively valued concern though takeda announcement already driven shire stock much isnt lot room run theres also risk deal wont go would send shires share price spiraling downward acquisition takeda falls buying shire stock could smart move bargain hunters though think holding best course action 10 stocks like better shirewhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right shire wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns march 5 2018 keith speights opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 627 |
<p>After four years of belt-tightening, American companies are good at squeezing more profit out of every dollar of sales - a skill that chief executives regard as critical in the face of an uncertain economy.</p>
<p>While the headline-making cuts of the last recession - when companies shed tens of thousands of workers as they scrambled to lower costs - have mostly passed, they have kept their focus on finding lots of small steps to improve earnings.</p>
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<p>For some companies, the changes are relatively simple. McDonald's Corp was able to beat Wall Street's profit forecasts by keeping its locations open on Christmas and rolling out the cult favorite McRib sandwich in December.</p>
<p>For others, pumping up the results involves a more complicated dance, keeping costs down while still spending enough on research and development to ensure they have a steady stream of new products to rely on.</p>
<p>Toothpaste and detergent maker Procter &amp; Gamble Co reported a 12 percent rise in fourth quarter earnings on 2 percent sales growth, reflecting both cost controls - it cut more than 5,000 jobs last year - and new products, said Chief Executive Bob McDonald.</p>
<p>"You've got to do both at the same time. You have to do innovation and productivity at the same time," McDonald said in an interview.</p>
<p>Conglomerate Honeywell International Inc , which reported a 6 percent rise in profit on 1 percent sales growth, faced a similar challenge.</p>
<p>"We want to be able to do everything right and fast," said CEO David Cote. "In a slow-growth global economy, this becomes especially important for margin rate growth."</p>
<p>More broadly, companies in the Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index that have reported quarterly results so far this earnings season have averaged a 7.7 percent rise in profit on 5.2 percent revenue growth.</p>
<p>Management consultants say that is due, in part, to a renewed focus on spending to grow.</p>
<p>"I'm seeing organizations being very, very disciplined. They are willing to invest, but they are only willing to invest where they see tangible returns," said David Axson, a managing director in Accenture's finance and enterprise performance consulting group who works with Fortune 100-level CFOs. "Profit opportunities are very transitory at the moment.</p>
<p>LITTLE FAT TO TRIM</p>
<p>Corporate America has become far more selective in its cutting, largely because it has already become so lean.</p>
<p>"They have done a phenomenal job of becoming more efficient," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade in Omaha. "There's not a company now that can actually survive with any fat on the bones."</p>
<p>Honeywell's focus on margin improvement is constant and extends across most of the company - from tweaking manufacturing processes to make products with less waste, to focusing on newer products that face less competition and can command higher prices, said Chief Financial Officer Dave Anderson.</p>
<p>"It's not just squeezing," Anderson said in a telephone interview. "Anybody can do that on a short-term basis, but you can't sustain it."</p>
<p>Companies have continued to find fat to trim, though.</p>
<p>Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's biggest supplier, is facing huge defense spending cutbacks that could trim sales as much as 6 percent this year. But still, it forecast profits would rise as much as 9 percent in 2013, even without layoffs, as it takes steps to reduce pension costs by pre-funding to reduce future liabilities.</p>
<p>Diversified manufacturer 3M Co said it would cut about 300 workers as it merges its security and traffic safety businesses. That is a relative drop in the bucket for a company that employs some 84,000 people worldwide, but is a key part of CEO Inge Thulin's plan to fix or sell underperforming parts of the company.</p>
<p>Thulin, who took the reins at the maker of Post-It notes and film used in television screens, has identified a handful of units where he has similar concerns. He is also raising the company's research and development budget to 6 percent of sales this year from 5.5 percent in 2012.</p>
<p>One analyst said companies need to cut costs, but also need to ensure they are cutting the right ones and not expenses such as research and development that will lead to future growth.</p>
<p>"There is a generation of managers out there that experienced the recession, understand what the ramifications are of carrying too much cost into one of these cycles and, as a result, are very focused on margins," said Daniel Holland, equity analyst at Morningstar in Chicago, who covers big industrial companies. "That's a mark of management post the recession."</p>
<p>LOWERED BAR</p>
<p>The continued success of companies has boosted investor confidence and helped send the S&amp;P 500 up almost 5 percent since the start of the year. Investors had been very conservative about their expectations for earnings growth because of such things as wrangling in Washington over the "fiscal cliff" of drastic tax increases and budget cuts.</p>
<p>"The bar was so low and that was because of things that happened in the fourth quarter, particularly Hurricane Sandy and its impact, and the fiscal cliff impact, and I think things are not turning out as bad as analysts anticipated," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.</p>
<p>"You're seeing some individual stocks get hammered because expectations were unrealistic and you're seeing other stocks rally because expectations were set much too low."</p>
<p>Amid all the cost-cutting, there is also a sense among some companies that the situation in Europe is not as dire as it had been, an added bonus in year-end results.</p>
<p>Of course, there are still problems: Top U.S. auto parts supplier Johnson Controls Inc warned that lower European auto production would hurt results this quarter, news that overwhelmed a strong fourth-quarter profit.</p>
<p>But for others, it is clear that Europe is, at a minimum, less of a headache.</p>
<p>"We have seen signs of stabilization, particularly in Europe," said Greg Hayes, chief financial officer at United Technologies Corp , which has also benefited from the recent strengthening of the euro against the dollar, which raises the value of its dollar sales in the eurozone.</p>
<p>China, meanwhile, was a big boost for many companies. 3M notched its best quarter in a year in China, reporting 16 percent growth in organic sales. P&amp;G reported "high single digit" percentage growth and Starbucks Corp saw China/Asia-Pacific sales rise 11 percent.</p>
<p>However, be it cutting costs, or restructuring operations, or any other means in the executive tool kit, the laser focus on margins reflects CEOs who remain wary of the economy souring again.</p>
<p>"I see very little downside in being prepared for the downside," Honeywell's Cote added.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Editing by Andre Grenon)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | true | 0 | four years belttightening american companies good squeezing profit every dollar sales skill chief executives regard critical face uncertain economy headlinemaking cuts last recession companies shed tens thousands workers scrambled lower costs mostly passed kept focus finding lots small steps improve earnings continue reading companies changes relatively simple mcdonalds corp able beat wall streets profit forecasts keeping locations open christmas rolling cult favorite mcrib sandwich december others pumping results involves complicated dance keeping costs still spending enough research development ensure steady stream new products rely toothpaste detergent maker procter amp gamble co reported 12 percent rise fourth quarter earnings 2 percent sales growth reflecting cost controls cut 5000 jobs last year new products said chief executive bob mcdonald youve got time innovation productivity time mcdonald said interview conglomerate honeywell international inc reported 6 percent rise profit 1 percent sales growth faced similar challenge want able everything right fast said ceo david cote slowgrowth global economy becomes especially important margin rate growth broadly companies standard amp poors 500 index reported quarterly results far earnings season averaged 77 percent rise profit 52 percent revenue growth management consultants say due part renewed focus spending grow im seeing organizations disciplined willing invest willing invest see tangible returns said david axson managing director accentures finance enterprise performance consulting group works fortune 100level cfos profit opportunities transitory moment little fat trim corporate america become far selective cutting largely already become lean done phenomenal job becoming efficient said jj kinahan chief derivatives strategist td ameritrade omaha theres company actually survive fat bones honeywells focus margin improvement constant extends across company tweaking manufacturing processes make products less waste focusing newer products face less competition command higher prices said chief financial officer dave anderson squeezing anderson said telephone interview anybody shortterm basis cant sustain companies continued find fat trim though lockheed martin corp pentagons biggest supplier facing huge defense spending cutbacks could trim sales much 6 percent year still forecast profits would rise much 9 percent 2013 even without layoffs takes steps reduce pension costs prefunding reduce future liabilities diversified manufacturer 3m co said would cut 300 workers merges security traffic safety businesses relative drop bucket company employs 84000 people worldwide key part ceo inge thulins plan fix sell underperforming parts company thulin took reins maker postit notes film used television screens identified handful units similar concerns also raising companys research development budget 6 percent sales year 55 percent 2012 one analyst said companies need cut costs also need ensure cutting right ones expenses research development lead future growth generation managers experienced recession understand ramifications carrying much cost one cycles result focused margins said daniel holland equity analyst morningstar chicago covers big industrial companies thats mark management post recession lowered bar continued success companies boosted investor confidence helped send sampp 500 almost 5 percent since start year investors conservative expectations earnings growth things wrangling washington fiscal cliff drastic tax increases budget cuts bar low things happened fourth quarter particularly hurricane sandy impact fiscal cliff impact think things turning bad analysts anticipated said paul mendelsohn chief investment strategist windham financial services charlotte vermont youre seeing individual stocks get hammered expectations unrealistic youre seeing stocks rally expectations set much low amid costcutting also sense among companies situation europe dire added bonus yearend results course still problems top us auto parts supplier johnson controls inc warned lower european auto production would hurt results quarter news overwhelmed strong fourthquarter profit others clear europe minimum less headache seen signs stabilization particularly europe said greg hayes chief financial officer united technologies corp also benefited recent strengthening euro dollar raises value dollar sales eurozone china meanwhile big boost many companies 3m notched best quarter year china reporting 16 percent growth organic sales pampg reported high single digit percentage growth starbucks corp saw chinaasiapacific sales rise 11 percent however cutting costs restructuring operations means executive tool kit laser focus margins reflects ceos remain wary economy souring see little downside prepared downside honeywells cote added additional reporting jessica wohl chicago caroline valetkevitch new york editing andre grenon advertisement | 669 |
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<p>Buyers’ biggest real estate fears sometimes hold them back from buying — not just around Halloween, but throughout the year. The scary thing is, these fears are&#160;sometimes&#160;well-founded.</p>
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<p>Here are some of the issues that commonly keep home buyers awake at night, and what you can do about them.</p>
<p>“The house has a cracked foundation, dry rot, or a leaky roof”</p>
<p>Renovating, fixing and repairing are on few buyers’ wish lists. When faced with the home of their dreams, they fear the inspection. What if there is dry rot, or a roof or foundation issue?</p>
<p>Most homes will need routine maintenance, and a good inspector will point this out. But it’s important not to let your fears get the best of you. Much of what the inspector comes up with during the inspection is for informational purposes only.&#160;Every problem does not need to be repaired right away.</p>
<p>The inspector’s job is to point out every issue he sees in the house.&#160;Ask him to explain how bad the issue is, and how long it can go before needing replacement or repair.</p>
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<p>If an issue arises that needs immediate attention, go back to the seller and see if they will repair or credit you back to repair after you close.</p>
<p>“I’ll lose my deposit”</p>
<p>Buyers typically put in an earnest money deposit with a signed contract. Typically, this is 3 percent of the purchase price. The seller does not cash the check. Instead, the money sits in an escrow account and can’t be released without both parties’ signatures.</p>
<p>It’s nearly impossible for a buyer to lose their deposit. If you have an inspection, disclosure review or loan contingencies, work closely with your real estate agent to mark those timeframes.</p>
<p>If you need to remove these contingencies in writing, plan to firm things up a day in advance. If you are in negotiations around a contingency date, be sure to extend the contingency date to keep yourself under contract.</p>
<p>“I’ll lose the house”</p>
<p>If you find the home of your dreams, you may have to move fast. Particularly in competitive markets, many homes sell before the first open house to quick acting and super-motivated buyers.</p>
<p>If you see a new listing hit the market, be sure to let your agent know right away. Try to make an appointment to see the home as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Also, find out immediately how the seller’s agent plans to handle any offers received. Sometimes they will take the first offer, especially if it’s a good one. More often than not, the seller and the agent will have an offer date to review offers or ask for best and final offers by a certain day.</p>
<p>If you are travelling or busy with work, be sure not to miss out on your dream home. Be in constant contact with your agent, and flag potential homes that look like a great fit.</p>
<p>“My agent doesn’t have my best interest in mind”</p>
<p>Great agents are always on the prowl for new properties, checking out the market and protecting your best interest at all times.</p>
<p>Some buyers fear that their agent might have different motivations, or that they aren’t on the same page. If you have doubts, change agents. Never settle or take any random agent that comes along as your buyer’s agent.</p>
<p>You and your agent should be committed to each other.&#160; <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/questions-buyers-agent-173819/" type="external">Sit down before you begin the process and speak to your agent Opens a New Window.</a>, much like a job interview. And if you have any doubts about your agent’s abilities or motivations,&#160; <a href="http://www.zillow.com/agent-finder/" type="external">find another agent Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>“We’ll never find a house in time for…”</p>
<p>A real estate purchase should never be rushed. If you have a firm deadline creeping up, make a plan B.</p>
<p>For example, many buyers face an expiring lease or a school application deadline. If you are three months out from a deadline and you haven’t found a house, take the pressure off by putting an alternate plan in place.</p>
<p>Home buying is an expensive and complicated transaction. You don’t want to rush into a purchase and make a mistake. It’s much easier and safer to get another rental or find a temporary address or try some out-of-the-box idea. It may be a little inconvenient, but you can handle it.</p>
<p>If something scares you about a home, the buying process, or a third-party involved in the sale, voice your concerns. Listen to your voice of reason, and stick with your gut.</p>
<p>Many home buyers’ initial fears will fall by the wayside as the buyer gets into the market. Take it slow, and don’t be afraid to take a step back to allow time and space to think things through. It’s better to take your time than to let buying your dream home become a nightmare.</p>
<p>More from Zillow: <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/what-happens-home-damaged-in-escrow-184008/" type="external">What Happens If a Home is Damaged During Escrow? Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/keep-closing-process-moving-179305/" type="external">4 Ways to Keep Your Closing Process Moving Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/extreme-home-buying-178904/" type="external">3 Extreme Home-Buying Tactics to Get the House You Want Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Zillow.</p>
<p>Brendon DeSimone advises buyers, sellers and investors everywhere with their personal&#160; <a href="http://www.brendondesimone.com/how-to-find-a-real-estate-agent/" type="external">real estate needs Opens a New Window.</a>. Are you in the middle of a transaction and need a second opinion from an impartial real estate expert? Brendon will answer your questions, provide expert advice, and help you find the best agent. A nationally recognized&#160; <a href="http://www.brendondesimone.com/mediacenter/" type="external">real estate expert Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;and author of&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Estate-Brendon-DeSimone-ebook/dp/B00HZ4DZ2E" type="external">"Next Generation Real Estate: New Rules for Smarter Home Buying &amp; Faster Selling" Opens a New Window.</a>, Brendon regularly appears on top media outlets including CNBC, Good Morning America, FOX Business, HGTV, FOX News and Bloomberg. Follow Brendon on&#160; <a href="http://www.twitter.com/brendondesimone" type="external">Twitter Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | buyers biggest real estate fears sometimes hold back buying around halloween throughout year scary thing fears are160sometimes160wellfounded continue reading issues commonly keep home buyers awake night house cracked foundation dry rot leaky roof renovating fixing repairing buyers wish lists faced home dreams fear inspection dry rot roof foundation issue homes need routine maintenance good inspector point important let fears get best much inspector comes inspection informational purposes only160every problem need repaired right away inspectors job point every issue sees house160ask explain bad issue long go needing replacement repair advertisement issue arises needs immediate attention go back seller see repair credit back repair close ill lose deposit buyers typically put earnest money deposit signed contract typically 3 percent purchase price seller cash check instead money sits escrow account cant released without parties signatures nearly impossible buyer lose deposit inspection disclosure review loan contingencies work closely real estate agent mark timeframes need remove contingencies writing plan firm things day advance negotiations around contingency date sure extend contingency date keep contract ill lose house find home dreams may move fast particularly competitive markets many homes sell first open house quick acting supermotivated buyers see new listing hit market sure let agent know right away try make appointment see home soon possible also find immediately sellers agent plans handle offers received sometimes take first offer especially good one often seller agent offer date review offers ask best final offers certain day travelling busy work sure miss dream home constant contact agent flag potential homes look like great fit agent doesnt best interest mind great agents always prowl new properties checking market protecting best interest times buyers fear agent might different motivations arent page doubts change agents never settle take random agent comes along buyers agent agent committed other160 sit begin process speak agent opens new window much like job interview doubts agents abilities motivations160 find another agent opens new window well never find house time real estate purchase never rushed firm deadline creeping make plan b example many buyers face expiring lease school application deadline three months deadline havent found house take pressure putting alternate plan place home buying expensive complicated transaction dont want rush purchase make mistake much easier safer get another rental find temporary address try outofthebox idea may little inconvenient handle something scares home buying process thirdparty involved sale voice concerns listen voice reason stick gut many home buyers initial fears fall wayside buyer gets market take slow dont afraid take step back allow time space think things better take time let buying dream home become nightmare zillow happens home damaged escrow opens new window 4 ways keep closing process moving opens new window 3 extreme homebuying tactics get house want opens new window note views opinions expressed article author necessarily reflect opinion position zillow brendon desimone advises buyers sellers investors everywhere personal160 real estate needs opens new window middle transaction need second opinion impartial real estate expert brendon answer questions provide expert advice help find best agent nationally recognized160 real estate expert opens new window160and author of160 next generation real estate new rules smarter home buying amp faster selling opens new window brendon regularly appears top media outlets including cnbc good morning america fox business hgtv fox news bloomberg follow brendon on160 twitter opens new window | 546 |
<p />
<p>April Fools' Day pranks used to be mostly the domain of school-age kids and local radio DJs.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In recent years however a number of technology companies have gotten in on the fun sometimes with an outright effort to pull a classic April Fools' stunt that tricks people in to believing and other times just by being a little silly. Of course, now that so many companies are in on the holiday action, anything announced on April 1 gets met with a healthy dose of skepticism.</p>
<p>That sets a high bar to attract attention on the holiday. Still, that did not stop a number of well-known brands from trying to either pull one over on people or at least make us laugh. Of course, not all jokes work, as one giant technology company learned.</p>
<p>Alphabet : Put this one in the unintended consequences section, but Alphabet's Google had to quickly drop an April Fools' prank it added to its Gmail service. The company had added a "drop the mic" button next to the traditional send button in the email program. It allowed people to close down a mail thread by sending a picture of a Minion -- the yellow guys from the Despicable Me movies -- dropping a microphone.</p>
<p>That seems silly enough, but apparently it caused a backlash with some people who received the emails perhaps not getting the prank, the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35941806" type="external">BBC Opens a New Window.</a> reported.</p>
<p>"It looks like we pranked ourselves this year," Google said in a statement. "Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We're truly sorry."</p>
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<p>Apparently some people did not like receiving pictures of the Minions. Source: Minionsmovie.com</p>
<p>T-Mobile : The No. 3 wireless carrier took a more subtle approach, releasing a video and press release touting a tweak on its Binge On service dubbed Binge On Up. The company played it well with a straightish <a href="https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/binge-on-up.htm" type="external">press release Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>That sounds a little ridiculous, but the joke does not hit home until you watch the accompanying video which shows that the product being offered is a ridiculous headset with a telescoping arm designed to hold your phone. The ad slams other wireless carriers for "making you hold your phone in your hands, like an idiot."</p>
<p>Source: T-Mobile</p>
<p>OpenTable: The online reservation service went subtle as well by placing an ad for a new service, Taste-o-Vision, on its website. The mock product promises that users will be able to "Taste photos right from your phone with OpenTable Taste technology.It's easy (and tasty) as pie! Just lick to begin. #LickablePhotos."</p>
<p>The company, which is clearly trying to trick people into licking their phone, offered the following instructions:</p>
<p>The asterisk, of course, tells people that multiple licks may be needed.</p>
<p>Source: OpenTable.</p>
<p>Tesla Motors : The electric-car company went a little more ridiculous, <a href="https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/announcing-tesla-model-w" type="external">announcing Opens a New Window.</a> plans for a new model, Tesla W, a watch that's clearly a prank as soon as you see the accompanying picture. The automaker also took a little swipe at smartwatches in its description.</p>
<p>Tesla captioned this photo 'Warning, current version requires wrist strength of an Orangutan." Source: Tesla.</p>
<p>"This incredible new device from Tesla doesn't just tell the time, it also tells the date," the company wrote. What's more, it is infinitely adjustable, able to tell the time no matter where you are on Earth. Japan, Timbuktu, California, anywhere! This will change your life. Reality as you know it will never be the same."</p>
<p>ZipCar: The car-rental brand, which is owned by Avis Budget Group, had a little fun with its millennial audience by <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/selfiedriving" type="external">fake-launching Opens a New Window.</a> "Selfie Driving," using the tag line "Let's be honest... we're a little obsessed with you.</p>
<p>The service purports to help consumers pick the perfect car by having users take a selfie. "Proprietary selfie-analyzing technology" then evaluates how you look in the photo and finds the best car for you.</p>
<p>Of course, some of the company's target audience may not get the joke as at least some millennials could plasusibly think that an app that evaluates mood from a selfie in order to match them with a car sounds reasonable. It purports to customize car matches by offering tinted windows for users having a bad hair day, for instance, or matching customers with "super-fly" pictures with cars from its exclusive "Diddy Fleet."</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/01/heres-what-tech-companies-did-for-april-fools-2016.aspx" type="external">Here's What Tech Companies Did for April Fools' Day 2016 Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Dankline/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Daniel Kline Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. He wonders why there is not an April Fools' Day movie. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Tesla Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | april fools day pranks used mostly domain schoolage kids local radio djs continue reading recent years however number technology companies gotten fun sometimes outright effort pull classic april fools stunt tricks people believing times little silly course many companies holiday action anything announced april 1 gets met healthy dose skepticism sets high bar attract attention holiday still stop number wellknown brands trying either pull one people least make us laugh course jokes work one giant technology company learned alphabet put one unintended consequences section alphabets google quickly drop april fools prank added gmail service company added drop mic button next traditional send button email program allowed people close mail thread sending picture minion yellow guys despicable movies dropping microphone seems silly enough apparently caused backlash people received emails perhaps getting prank bbc opens new window reported looks like pranked year google said statement due bug micdrop feature inadvertently caused headaches laughs truly sorry advertisement apparently people like receiving pictures minions source minionsmoviecom tmobile 3 wireless carrier took subtle approach releasing video press release touting tweak binge service dubbed binge company played well straightish press release opens new window sounds little ridiculous joke hit home watch accompanying video shows product offered ridiculous headset telescoping arm designed hold phone ad slams wireless carriers making hold phone hands like idiot source tmobile opentable online reservation service went subtle well placing ad new service tasteovision website mock product promises users able taste photos right phone opentable taste technologyits easy tasty pie lick begin lickablephotos company clearly trying trick people licking phone offered following instructions asterisk course tells people multiple licks may needed source opentable tesla motors electriccar company went little ridiculous announcing opens new window plans new model tesla w watch thats clearly prank soon see accompanying picture automaker also took little swipe smartwatches description tesla captioned photo warning current version requires wrist strength orangutan source tesla incredible new device tesla doesnt tell time also tells date company wrote whats infinitely adjustable able tell time matter earth japan timbuktu california anywhere change life reality know never zipcar carrental brand owned avis budget group little fun millennial audience fakelaunching opens new window selfie driving using tag line lets honest little obsessed service purports help consumers pick perfect car users take selfie proprietary selfieanalyzing technology evaluates look photo finds best car course companys target audience may get joke least millennials could plasusibly think app evaluates mood selfie order match car sounds reasonable purports customize car matches offering tinted windows users bad hair day instance matching customers superfly pictures cars exclusive diddy fleet article heres tech companies april fools day 2016 opens new window originally appeared foolcom suzanne frey executive alphabet member motley fools board directors daniel kline opens new window position stocks mentioned wonders april fools day movie motley fool owns shares recommends alphabet shares alphabet c shares tesla motors try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 522 |
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<p>The tech sector is a great place to find high growth stocks, but it can be tough to narrow down the highest growth players. So for this article, I screened for tech stocks with these three qualities -- a market cap over $2 billion (since smaller companies often have unsustainable annual growth rates), over 40% projected sales growth for this year and next year, or more than 40% earnings growth during the same period. The stocks also had to be covered by over a dozen analysts for more balanced growth forecasts.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Here are the top three highest growth names that made the cut -- Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW), and Mobileye (NYSE: MBLY).</p>
<p>Pure Storage provides cloud-based storage solutions to enterprise customers. What sets it apart from other rivals is that it uses flash memory in solid state drives (SSDs) instead of traditional platter-based hard drives (HDDs). SSDs are denser, more reliable, and more power-efficient than HDDs because they don't have any moving parts. SSDs are pricier than HDDs on a per gigabyte basis, but that gap has narrowed considerably over the past decade.</p>
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<p>Demand for Pure Storage's platform, which is integrated with flash-optimized software and cloud-based management and support, has been robust. The company posted 152% sales growth in 2015and is expected to report 61% sales growth this year and 42% sales growth next year-- giving it the highest top line growth rate of the companies on this list.</p>
<p>However, Pure Storage isn't profitable on a GAAP or non-GAAP basis, and its losses widened annually byboth metrics last quarter. Investors should also note that Pure Storage has been engaged in a tough patent battle with rival EMC, and a law firm started investigating the company in May for "possible violations of federal securities laws."</p>
<p>Pure Storage's core FlashArray platform. Image source: Pure Storage.</p>
<p>Palo Alto Networks provides a next-gen firewall for 31,000 customers in over 140 countries, including more than half ofthe Fortune 100 and the Global 2000. The company's firewall is a "best in breed" platform which has been approved the U.S. Department of Defense and other major agencies worldwide. Demand for cybersecurity services has been rising, since the number of personal data breaches more than doubled last year to 178 million, according to theIdentity Theft Resource Center.</p>
<p>Palo Alto's revenue rose 55%in fiscal 2015and is expected to grow 47% this year andanother 34% next year. While those figures don't match Pure Storage's growth rates, Palo Alto excels in another area -- earnings growth. Palo Alto isn't profitable on a GAAP basis, but itsnon-GAAP earnings (which exclude stock-based compensation and other expenses) are expected to improve 93% this year and 59% next year -- giving it the best bottom line growth of the group. However, investors should still keep a close eye on its stock-based compensation, which rose76% annually last quarter and gobbled up a third of its revenue last quarter.</p>
<p>The best "all-around" grower, with steady sales and earnings growth which isn't expected to decline dramatically from year to year, is Mobileye. Mobileye makes ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and automotive chips for about 90% of the leading automakers in the world. Its core strategy is to sync cheaper existing technologies, like cameras and radars, to steering and braking systems to help cars "see" and avoid obstacles. Newer systems also enable cars to stay in a single lane for a semi-autonomous driving experience.</p>
<p>Rising demand for these systems helped Mobileye post 68% salesgrowth last year. Analysts expect that growth to continue with 44% growth this year and 43% growth next year. Mobileye is profitable by both GAAP and non-GAAP measures, but analysts generally refer to its non-GAAP earnings in their growth forecasts. On that basis, Mobileye is expected to post 48% earnings growth this year and 49% growth next year -- making it one of the few high-growth players with accelerating earnings growth.</p>
<p>But looking ahead, investors should note that Mobileye faces <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/05/nvidia-corporations-biggest-win-in-2016-so-far.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">rising competition Opens a New Window.</a> from Nvidia, and Tesla's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/29/mobileye-crashes-after-losing-tesla-motors-busines.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">recent decision Opens a New Window.</a> to stop using Mobileye chips could impact its reputation among other premium automakers.</p>
<p>Pure Storage, Palo Alto, and Mobileye are all growing at impressive rates, but their valuations are also very high. Pure Storage trades at 5 times sales, while EMC has a P/S ratio of 2. Palo Alto trades at 9 times sales, which is higher than many of its cybersecurity rivals, and Mobileye trades at a whopping 34 times sales and 119 times earnings.</p>
<p>Those high multiples indicate that all three stocks are risky plays which could plummet if they fail to beat analyst expectations. Therefore, investors shouldn't simply chase these stocks for their robust growth. Instead, they should do their due diligence to see if their growth trajectories justify their higher price tags.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia and Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | tech sector great place find high growth stocks tough narrow highest growth players article screened tech stocks three qualities market cap 2 billion since smaller companies often unsustainable annual growth rates 40 projected sales growth year next year 40 earnings growth period stocks also covered dozen analysts balanced growth forecasts continue reading image source getty images top three highest growth names made cut pure storage nyse pstg palo alto networks nyse panw mobileye nyse mbly pure storage provides cloudbased storage solutions enterprise customers sets apart rivals uses flash memory solid state drives ssds instead traditional platterbased hard drives hdds ssds denser reliable powerefficient hdds dont moving parts ssds pricier hdds per gigabyte basis gap narrowed considerably past decade advertisement demand pure storages platform integrated flashoptimized software cloudbased management support robust company posted 152 sales growth 2015and expected report 61 sales growth year 42 sales growth next year giving highest top line growth rate companies list however pure storage isnt profitable gaap nongaap basis losses widened annually byboth metrics last quarter investors also note pure storage engaged tough patent battle rival emc law firm started investigating company may possible violations federal securities laws pure storages core flasharray platform image source pure storage palo alto networks provides nextgen firewall 31000 customers 140 countries including half ofthe fortune 100 global 2000 companys firewall best breed platform approved us department defense major agencies worldwide demand cybersecurity services rising since number personal data breaches doubled last year 178 million according theidentity theft resource center palo altos revenue rose 55in fiscal 2015and expected grow 47 year andanother 34 next year figures dont match pure storages growth rates palo alto excels another area earnings growth palo alto isnt profitable gaap basis itsnongaap earnings exclude stockbased compensation expenses expected improve 93 year 59 next year giving best bottom line growth group however investors still keep close eye stockbased compensation rose76 annually last quarter gobbled third revenue last quarter best allaround grower steady sales earnings growth isnt expected decline dramatically year year mobileye mobileye makes adas advanced driver assistance systems automotive chips 90 leading automakers world core strategy sync cheaper existing technologies like cameras radars steering braking systems help cars see avoid obstacles newer systems also enable cars stay single lane semiautonomous driving experience rising demand systems helped mobileye post 68 salesgrowth last year analysts expect growth continue 44 growth year 43 growth next year mobileye profitable gaap nongaap measures analysts generally refer nongaap earnings growth forecasts basis mobileye expected post 48 earnings growth year 49 growth next year making one highgrowth players accelerating earnings growth looking ahead investors note mobileye faces rising competition opens new window nvidia teslas recent decision opens new window stop using mobileye chips could impact reputation among premium automakers pure storage palo alto mobileye growing impressive rates valuations also high pure storage trades 5 times sales emc ps ratio 2 palo alto trades 9 times sales higher many cybersecurity rivals mobileye trades whopping 34 times sales 119 times earnings high multiples indicate three stocks risky plays could plummet fail beat analyst expectations therefore investors shouldnt simply chase stocks robust growth instead due diligence see growth trajectories justify higher price tags secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window leo sun opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends nvidia tesla motors motley fool recommends palo alto networks try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 624 |
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<p>Image source: National Cancer Institute.</p>
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<p>In case you missed the memo, we've officially headed into the thick of earnings season. One of the most highly anticipated reports in the biotech sector is expected to come from biotech blue-chip Celgene , one of the fastest growing drug giants.</p>
<p>Four ways Celgene can impress in Q1 Slated to report its quarterly results on Thursday, April 28, Celgene is expected to deliver $2.58 billion in sales, a 24% increase from Q1 2015, and $1.28 in EPS, a 20% increase from the $1.07 it reported in the prior-year period. Typically known for leaving Wall Street's estimates in the dust, Celgene's sequential fourth-quarter report wound up delivering a rare earnings miss. This means Celgene's Q1 report in the coming days could truly be a bit of a wild card.</p>
<p>However, there are a handful of ways Celgene's report could please investors (beyond a simple sales and/or EPS beat). Here are four that I feel are standouts.</p>
<p>1. U.S. Abraxane sales reaccelerateArguably one of the easiest ways for Celgene to get a boost from investors is by growing sales of cancer drug Abraxane in the United States. Abraxane is a cancer drug approved to treat advanced forms of breast, lung, and pancreatic cancer.</p>
<p>Image source: Celgene.</p>
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<p>In spite of years of consistent growth, Abraxane ran into something of a brick wall in 2015 as cancer immunotherapies began to challenge it on its home turf. Cancer immunotherapies are the latest craze in cancer treatment, and they involve supercharging a patient's immune system to more accurately locate and destroy cancer cells. Both Merck'sKeytruda and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo are approved as second-line treatments for non-small cell lung cancer, but it's not out of the question that first-line clinical studies, or off-label use, is occurring and challenging Abraxane's U.S. sales in first-line advanced NSCLC.</p>
<p>Abraxane sales grew by 4.7% for both the three- and 12-month periods in 2015. If Celgene can reaccelerate Abraxane's domestic growth to 6% or higher in Q1, I'd consider it a major victory.</p>
<p>2. Revlimid maintains its market share and grows by 18% year-over-yearIf you thought multiple myeloma standard-of-care Revlimid was going to be on this list, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. Revlimid accounted for 63% of Celgene's $9.16 billion in net products sales in 2015, and it is one of the primary reasons why Celgene is nearly a megacap company today.</p>
<p>Image source: Celgene.</p>
<p>Another way Celgene could impress shareholders in its upcoming Q1 report is by signifying that Revlimid isn't feeling any market share pressure in the highly competitive second-line indications for multiple myeloma. Revlimid continues to dominate as a first-line therapy, but it's been facing growing competition in second-line.</p>
<p>Additionally, while practically everyone is expecting double-digit percentage growth from Revlimid on a year-over-year basis (on account of more multiple myeloma diagnoses and price increases for the drug), Revlimid could really provide Celgene a boost if it can match its Q4 worldwide growth of 18%. Some analysts have chastised Celgene's valuation on account of Revlimid's "slowing growth," so matching its Q4 2015 Revlimid growth rate of 18% would go a long way to silencing those dissenters.</p>
<p>3. Celgene ups its full-year guidance &amp; reaffirms its 2020 forecastProbably the easiest way for Celgene to impress investors come April 28 is going to be for the company to raise its full-year guidance and stick to its long-term forecast.</p>
<p>Image source: StockMonkeys.com via Flickr.</p>
<p>In late January, Celgene guided to between $10.5 billion and $11 billion in net product sales (a 17% increase at the midpoint), and adjusted EPS of $5.50 to $5.70 per share for full-year 2016. Celgene has a history of upping its guidance throughout the year, but it's also been freely spending its operating cash flow on collaborations, licensing deals, and acquisitions of late. It's unclear at this point if these added expenses will allow Celgene to outperform its own full-year guidance in 2016.</p>
<p>Additionally, in early January, and during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Celgene affirmed its 2020 guidance. It's quite rare that a biotech stock will guide Wall Street and investors five years into the future, but that's Celgene for you! The company expects revenue will exceed $21 billion by 2020 (that's essentially double what it's expecting this year), and anticipates adjusted EPS will exceed $13, or more than double what it's expected to report in 2016. If Celgene can up its 2016 guidance and once again reaffirm its long-term outlook, investors would probably be very happy.</p>
<p>4. Celgene repurchases $750M+ in common stock Perhaps the most under-the-radar way Celgene can impress investors is by announcing that it repurchased a lot of its own stock during the first-quarter swoon in biotech valuations.</p>
<p>Image source: Pictures of Money via Flickr.</p>
<p>In June 2015, Celgene announced that its board had authorized an additional $4 billion worth of share repurchases, which is on top of the remaining $1.2 billion it had left from a prior authorization at the time. Celgene doesn't pay a dividend to its shareholders, so share buybacks are it when it comes to shareholder yield. Between 2009 and mid-2015 Celgene had repurchased more than $12 billion of its common stock, so around $2 billion per year is about the norm. The only real question is whether or not Celgene took the opportunity to step up its purchases during Q1.</p>
<p>While a wholly arbitrary number on my part, I'd suggest that if Celgene repurchased at least $750 million worth of common stock in Q1, it could get a lift from investors. Remember, common stock purchases reduce the number of shares outstanding and can make a company's stock look more attractive vis--vis higher EPS.</p>
<p>April 28 is coming quickly, so make sure you have this important date circled on your calendar.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/25/4-ways-celgene-can-impress-investors-with-its-q1-r.aspx" type="external">4 Ways Celgene Can Impress Investors With Its Q1 Report Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, track every pick he makes under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/trackultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TrackUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Celgene. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source national cancer institute continue reading case missed memo weve officially headed thick earnings season one highly anticipated reports biotech sector expected come biotech bluechip celgene one fastest growing drug giants four ways celgene impress q1 slated report quarterly results thursday april 28 celgene expected deliver 258 billion sales 24 increase q1 2015 128 eps 20 increase 107 reported prioryear period typically known leaving wall streets estimates dust celgenes sequential fourthquarter report wound delivering rare earnings miss means celgenes q1 report coming days could truly bit wild card however handful ways celgenes report could please investors beyond simple sales andor eps beat four feel standouts 1 us abraxane sales reacceleratearguably one easiest ways celgene get boost investors growing sales cancer drug abraxane united states abraxane cancer drug approved treat advanced forms breast lung pancreatic cancer image source celgene advertisement spite years consistent growth abraxane ran something brick wall 2015 cancer immunotherapies began challenge home turf cancer immunotherapies latest craze cancer treatment involve supercharging patients immune system accurately locate destroy cancer cells merckskeytruda bristolmyers squibbs opdivo approved secondline treatments nonsmall cell lung cancer question firstline clinical studies offlabel use occurring challenging abraxanes us sales firstline advanced nsclc abraxane sales grew 47 three 12month periods 2015 celgene reaccelerate abraxanes domestic growth 6 higher q1 id consider major victory 2 revlimid maintains market share grows 18 yearoveryearif thought multiple myeloma standardofcare revlimid going list go ahead give pat back revlimid accounted 63 celgenes 916 billion net products sales 2015 one primary reasons celgene nearly megacap company today image source celgene another way celgene could impress shareholders upcoming q1 report signifying revlimid isnt feeling market share pressure highly competitive secondline indications multiple myeloma revlimid continues dominate firstline therapy facing growing competition secondline additionally practically everyone expecting doubledigit percentage growth revlimid yearoveryear basis account multiple myeloma diagnoses price increases drug revlimid could really provide celgene boost match q4 worldwide growth 18 analysts chastised celgenes valuation account revlimids slowing growth matching q4 2015 revlimid growth rate 18 would go long way silencing dissenters 3 celgene ups fullyear guidance amp reaffirms 2020 forecastprobably easiest way celgene impress investors come april 28 going company raise fullyear guidance stick longterm forecast image source stockmonkeyscom via flickr late january celgene guided 105 billion 11 billion net product sales 17 increase midpoint adjusted eps 550 570 per share fullyear 2016 celgene history upping guidance throughout year also freely spending operating cash flow collaborations licensing deals acquisitions late unclear point added expenses allow celgene outperform fullyear guidance 2016 additionally early january jp morgan healthcare conference celgene affirmed 2020 guidance quite rare biotech stock guide wall street investors five years future thats celgene company expects revenue exceed 21 billion 2020 thats essentially double expecting year anticipates adjusted eps exceed 13 double expected report 2016 celgene 2016 guidance reaffirm longterm outlook investors would probably happy 4 celgene repurchases 750m common stock perhaps undertheradar way celgene impress investors announcing repurchased lot stock firstquarter swoon biotech valuations image source pictures money via flickr june 2015 celgene announced board authorized additional 4 billion worth share repurchases top remaining 12 billion left prior authorization time celgene doesnt pay dividend shareholders share buybacks comes shareholder yield 2009 mid2015 celgene repurchased 12 billion common stock around 2 billion per year norm real question whether celgene took opportunity step purchases q1 wholly arbitrary number part id suggest celgene repurchased least 750 million worth common stock q1 could get lift investors remember common stock purchases reduce number shares outstanding make companys stock look attractive visvis higher eps april 28 coming quickly make sure important date circled calendar article 4 ways celgene impress investors q1 report opens new window originally appeared foolcom sean williams opens new windowhas material interest companies mentioned article follow caps screen name tmfultralong opens new window track every pick makes screen name trackultralong opens new window check twitter goes handle tmfultralong opens new windowthe motley fool owns shares recommends celgene try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 700 |
<p />
<p>Republicans and Democrats rushed to rework rival deficit reduction plans Wednesday, but with the fate of both proposals heavily in doubt top lawmakers pursued a behind-the-scenes compromise to avert a crippling U.S. default.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With the deadline less than a week away, global stock markets fell sharply on growing fears that the two sides will fail to break the deadlock. That would mean the United States would not be able to borrow more money after Aug. 2 and could run out of cash to pay all of its bills.</p>
<p>Even if a deal is reached to raise the $14.3 trillion U.S. debt ceiling, a budget plan that flinches from hefty cuts in the deficit may result in a downgrade of America's top-notch credit rating, which could sow financial chaos worldwide.</p>
<p>Congressional leaders scrambled to find common ground, but complications surrounding their competing proposals could mean efforts to forge a compromise will go right down to the wire.</p>
<p>The prospect of a quick resolution suffered another blow when a vote on a deficit reduction plan offered by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, was pushed back to Thursday from Wednesday amid opposition by fellow Republicans as well as Democrats.</p>
<p>A separate plan crafted by Senate Majority Leader <a href="" type="internal">Harry Reid</a>, a Democrat, also faced a setback Wednesday when the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposal would cut $2.2 trillion from deficits, about $500 billion less than Democrats had claimed.</p>
<p>Republicans control the House and President Barack Obama's Democrats control the Senate.</p>
<p>Boehner rushed to revise his proposal after a separate CBO analysis found it would cut spending by $350 billion less than the $1.2 trillion over 10 years he had claimed.</p>
<p>Amid the political brinkmanship, congressional leaders including Boehner, Reid and Senate Republican leader <a href="" type="internal">Mitch McConnell</a> were holding conversations on how to break the impasse, aides said. But weeks of acrimonious dealings may make it hard to narrow the partisan differences.</p>
<p>In an interview on MSNBC, <a href="" type="internal">Steny Hoyer</a>, the No. 2 House Democrat, promoted Reid's proposal as a solution to the deadlock, saying it reflects what Boehner wants -- ``no new revenues, no new taxes, cuts equal to the extension of the debt limit.'' But Republicans have deep misgivings about it.</p>
<p>POTENTIAL FOR COMPROMISE</p>
<p>Signalling a potential for compromise, Reid said when asked if the two plans were the only options: ``We can change any one of them very easily.'' But Reid said every Democratic senator would vote against the current Boehner proposal if it is passed by the House and goes to the Senate.</p>
<p>The gridlock dragged global stocks down on Wednesday, particularly in Europe. Major U.S. exchanges slipped by 1 percent or more on nervousness over unfavorable company news and the faltering debt talks in Washington.</p>
<p>Worried investors shifted funds into traditional safe havens gold and the Swiss franc, which both rose to record highs in dollar terms.</p>
<p>The cost of insuring against a U.S. debt default in the next year increased to a record high.</p>
<p>Still, there have been no signs of panic in markets because most investors expect a deal to be struck by the deadline.</p>
<p>``The market is expecting both sides to take it to the edge, to push it as long as possible given the politics and given the cost to any side which backs down and loses one of its core interests too early on,'' said Stephen Green, head of research for Greater <a href="" type="internal">China</a> at Standard Chartered Bank.</p>
<p>However, the bank's Chinese clients take a more pessimistic view on America's longer-term fiscal health, Green said.</p>
<p>``Many of them look at the politics in the U.S. and see that it's so dysfunctional that they're losing hope that the U.S. can actually get its fiscal house in order,'' he told Reuters.</p>
<p>JAPAN, FRANCE WORRIED</p>
<p>Failure to reach a deal would have major implications. A Japan central bank policymaker said a U.S. default or a ratings downgrade would be felt well beyond the United States.</p>
<p>``As the world's biggest economy, the U.S. would have an immeasurable impact on global financial markets and Japan would not escape the damage,'' said Hidetoshi Kamezaki, a board member of the <a href="" type="internal">Bank of Japan</a>.</p>
<p>After weeks of debate, the contours of a possible deal have emerged but Republicans and Democrats are digging their heels in on some key demands and blaming each other for putting politics ahead of the national interest.</p>
<p>Obama, who is seeking re-election in the November 2012 U.S. elections, has threatened to veto the Boehner plan if it wins congressional passage.</p>
<p>Boehner's plan has also failed to win the backing of Republicans aligned with the conservative <a href="" type="internal">Tea Party</a> movement. They have refused to back tax hikes and want deeper cuts to social programs traditionally protected by Democrats.</p>
<p>The three big credit rating agencies have warned that the United States needs to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan to keep its top AAA rating in the long term. Only S&amp;P has said it will downgrade the United States in the next three months if a credible plan is not agreed upon soon.</p>
<p>Obama and Treasury Secretary <a href="" type="internal">Timothy Geithner</a> have stressed the government will run out of room to borrow funds on Aug. 2, which is next Tuesday.</p>
<p>Treasury officials have never said when the government will exhaust its funds to pay the nation's bills and the consensus among <a href="" type="internal">Wall Street</a> analysts is that the cash will not run out until about two weeks later than that.</p>
<p>(Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Will Dunham)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | true | 0 | republicans democrats rushed rework rival deficit reduction plans wednesday fate proposals heavily doubt top lawmakers pursued behindthescenes compromise avert crippling us default continue reading deadline less week away global stock markets fell sharply growing fears two sides fail break deadlock would mean united states would able borrow money aug 2 could run cash pay bills even deal reached raise 143 trillion us debt ceiling budget plan flinches hefty cuts deficit may result downgrade americas topnotch credit rating could sow financial chaos worldwide congressional leaders scrambled find common ground complications surrounding competing proposals could mean efforts forge compromise go right wire prospect quick resolution suffered another blow vote deficit reduction plan offered house representatives speaker john boehner top republican congress pushed back thursday wednesday amid opposition fellow republicans well democrats separate plan crafted senate majority leader harry reid democrat also faced setback wednesday nonpartisan congressional budget office said proposal would cut 22 trillion deficits 500 billion less democrats claimed republicans control house president barack obamas democrats control senate boehner rushed revise proposal separate cbo analysis found would cut spending 350 billion less 12 trillion 10 years claimed amid political brinkmanship congressional leaders including boehner reid senate republican leader mitch mcconnell holding conversations break impasse aides said weeks acrimonious dealings may make hard narrow partisan differences interview msnbc steny hoyer 2 house democrat promoted reids proposal solution deadlock saying reflects boehner wants new revenues new taxes cuts equal extension debt limit republicans deep misgivings potential compromise signalling potential compromise reid said asked two plans options change one easily reid said every democratic senator would vote current boehner proposal passed house goes senate gridlock dragged global stocks wednesday particularly europe major us exchanges slipped 1 percent nervousness unfavorable company news faltering debt talks washington worried investors shifted funds traditional safe havens gold swiss franc rose record highs dollar terms cost insuring us debt default next year increased record high still signs panic markets investors expect deal struck deadline market expecting sides take edge push long possible given politics given cost side backs loses one core interests early said stephen green head research greater china standard chartered bank however banks chinese clients take pessimistic view americas longerterm fiscal health green said many look politics us see dysfunctional theyre losing hope us actually get fiscal house order told reuters japan france worried failure reach deal would major implications japan central bank policymaker said us default ratings downgrade would felt well beyond united states worlds biggest economy us would immeasurable impact global financial markets japan would escape damage said hidetoshi kamezaki board member bank japan weeks debate contours possible deal emerged republicans democrats digging heels key demands blaming putting politics ahead national interest obama seeking reelection november 2012 us elections threatened veto boehner plan wins congressional passage boehners plan also failed win backing republicans aligned conservative tea party movement refused back tax hikes want deeper cuts social programs traditionally protected democrats three big credit rating agencies warned united states needs come credible deficit reduction plan keep top aaa rating long term sampp said downgrade united states next three months credible plan agreed upon soon obama treasury secretary timothy geithner stressed government run room borrow funds aug 2 next tuesday treasury officials never said government exhaust funds pay nations bills consensus among wall street analysts cash run two weeks later writing matt spetalnick editing dunham advertisement | 559 |
<p />
<p>Just as Porsche and Audi have fought for supremacy on the race track, the Volkswagen brands are now locked in a cut-throat battle to develop and manufacture the next generation of electric cars at a group embroiled in the "Dieselgate" scandal.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Volkswagen Group denies that the kind of internal rivalry that it encouraged at the Le Mans 24 hour race is getting out of hand in the boardroom.</p>
<p>But senior executives told Reuters that in-house conflict, particularly between VW and its premium brands, is intensifying over which factories will develop next generation cars while the German group has to cut costs elsewhere to pay for cleaning up its emissions cheating scandal.</p>
<p>"There is a cut-throat battle for resources. Every brand with engine-manufacturing capacity now wants a leadership role when it comes to electric motors, battery packs and battery-cell expertise," an executive at one of the VW divisions, who declined to be named, said.</p>
<p>Since returning to top-line racing three years ago, Porsche has beaten Audi to the world championship for sportscars and at Le Mans for the past two seasons.</p>
<p>Porsche will again seek to defend the titles in 2017 with its ultra-sophisticated petrol hybrids. But Audi, whose hybrid racers showcased the group's troubled diesel technology, has pulled out after winning the French race 13 times.</p>
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<p>In the broader competition, Porsche also appears in the ascendant as Audi - which since the 1990s has achieved rapid sales growth to rival Mercedes-Benz and BMW - now struggles with the Dieselgate fallout and a series of negative press leaks.</p>
<p>Jobs are at stake as the group - whose brands also include Skoda, SEAT, Bugatti, Bentley and Lamborghini - moves to new technology and faces up to Dieselgate penalties and lawsuits which analysts say could cost as much as 30 billion euros ($32 billion).</p>
<p>Because electric cars are far less complex to assemble than traditional combustion engine vehicles, manufacturers may not be able to guarantee the same level of employment in future - a thorny issue in an industry dominated by a workforce with multi-year collective wage agreements.</p>
<p>Volkswagen and its unions agreed to cut 30,000 jobs at the core VW brand in exchange for a commitment to avoid forced redundancies in Germany until 2025.</p>
<p>The executives at Audi, VW and Porsche, who all declined to be named, said conflict between group brands is not new and healthy internal competition can push them to greater technical and commercial achievements.</p>
<p>However, some critics said the scramble has become more intense partly because the company last year lost a powerful central figure who controlled the balance of power between the brands, their managers and worker representatives.</p>
<p>That balance is now being redefined, pitting Volkswagen, one of the group's least profitable mass market brands, against its highly profitable siblings Porsche and Audi.</p>
<p>Volkswagen dismissed this analysis, and denied that an unhealthy power struggle was underway at all. "This is pure speculation which lacks any kind of foundation and is something which we emphatically reject," spokesman Eric Felber said.</p>
<p>Group chief executive Matthias Mueller has previously worked as Audi's head of product management and Porsche boss. But since getting the top job after the scandal erupted last year, he has yet to build the level of power once enjoyed by former chairman Ferdinand Piech, whose extended family controls the firm.</p>
<p>Piech, who spent years cultivating ties to VW's powerful labor leaders, was an engineering genius who inspired fierce loyalty from staff because of his willingness to take risks. He masterminded the Porsche 917 racer, which starred alongside Steve McQueen in the 1971 movie "Le Mans", as well as the legendary Audi Quattro rally car of the 1980s.</p>
<p>Piech also turned Audi into one of the main research and development hubs for the 12-brand group, although eventually he lost a separate power struggle, quitting as chairman last year.</p>
<p>BRAIN DRAIN</p>
<p>While the main contributor to VW group profit, Audi has lost some battles in recent years for developing vehicle components to the smaller Porsche brand, and is also competing with the VW brand to develop next generation zero-emission cars.</p>
<p>Since diesel cheating was exposed, Audi has lost two research and development chiefs and the head of its automotive electronics division who did pioneering work in the area of autonomous driving and battery technology.</p>
<p>It appointed a new development chief on Friday but Audi and its Chief Executive Rupert Stadler remain under fire for the brand's involvement in the cheating in emissions tests.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Porsche - a firm that VW swallowed up in 2012 - has emerged as a strong rival engineering center.</p>
<p>Porsche's MSB platform, used for its four-seater Panamera model, has been adopted for the next generation Bentley Continental even though Audi had developed a similar offering.</p>
<p>Porsche has also taken over production of eight-cylinder gasoline engines for large sportscars for the VW group, even though Audi has its own engine factory in Hungary.</p>
<p>"For Audi, it has always been difficult to accept if Porsche gets something. They tried to resist the Porsche platform but in the end, a business decision was made," a Porsche source said.</p>
<p>Audi is not out in the cold. It remains the centre of excellence for sports utility vehicles, a lucrative and growing market, where it supplies platforms to Porsche and other brands such as Bentley. With self-driving vehicles likely to play a major future role in the industry, Audi also develops autonomous cars for the group.</p>
<p>On the race track, Audi will compete in the Formula E electric-car championship.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, analysts say VW must not neglect it in allocating resources. "Some successful divisions like Audi need to be nurtured," said Juergen Pieper at Metzler Bank.</p>
<p>JOBS AND BEER</p>
<p>A separate internal race has begun to become an engineering hub for electric vehicles, a field which includes research and development of battery cells, battery packs and electric motors, in the hope of preserving local jobs. Porsche has developed the J1 electric cars platform, creating 1,000 jobs at its plant outside the southwestern city of Stuttgart, while the Volkswagen brand made its own MEB platform for conventional passenger cars in Lower Saxony, and pledged to create 9,000 jobs in developing autonomous and electric vehicles.</p>
<p>The Volkswagen brand will spend 2.5 billon euros to develop electric cars, the company said.</p>
<p>Audi is working on its own electric car at its Bavarian base but it is unclear whether it will develop its own electric car platform now that the Volkswagen brand is to establish itself as a centre for battery cells, battery packs and electric motors.</p>
<p>Some senior executives say the fierce competition between brands is nothing unusual. But others point to press reports that appeared during the final days of VW's future pact negotiations as an example of a more abrasive power struggle, although the source of the leaks remains unclear.</p>
<p>In July, German paper Bild am Sonntag reported that internal auditors had ordered Stadler to repay 12,500 euros in expenses spent on a beer-drinking contest.</p>
<p>Then on Nov. 6 it said California's Air Resources Board had discovered a new software-cheating device in Audi cars. The report appeared as Audi tried to secure a final deal with U.S. regulators on compensating owners of cars with Audi-built motors.</p>
<p>On Nov. 11, Der Spiegel weekly said VW supervisory board members were discussing possible successors for Stadler, but a senior source dismissed this. "There is no reason why Rupert Stadler cannot continue as Audi's chief executive," he said.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Irene Preisinger, Ilona Wissenbach, Andreas Cremer and David Shepardson; editing by David Stamp)</p> | true | 0 | porsche audi fought supremacy race track volkswagen brands locked cutthroat battle develop manufacture next generation electric cars group embroiled dieselgate scandal continue reading volkswagen group denies kind internal rivalry encouraged le mans 24 hour race getting hand boardroom senior executives told reuters inhouse conflict particularly vw premium brands intensifying factories develop next generation cars german group cut costs elsewhere pay cleaning emissions cheating scandal cutthroat battle resources every brand enginemanufacturing capacity wants leadership role comes electric motors battery packs batterycell expertise executive one vw divisions declined named said since returning topline racing three years ago porsche beaten audi world championship sportscars le mans past two seasons porsche seek defend titles 2017 ultrasophisticated petrol hybrids audi whose hybrid racers showcased groups troubled diesel technology pulled winning french race 13 times advertisement broader competition porsche also appears ascendant audi since 1990s achieved rapid sales growth rival mercedesbenz bmw struggles dieselgate fallout series negative press leaks jobs stake group whose brands also include skoda seat bugatti bentley lamborghini moves new technology faces dieselgate penalties lawsuits analysts say could cost much 30 billion euros 32 billion electric cars far less complex assemble traditional combustion engine vehicles manufacturers may able guarantee level employment future thorny issue industry dominated workforce multiyear collective wage agreements volkswagen unions agreed cut 30000 jobs core vw brand exchange commitment avoid forced redundancies germany 2025 executives audi vw porsche declined named said conflict group brands new healthy internal competition push greater technical commercial achievements however critics said scramble become intense partly company last year lost powerful central figure controlled balance power brands managers worker representatives balance redefined pitting volkswagen one groups least profitable mass market brands highly profitable siblings porsche audi volkswagen dismissed analysis denied unhealthy power struggle underway pure speculation lacks kind foundation something emphatically reject spokesman eric felber said group chief executive matthias mueller previously worked audis head product management porsche boss since getting top job scandal erupted last year yet build level power enjoyed former chairman ferdinand piech whose extended family controls firm piech spent years cultivating ties vws powerful labor leaders engineering genius inspired fierce loyalty staff willingness take risks masterminded porsche 917 racer starred alongside steve mcqueen 1971 movie le mans well legendary audi quattro rally car 1980s piech also turned audi one main research development hubs 12brand group although eventually lost separate power struggle quitting chairman last year brain drain main contributor vw group profit audi lost battles recent years developing vehicle components smaller porsche brand also competing vw brand develop next generation zeroemission cars since diesel cheating exposed audi lost two research development chiefs head automotive electronics division pioneering work area autonomous driving battery technology appointed new development chief friday audi chief executive rupert stadler remain fire brands involvement cheating emissions tests meanwhile porsche firm vw swallowed 2012 emerged strong rival engineering center porsches msb platform used fourseater panamera model adopted next generation bentley continental even though audi developed similar offering porsche also taken production eightcylinder gasoline engines large sportscars vw group even though audi engine factory hungary audi always difficult accept porsche gets something tried resist porsche platform end business decision made porsche source said audi cold remains centre excellence sports utility vehicles lucrative growing market supplies platforms porsche brands bentley selfdriving vehicles likely play major future role industry audi also develops autonomous cars group race track audi compete formula e electriccar championship nevertheless analysts say vw must neglect allocating resources successful divisions like audi need nurtured said juergen pieper metzler bank jobs beer separate internal race begun become engineering hub electric vehicles field includes research development battery cells battery packs electric motors hope preserving local jobs porsche developed j1 electric cars platform creating 1000 jobs plant outside southwestern city stuttgart volkswagen brand made meb platform conventional passenger cars lower saxony pledged create 9000 jobs developing autonomous electric vehicles volkswagen brand spend 25 billon euros develop electric cars company said audi working electric car bavarian base unclear whether develop electric car platform volkswagen brand establish centre battery cells battery packs electric motors senior executives say fierce competition brands nothing unusual others point press reports appeared final days vws future pact negotiations example abrasive power struggle although source leaks remains unclear july german paper bild sonntag reported internal auditors ordered stadler repay 12500 euros expenses spent beerdrinking contest nov 6 said californias air resources board discovered new softwarecheating device audi cars report appeared audi tried secure final deal us regulators compensating owners cars audibuilt motors nov 11 der spiegel weekly said vw supervisory board members discussing possible successors stadler senior source dismissed reason rupert stadler continue audis chief executive said additional reporting irene preisinger ilona wissenbach andreas cremer david shepardson editing david stamp | 779 |
<p>Source: USDA</p>
<p>==TOTAL STATES==</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Pct from Pct from Pct from Pct from</p>
<p>Month On Feed Yr Ago : Placed Yr Ago : MarketedYr Ago : DisappYr Ago</p>
<p>-2017-</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,813 105 : NA NA : NA NA : NA NA</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,504 104 : 2,150 113 : 1,783 103 : 58 138</p>
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<p>Aug 1 10,604 104 : 1,928 103 : 1,979 106 : 49 120</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,821 100 : 1,615 103 : 1,784 104 : 48 96</p>
<p>Jun 1 11,096 103 : 1,770 116 : 1,989 104 : 56 92</p>
<p>May 1 10,998 102 : 2,119 112 : 1,951 109 : 70 95</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,919 101 : 1,848 111 : 1,703 103 : 66 87</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,782 100 : 2,117 112 : 1,914 110 : 56 90</p>
<p>Feb 1 10,782 101 : 1,694 99 : 1,648 104 : 56 97</p>
<p>Jan 1 10,605 100 : 1,981 111 : 1,751 110 : 53 95</p>
<p>-2016-</p>
<p>Dec 1 10,652 99 : 1,785 117 : 1,777 106 : 55 71</p>
<p>Nov 1 10,665 99 : 1,843 115 : 1,787 117 : 69 93</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,256 100 : 2,171 95 : 1,705 105 : 57 76</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,135 101 : 1,895 98 : 1,732 105 : 42 74</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,165 102 : 1,879 115 : 1,868 118 : 41 68</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,804 106 : 1,572 102 : 1,713 99 : 50 89</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,804 102 : 1,525 103 : 1,912 109 : 61 88</p>
<p>May 1 10,783 101 : 1,889 110 : 1,794 105 : 74 96</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,853 101 : 1,664 107 : 1,658 101 : 76 115</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,770 101 : 1,892 105 : 1,747 107 : 62 90</p>
<p>Feb 1 10,709 100 : 1,710 110 : 1,591 105 : 58 97</p>
<p>Jan 1 10,575 100 : 1,779 99 : 1,589 98 : 56 73</p>
<p>-2015-</p>
<p>Dec 1 10,800 99 : 1,527 99 : 1,674 101 : 78 108</p>
<p>Nov 1 10,799 102 : 1,607 90 : 1,532 104 : 74 100</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,218 102 : 2,286 97 : 1,630 97 : 75 77</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,986 102 : 1,931 96 : 1,642 98 : 57 88</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,002 102 : 1,632 95 : 1,588 94 : 60 91</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,236 101 : 1,547 99 : 1,725 97 : 56 89</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,571 100 : 1,481 102 : 1,747 95 : 69 92</p>
<p>May 1 10,640 100 : 1,719 90 : 1,711 92 : 77 76</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,797 99 : 1,548 95 : 1,639 92 : 66 80</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,688 99 : 1,809 100 : 1,631 98 : 69 106</p>
<p>Feb 1 10,713 101 : 1,551 94 : 1,516 98 : 60 85</p>
<p>Jan 1 10,626 100 : 1,789 88 : 1,625 91 : 77 108</p>
<p>-2014-</p>
<p>Dec 1 10,873 101 : 1,537 92 : 1,655 95 : 72 94</p>
<p>Nov 1 10,633 100 : 1,789 95 : 1,475 88 : 74 101</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,058 99 : 2,357 99 : 1,685 91 : 97 128</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,799 99 : 2,007 99 : 1,683 99 : 65 105</p>
<p>Aug 1 9,837 98 : 1,720 96 : 1,692 90 : 66 120</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,127 98 : 1,560 91 : 1,787 89 : 63 98</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,594 98 : 1,455 92 : 1,847 97 : 75 119</p>
<p>May 1 10,648 99 : 1,912 93 : 1,865 96 : 101 101</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,873 100 : 1,636 95 : 1,778 98 : 83 120</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,790 99 : 1,808 96 : 1,660 96 : 65 80</p>
<p>Feb 1 10,590 96 : 1,650 111 : 1,549 95 : 71 118</p>
<p>Jan 1 10,590 95 : 2,029 108 : 1,788 93 : 71 90</p>
<p>-2013-</p>
<p>Dec 1 10,725 95 : 1,679 101 : 1,736 99 : 77 104</p>
<p>Nov 1 10,597 94 : 1,882 97 : 1,681 95 : 73 83</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,144 92 : 2,388 110 : 1,859 101 : 76 97</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,876 93 : 2,025 101 : 1,695 106 : 62 97</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,026 94 : 1,788 89 : 1,883 96 : 55 90</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,368 97 : 1,722 90 : 2,000 105 : 64 102</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,767 97 : 1,587 95 : 1,895 96 : 63 95</p>
<p>May 1 10,760 97 : 2,055 99 : 1,948 97 : 100 100</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,924 95 : 1,720 113 : 1,815 100 : 69 88</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,845 93 : 1,884 105 : 1,724 90 : 81 117</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,073 94 : 1,482 86 : 1,638 93 : 60 65</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,193 94 : 1,876 102 : 1,917 106 : 79 98</p>
<p>-2012-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,348 94 : 1,664 99 : 1,745 98 : 74 81</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,254 94 : 1,943 95 : 1,761 99 : 88 86</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,989 97 : 2,180 87 : 1,837 102 : 78 80</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,647 99 : 2,004 81 : 1,598 88 : 64 86</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,656 101 : 2,007 89 : 1,955 96 : 61 85</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,710 103 : 1,922 90 : 1,913 100 : 63 78</p>
<p>Jun 1 11,077 101 : 1,664 98 : 1,965 93 : 66 90</p>
<p>May 1 11,110 99 : 2,084 115 : 2,017 101 : 100 125</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,482 102 : 1,521 85 : 1,815 100 : 78 132</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,677 102 : 1,792 94 : 1,918 96 : 69 133</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,811 102 : 1,714 103 : 1,755 98 : 93 155</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,861 103 : 1,847 97 : 1,816 102 : 81 145</p>
<p>-2011-</p>
<p>Dec 1 12,065 104 : 1,673 94 : 1,776 97 : 91 140</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,914 104 : 2,035 104 : 1,782 101 : 102 165</p>
<p>Oct 1 11,312 105 : 2,496 100 : 1,796 104 : 98 158</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,730 105 : 2,469 100 : 1,813 101 : 74 137</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,589 107 : 2,259 100 : 2,046 106 : 72 153</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,448 104 : 2,133 122 : 1,911 100 : 81 169</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,928 104 : 1,695 104 : 2,102 105 : 73 133</p>
<p>May 1 11,200 107 : 1,810 90 : 2,002 107 : 80 78</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,271 105 : 1,795 110 : 1,807 97 : 59 63</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,399 105 : 1,914 103 : 1,990 105 : 52 87</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,583 105 : 1,667 100 : 1,791 104 : 60 88</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,514 105 : 1,899 104 : 1,774 100 : 56 80</p>
<p>-2010-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,614 103 : 1,789 116 : 1,830 105 : 65 90</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,487 103 : 1,958 106 : 1,769 108 : 62 94</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,779 103 : 2,504 101 : 1,734 99 : 62 105</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,173 103 : 2,462 103 : 1,802 103 : 54 115</p>
<p>Aug 1 9,873 102 : 2,270 107 : 1,923 106 : 47 84</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,070 103 : 1,754 94 : 1,903 98 : 48 112</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,494 101 : 1,628 117 : 1,997 100 : 55 96</p>
<p>May 1 10,443 96 : 2,022 123 : 1,869 96 : 102 101</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,767 96 : 1,627 102 : 1,857 99 : 94 136</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,874 97 : 1,856 103 : 1,903 104 : 60 120</p>
<p>Feb 1 10,984 97 : 1,674 100 : 1,716 102 : 68 121</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,008 98 : 1,822 98 : 1,776 102 : 70 104</p>
<p>-2009-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,277 103 : 1,546 94 : 1,743 104 : 72 95</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,134 101 : 1,844 91 : 1,635 104 : 66 99</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,474 101 : 2,474 101 : 1,755 97 : 59 88</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,879 99 : 2,388 105 : 1,746 96 : 47 92</p>
<p>Aug 1 9,637 98 : 2,113 103 : 1,815 96 : 56 114</p>
<p>Jul 1 9,752 95 : 1,863 112 : 1,935 95 : 43 96</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,407 96 : 1,391 92 : 1,989 101 : 57 95</p>
<p>May 1 10,822 97 : 1,638 86 : 1,952 91 : 101 126</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,162 96 : 1,600 104 : 1,871 93 : 69 92</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,228 95 : 1,808 104 : 1,824 99 : 50 79</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,288 94 : 1,678 97 : 1,682 95 : 56 93</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,234 93 : 1,858 104 : 1,737 93 : 67 112</p>
<p>-2008-</p>
<p>Dec 1 10,972 91 : 1,647 97 : 1,683 102 : 76 131</p>
<p>Nov 1 10,972 93 : 2,016 94 : 1,575 91 : 67 118</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,415 95 : 2,438 90 : 1,814 97 : 67 143</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,997 97 : 2,281 94 : 1,812 107 : 51 94</p>
<p>Aug 1 9,869 96 : 2,061 97 : 1,884 91 : 49 98</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,295 96 : 1,666 103 : 2,047 102 : 45 74</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,815 96 : 1,518 92 : 1,978 92 : 60 115</p>
<p>May 1 11,135 99 : 1,900 88 : 2,140 103 : 80 81</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,684 100 : 1,536 98 : 2,010 110 : 75 76</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,853 102 : 1,736 89 : 1,842 100 : 63 88</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,966 102 : 1,723 104 : 1,776 104 : 60 80</p>
<p>Jan 1 12,097 101 : 1,787 106 : 1,858 101 : 60 62</p>
<p>-2007-</p>
<p>Dec 1 12,099 101 : 1,701 99 : 1,645 101 : 58 66</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,760 98 : 2,134 113 : 1,738 97 : 57 69</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,967 96 : 2,716 112 : 1,876 106 : 47 58</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,302 94 : 2,420 109 : 1,701 97 : 54 79</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,299 95 : 2,119 92 : 2,066 100 : 50 85</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,737 99 : 1,622 83 : 1,999 102 : 61 105</p>
<p>Jun 1 11,272 98 : 1,657 85 : 2,140 97 : 52 83</p>
<p>May 1 11,297 98 : 2,159 113 : 2,085 96 : 99 86</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,644 99 : 1,573 97 : 1,821 101 : 99 114</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,599 96 : 1,960 107 : 1,843 94 : 72 80</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,726 97 : 1,659 104 : 1,711 106 : 75 103</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,974 101 : 1,690 77 : 1,841 102 : 97 117</p>
<p>-2006-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,973 102 : 1,714 91 : 1,625 95 : 88 97</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,969 104 : 1,884 92 : 1,797 106 : 83 91</p>
<p>Oct 1 11,385 109 : 2,430 87 : 1,765 101 : 81 140</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,986 110 : 2,227 95 : 1,760 97 : 68 119</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,822 107 : 2,295 115 : 2,072 102 : 59 111</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,872 105 : 1,963 117 : 1,955 102 : 58 97</p>
<p>Jun 1 11,559 107 : 1,946 110 : 2,198 106 : 63 100</p>
<p>May 1 11,559 109 : 1,913 86 : 2,170 109 : 115 120</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,812 109 : 1,629 98 : 1,798 100 : 87 97</p>
<p>Mar 1 12,023 108 : 1,837 105 : 1,958 100 : 90 130</p>
<p>Feb 1 12,110 107 : 1,598 105 : 1,612 99 : 73 100</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,804 104 : 2,199 117 : 1,810 102 : 83 112</p>
<p>-2005-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,726 103 : 1,884 103 : 1,715 97 : 91 99</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,473 101 : 2,045 117 : 1,701 104 : 91 84</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,482 100 : 2,788 103 : 1,739 96 : 58 88</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,000 100 : 2,355 99 : 1,816 101 : 57 93</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,092 102 : 1,993 95 : 2,032 106 : 53 95</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,392 103 : 1,678 98 : 1,918 100 : 60 103</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,769 101 : 1,769 107 : 2,083 100 : 63 90</p>
<p>May 1 10,639 103 : 2,223 94 : 1,997 99 : 96 122</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,870 101 : 1,660 104 : 1,801 95 : 90 93</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,152 102 : 1,750 97 : 1,963 100 : 69 103</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,339 102 : 1,523 94 : 1,634 96 : 73 106</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,299 100 : 1,885 107 : 1,771 100 : 74 79</p>
<p>-2004-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,334 100 : 1,834 105 : 1,777 102 : 92 102</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,334 103 : 1,743 90 : 1,635 106 : 108 111</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,502 103 : 2,701 97 : 1,803 97 : 66 65</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,988 102 : 2,375 96 : 1,800 89 : 61 97</p>
<p>Aug 1 9,868 103 : 2,102 88 : 1,926 93 : 56 93</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,132 102 : 1,719 86 : 1,925 85 : 58 97</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,640 101 : 1,647 99 : 2,085 94 : 70 115</p>
<p>May 1 10,375 98 : 2,370 103 : 2,026 91 : 79 122</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,763 100 : 1,600 86 : 1,891 95 : 97 154</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,987 104 : 1,810 89 : 1,967 109 : 67 108</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,138 104 : 1,612 98 : 1,694 98 : 69 97</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,253 106 : 1,754 84 : 1,775 90 : 94 125</p>
<p>-2003-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,335 104 : 1,748 105 : 1,740 97 : 90 91</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,043 103 : 1,926 97 : 1,537 89 : 97 108</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,218 98 : 2,781 116 : 1,855 94 : 101 120</p>
<p>Sep 1 9,839 97 : 2,474 113 : 2,032 110 : 63 119</p>
<p>Aug 1 9,590 95 : 2,384 107 : 2,075 97 : 60 140</p>
<p>Jul 1 9,923 95 : 1,997 109 : 2,270 104 : 60 133</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,539 96 : 1,672 102 : 2,227 107 : 61 120</p>
<p>May 1 10,535 96 : 2,307 102 : 2,238 103 : 65 84</p>
<p>Apr 1 10,713 93 : 1,870 129 : 1,985 99 : 63 76</p>
<p>Mar 1 10,546 92 : 2,032 104 : 1,803 99 : 62 90</p>
<p>Feb 1 10,700 92 : 1,650 91 : 1,733 96 : 71 113</p>
<p>Jan 1 10,658 92 : 2,089 96 : 1,972 95 : 75 84</p>
<p>-2002-</p>
<p>Dec 1 10,898 92 : 1,658 105 : 1,799 99 : 99 106</p>
<p>Nov 1 10,742 91 : 1,977 104 : 1,731 96 : 90 113</p>
<p>Oct 1 10,416 94 : 2,389 88 : 1,979 104 : 84 124</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,129 93 : 2,188 102 : 1,848 101 : 53 115</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,089 93 : 2,218 101 : 2,135 98 : 43 80</p>
<p>Jul 1 10,487 95 : 1,840 93 : 2,193 107 : 45 76</p>
<p>Jun 1 10,970 98 : 1,644 84 : 2,076 98 : 51 66</p>
<p>May 1 10,951 98 : 2,267 96 : 2,171 99 : 77 76</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,577 100 : 1,453 94 : 1,996 110 : 83 93</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,518 98 : 1,953 106 : 1,825 95 : 69 70</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,572 97 : 1,810 115 : 1,801 103 : 63 78</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,565 98 : 2,179 96 : 2,083 102 : 89 114</p>
<p>-2001-</p>
<p>Dec 1 11,891 NA : 1,578 NA : 1,811 NA : 93 NA</p>
<p>Nov 1 11,863 NA : 1,908 NA : 1,800 NA : 80 NA</p>
<p>Oct 1 11,125 NA : 2,702 NA : 1,896 NA : 68 NA</p>
<p>Sep 1 10,855 NA : 2,141 NA : 1,825 NA : 46 NA</p>
<p>Aug 1 10,891 NA : 2,204 NA : 2,186 NA : 54 NA</p>
<p>Jul 1 11,011 NA : 1,986 NA : 2,047 NA : 59 NA</p>
<p>Jun 1 11,245 NA : 1,965 NA : 2,122 NA : 77 NA</p>
<p>May 1 11,170 NA : 2,372 NA : 2,196 NA : 101 NA</p>
<p>Apr 1 11,523 NA : 1,551 NA : 1,815 NA : 89 NA</p>
<p>Mar 1 11,695 NA : 1,842 NA : 1,916 NA : 98 NA</p>
<p>Feb 1 11,941 NA : 1,580 NA : 1,745 NA : 81 NA</p>
<p>Jan 1 11,798 NA : 2,263 NA : 2,042 NA : 78 NA</p>
<p>Write to Rodney Christian at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 20, 2017 15:15 ET (19:15 GMT)</p> | true | 0 | source usda total states continue reading pct pct pct pct month feed yr ago placed yr ago marketedyr ago disappyr ago 2017 oct 1 10813 105 na na na na na na sep 1 10504 104 2150 113 1783 103 58 138 advertisement aug 1 10604 104 1928 103 1979 106 49 120 jul 1 10821 100 1615 103 1784 104 48 96 jun 1 11096 103 1770 116 1989 104 56 92 may 1 10998 102 2119 112 1951 109 70 95 apr 1 10919 101 1848 111 1703 103 66 87 mar 1 10782 100 2117 112 1914 110 56 90 feb 1 10782 101 1694 99 1648 104 56 97 jan 1 10605 100 1981 111 1751 110 53 95 2016 dec 1 10652 99 1785 117 1777 106 55 71 nov 1 10665 99 1843 115 1787 117 69 93 oct 1 10256 100 2171 95 1705 105 57 76 sep 1 10135 101 1895 98 1732 105 42 74 aug 1 10165 102 1879 115 1868 118 41 68 jul 1 10804 106 1572 102 1713 99 50 89 jun 1 10804 102 1525 103 1912 109 61 88 may 1 10783 101 1889 110 1794 105 74 96 apr 1 10853 101 1664 107 1658 101 76 115 mar 1 10770 101 1892 105 1747 107 62 90 feb 1 10709 100 1710 110 1591 105 58 97 jan 1 10575 100 1779 99 1589 98 56 73 2015 dec 1 10800 99 1527 99 1674 101 78 108 nov 1 10799 102 1607 90 1532 104 74 100 oct 1 10218 102 2286 97 1630 97 75 77 sep 1 9986 102 1931 96 1642 98 57 88 aug 1 10002 102 1632 95 1588 94 60 91 jul 1 10236 101 1547 99 1725 97 56 89 jun 1 10571 100 1481 102 1747 95 69 92 may 1 10640 100 1719 90 1711 92 77 76 apr 1 10797 99 1548 95 1639 92 66 80 mar 1 10688 99 1809 100 1631 98 69 106 feb 1 10713 101 1551 94 1516 98 60 85 jan 1 10626 100 1789 88 1625 91 77 108 2014 dec 1 10873 101 1537 92 1655 95 72 94 nov 1 10633 100 1789 95 1475 88 74 101 oct 1 10058 99 2357 99 1685 91 97 128 sep 1 9799 99 2007 99 1683 99 65 105 aug 1 9837 98 1720 96 1692 90 66 120 jul 1 10127 98 1560 91 1787 89 63 98 jun 1 10594 98 1455 92 1847 97 75 119 may 1 10648 99 1912 93 1865 96 101 101 apr 1 10873 100 1636 95 1778 98 83 120 mar 1 10790 99 1808 96 1660 96 65 80 feb 1 10590 96 1650 111 1549 95 71 118 jan 1 10590 95 2029 108 1788 93 71 90 2013 dec 1 10725 95 1679 101 1736 99 77 104 nov 1 10597 94 1882 97 1681 95 73 83 oct 1 10144 92 2388 110 1859 101 76 97 sep 1 9876 93 2025 101 1695 106 62 97 aug 1 10026 94 1788 89 1883 96 55 90 jul 1 10368 97 1722 90 2000 105 64 102 jun 1 10767 97 1587 95 1895 96 63 95 may 1 10760 97 2055 99 1948 97 100 100 apr 1 10924 95 1720 113 1815 100 69 88 mar 1 10845 93 1884 105 1724 90 81 117 feb 1 11073 94 1482 86 1638 93 60 65 jan 1 11193 94 1876 102 1917 106 79 98 2012 dec 1 11348 94 1664 99 1745 98 74 81 nov 1 11254 94 1943 95 1761 99 88 86 oct 1 10989 97 2180 87 1837 102 78 80 sep 1 10647 99 2004 81 1598 88 64 86 aug 1 10656 101 2007 89 1955 96 61 85 jul 1 10710 103 1922 90 1913 100 63 78 jun 1 11077 101 1664 98 1965 93 66 90 may 1 11110 99 2084 115 2017 101 100 125 apr 1 11482 102 1521 85 1815 100 78 132 mar 1 11677 102 1792 94 1918 96 69 133 feb 1 11811 102 1714 103 1755 98 93 155 jan 1 11861 103 1847 97 1816 102 81 145 2011 dec 1 12065 104 1673 94 1776 97 91 140 nov 1 11914 104 2035 104 1782 101 102 165 oct 1 11312 105 2496 100 1796 104 98 158 sep 1 10730 105 2469 100 1813 101 74 137 aug 1 10589 107 2259 100 2046 106 72 153 jul 1 10448 104 2133 122 1911 100 81 169 jun 1 10928 104 1695 104 2102 105 73 133 may 1 11200 107 1810 90 2002 107 80 78 apr 1 11271 105 1795 110 1807 97 59 63 mar 1 11399 105 1914 103 1990 105 52 87 feb 1 11583 105 1667 100 1791 104 60 88 jan 1 11514 105 1899 104 1774 100 56 80 2010 dec 1 11614 103 1789 116 1830 105 65 90 nov 1 11487 103 1958 106 1769 108 62 94 oct 1 10779 103 2504 101 1734 99 62 105 sep 1 10173 103 2462 103 1802 103 54 115 aug 1 9873 102 2270 107 1923 106 47 84 jul 1 10070 103 1754 94 1903 98 48 112 jun 1 10494 101 1628 117 1997 100 55 96 may 1 10443 96 2022 123 1869 96 102 101 apr 1 10767 96 1627 102 1857 99 94 136 mar 1 10874 97 1856 103 1903 104 60 120 feb 1 10984 97 1674 100 1716 102 68 121 jan 1 11008 98 1822 98 1776 102 70 104 2009 dec 1 11277 103 1546 94 1743 104 72 95 nov 1 11134 101 1844 91 1635 104 66 99 oct 1 10474 101 2474 101 1755 97 59 88 sep 1 9879 99 2388 105 1746 96 47 92 aug 1 9637 98 2113 103 1815 96 56 114 jul 1 9752 95 1863 112 1935 95 43 96 jun 1 10407 96 1391 92 1989 101 57 95 may 1 10822 97 1638 86 1952 91 101 126 apr 1 11162 96 1600 104 1871 93 69 92 mar 1 11228 95 1808 104 1824 99 50 79 feb 1 11288 94 1678 97 1682 95 56 93 jan 1 11234 93 1858 104 1737 93 67 112 2008 dec 1 10972 91 1647 97 1683 102 76 131 nov 1 10972 93 2016 94 1575 91 67 118 oct 1 10415 95 2438 90 1814 97 67 143 sep 1 9997 97 2281 94 1812 107 51 94 aug 1 9869 96 2061 97 1884 91 49 98 jul 1 10295 96 1666 103 2047 102 45 74 jun 1 10815 96 1518 92 1978 92 60 115 may 1 11135 99 1900 88 2140 103 80 81 apr 1 11684 100 1536 98 2010 110 75 76 mar 1 11853 102 1736 89 1842 100 63 88 feb 1 11966 102 1723 104 1776 104 60 80 jan 1 12097 101 1787 106 1858 101 60 62 2007 dec 1 12099 101 1701 99 1645 101 58 66 nov 1 11760 98 2134 113 1738 97 57 69 oct 1 10967 96 2716 112 1876 106 47 58 sep 1 10302 94 2420 109 1701 97 54 79 aug 1 10299 95 2119 92 2066 100 50 85 jul 1 10737 99 1622 83 1999 102 61 105 jun 1 11272 98 1657 85 2140 97 52 83 may 1 11297 98 2159 113 2085 96 99 86 apr 1 11644 99 1573 97 1821 101 99 114 mar 1 11599 96 1960 107 1843 94 72 80 feb 1 11726 97 1659 104 1711 106 75 103 jan 1 11974 101 1690 77 1841 102 97 117 2006 dec 1 11973 102 1714 91 1625 95 88 97 nov 1 11969 104 1884 92 1797 106 83 91 oct 1 11385 109 2430 87 1765 101 81 140 sep 1 10986 110 2227 95 1760 97 68 119 aug 1 10822 107 2295 115 2072 102 59 111 jul 1 10872 105 1963 117 1955 102 58 97 jun 1 11559 107 1946 110 2198 106 63 100 may 1 11559 109 1913 86 2170 109 115 120 apr 1 11812 109 1629 98 1798 100 87 97 mar 1 12023 108 1837 105 1958 100 90 130 feb 1 12110 107 1598 105 1612 99 73 100 jan 1 11804 104 2199 117 1810 102 83 112 2005 dec 1 11726 103 1884 103 1715 97 91 99 nov 1 11473 101 2045 117 1701 104 91 84 oct 1 10482 100 2788 103 1739 96 58 88 sep 1 10000 100 2355 99 1816 101 57 93 aug 1 10092 102 1993 95 2032 106 53 95 jul 1 10392 103 1678 98 1918 100 60 103 jun 1 10769 101 1769 107 2083 100 63 90 may 1 10639 103 2223 94 1997 99 96 122 apr 1 10870 101 1660 104 1801 95 90 93 mar 1 11152 102 1750 97 1963 100 69 103 feb 1 11339 102 1523 94 1634 96 73 106 jan 1 11299 100 1885 107 1771 100 74 79 2004 dec 1 11334 100 1834 105 1777 102 92 102 nov 1 11334 103 1743 90 1635 106 108 111 oct 1 10502 103 2701 97 1803 97 66 65 sep 1 9988 102 2375 96 1800 89 61 97 aug 1 9868 103 2102 88 1926 93 56 93 jul 1 10132 102 1719 86 1925 85 58 97 jun 1 10640 101 1647 99 2085 94 70 115 may 1 10375 98 2370 103 2026 91 79 122 apr 1 10763 100 1600 86 1891 95 97 154 mar 1 10987 104 1810 89 1967 109 67 108 feb 1 11138 104 1612 98 1694 98 69 97 jan 1 11253 106 1754 84 1775 90 94 125 2003 dec 1 11335 104 1748 105 1740 97 90 91 nov 1 11043 103 1926 97 1537 89 97 108 oct 1 10218 98 2781 116 1855 94 101 120 sep 1 9839 97 2474 113 2032 110 63 119 aug 1 9590 95 2384 107 2075 97 60 140 jul 1 9923 95 1997 109 2270 104 60 133 jun 1 10539 96 1672 102 2227 107 61 120 may 1 10535 96 2307 102 2238 103 65 84 apr 1 10713 93 1870 129 1985 99 63 76 mar 1 10546 92 2032 104 1803 99 62 90 feb 1 10700 92 1650 91 1733 96 71 113 jan 1 10658 92 2089 96 1972 95 75 84 2002 dec 1 10898 92 1658 105 1799 99 99 106 nov 1 10742 91 1977 104 1731 96 90 113 oct 1 10416 94 2389 88 1979 104 84 124 sep 1 10129 93 2188 102 1848 101 53 115 aug 1 10089 93 2218 101 2135 98 43 80 jul 1 10487 95 1840 93 2193 107 45 76 jun 1 10970 98 1644 84 2076 98 51 66 may 1 10951 98 2267 96 2171 99 77 76 apr 1 11577 100 1453 94 1996 110 83 93 mar 1 11518 98 1953 106 1825 95 69 70 feb 1 11572 97 1810 115 1801 103 63 78 jan 1 11565 98 2179 96 2083 102 89 114 2001 dec 1 11891 na 1578 na 1811 na 93 na nov 1 11863 na 1908 na 1800 na 80 na oct 1 11125 na 2702 na 1896 na 68 na sep 1 10855 na 2141 na 1825 na 46 na aug 1 10891 na 2204 na 2186 na 54 na jul 1 11011 na 1986 na 2047 na 59 na jun 1 11245 na 1965 na 2122 na 77 na may 1 11170 na 2372 na 2196 na 101 na apr 1 11523 na 1551 na 1815 na 89 na mar 1 11695 na 1842 na 1916 na 98 na feb 1 11941 na 1580 na 1745 na 81 na jan 1 11798 na 2263 na 2042 na 78 na write rodney christian csstatdowjonescom end dow jones newswires october 20 2017 1515 et 1915 gmt | 2,074 |
<p>Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), the biggest casino operator in the world, recently posted&#160;solid third quarter numbers that topped analyst estimates. Its revenue rose 7.7% annually to $3.2 billion, beating estimates by $50 million, while its adjusted EPS grew 8.5% to $0.77, topping expectations by $0.09.</p>
<p>That report propelled Sands' stock back toward its 52-week high, and it's now up 23% year-to-date. Should investors expect even better performance next year, or will the stock stall out? Let's examine Sands' biggest strengths and weaknesses to find out.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Las Vegas Sands was the first US casino operator to expand into Macau, and that first mover's advantage paid off. Its five Macau properties -- Sands, Venetian, Plaza, Sands Cotai Central, and the Parisian -- generated 54% of&#160;its adjusted property EBITDA last quarter. That figure rose 4% annually last quarter. On a hold-normalized basis, it improved 11%.</p>
<p>Revenues fell at the Venetian, Sands, Sands Cotai, and Plaza, but that softness was offset by double-digit sequential sales growth at the Parisian, which opened last September. The Venetian and Sands Cotai were also able to lift their average RevPARs (revenue per available room) to soften the blow of weaker casino revenues.</p>
<p>Macau's regional gaming revenues already rose year-over-year for&#160;15 straight months. Lionel Leong, Macau's Secretary for Economy and Finance, expects the region to finish the year with "positive double-digit growth" over 2016. Moreover, Leong&#160;believes that "gaming revenues will be even higher" next year.</p>
<p>Marina Bay Sands in Singapore also remains strong, with its adjusted property EBITDA rising 13% annually (11.4% on a hold-normalized basis) and accounting for 36% of Sands' total during the quarter. Sands also plans to expand further into Asia with a new resort in Japan. That <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/06/devil-is-in-the-details-of-japans-gaming-market.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8b11e21a-c2ab-11e7-a6d7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">$10 billion Opens a New Window.</a> project could&#160;turn into another major stream of revenue over the long term.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, Sands remains a reliable income generator with a 4.6% forward yield. Its payout ratio of 112% might seem high, but it spent just 89% of its free cash flow on that dividend over the past 12 months. Sands has hiked that payout annually for four straight years.</p>
<p>The biggest problem for Sands is the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/26/is-las-vegas-sands-running-out-of-steam-or-taking.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8b11e21a-c2ab-11e7-a6d7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">growing competition Opens a New Window.</a> in Macau, as rivals like Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN), MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM), Melco (NASDAQ: MLCO), and SJM open new properties near the highly competitive Cotai Strip area.</p>
<p>The bears will argue that Sands' only real growth engine in Macau is the Parisian, while its other properties are actually ceding market share to rival properties like the Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace Cotai.</p>
<p>They'll also argue that Sands' heavy exposure to Macau is a long-term liability, since its lucrative market of VIPs has been repeatedly targeted by the Chinese government in anti-corruption and money laundering crackdowns.</p>
<p>VIPs accounted for 11% of Macau's total gaming revenues in the first three quarters of 2017, compared to 10% in the previous year. Mass table revenues accounted for 49% of that total, down from 50% last year.</p>
<p>The US market, which generated 10% of Sands' adjusted property EBITDA last quarter, also remains challenging. Adjusted property EBITDA at its Vegas properties fell 11.6% annually (rising 2.3% on a hold-normalized basis) due to lower RevPAR and gaming revenue. Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania fared better with positive growth, but the company is&#160;trying to sell the property due to an uncertain outlook for&#160;the state's gambling industry.</p>
<p>Analysts expect Sands' revenue and earnings to respectively rise 11% and&#160;22% this year, but that momentum could wane next year with just 2% sales growth and 6% earnings growth. That slowdown is mostly attributed to uncertainties about the competition in Macau and its softness in Vegas.</p>
<p>Sands' future depends on the staying power of the Parisian and the ability of its other Macau properties to generate positive revenue growth again amid rising competition from rival resorts. I think Sands is still the best player in the region since it controls the heart of the Cotai Strip with its properties, but I think 2018 could be tougher than 2017 -- even if gaming revenue growth in Macau accelerates.</p>
<p>Sands remains a great <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/17/4-reasons-why-i-love-las-vegas-sands-corp.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8b11e21a-c2ab-11e7-a6d7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">long-term hold Opens a New Window.</a>, and the stock isn't expensive at 22 times forward earnings, which is lower than Wynn's forward P/E of 23 but slightly higher than MGM's multiple of 19. However, investors expecting Sands to surge to fresh highs in 2018 could be disappointed.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of October 9, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8b11e21a-c2ab-11e7-a6d7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Las Vegas Sands. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8b11e21a-c2ab-11e7-a6d7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | las vegas sands nyse lvs biggest casino operator world recently posted160solid third quarter numbers topped analyst estimates revenue rose 77 annually 32 billion beating estimates 50 million adjusted eps grew 85 077 topping expectations 009 report propelled sands stock back toward 52week high 23 yeartodate investors expect even better performance next year stock stall lets examine sands biggest strengths weaknesses find continue reading las vegas sands first us casino operator expand macau first movers advantage paid five macau properties sands venetian plaza sands cotai central parisian generated 54 of160its adjusted property ebitda last quarter figure rose 4 annually last quarter holdnormalized basis improved 11 revenues fell venetian sands sands cotai plaza softness offset doubledigit sequential sales growth parisian opened last september venetian sands cotai also able lift average revpars revenue per available room soften blow weaker casino revenues macaus regional gaming revenues already rose yearoveryear for16015 straight months lionel leong macaus secretary economy finance expects region finish year positive doubledigit growth 2016 moreover leong160believes gaming revenues even higher next year marina bay sands singapore also remains strong adjusted property ebitda rising 13 annually 114 holdnormalized basis accounting 36 sands total quarter sands also plans expand asia new resort japan 10 billion opens new window project could160turn another major stream revenue long term advertisement meanwhile sands remains reliable income generator 46 forward yield payout ratio 112 might seem high spent 89 free cash flow dividend past 12 months sands hiked payout annually four straight years biggest problem sands growing competition opens new window macau rivals like wynn resorts nasdaq wynn mgm resorts nyse mgm melco nasdaq mlco sjm open new properties near highly competitive cotai strip area bears argue sands real growth engine macau parisian properties actually ceding market share rival properties like wynn macau wynn palace cotai theyll also argue sands heavy exposure macau longterm liability since lucrative market vips repeatedly targeted chinese government anticorruption money laundering crackdowns vips accounted 11 macaus total gaming revenues first three quarters 2017 compared 10 previous year mass table revenues accounted 49 total 50 last year us market generated 10 sands adjusted property ebitda last quarter also remains challenging adjusted property ebitda vegas properties fell 116 annually rising 23 holdnormalized basis due lower revpar gaming revenue sands bethlehem pennsylvania fared better positive growth company is160trying sell property due uncertain outlook for160the states gambling industry analysts expect sands revenue earnings respectively rise 11 and16022 year momentum could wane next year 2 sales growth 6 earnings growth slowdown mostly attributed uncertainties competition macau softness vegas sands future depends staying power parisian ability macau properties generate positive revenue growth amid rising competition rival resorts think sands still best player region since controls heart cotai strip properties think 2018 could tougher 2017 even gaming revenue growth macau accelerates sands remains great longterm hold opens new window stock isnt expensive 22 times forward earnings lower wynns forward pe 23 slightly higher mgms multiple 19 however investors expecting sands surge fresh highs 2018 could disappointed 10 stocks like better las vegas sandswhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right las vegas sands wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns october 9 2017 leo sun opens new window owns shares las vegas sands motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 580 |
<p>The Difference Between the Rapture and the Revelation Things That Are Different Are Not The Same</p>
<p>As we have been showing you all through this series, the Rapture and the Revelation are not the same, because they, in fact, are two seperate events seperated by a division of at least 7 years. The Bible never meant for them to be the same, and takes great pains to show how they are different. A casual reading of these passages will blur the lines and make them appear to be one, but we will show in this lesson that they are not. Listen to Paul's advice to Timothy: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">2 Timothy</a> The Rapture is of, and for, the Church only Many people, including Christians, come to wrong conclusions about this event because their starting point was wrong. The Rapture of the Chuch is wholly and completely seperate from God's Plan for Israel and the Jews. People try to make the Church fit as the 'replacement' for the Jews (because of their rejection of Jesus) and that doesn't work because there is no replacement for the Jews or Israel. God has declared the Jews to be His chosen people, and that will never, ever change. Neither will the day ever come where Israel is no longer the 'apple of God's eye', for He has declared it to be forever so. God's covenant with Israel and the Jews is unbreakable, unchangable, and everlasting. "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Genesis 17: 4-9</a> These are just some of the dozens and dozens of places where God mentions, affirms and re-affirms His covenant with the Jews and with the nation of Israel. This relationship will continue through the Tribulation, the Millenium, and throughout all of Eternity as well. So the quicker you get this idea in your head from the beginning, the easier it will be to understand that God has one path outlined for the Chruch, and another path for the Jews. The Rapture, as the Bible teaches is of, and for the Church, which is composed of both Jew and Gentile believers in Jesus as the Promised Messiah of Israel. Clarence Larkin had this to say about the Rapture of the Church: "The Rapture is described in <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/1Thes.%204.15-17" type="external">1Thes. 4:15-17</a>. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord HIMSELF shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel (Michael) and with the trump of God; and the DEAD IN CHRIST shall rise first; then we which are ALIVE AND REMAIN (saints only) shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord IN THE AIR, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." From this we see that "The Rapture" will be twofold.</p>
<p>1. The Resurrection of the "DEAD IN CHRIST." 2. The Translation of the "LIVING SAINTS."</p>
<p>This twofold character of "The Rapture" Jesus revealed to Martha when He was about to raise her brother Lazarus. He said to her: "I am the 'Resurrection and the Life, ' he that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he LIVE (First Resurrection Saints); and whosoever LIVETH (is alive when I come back) and believeth in me shall NEVER DIE" <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/John%2011.25-26" type="external">John 11:25-26</a>. This twofold character of the Rapture, Paul emphasizes in his immortal chapter on the resurrection. "Behold, I show you a Mystery, we shall not all Sleep, but we shall All Be Changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised, and we shall be changed. For this Corruptible (the dead in Christ) must put on incorruption, and this mortal (the living saints) must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that. is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. O DEATH, WHERE IS THY STING? O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? " <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/1Cor.%2015.51-53" type="external">1Cor. 15:51-53</a>. The Rapture won't be a secret, but it will be a 'surprise' We see from this that when Christ comes back it will be when we are not expecting Him. He will come as a thief comes. A thief does not announce his coming. He comes for a certain purpose. He does not take everything there is in the house. He takes only the precious things. The jewels, the gold, the silver and fine wearing apparel. He does not come to stay. As soon as he secures what he is after he departs. So Jesus at the Rapture will come and take away the saints only. The thief leaves much more than he takes. He leaves the house and the furniture and the household utensils. So the Lord at the Rapture will leave the wicked and the great mass of the heathen behind, for those who will be taken will be comparatively few. <a href="javasript:;" type="external">source - Dispensational Truth, by Clarence Larkin</a> The Revelation, or Stage 2 Again, we turn to that excellent, old-school Bible scholar Clarence Larkin for insight on 'Stage 2', the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and this time it's for the entire world to see. At the "Second Stage" of Christ's Second Coming, the "Revelation, " we shall behold His "Glory." When Jesus came the first time He was disguised in the flesh. The "Incarnation" was the hiding of His Power, the veiling of His Deity. Now and then gleams of glory shot forth as on the Mt. of transfiguration; but when He comes the Second Time we shall behold Him clothed with the glory He had with the Father before the world was. The "Revelation" will be as sudden and as unexpected as was the "Rapture." The sun will rise on that day strong and clear. Gentle breezes will waft themselves over the earth. There will be no signs of a storm or of the coming judgment. The people will be buying and selling, building and planting, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. The statesmen will be revolving in their minds new plans for the world's betterment. The philanthropic will be devising new ways to help the people. The pleasure-loving will be seeking new sources of pleasure. The wicked will be plotting dark deeds; and the unbelieving will be proving to their own satisfaction that there is no God, no heaven, no hell, no coming judgment, when suddenly there will be a change. In the distant heaven there will appear a</p>
<p>"POINT OF LIGHT, "</p>
<p>outshining the sun. It will be seen descending toward the earth. As it descends it will assume the form of a bright cloud, out of which shall stream dazzling beams of light, and flashes of lightning. It will descend apace as if on wings of the whirlwind, and when it reaches its destination over the brow of the Mt. of Olives it will stop and unfold itself to the terrified and awestricken beholders, and there will be revealed to them Jesus seated on a "White Horse" ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Rev.%2019.16" type="external">Rev. 19:16</a>) and accompanied with His Saints and the armies of Heaven. Then shall be fulfilled what Jesus foretold in His Olivet Discourse-"Then shall appear the sign (a cloud) of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY." <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Matt.%2024.30" type="external">Matt. 24:30</a>.</p>
<p>The Imminency Of The Second Coming</p>
<p>One of the objections to the Doctrine of the "Second Coming of Christ" is the claim that He may come backat any time. Post-millennialists tell us that the writers of the New Testament looked forHim to come back in their day, and that He did not do so, is proof that they were mistaken, and that Paul in his later writings modified his statements as to the imminency of Christ's return. It is a fact that while Jesus said: "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come...Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Matt.%2024.42-44" type="external">Matt. 24:42-44</a>), He did not in these passages teach that He would return during the lifetime of those who listened to Him. In fact, in His Parables He intimated that His return would be delayed, as in the Parable of The Talents, where it is said: "After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh. <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Matt.%2025.19" type="external">Matt. 25:19</a>. What Jesus wanted to teach was the sudden and unexpected character of His return. As to the Apostles, while they exhorted their followers to be ready, for the "night is far spent, the day is at hand, " and the "coming of the Lord draweth nigh, " their language simply implied "imminency, " but not necessarily "IMMEDIATENESS." And the use of the word "WE" in <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/1Cor.%2015.5" type="external">1Cor. 15:5</a> <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/1Cor.%2015.1" type="external">1Cor. 15:1</a>, "WE" shall not all sleep, but WE shall all be changed, " is not a declaration that the Lord would return in Paul's day and some would not die but be translated, for the Apostle is talking about the Rapture and he means by "WE" a certain class of persons, the saints that shall be alive when that event occurs, whether in his day or at some later time.</p>
<p>It was clearly known to our Lord that certain events must come to pass before His Return, but to have disclosed that fact would have nullified the command to "Watch, " therefore He in "mystery form, ' as in the seven parables of Matt. 13, hid the fact that His Return would be delayed. It would take time for the "Sowing of the Seed, " the growth of the "Wheat" and "Tares, " the growth of the "Mustard Tree, " and the "Leavening of the Meal." So rapid was the spread of the Gospel in the first century that the followers of Christ were warranted in looking for the speedy Return of the Lord, but it was true then, as in every century since, that we do not know what the extent of the "Harvest' is to be, and when it will be ripe, so the Lord can return. <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Matt.%2013.30" type="external">Matt. 13:30</a>. Uncertainty then as to the "time" of the Lord's return is necessary to promote the "watchful" spirit. If the early Church had known that the Lord's Return would have been delayed for 20 centuries, the incentive to watchfulness would have been wanting.</p>
<p>By "Imminency" we mean "may happen at any time." For illustration, you hurry to the railroad station to catch a train. You find the train has not arrived, though it is past the hour. Though it is late it is on the way, and it would not be safe for you to leave the station, for it may arrive any minute, but as a matter of fact, it does not come for half an hour. Now if you had known that it would not arrive for half an hour you would have used the time in some other way than "waiting" and "watching." So we see that "Imminency" does not necessarily imply "IMMEDIATENESS, " but does demand "Watchfulness."</p>
<p>It is the firm conviction of the writer that there has been unnecessary delay in the Return of the Lord, caused by the failure of the Church to obey the "Divine Commission" to evangelize the world ( <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Matt.%2028.19-20" type="external">Matt. 28:19-20</a>), and it is past the time when He should have returned. Of course, this was foreseen by God, and His foreknowledge has held back the development of the forces of evil, etc., until the "Fulness of the Gentiles" should be gathered in, and the "Harvest" is ripe for the gathering. <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Rev.%2014.14-16" type="external">Rev. 14:14-16</a>. At no time in the history of the Christian Church have the conditions necessary to the Lord's Return been so completely fulfilled as at the present time; therefore, His Coming is IMMINENT, and will not probably be long delayed. Let us be ready and watching." <a href="javasript:;" type="external">source - Dispensational Truth, by Clarence Larkin</a></p>
<p>The Blessed Hope Of The Believer</p>
<p>The Second Coming of Christ is "The Blessed Hope." Writing to Titus Paul said-"Looking for that 'Blessed Hope, ' and the 'Glorious Appearing' of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Titus%202.13" type="external">Titus 2:13</a>. Most Christians when speaking of their "Hope" mean their "Hope of Salvation, " but we cannot "hope" for a thing we have and salvation is a present possession if we are trusting in Christ as our Saviour. The Christian's "Hope" then is the "Return of His Lord." Man is a three-fold being, he has a body, a soul, and a spirit; for him to die is to lose his "body." Now he knows that he cannot get his body back until the Resurrection and he also knows that there can be no Resurrection until Christ comes back. Therefore to him Christ's return is "The Blessed Hope, " not only that if he dies he will then be raised, but it is to him the "Hope" that Christ will come back before he dies and he shall be "caught up" to meet Him in the air without dying. <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/1Thes.%204.13-15" type="external">1Thes. 4:13-15</a>.</p>
<p>"The Blessed Hope" is also a "Purifying Hope." "And every man that hath this hope in him PURIFIETH HIMSELF.' <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/1John%203.1-3" type="external">1John 3:1-3</a>. That is, every one who is looking for the Lord's return will try to keep himself pure. It will make us "Patient." "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the Coming of the Lord. . . . Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh." <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/James%205.7-8" type="external">James 5:7-8</a>. It will make us "Watchful." "Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all WATCH." <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/kjv/Mark%2013.35-37" type="external">Mark 13:35-37</a>. <a href="javasript:;" type="external">source - Dispensational Truth, by Clarence Larkin</a></p>
<p>So there has to be FIRST the Rapture of the Church. This event kicks-off the time of Jacob's trouble, the Tribulation period of 7 years that Daniel saw. At the end of this 7-year Tribulation period, Jesus will return to the earth, with all the saints that have been raptured out earlier, and will land at the Mount of Olives in Israel, note the following: "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You. [fn] It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD-- Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light. And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be- "The LORD is one," And His name one." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">source - Zechariah 14: 4-9</a> See how it says that on "that day" the Lord Jesus Himself will make a physical return to the earth to setup His Kingdom, (which will last for 1,000 literal, actual years,) and who does He come with? - "Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You" Those 'saints' that He returns with will be those who were raptured out 7 years earlier in the Rapture.</p>
<p>"See, I have told you beforehand." Jesus in <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Matthew 24:25</a></p> The Rapture is of, and for, the Church only The Revelation, or Stage 2 Click here | true | 0 | difference rapture revelation things different showing series rapture revelation fact two seperate events seperated division least 7 years bible never meant takes great pains show different casual reading passages blur lines make appear one show lesson listen pauls advice timothy study shew thyself approved unto god workman needeth ashamed rightly dividing word truth preach word instant season season reprove rebuke exhort longsuffering doctrine 2 timothy rapture church many people including christians come wrong conclusions event starting point wrong rapture chuch wholly completely seperate gods plan israel jews people try make church fit replacement jews rejection jesus doesnt work replacement jews israel god declared jews chosen people never ever change neither day ever come israel longer apple gods eye declared forever gods covenant israel jews unbreakable unchangable everlasting behold covenant shall father many nations longer shall name called abram name shall abraham made father many nations make exceedingly fruitful make nations kings shall come establish covenant descendants generations everlasting covenant god descendants also give descendants land stranger land canaan everlasting possession god god said abraham shall keep covenant descendants throughout generations genesis 17 49 dozens dozens places god mentions affirms reaffirms covenant jews nation israel relationship continue tribulation millenium throughout eternity well quicker get idea head beginning easier understand god one path outlined chruch another path jews rapture bible teaches church composed jew gentile believers jesus promised messiah israel clarence larkin say rapture church rapture described 1thes 41517 say unto word lord alive remain unto coming lord shall prevent asleep lord shall descend heaven shout voice archangel michael trump god dead christ shall rise first alive remain saints shall caught together clouds meet lord air shall ever lord see rapture twofold 1 resurrection dead christ 2 translation living saints twofold character rapture jesus revealed martha raise brother lazarus said resurrection life believeth though dead yet shall live first resurrection saints whosoever liveth alive come back believeth shall never die john 112526 twofold character rapture paul emphasizes immortal chapter resurrection behold show mystery shall sleep shall changed moment twinkling eye last trump trumpet shall sound dead shall raised shall changed corruptible dead christ must put incorruption mortal living saints must put immortality corruptible shall put incorruption mortal shall put immortality shall brought pass saying written death swallowed victory death thy sting grave thy victory 1cor 155153 rapture wont secret surprise see christ comes back expecting come thief comes thief announce coming comes certain purpose take everything house takes precious things jewels gold silver fine wearing apparel come stay soon secures departs jesus rapture come take away saints thief leaves much takes leaves house furniture household utensils lord rapture leave wicked great mass heathen behind taken comparatively source dispensational truth clarence larkin revelation stage 2 turn excellent oldschool bible scholar clarence larkin insight stage 2 revelation jesus christ time entire world see second stage christs second coming revelation shall behold glory jesus came first time disguised flesh incarnation hiding power veiling deity gleams glory shot forth mt transfiguration comes second time shall behold clothed glory father world revelation sudden unexpected rapture sun rise day strong clear gentle breezes waft earth signs storm coming judgment people buying selling building planting eating drinking marrying giving marriage statesmen revolving minds new plans worlds betterment philanthropic devising new ways help people pleasureloving seeking new sources pleasure wicked plotting dark deeds unbelieving proving satisfaction god heaven hell coming judgment suddenly change distant heaven appear point light outshining sun seen descending toward earth descends assume form bright cloud shall stream dazzling beams light flashes lightning descend apace wings whirlwind reaches destination brow mt olives stop unfold terrified awestricken beholders revealed jesus seated white horse rev 1916 accompanied saints armies heaven shall fulfilled jesus foretold olivet discoursethen shall appear sign cloud son man heaven shall tribes earth mourn shall see son man coming clouds heaven power great glory matt 2430 imminency second coming one objections doctrine second coming christ claim may come backat time postmillennialists tell us writers new testament looked forhim come back day proof mistaken paul later writings modified statements imminency christs return fact jesus said watch therefore ye know hour lord doth cometherefore ye also ready hour ye think son man cometh matt 244244 passages teach would return lifetime listened fact parables intimated return would delayed parable talents said long time lord servants cometh matt 2519 jesus wanted teach sudden unexpected character return apostles exhorted followers ready night far spent day hand coming lord draweth nigh language simply implied imminency necessarily immediateness use word 1cor 155 1cor 151 shall sleep shall changed declaration lord would return pauls day would die translated apostle talking rapture means certain class persons saints shall alive event occurs whether day later time clearly known lord certain events must come pass return disclosed fact would nullified command watch therefore mystery form seven parables matt 13 hid fact return would delayed would take time sowing seed growth wheat tares growth mustard tree leavening meal rapid spread gospel first century followers christ warranted looking speedy return lord true every century since know extent harvest ripe lord return matt 1330 uncertainty time lords return necessary promote watchful spirit early church known lords return would delayed 20 centuries incentive watchfulness would wanting imminency mean may happen time illustration hurry railroad station catch train find train arrived though past hour though late way would safe leave station may arrive minute matter fact come half hour known would arrive half hour would used time way waiting watching see imminency necessarily imply immediateness demand watchfulness firm conviction writer unnecessary delay return lord caused failure church obey divine commission evangelize world matt 281920 past time returned course foreseen god foreknowledge held back development forces evil etc fulness gentiles gathered harvest ripe gathering rev 141416 time history christian church conditions necessary lords return completely fulfilled present time therefore coming imminent probably long delayed let us ready watching source dispensational truth clarence larkin blessed hope believer second coming christ blessed hope writing titus paul saidlooking blessed hope glorious appearing great god saviour jesus christ titus 213 christians speaking hope mean hope salvation hope thing salvation present possession trusting christ saviour christians hope return lord man threefold body soul spirit die lose body knows get body back resurrection also knows resurrection christ comes back therefore christs return blessed hope dies raised hope christ come back dies shall caught meet air without dying 1thes 41315 blessed hope also purifying hope every man hath hope purifieth 1john 313 every one looking lords return try keep pure make us patient patient therefore brethren unto coming lord ye also patient establish hearts coming lord draweth nigh james 578 make us watchful watch ye therefore ye know master house cometh even midnight cockcrowing morning lest coming suddenly find sleeping say unto say unto watch mark 133537 source dispensational truth clarence larkin first rapture church event kicksoff time jacobs trouble tribulation period 7 years daniel saw end 7year tribulation period jesus return earth saints raptured earlier land mount olives israel note following day feet stand mount olives faces jerusalem east mount olives shall split two east west making large valley half mountain shall move toward north half toward south shall flee mountain valley mountain valley shall reach azal yes shall flee fled earthquake days uzziah king judah thus lord god come saints fn shall come pass day light lights diminish shall one day known lord neither day night evening time shall happen light day shall living waters shall flow jerusalem half toward eastern sea half toward western sea summer winter shall occur lord shall king earth day shall lord one name one source zechariah 14 49 see says day lord jesus make physical return earth setup kingdom last 1000 literal actual years come thus lord god come saints saints returns raptured 7 years earlier rapture see told beforehand jesus matthew 2425 rapture church revelation stage 2 click | 1,307 |
<p>Credit cards are a great tool to help you make the most of your finances. But if you think of them as magical pieces of plastic that let you buy whatever you want, you could be in for a rude awakening down the line. Understanding the basics of credit cards will allow you to take advantage of the numerous benefits they provide while avoiding the pitfalls.</p>
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<p>A credit card is tied to a credit account, which is just a loan account. Unlike a car loan or a mortgage, however, credit accounts offer a revolving line of credit. Users can take money out (by purchasing goods and services or taking out a cash advance) and pay it back at their convenience.</p>
<p>Each account will have its own credit limit. That's the maximum balance a user can carry on their account. Separately, the account might have a cash advance limit, which is the maximum amount the bank is willing to extend as a cash withdrawal from the account.</p>
<p>The bank will provide an interest rate for both the regular balance as well as cash advances. If a user doesn't pay off his balance in full every month, or takes out a cash advance at any time, the bank will start compounding interest daily. That means interest will start piling up quickly.</p>
<p>If you don't want to pay off the entire balance, the bank will issue a minimum payment. This is usually a percentage of the balance or the bank may set floor price if the percentage falls below it. This is the amount you must pay every month to keep the account in good standing.</p>
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<p>There are a lot of different ways for banks to make money from credit cards. It's important to understand, banks don't always make money off of cardholders, and you can be a great customer for a bank even if you don't pay them any fees directly.</p>
<p>Credit card companies earn revenue every time you use&#160;your credit card at a merchant. They take a few pennies plus a percentage of every sale. That's why credit card companies offer massive <a href="https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-sign-up-bonuses/?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">sign-up bonuses Opens a New Window.</a> if customers show they can regularly spend a lot of money on their credit cards. Those fees also go toward providing cash-back and travel point rewards, as well as <a href="https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/2017/08/08/should-you-get-a-credit-card-and-which-one-is-righ.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">additional perks Opens a New Window.</a> like price protection and extended insurance.</p>
<p>That said, credit card companies can still make a lot of money off their cardholders. The main ways cardholders end up paying for their credit cards are:</p>
<p>One of the big draws of credit cards is the rewards. Rewards come in two forms.</p>
<p>Sign-up bonuses reward new members for signing up for a new credit card and meeting a certain spending threshold within a specific time frame. These bonuses are viewed as a marketing expense by the credit card companies to bring in new applicants. They usually act as a loss leader, as the banks are hoping to establish long-term relationships with customers after they sign up.</p>
<p>Rewards on everyday spending like <a href="https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/best-cash-back-credit-cards/?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">cash back Opens a New Window.</a> or <a href="https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/best-travel-credit-cards/?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">travel points Opens a New Window.</a> are paid for through the interchange fees mentioned above. Credit card companies are able to buy points from travel partners at a discount since they buy in bulk, spending much less per dollar of spend on the credit card than they take in. Cash-back credit cards usually put a cap on bonus spending, so the economics still work out in their favor.</p>
<p>Rewards on everyday spending are a win-win for consumers and the credit card companies.</p>
<p>Often overlooked are the additional benefits of using a credit card for your purchases. Many credit cards offer additional benefits like price protection and extended warranties. You can also get free rental car insurance if you use the right credit card to pay for the rental.</p>
<p>These perks are relatively easy to use, but many cardholders forget about them or don't even know they exist. You can look up how to use services like price protection online at your credit card issuer's website. A full list of benefits should be available in the literature sent with your card or online.</p>
<p>Credit cards can actually be great for building your credit score. If you use a credit card responsibly, stay below the credit limit, and pay off the balance in full and on time every month, you could see your credit score improve with the addition of a credit card. Lenders like to see that you can responsibly use all kinds of debt, including revolving lines of credit. Adding diversity in loan types to your credit report improves your score.</p>
<p>You'll also see a bump from decreasing your credit utilization. That's the ratio of debt to available credit. People with the best credit scores keep their credit utilization below 20%.</p>
<p>Now that you know how credit cards work, how credit card companies make money, how to earn rewards and use credit card perks, and how they impact your credit score, you can make the most of them. Here are some of&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/best-credit-cards-of-2017/?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">The Motley Fool's top credit card picks Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>5 Simple Tips to Skyrocket Your Credit Score Over 800!Increasing your credit score above 800 will put you in rare company. So rare that only 1 in 9 Americans can claim they're members of this elite club. But contrary to popular belief, racking up a high credit score is a lot easier than you may have imagined following 5 simple, disciplined strategies. You'll find a full rundown of each inside our <a href="http://www.fool.com/ecap/the_motley_fool/mortgage-creditscore/?ftm_cam=the-motley-fool&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;source=ic3editxt0000001&amp;aid=8985&amp;ftm_pit=6983&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">FREE credit score guide Opens a New Window.</a>. It's time to put your financial future first and secure a lifetime of savings by increasing your credit score. Simply <a href="http://www.fool.com/ecap/the_motley_fool/mortgage-creditscore/?ftm_cam=the-motley-fool&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;source=ic3editxt0000001&amp;aid=8985&amp;ftm_pit=6983&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">click here Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;to claim a copy 5 Simple Tips to Skyrocket Your Credit Score over 800.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2a747f5a-a7ba-11e7-b2ca-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | credit cards great tool help make finances think magical pieces plastic let buy whatever want could rude awakening line understanding basics credit cards allow take advantage numerous benefits provide avoiding pitfalls continue reading credit card tied credit account loan account unlike car loan mortgage however credit accounts offer revolving line credit users take money purchasing goods services taking cash advance pay back convenience account credit limit thats maximum balance user carry account separately account might cash advance limit maximum amount bank willing extend cash withdrawal account bank provide interest rate regular balance well cash advances user doesnt pay balance full every month takes cash advance time bank start compounding interest daily means interest start piling quickly dont want pay entire balance bank issue minimum payment usually percentage balance bank may set floor price percentage falls amount must pay every month keep account good standing advertisement lot different ways banks make money credit cards important understand banks dont always make money cardholders great customer bank even dont pay fees directly credit card companies earn revenue every time use160your credit card merchant take pennies plus percentage every sale thats credit card companies offer massive signup bonuses opens new window customers show regularly spend lot money credit cards fees also go toward providing cashback travel point rewards well additional perks opens new window like price protection extended insurance said credit card companies still make lot money cardholders main ways cardholders end paying credit cards one big draws credit cards rewards rewards come two forms signup bonuses reward new members signing new credit card meeting certain spending threshold within specific time frame bonuses viewed marketing expense credit card companies bring new applicants usually act loss leader banks hoping establish longterm relationships customers sign rewards everyday spending like cash back opens new window travel points opens new window paid interchange fees mentioned credit card companies able buy points travel partners discount since buy bulk spending much less per dollar spend credit card take cashback credit cards usually put cap bonus spending economics still work favor rewards everyday spending winwin consumers credit card companies often overlooked additional benefits using credit card purchases many credit cards offer additional benefits like price protection extended warranties also get free rental car insurance use right credit card pay rental perks relatively easy use many cardholders forget dont even know exist look use services like price protection online credit card issuers website full list benefits available literature sent card online credit cards actually great building credit score use credit card responsibly stay credit limit pay balance full time every month could see credit score improve addition credit card lenders like see responsibly use kinds debt including revolving lines credit adding diversity loan types credit report improves score youll also see bump decreasing credit utilization thats ratio debt available credit people best credit scores keep credit utilization 20 know credit cards work credit card companies make money earn rewards use credit card perks impact credit score make of160 motley fools top credit card picks opens new window 5 simple tips skyrocket credit score 800increasing credit score 800 put rare company rare 1 9 americans claim theyre members elite club contrary popular belief racking high credit score lot easier may imagined following 5 simple disciplined strategies youll find full rundown inside free credit score guide opens new window time put financial future first secure lifetime savings increasing credit score simply click opens new window160to claim copy 5 simple tips skyrocket credit score 800 motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 587 |
<p>If you are an investor and not a stock trader, then you have to be a fan of Warren Buffett. The man is walking proof that buy-and-hold investing will never go out of style, no matter how many Wall Street talking heads declare it so. His ability to identify the best businesses possible and ride their ability to generate returns for decades has made him an investment icon, and perhaps one of the most respected billionaires on the planet (a group of people that aren't always in people's good graces).</p>
<p>So, in the spirit of Warren Buffett's investing acumen, we asked three of our investing contributors to each highlight a stock they see as one that fans of Buffett will find compelling. Here's why they picked Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE: SRG), Mastercard (NYSE: MA), and Visa (NYSE: V).</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Speights Opens a New Window.</a> (Seritage Growth Properties): Warren Buffett's personal fortune is primarily invested in Berkshire Hathaway, just as you would expect. But he also <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/04/01/3-stocks-warren-buffett-personally-owns-that-you-c.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">owns a handful of other stocks Opens a New Window.</a>. One of them is Seritage Growth Properties.</p>
<p>The real estate investment trust (REIT) was spun off from Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) in 2015. Most of Seritage's properties are still leased to Sears. That could cause concerns, since Sears <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/01/08/how-bad-off-is-sears-holdings-worse-than-you-think.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">continues to shut down many of its stores Opens a New Window.</a>. However, Buffett bought a big stake in Seritage with full knowledge of Sears' precarious position.</p>
<p>What was the Oracle of Omaha thinking? He knew what Seritage's end game was. The REIT has done a great job of leasing former Sears properties to new tenants, including prominent theater chains, restaurants, and retailers. Even better, the new leases are much more profitable. Seritage releases the properties at an average multiple of 4.1 times the previous rent charged to Sears. The company is on track to generate roughly the same amount of rent from newer tenants as it does from Sears properties by the end of next year.</p>
<p>Seritage already pays out a nice dividend, with a current yield of nearly 3%. As Seritage converts more of its properties from Sears to other higher-paying tenants, its profits should grow nicely, driving the dividend higher. If Sears goes bankrupt, it would hurt Seritage. But, like Buffett, I suspect the long-term prospects for the REIT are good.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Nehams/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Neha Chamaria Opens a New Window.</a> (Mastercard): As a Warren Buffett fan, you couldn't do better than investing in companies with an " <a href="https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/economic-moat.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">economic moat Opens a New Window.</a>," an idea coined and followed diligently by the Oracle of Omaha himself. What's important to understand is that while many companies may boast a competitive advantage, it should be big enough to continue to steer the company to growth in an ever-changing business environment.</p>
<p>One such moat is the network effect, where the value of a product or a service grows as the number of users rises. Not surprisingly, Berkshire Hathaway owns shares of payments processing giant Mastercard, a company with the network effect at the core of its business.</p>
<p>Each time someone swipes a Mastercard co-branded card anywhere in the world, the company earns a fee along with a percentage of the global transaction volumes. As more customers switch to the convenience of cashless payments, more merchants accept cards, and more banks issue them, thereby adding value to Mastercard through the network.</p>
<p>As impressive as Mastercard's past operational performance is, the future looks equally promising thanks to the global e-commerce digital push especially in cash-driven economies like India. Mastercard is aggressively strengthening its foothold in India and other high-potential markets. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/01/07/mastercard-stock-in-5-charts.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">In recent years Opens a New Window.</a>, Mastercard has steadily grown its sales, net income, and cash flows, generated operating margin of above 50%, and earned more than 30% returns on invested capital. With the company also adopting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence to improve and secure its payments platform, I strongly believe Mastercard will continue to grow manifold in coming years and remain a Buffett favorite.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDirtyBird/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Tyler Crowe Opens a New Window.</a> (Visa): If you look up and down Berkshire's portfolio, you will find a lot of businesses in the same industry. Five of the top 12 holdings are banks, all four of the largest airlines, and multiple consumer goods companies. This goes to show that investors don't need to pick that one stock to act as your only exposure to an industry. If an industry is chock-full of great businesses, why not own all of them?</p>
<p>So, just like Buffett's portfolio of multiple companies in the same industry, I'm going to pick a stock in the same industry as Neha and say Visa.</p>
<p>Visa shares many of the same competitive advantages and business qualities that Mastercard does. It acts as an intermediary for payments and takes that small percentage cut of each transaction, which translates into a high-margin, high-return business. When you compare the two face to face, though, you could argue that Visa has a leg up on Mastercard with an even larger card and merchant count globally. According to the company's most recent analyst day presentation, there are 44 million merchants worldwide that accept Visa-backed cards, and more than 3 billion cards worldwide are either Visa or Visa co-branded cards.</p>
<p>As the world transitions away from cash -- a transition <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/26/visa-inc-wages-war-on-cash.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Visa is actively helping businesses make Opens a New Window.</a> -- Visa is going to be a major beneficiary. Between e-commerce, peer-to-peer payments, business-to-business transactions, or government payment services, there are tens of trillions in transactions every year that Visa is looking to be a part of. Considering how lucrative it has been for the company to be a transaction intermediary thus far, it's not hard to see why investors like Buffett are willing to double down on an industry like this.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than VisaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=862cb936-bb2d-46ee-9de4-0ff837fee295&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Visa wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=862cb936-bb2d-46ee-9de4-0ff837fee295&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of April 2, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Speights Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Nehams/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Neha Chamaria Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDirtyBird/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Tyler Crowe Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Visa. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=338bd007-e0d9-4ed1-9f8d-292ff2256b7f&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | investor stock trader fan warren buffett man walking proof buyandhold investing never go style matter many wall street talking heads declare ability identify best businesses possible ride ability generate returns decades made investment icon perhaps one respected billionaires planet group people arent always peoples good graces spirit warren buffetts investing acumen asked three investing contributors highlight stock see one fans buffett find compelling heres picked seritage growth properties nyse srg mastercard nyse visa nyse v continue reading keith speights opens new window seritage growth properties warren buffetts personal fortune primarily invested berkshire hathaway would expect also owns handful stocks opens new window one seritage growth properties real estate investment trust reit spun sears holdings nasdaq shld 2015 seritages properties still leased sears could cause concerns since sears continues shut many stores opens new window however buffett bought big stake seritage full knowledge sears precarious position oracle omaha thinking knew seritages end game reit done great job leasing former sears properties new tenants including prominent theater chains restaurants retailers even better new leases much profitable seritage releases properties average multiple 41 times previous rent charged sears company track generate roughly amount rent newer tenants sears properties end next year seritage already pays nice dividend current yield nearly 3 seritage converts properties sears higherpaying tenants profits grow nicely driving dividend higher sears goes bankrupt would hurt seritage like buffett suspect longterm prospects reit good advertisement neha chamaria opens new window mastercard warren buffett fan couldnt better investing companies economic moat opens new window idea coined followed diligently oracle omaha whats important understand many companies may boast competitive advantage big enough continue steer company growth everchanging business environment one moat network effect value product service grows number users rises surprisingly berkshire hathaway owns shares payments processing giant mastercard company network effect core business time someone swipes mastercard cobranded card anywhere world company earns fee along percentage global transaction volumes customers switch convenience cashless payments merchants accept cards banks issue thereby adding value mastercard network impressive mastercards past operational performance future looks equally promising thanks global ecommerce digital push especially cashdriven economies like india mastercard aggressively strengthening foothold india highpotential markets recent years opens new window mastercard steadily grown sales net income cash flows generated operating margin 50 earned 30 returns invested capital company also adopting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence improve secure payments platform strongly believe mastercard continue grow manifold coming years remain buffett favorite tyler crowe opens new window visa look berkshires portfolio find lot businesses industry five top 12 holdings banks four largest airlines multiple consumer goods companies goes show investors dont need pick one stock act exposure industry industry chockfull great businesses like buffetts portfolio multiple companies industry im going pick stock industry neha say visa visa shares many competitive advantages business qualities mastercard acts intermediary payments takes small percentage cut transaction translates highmargin highreturn business compare two face face though could argue visa leg mastercard even larger card merchant count globally according companys recent analyst day presentation 44 million merchants worldwide accept visabacked cards 3 billion cards worldwide either visa visa cobranded cards world transitions away cash transition visa actively helping businesses make opens new window visa going major beneficiary ecommerce peertopeer payments businesstobusiness transactions government payment services tens trillions transactions every year visa looking part considering lucrative company transaction intermediary thus far hard see investors like buffett willing double industry like 10 stocks like better visawhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right visa wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns april 2 2018 keith speights opens new window position stocks mentioned neha chamaria opens new window position stocks mentioned tyler crowe opens new window owns shares berkshire hathaway b shares visa motley fool owns shares recommends berkshire hathaway b shares mastercard visa motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 668 |
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<p>Credit Unions Come in Many Flavors</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Credit unions come in all stripes and colors.</p>
<p>Currently, there are 7,200 credit unions in the U.S., according to the Credit Union National Association. And not all of them are just community-related. Your church, university or even your military branch may offer its own credit union with sweet deals and special perks, such as a no-minimum checking account that also pays interest.</p>
<p>And that's on top of the better loan rates and fewer bank fees offered by credit unions nationwide, says Bill Cheney, CEO of CUNA. On average, a family saved about $130 last year by using credit unions rather than banks, he says.</p>
<p>"There's a credit union for everyone," Cheney says. "You just have to find it." To see if your university, church or other affiliate has a credit union, visit aSmarterChoice.org.</p>
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<p>Before plunking down your money, make sure the credit union's deposits are insured by the National Credit Union Administration.</p>
<p>As you research credit unions as a banking alternative, check out these five types of credit unions worth considering.</p>
<p>Tap Your Alma Mater</p>
<p>Are you a university alumnus? Then chances are good that your university offers a credit union open to its alumni, faculty, students and even nearby residents.</p>
<p>At the University of Southern California Credit Union in Los Angeles, students, alumni and staff can use the credit union's three on-campus branches. "Students come here to establish credit," says Gary Perez, CEO of USC Credit Union. "We offer free unlimited checking and premium points on deposits."</p>
<p>Other USC student services include: financial workshops, student loans and account packages. Los Angeles residents are also welcome.</p>
<p>And the USC credit union serves University of Maine students, faculty, employees and some local residents. It even offers a "Tunes+" checking account, with which you can earn credits for free iTunes downloads.</p>
<p>Credit Unions in the Community</p>
<p>Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, are aimed at low- to moderate-income people.</p>
<p>Many of these credit unions are interested in economic justice, says Pamela Owens, vice president of programs for the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. Their designation allows them to apply for special government grants to open multiple branches in hard-hit communities, she says. They can offer affordable mortgages or special, matching savings accounts.</p>
<p>For example, at Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca, N.Y., a member can get free tax preparation and a seven-week financial education course. The credit union has offered savings accounts that members can open with a $5 minimum deposit. The individual development accounts also match your savings deposits when you're working toward a long-term goal, such as owning a home or opening a business.</p>
<p>The Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union in New York also offers free tax preparation, financial counseling and has offered a savings account that could be opened with just $30.</p>
<p>"These credit unions are more apt to work with people, such as helping you with credit repair so you can raise your score," Owens says.</p>
<p>Going Green at Your Credit Union</p>
<p>Why not be rewarded for going green? More credit unions are carrying the message and rewarding consumers.</p>
<p>Take Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa, Calif. The credit union hosts green workshops, offers members paperless alternatives such as e-statements and provides loan discounts for hybrid cars.</p>
<p>"We know sustainable practices are important to our community," Redwood Credit Union spokeswoman Traci Thylin Bocci says.</p>
<p>Other credit unions are joining the green ranks. Founded in 2000, the Permaculture Credit Union in Santa Fe, N.M., focuses on funding green initiates. As of February 2013, it has handed out 685 loans totaling $15.2 million to support sustainable living projects such as loans for energy-saving cars, give microloans to farmers and educate the public on permaculture, which is a design principle that promotes self-sustaining ecosystems.</p>
<p>Saying 'Amen' to Credit Unions</p>
<p>Church-linked credit unions want to save your soul and your money. Run independently from their affiliated churches, these credit unions have great deals for their members.</p>
<p>And some have expanded to serve their communities. For example, St. Mary's Credit Union in Marlborough, Mass., founded in 1913, has offered members in Middlesex and Worcester counties no-fee checking accounts and "Statement Savings" accounts that could be opened with a $10 minimum deposit, and both paid interest.</p>
<p>Others continue serving a very specific membership group. The Alliance Catholic Credit Union in Ann Arbor, Mich., serves dozens of Catholic parishes and has offered 48-month auto loans at less than 2%, along with debit and credit cards.</p>
<p>"Many of these credit unions were opened over 40 years ago. They were the only institutions willing to lend to the community," says Owens. "Now, you get the same great perks as other credit unions."</p>
<p>The only drawback is that some church credit unions are very small. "They may not have ATMs or offer cash transactions," she says.</p>
<p>Marching With the Military</p>
<p>Military credit unions pull out the stops for their members.</p>
<p>Take the Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va. Its 4 million members are or have been active members of all branches of the military. And 75 of the credit unions' 229 offices are located on bases worldwide.</p>
<p>"We know military people's unique needs," says Jeanette Mack, a spokeswoman for the Navy Federal Credit Union. "This is where military people belong."</p>
<p>For example, the credit union's Active Duty Checking has offered military members deals such as getting their pay a day early and receiving up to $20 in fee rebates every month, she says. There's also 100% mortgage financing for first-time homebuyers and up to $2,500 in closing cost reimbursements. "You can practically come to the table with nothing," Mack says.</p>
<p>Conversely, Service Credit Union in Portsmouth, N.H., has offered free checking accounts with no minimum deposit and other banking perks such as 24-hour banking, free bill pay and rewards debit cards to its members.</p> | true | 0 | credit unions come many flavors continue reading credit unions come stripes colors currently 7200 credit unions us according credit union national association communityrelated church university even military branch may offer credit union sweet deals special perks nominimum checking account also pays interest thats top better loan rates fewer bank fees offered credit unions nationwide says bill cheney ceo cuna average family saved 130 last year using credit unions rather banks says theres credit union everyone cheney says find see university church affiliate credit union visit asmarterchoiceorg advertisement plunking money make sure credit unions deposits insured national credit union administration research credit unions banking alternative check five types credit unions worth considering tap alma mater university alumnus chances good university offers credit union open alumni faculty students even nearby residents university southern california credit union los angeles students alumni staff use credit unions three oncampus branches students come establish credit says gary perez ceo usc credit union offer free unlimited checking premium points deposits usc student services include financial workshops student loans account packages los angeles residents also welcome usc credit union serves university maine students faculty employees local residents even offers tunes checking account earn credits free itunes downloads credit unions community community development financial institutions cdfis aimed low moderateincome people many credit unions interested economic justice says pamela owens vice president programs national federation community development credit unions designation allows apply special government grants open multiple branches hardhit communities says offer affordable mortgages special matching savings accounts example alternatives federal credit union ithaca ny member get free tax preparation sevenweek financial education course credit union offered savings accounts members open 5 minimum deposit individual development accounts also match savings deposits youre working toward longterm goal owning home opening business lower east side peoples federal credit union new york also offers free tax preparation financial counseling offered savings account could opened 30 credit unions apt work people helping credit repair raise score owens says going green credit union rewarded going green credit unions carrying message rewarding consumers take redwood credit union santa rosa calif credit union hosts green workshops offers members paperless alternatives estatements provides loan discounts hybrid cars know sustainable practices important community redwood credit union spokeswoman traci thylin bocci says credit unions joining green ranks founded 2000 permaculture credit union santa fe nm focuses funding green initiates february 2013 handed 685 loans totaling 152 million support sustainable living projects loans energysaving cars give microloans farmers educate public permaculture design principle promotes selfsustaining ecosystems saying amen credit unions churchlinked credit unions want save soul money run independently affiliated churches credit unions great deals members expanded serve communities example st marys credit union marlborough mass founded 1913 offered members middlesex worcester counties nofee checking accounts statement savings accounts could opened 10 minimum deposit paid interest others continue serving specific membership group alliance catholic credit union ann arbor mich serves dozens catholic parishes offered 48month auto loans less 2 along debit credit cards many credit unions opened 40 years ago institutions willing lend community says owens get great perks credit unions drawback church credit unions small may atms offer cash transactions says marching military military credit unions pull stops members take navy federal credit union vienna va 4 million members active members branches military 75 credit unions 229 offices located bases worldwide know military peoples unique needs says jeanette mack spokeswoman navy federal credit union military people belong example credit unions active duty checking offered military members deals getting pay day early receiving 20 fee rebates every month says theres also 100 mortgage financing firsttime homebuyers 2500 closing cost reimbursements practically come table nothing mack says conversely service credit union portsmouth nh offered free checking accounts minimum deposit banking perks 24hour banking free bill pay rewards debit cards members | 628 |
<p>The Awful Reality Of Hell You Don't Have To Go There</p>
<p>By Geoffrey Grider � September 5, 2011</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: " <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&amp;c=25" type="external">Matthew 25:41</a></p>
<p>Let me also tell you this - It's LOVE that constrains us to tell people they are lost and headed for Hell if they don't know Jesus Christ, not hate. Hate says nothing. You can quote me on that. <a href="javascript:;" type="external" /></p>
<p>There Is No End to the Eternity of Hell</p>
<p>Perhaps you've been taught that Hell, while horrible, is only temporary, and that the sinner who finds themselves there has a way of escape either through the prayers of the living or by some penitence that could be performed on their behalf. Let me assure you in the strongest possible terms that Hell, once arrived at, has no means of escape. "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mar&amp;c=9" type="external">Mark 9: 43-49</a></p>
<p>Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives [his] mark on his forehead or on his hand, "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.</p>
<p>"And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Revelation&amp;c=14&amp;t=NKJV" type="external">Revelation 14:9,10</a></p>
<p>The Rich Man and Lazarus Jesus shows us in the bible an actual story - not a parable - about what happens to both the saved and unsaved person when they die. The following is what actually happens to the person who has to pay for their own sins because they rejected Jesus' free gift of salvation. I pray, dear reader, that this is not you!</p>
<p>"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.</p>
<p>And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.</p>
<p>But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.</p>
<p>Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.</p>
<p>And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. " <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Luk&amp;c=16" type="external">Luke 16:19-31</a></p>
<p>You will pay careful attention to the facts that, in Hell, the rich man still had his eyesight, all his senses, and all his human desires. He would have given everything he had for just a single glass of water, and yet, there was no way for his desire to be satisfied. And so shall it be for the unbeliever in Hell - all of your desires and needs, but absolutely no way to have them fulfilled. The bible has this to say about the awesomeness of what is waiting in Heaven for those who trust Christ:</p>
<p>"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=1cr&amp;c=2" type="external">1 Corinthians 2:9</a></p>
<p>But you can easily apply that teaching to Hell and rightly conclude that Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for the Devil and his angels in Hell. How bad will Hell truly be? Bad beyond my ability to tell it, and bad beyond your ability to imagine it. But this video gives an excellent preview of just how bad it might be. Watch...if you dare...</p>
<p>Some famous last words of Saints and Sinners taken from 'All The Last Words Of Saints And Sinners' by Herbert Lockyer</p>
<p>You don't have to go to Hell!</p>
<p>Our sins have seperated us from a righteous and holy God, but in His Mercy and love towards us He has made a way of escape for all those who seek it. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 5: 8-10</a></p>
<p>"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 6:23</a> "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Hebrews 9:27</a></p>
<p />
<p>Jesus Christ is God's Provision for Your Sinful Condition. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">John 3:16</a></p>
<p>You Can Be Saved--Right Now. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 10: 9-10</a> Pray and ask the Lord, "Lord Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner, and save me. I now, with a repentant heart, receive you as my personal Saviour". "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Romans 10:13</a></p>
<p>"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Act&amp;c=16" type="external">Acts 16:30,31</a> The bible says that TODAY is the day of salvation, and the mere fact that you are right now reading this page is proof that God is talking to YOU, and drawing you closer to Him. NTEB asks you to take hold of His free gift to you, and receive an eternal forgiveness for your sins.</p>
<p>There may not be a tomorrow, accept Him today. Jesus paid the ultimate price so you wouldn't have to. The Old and New Testaments bear witness to The One that was to come, who would be the Ma'schiac, the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled every, single Old Testament prophecy of Who the Messiah would be. And He is the only One able to pay for your sins. Listen as the prophet Isaiah describes the agony of Jesus on the cross, having the full wrath of God the Father poured out on Him.</p>
<p>"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53: 3-6</p>
<p>Hope for the backslider, too</p>
<p>Dear brother or sister, maybe you do already know Jesus Christ as your Saviour, but you've allowed your love for Him to grow cold. Maybe you have left your 'first love', and are back out in the world, enjoying the pleasure of sin for a season. There is hope for you too.</p>
<p>"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;b=Luk&amp;c=15&amp;v=1&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" type="external">Luke 15:13</a></p>
<p>When the prodigal son took his inheritance and went out to revel in sin, the first thing he had to do was to leave his father's house. The father would not keep him there against his will, that's not love. If you, as a believer in Jesus, backslide and go out into the world, you are free to do so. The son wanted to go join the world, the father whom we can imagine with tears in his eyes, let him go have at it. And Luke goes on to describe the sins that the son fell into. But all the while that the son was engaged in sin, he lost the sweet, intimate fellowship he had with his father. But when did he stop being his father's son? Never.</p>
<p>We all know the story...he spends all his money on booze, whores, nightclubs, dancing and whatever else he could find, until he has nothing. His new-found friends turn on him, he's broke, hungry, and winds up feeding the pigs when all of a sudden he has an idea -</p>
<p>"And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;b=Luk&amp;c=15&amp;v=1&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" type="external">Luke 15:17-19</a></p>
<p>What's his great idea? To return to where is is truly and eternally loved...in his father's house. So he shakes the dust off and returns at full speed to find his father. And what does he find when he gets back to his father's house? He finds this -</p>
<p>"And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;b=Luk&amp;c=15&amp;v=1&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" type="external">Luke 15:20</a> He ran back to find his father only to discover that the father was already looking for him to return, and when he did come back it was a joyous reunion with a full restoration of fellowship. But he lost a few things along the way. He took his inheritance and wasted it. He lost his testimony. And he lost all that time that he could have been with his father. But he did not lose his position as his father's son, that is eternally secure. Another reason that the true believer in Jesus Christ knows that eternal security is not a license to sin is the Judgment Seat of Christ.</p>
<p>"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;b=2Cr&amp;c=5&amp;v=1&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" type="external">2 Corinthians 5:10,11</a></p>
<p>When we stand before the Lord, we will be judged on how we lived our lives, the things we said and the things we did, as it says in Matthew -</p>
<p>"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;b=Mat&amp;c=12&amp;v=1&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" type="external">Matthew 12:36</a></p>
<p>The bible says that even as saved Christians, we will sin again. But the Christian who falls into a sin is sealed, and while they may lose fellowship with the Lord, like the prodigal they remain sons and daughters of the Father. Charles Spurgeon said it like this -</p>
<p>The Father's Love for His son</p>
<p>"When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him." It was not with icy eyes that the father looked on his returning son. Love leaped into them, and as he beheld him, he "had compassion on him"; that is, he felt for him. There was no anger in his heart toward his son; he had nothing but pity for his poor boy, who had got into such a pitiable condition. It was true that it was all his own fault, but that did not come before his father's mind. It was the state that he was in, his poverty, his degradation, that pale face of his so wan with hunger, that touched his father to the quick. And God has compassion on the woes and miseries of men.</p>
<p>They may have brought their troubles on themselves, and they have indeed done so; but nevertheless God has compassion upon them. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not." We read that the father "ran." The compassion of God is followed by swift movements. He is slow to anger, but He is quick to bless. He does not take any time to consider how He shall show His love to penitent prodigals; that was all done long ago in the eternal covenant. He has no need to prepare for their return to Him; that was done on Calvary. God comes flying in the greatness of His compassion to help every poor penitent soul." <a href="http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2236.htm" type="external">Spurgeon Archive</a></p>
<p>It is the heart's desire of every blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ to live right, think right, do right and be right. But when we fall short, as we all will do to varying degrees, the bible assures and reassures us that our loving, Heavenly Father is waiting for us with kisses, and full restoration to fellowship with Him, if we will only repent of the sin that dragged us down, and run with all abandon back to the Father's house.</p>
<p>Jesus is comng again</p>
<p>Even though it has been nearly 2,000 years since Jesus said He would return, the promise that He made to return for His church and take us to heaven is stronger now than ever. If you are not saved, then cry out to Him and get saved! If you are a believer in a backslidden state, then CHANGE it now, while yet you live. TODAY is the day of salvation. Jesus IS near to all those who call upon Him.</p>
<p />
<p>"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.</p>
<p>Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?</p>
<p>Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?t=KJV&amp;b=Jhn&amp;c=14&amp;v=1&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" type="external">John 14:1-6</a></p>
<p /> WARNING!! Jesus Christ is God's Provision for Your Sinful Condition. You Can Be Saved--Right Now. | true | 0 | awful reality hell dont go geoffrey grider september 5 2011 160 shall say also unto left hand depart ye cursed everlasting fire prepared devil angels matthew 2541 let also tell love constrains us tell people lost headed hell dont know jesus christ hate hate says nothing quote end eternity hell perhaps youve taught hell horrible temporary sinner finds way escape either prayers living penitence could performed behalf let assure strongest possible terms hell arrived means escape thy hand offend thee cut better thee enter life maimed two hands go hell fire never shall quenched worm dieth fire quenched thy foot offend thee cut better thee enter halt life two feet cast hell fire never shall quenched worm dieth fire quenched thine eye offend thee pluck better thee enter kingdom god one eye two eyes cast hell fire worm dieth fire quenched every one shall salted fire every sacrifice shall salted salt mark 9 4349 third angel followed saying loud voice anyone worships beast image receives mark forehead hand shall also drink wine wrath god poured full strength cup indignation shall tormented fire brimstone presence holy angels presence lamb smoke torment ascends forever ever rest day night worship beast image whoever receives mark name revelation 14910 rich man lazarus jesus shows us bible actual story parable happens saved unsaved person die following actually happens person pay sins rejected jesus free gift salvation pray dear reader certain rich man clothed purple fine linen fared sumptuously every day certain beggar named lazarus laid gate full sores desiring fed crumbs fell rich mans table moreover dogs came licked sores came pass beggar died carried angels abrahams bosom rich man also died buried hell lift eyes torments seeth abraham afar lazarus bosom cried said father abraham mercy send lazarus may dip tip finger water cool tongue tormented flame abraham said son remember thou thy lifetime receivedst thy good things likewise lazarus evil things comforted thou art tormented beside us great gulf fixed would pass hence neither pass us would come thence said pray thee therefore father thou wouldest send fathers house five brethren may testify unto lest also come place torment abraham saith unto moses prophets let hear said nay father abraham one went unto dead repent said unto hear moses prophets neither persuaded though one rose dead luke 161931 pay careful attention facts hell rich man still eyesight senses human desires would given everything single glass water yet way desire satisfied shall unbeliever hell desires needs absolutely way fulfilled bible say awesomeness waiting heaven trust christ written eye hath seen ear heard neither entered heart man things god hath prepared love 1 corinthians 29 easily apply teaching hell rightly conclude eye hath seen ear heard neither entered heart man things god hath prepared devil angels hell bad hell truly bad beyond ability tell bad beyond ability imagine video gives excellent preview bad might watchif dare famous last words saints sinners taken last words saints sinners herbert lockyer dont go hell sins seperated us righteous holy god mercy love towards us made way escape seek god commendeth love toward us yet sinners christ died us much justified blood shall saved wrath enemies reconciled god death son much reconciled shall saved life romans 5 810 wages sin death gift god eternal life jesus christ lord romans 623 appointed unto men die judgment hebrews 927 jesus christ gods provision sinful condition god loved world gave begotten son whosoever believeth perish everlasting life john 316 savedright thou shalt confess thy mouth lord jesus shalt believe thine heart god hath raised dead thou shalt saved heart man believeth unto righteousness mouth confession made unto salvation romans 10 910 pray ask lord lord jesus merciful sinner save repentant heart receive personal saviour whosoever shall call upon name lord shall saved romans 1013 brought said sirs must saved said believe lord jesus christ thou shalt saved thy house acts 163031 bible says today day salvation mere fact right reading page proof god talking drawing closer nteb asks take hold free gift receive eternal forgiveness sins may tomorrow accept today jesus paid ultimate price wouldnt old new testaments bear witness one come would maschiac messiah jesus fulfilled every single old testament prophecy messiah would one able pay sins listen prophet isaiah describes agony jesus cross full wrath god father poured despised rejected men man sorrows acquainted grief hid faces despised esteemed surely hath borne griefs carried sorrows yet esteem stricken smitten god afflicted wounded transgressions bruised iniquities chastisement peace upon stripes healed like sheep gone astray turned every one way lord hath laid iniquity us isaiah 53 36 hope backslider dear brother sister maybe already know jesus christ saviour youve allowed love grow cold maybe left first love back world enjoying pleasure sin season hope many days younger son gathered together took journey far country wasted substance riotous living luke 1513 prodigal son took inheritance went revel sin first thing leave fathers house father would keep thats love believer jesus backslide go world free son wanted go join world father imagine tears eyes let go luke goes describe sins son fell son engaged sin lost sweet intimate fellowship father stop fathers son never know storyhe spends money booze whores nightclubs dancing whatever else could find nothing newfound friends turn hes broke hungry winds feeding pigs sudden idea came said many hired servants fathers bread enough spare perish hunger arise go father say unto father sinned heaven thee worthy called thy son make one thy hired servants luke 151719 whats great idea return truly eternally lovedin fathers house shakes dust returns full speed find father find gets back fathers house finds arose came father yet great way father saw compassion ran fell neck kissed luke 1520 ran back find father discover father already looking return come back joyous reunion full restoration fellowship lost things along way took inheritance wasted lost testimony lost time could father lose position fathers son eternally secure another reason true believer jesus christ knows eternal security license sin judgment seat christ must appear judgment seat christ every one may receive things done body according hath done whether good bad knowing therefore terror lord persuade men made manifest unto god trust also made manifest consciences 2 corinthians 51011 stand lord judged lived lives things said things says matthew say unto every idle word men shall speak shall give account thereof day judgment matthew 1236 bible says even saved christians sin christian falls sin sealed may lose fellowship lord like prodigal remain sons daughters father charles spurgeon said like fathers love son yet great way father saw icy eyes father looked returning son love leaped beheld compassion felt anger heart toward son nothing pity poor boy got pitiable condition true fault come fathers mind state poverty degradation pale face wan hunger touched father quick god compassion woes miseries men may brought troubles indeed done nevertheless god compassion upon lords mercies consumed compassions fail read father ran compassion god followed swift movements slow anger quick bless take time consider shall show love penitent prodigals done long ago eternal covenant need prepare return done calvary god comes flying greatness compassion help every poor penitent soul spurgeon archive hearts desire every bloodbought believer jesus christ live right think right right right fall short varying degrees bible assures reassures us loving heavenly father waiting us kisses full restoration fellowship repent sin dragged us run abandon back fathers house jesus comng even though nearly 2000 years since jesus said would return promise made return church take us heaven stronger ever saved cry get saved believer backslidden state change yet live today day salvation jesus near call upon let heart troubled ye believe god believe also fathers house many mansions would told go prepare place go prepare place come receive unto ye may also whither go ye know way ye know thomas saith unto lord know whither thou goest know way jesus saith unto way truth life man cometh unto father john 1416 warning jesus christ gods provision sinful condition savedright | 1,334 |
<p>Billionaire investors like Warren Buffett have shown that investing doesn't have to be fancy to work. Doing something as simple as buying and holding high-quality companies trading at a discount to their perceived future valuation can many times lead to a handsome return.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we asked three of our Foolish investors to suggest a high-quality company that's taken a recent dip that could be a perfect addition to long-term investors' portfolios. Rising to the top of the list were coal producer Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP), logistics giant UPS (NYSE: UPS), and video game developer and publisher Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a> (Alliance Resource Partners): Coal may not be anywhere near the top of investors' buy lists, but limited-partnership Alliance Resource Partners looks to be one solid stock that could be picked up on the cheap after a rough end to the second quarter.</p>
<p>The problems with the coal industry are well documented. Supply has been high for some time, which has weighed on the sales price for coal. Meanwhile, unbridled expansion left many coal companies mired in debt and unable to dig themselves out. All the while, the U.S. had pushed for more stringent air-quality standards, putting the future of coal in doubt, and alternative forms of energy, such as solar, have become more efficient and cheaper. It's no wonder we've witnessed some of Alliance Resource Partners' peers go belly up.</p>
<p>But Alliance Resource Partners is a completely different beast. To begin with, its balance sheet is in far better shape since its management team chose to expand production with fiscal prudence in mind. At the end of the first quarter, the company had $625 million in debt, or about $537 million in net debt. With its peers, we're often talking about net debt in the billions. Further, the company has generated $800 million operating cash flow, and $710 million in free cash flow, over the trailing 12-month period. Its debt really isn't a concern, which is great news for investors.</p>
<p>Alliance Resource Partners' business approach has also been a source of strength. The company has always focused on securing long-term production and price commitments from its customers. It has 35.5 million tons secured for price in 2017, as well as 19 million tons in 2018, 9.1 million tons in 2019, and 4.3 million tons in 2020.&#160;The more production it gets locked in ahead of time, the less exposure it faces to wholesale price fluctuations.</p>
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<p>The coal industry may also be on the verge of a boost from President Trump. If the Trump administration does wind up relaxing emission standards for the coal industry, and we see a rebound in natural gas prices, coal could become an attractive energy source for electric utilities once again.</p>
<p>Finally, hanging onto a rock-solid limited partnership like Alliance Resource Partners means receiving a <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/01/3-rock-solid-high-yield-dividend-stocks-with-a-pe.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">superior dividend Opens a New Window.</a>. Based on the current quarterly distribution of $0.4375, investors are racking up a 9% annual yield, which alone could double your investment (assuming no dividend cuts) in less than nine years. Alliance Resource Partners' recent swoon looks like a perfect opportunity for long-term investors.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSigma/activity.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Demitri Kalogeropoulos Opens a New Window.</a> (UPS): Package delivery giant UPS is trailing the market by a wide margin this year. Meanwhile, the underlying business is performing just fine. Revenue ticked higher across each of its operating segments in the most recent quarter, leading to a healthy overall boost of 7.5%. Profit growth was a modest 4%, but would have been higher if not for an unusually large fuel surcharge.</p>
<p>UPS is playing an important role in speeding the consumer transition into online shopping. Surging e-commerce volume helped push sales higher in the U.S. last quarter even as a rate hike improved average prices. UPS also saw strong contributions from its international business and booming demand in the freight segment.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/30/5-takeaways-from-fedex-corporation.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Spiking capital expenditures Opens a New Window.</a> have Wall Street worried about UPS' profit outlook. For example, the company is spending aggressively to add 17 massive facilities to its U.S. delivery network this year. It also recently added Saturday pickup and delivery to 5 new major markets.</p>
<p>Investors with a long-term focus can see that cash outlay for what it really is: a down payment on future growth. By bulking up its capacity and employing cutting-edge technology including automation to boost efficiency, UPS is ensuring that its delivery infrastructure will be robust enough to pair increased convenience with higher processing volumes. A world-class network like that takes time -- and plenty of cash -- to build. But the potential payoff is huge given the rate at which consumers are abandoning shopping trips in favor of picking up packages right at their doorstep.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTwoCoins/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Daniel Miller Opens a New Window.</a> (Activision Blizzard):&#160;Whether you're an avid gamer, an avid investor, or some combination of the two, you've probably heard of Activision Blizzard. The gaming company was formed in 2008 as a merger between one of the largest console video game publishers (Activision) and one of the largest PC video game publishers (Blizzard), and the stock has been on fire after a series of video game hits.</p>
<p>During the first-quarter, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/09/why-activision-blizzard-inc-stock-has-skyrocketed.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">when the company obliterated expectations Opens a New Window.</a>, its monthly active users (MAUs) hit 431 million across its collection of gaming franchises. In fact, the company has eight $1 billion-plus gaming franchises. Those franchises include Call of Duty, Destiny, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch and Starcraft, just to name a handful. Overwatch alone helped push Activision's results higher as it was the fastest ever game to reach 25 million players; the company's revenue grew more than 48% higher during the first-quarter to top $2 billion.</p>
<p>One reason Activision remains promising is its ability to engage gamers after the initial game sale, and it's still in the early innings of maximizing that potential with games such as Destiny that hardly tested in-game purchases for items. In game purchases as well as downloadable content and expansions help keep games fresh for much longer which increases player engagement and revenue generated -- a virtuous cycle.</p>
<p>The only downside of owning shares of Activision right now is that the company's shares trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 42x. That's pricey because many investors are hopping on the gaming bandwagon, but if it goes on sale anytime soon it could be a great time to buy into the gaming scene that is surely here for the long-term.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than United Parcel ServiceWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f19abb3b-fd49-4224-862a-b8180d7a6d01&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and United Parcel Service wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f19abb3b-fd49-4224-862a-b8180d7a6d01&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTwoCoins/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Daniel Miller Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSigma/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Demitrios Kalogeropoulos Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Activision Blizzard. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Activision Blizzard. The Motley Fool recommends Alliance Resource Partners. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=76d510a2-65c6-11e7-a82a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | billionaire investors like warren buffett shown investing doesnt fancy work something simple buying holding highquality companies trading discount perceived future valuation many times lead handsome return mind asked three foolish investors suggest highquality company thats taken recent dip could perfect addition longterm investors portfolios rising top list coal producer alliance resource partners nasdaq arlp logistics giant ups nyse ups video game developer publisher activision blizzard nasdaq atvi continue reading sean williams opens new window alliance resource partners coal may anywhere near top investors buy lists limitedpartnership alliance resource partners looks one solid stock could picked cheap rough end second quarter problems coal industry well documented supply high time weighed sales price coal meanwhile unbridled expansion left many coal companies mired debt unable dig us pushed stringent airquality standards putting future coal doubt alternative forms energy solar become efficient cheaper wonder weve witnessed alliance resource partners peers go belly alliance resource partners completely different beast begin balance sheet far better shape since management team chose expand production fiscal prudence mind end first quarter company 625 million debt 537 million net debt peers often talking net debt billions company generated 800 million operating cash flow 710 million free cash flow trailing 12month period debt really isnt concern great news investors alliance resource partners business approach also source strength company always focused securing longterm production price commitments customers 355 million tons secured price 2017 well 19 million tons 2018 91 million tons 2019 43 million tons 2020160the production gets locked ahead time less exposure faces wholesale price fluctuations advertisement coal industry may also verge boost president trump trump administration wind relaxing emission standards coal industry see rebound natural gas prices coal could become attractive energy source electric utilities finally hanging onto rocksolid limited partnership like alliance resource partners means receiving superior dividend opens new window based current quarterly distribution 04375 investors racking 9 annual yield alone could double investment assuming dividend cuts less nine years alliance resource partners recent swoon looks like perfect opportunity longterm investors demitri kalogeropoulos opens new window ups package delivery giant ups trailing market wide margin year meanwhile underlying business performing fine revenue ticked higher across operating segments recent quarter leading healthy overall boost 75 profit growth modest 4 would higher unusually large fuel surcharge ups playing important role speeding consumer transition online shopping surging ecommerce volume helped push sales higher us last quarter even rate hike improved average prices ups also saw strong contributions international business booming demand freight segment spiking capital expenditures opens new window wall street worried ups profit outlook example company spending aggressively add 17 massive facilities us delivery network year also recently added saturday pickup delivery 5 new major markets investors longterm focus see cash outlay really payment future growth bulking capacity employing cuttingedge technology including automation boost efficiency ups ensuring delivery infrastructure robust enough pair increased convenience higher processing volumes worldclass network like takes time plenty cash build potential payoff huge given rate consumers abandoning shopping trips favor picking packages right doorstep daniel miller opens new window activision blizzard160whether youre avid gamer avid investor combination two youve probably heard activision blizzard gaming company formed 2008 merger one largest console video game publishers activision one largest pc video game publishers blizzard stock fire series video game hits firstquarter company obliterated expectations opens new window monthly active users maus hit 431 million across collection gaming franchises fact company eight 1 billionplus gaming franchises franchises include call duty destiny world warcraft diablo overwatch starcraft name handful overwatch alone helped push activisions results higher fastest ever game reach 25 million players companys revenue grew 48 higher firstquarter top 2 billion one reason activision remains promising ability engage gamers initial game sale still early innings maximizing potential games destiny hardly tested ingame purchases items game purchases well downloadable content expansions help keep games fresh much longer increases player engagement revenue generated virtuous cycle downside owning shares activision right companys shares trade pricetoearnings ratio 42x thats pricey many investors hopping gaming bandwagon goes sale anytime soon could great time buy gaming scene surely longterm 10 stocks like better united parcel servicewhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right united parcel service wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns july 6 2017 daniel miller opens new window position stocks mentioned demitrios kalogeropoulos opens new window owns shares activision blizzard sean williams opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends activision blizzard motley fool recommends alliance resource partners motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 783 |
<p><a href="//videos/37/64843" type="external" /></p>
<p>RUSH: By the way, folks, just as I predicted, a bunch of liberals, a bunch of leftists have started learning what is in net neutrality, and they are unhappy. The <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/gordon-crovitz-liberals-mugged-by-obamanet-1425252804" type="external">Wall Street Journal</a> has a headline: “Liberals Mugged by Obamanet — Buyer’s remorse is already setting in for Google and other ‘net neutrality’ proponents.” You know what the one thing that none of these people ever figured on? None of them, none of these leftists ever dreamed Obama would do what they have now discovered is part of net neutrality.</p>
<p>That is: The Regime is going to regulate content.</p>
<p>They all thought the Regime was simply gonna punish the ISPs (the Internet Service Providers) and the telecoms for all of the throttling or for fast-lane preference to the highest-paying customers, and freezing out the little guy trying to stream whatever perversion he’s watching on Netflix tonight. Instead the Regime is going to regular content. Exactly as I, El Rushbo, predicted to you.</p>
<p>Speaking of Google, have you seen what they want to do with their search results now? Google search results now return the most popular results. Like if you go out and search “perversion and depravity in Hollywood,” just to pick a subject — or, in other words, House of Cards. If you go search that, you’ll get a list of articles based on how many clicks those articles have received. So the Google search results have nothing to do with content, per se.</p>
<p>I think they do. The Google guys tinker with this behind the scenes. But nevertheless, what you are seeing in a Google search result is popularity coupled with the Google guys’ preference. I mean, you’re never gonna see RushLimbaugh.com at the top of anything unless I’m in trouble, for example. But <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2975796/Google-rank-search-results-based-accuracy-web-pages.html" type="external">Google has now decided to change it</a>. Get this. “Google wants their search results to be based on the sites that are the most factual.” (interruption) No. No, no.</p>
<p>You might think, “Well, hey, Rush, you know it’s about time. Somebody needs to police Internet for what’s right and wrong out there!” Wait a second. Who gets to decide what’s factual? I’ll give you one subject. Look at global warming. I guarantee you that everybody in Google thinks it’s real; that man’s causing it. Google believes every bit of liberal drivel, propaganda about it. By the same token, anybody who doesn’t, anybody considered a “denier,” will never, ever be revealed in a Google search.</p>
<p>If indeed they get to determine what you get returned on a search based on “factual content,” who gets to decide what’s right and wrong? Facts are not facts anymore, particularly in politics. So whose facts? Who gets to determine that? That’s what Google wants to do. Now, it’s not just something I guess they can automatically do. I’ll get into more detail here as the program unfolds. The basic point here is that a bunch of leftists are starting to get it.</p>
<p>It’s slowly starting to dribble out.</p>
<p>They still haven’t released these pages. They still haven’t released the 302 pages of what net neutrality is, but some people who know what’s in there are starting to leak it. So the details are slowly becoming known, and people are getting very, very worried. Like there is the ability for Obama — the Regime, administration, government, regulatory agencies — to regulate content. I knew it. I had a conversation with some people about this years ago.</p>
<p>The big concern from opponents of net neutrality was just that, that what was actually being set up here was a government regulatory agency that would police content and make sure that every point of view had equal access. It would be the same thing as if the government could regulate cable TV. Here’s Fox News at #1, and MSNBC at #25. “Well, that’s not fair! That’s not neutral. That’s not equal.”</p>
<p>So if there were a government agency that could regulate the audiences for Fox News, they would see to it that Fox lost some audience and that MSNBC picked some up. That’s what they want to do with the Internet. That’s what net neutrality is, and none of the proponents even gave that a thought. They all thought it was about getting even with big corporate interests and punishing them. They all thought it was about fast lanes and the last mile and all this gobbledygook about equalizing things for the little guy.</p>
<p>What it really is, is the government empowered to punish points of view it doesn’t agree with, and that is slowly being learned.</p>
<p>It’s being discovered.</p>
<p>It’s trickling out — and they’re very, very much worried about it.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: Okay. We’re gonna start on the phones. Peoria, Illinois. This is Brandon, Brandon, I’m glad you called. It’s great to have you with us on the EIB Network. Hello, sir.</p>
<p>CALLER: How you doing, Rush?</p>
<p>RUSH: Fine. Very well. Thank you.</p>
<p>CALLER: So I just barely caught the tail end of your conversation with the Google search results, and I wanted to weigh in a little bit for you. I am a software engineer out in Peoria here, and —</p>
<p>RUSH: Okay, before you get started, since you caught the tail end, the important thing that I want you to hear, Google wants to change its search results and now wants to rank websites based on facts and not number of links, number of hits.</p>
<p>CALLER: Okay.</p>
<p>RUSH: Okay.</p>
<p>CALLER: Did they explain at all how they determine facts versus —</p>
<p>RUSH: No, they haven’t gotten that far yet. They know that’s an open-ended — facts, who’s gonna define the facts? But they want to set up algorithms for this stuff, obviously.</p>
<p>CALLER: Right, right. What I want to weigh in, I’ve done some research with search algorithms and stuff, and as big as Google is, they literally would not be able to come up with the manpower to determine fact against fact —</p>
<p>RUSH: That doesn’t matter —</p>
<p>CALLER: — algorithms —</p>
<p>RUSH: You’re making the mistake of taking this seriously.</p>
<p>CALLER: As far as?</p>
<p>RUSH: Assuming that Google’s intent here is exactly what they say, to actually rank this by virtue of fact, liberalism would barely show up in the search results if they’re gonna do that. That’s not what this is about.</p>
<p>CALLER: Right. So you’re saying that they’re just basically trying to push their opinions further up the rankings?</p>
<p>RUSH: This is to legitimize a Google effort to police content based on political preference or scientific preference or whatever and to make sure that things they don’t agree with never are seen in a search return.</p>
<p>CALLER: Right. Honestly, doing the research that I’ve done in the past, it will be utterly impossible for them to even accomplish anything of that feat. They can try and try as hard as they want —</p>
<p>RUSH: Let me ask you a question.</p>
<p>CALLER: Yes.</p>
<p>RUSH: Let me ask you a question since you have experience with this.</p>
<p>CALLER: Sure.</p>
<p>RUSH: Pretend that you have a search site like Google, and that you are an extreme liberal and you don’t want any conservative website returned on any search. And so I go to your search site, I go to the Brandon search and I want to search myself, I put in “Rush Limbaugh,” can you see to it that nothing is returned, that your database has nothing on me, based on the fact — and you say later when somebody says, your search didn’t show anything on Rush Limbaugh. “Well, we have determined that nothing he says is factual, and therefore –“</p>
<p>CALLER: Right.</p>
<p>RUSH: Can you do that?</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, the hard part is basically the entire search algorithm is based on keywords. So they’re gonna be searching on Rush Limbaugh. So there’s gonna be thousands of sites out there, Rush Limbaugh said this, which is maybe derogatory, or Rush Limbaugh said this, which is true.</p>
<p>RUSH: Right. And can’t they simply, on a keyword basis, say do not display anything with the name “Rush Limbaugh” in it? One person could do that. You wouldn’t need an army of people to do that.</p>
<p>CALLER: — which they already do with things like piracy and, you know, porn and things of the such.</p>
<p>RUSH: Well, there’s no question they do.</p>
<p>CALLER: But for them to filter out, you know, half of those keywords is where I’m saying it would be literally impossible for them to accomplish, to push their goals.</p>
<p>RUSH: Would it be impossible to do or impossible to get away with? I just want to be clear on what you’re saying.</p>
<p>CALLER: I kind of think a little bit of both, because even if they did find a way to get away with it, when people started searching Rush Limbaugh and find absolutely no results —</p>
<p>RUSH: Well, I take it back. Right. Okay. That was a bit extreme. They wouldn’t return anything positive. It would be, say, Media Matters would be the number one site that would return things. They can do that now. Hell, they do do that now. On me, global warming, you name it, doesn’t take thousands of people; takes one guy to write that line of code. Anyway, Brandon, I appreciate it. I get his point. I really do.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: You remember when the ChiComs told Google, “Hey, you cannot operate in this country if your search results are gonna show things that are anti the communist government.” And Google said, “Oh, okay, whatever you want,” because China’s such a big market. So Google acquiesced to the ChiComs, the ChiComs run Google search, for the most part. I mean, they don’t control everything, but the point is Google acquiesced to the ChiComs right off the bat. You think they won’t acquiesce to Obama or haven’t already?</p>
<p>I mean, what is this, “miserable failure” as a search term, and the first thing on the list is George Bush and the Bush White House? The search results are already manipulated. I’m sure they are with global warming and all these other things, which makes it kind of curious here that Google wants to now make this whole thing official by claiming search results are now rooted in fact. They want to rank based on whether they think the page contains falsehoods. They want to rank based on factual content rather than popularity, how popular your page is. That’s what most people think a search return is. If you ask any question on a search — it’s interesting, you know, my brother asked me today what time doe Netanyahu’s speech begin tomorrow before Congress, and I didn’t know.</p>
<p>So I thought, you know what, I’m gonna find out how these various search options are. So I tried Siri on my iPhone, I got a list of websites. So I went to Google and I put in the question: What time is Netanyahu’s speech before Congress tomorrow? I got Huffing and Puffington Post, I got CNN, I got websites all anti-Netanyahu. Not one of them told me what time the damn speech was. I just got the latest links on the speech from people who were opposed to it. No matter what I searched or where I went.</p>
<p>So I finally said, “Snerdley, call Louie Gohmert’s office, somebody’s gotta know in there what time.” 11 o’clock tomorrow. Perfect timing. I’m sure that Bibi got together with Boehner and said, “Look, I gotta be finished before Rush starts at noon, and so that’s what’s happened here. So the Netanyahu speech will be 11 o’clock tomorrow morning. It will end sometime prior to noon when the program begins here.</p> | true | 0 | rush way folks predicted bunch liberals bunch leftists started learning net neutrality unhappy wall street journal headline liberals mugged obamanet buyers remorse already setting google net neutrality proponents know one thing none people ever figured none none leftists ever dreamed obama would discovered part net neutrality regime going regulate content thought regime simply gon na punish isps internet service providers telecoms throttling fastlane preference highestpaying customers freezing little guy trying stream whatever perversion hes watching netflix tonight instead regime going regular content exactly el rushbo predicted speaking google seen want search results google search results return popular results like go search perversion depravity hollywood pick subject words house cards go search youll get list articles based many clicks articles received google search results nothing content per se think google guys tinker behind scenes nevertheless seeing google search result popularity coupled google guys preference mean youre never gon na see rushlimbaughcom top anything unless im trouble example google decided change get google wants search results based sites factual interruption might think well hey rush know time somebody needs police internet whats right wrong wait second gets decide whats factual ill give one subject look global warming guarantee everybody google thinks real mans causing google believes every bit liberal drivel propaganda token anybody doesnt anybody considered denier never ever revealed google search indeed get determine get returned search based factual content gets decide whats right wrong facts facts anymore particularly politics whose facts gets determine thats google wants something guess automatically ill get detail program unfolds basic point bunch leftists starting get slowly starting dribble still havent released pages still havent released 302 pages net neutrality people know whats starting leak details slowly becoming known people getting worried like ability obama regime administration government regulatory agencies regulate content knew conversation people years ago big concern opponents net neutrality actually set government regulatory agency would police content make sure every point view equal access would thing government could regulate cable tv heres fox news 1 msnbc 25 well thats fair thats neutral thats equal government agency could regulate audiences fox news would see fox lost audience msnbc picked thats want internet thats net neutrality none proponents even gave thought thought getting even big corporate interests punishing thought fast lanes last mile gobbledygook equalizing things little guy really government empowered punish points view doesnt agree slowly learned discovered trickling theyre much worried break transcript rush okay gon na start phones peoria illinois brandon brandon im glad called great us eib network hello sir caller rush rush fine well thank caller barely caught tail end conversation google search results wanted weigh little bit software engineer peoria rush okay get started since caught tail end important thing want hear google wants change search results wants rank websites based facts number links number hits caller okay rush okay caller explain determine facts versus rush havent gotten far yet know thats openended facts whos gon na define facts want set algorithms stuff obviously caller right right want weigh ive done research search algorithms stuff big google literally would able come manpower determine fact fact rush doesnt matter caller algorithms rush youre making mistake taking seriously caller far rush assuming googles intent exactly say actually rank virtue fact liberalism would barely show search results theyre gon na thats caller right youre saying theyre basically trying push opinions rankings rush legitimize google effort police content based political preference scientific preference whatever make sure things dont agree never seen search return caller right honestly research ive done past utterly impossible even accomplish anything feat try try hard want rush let ask question caller yes rush let ask question since experience caller sure rush pretend search site like google extreme liberal dont want conservative website returned search go search site go brandon search want search put rush limbaugh see nothing returned database nothing based fact say later somebody says search didnt show anything rush limbaugh well determined nothing says factual therefore caller right rush caller well hard part basically entire search algorithm based keywords theyre gon na searching rush limbaugh theres gon na thousands sites rush limbaugh said maybe derogatory rush limbaugh said true rush right cant simply keyword basis say display anything name rush limbaugh one person could wouldnt need army people caller already things like piracy know porn things rush well theres question caller filter know half keywords im saying would literally impossible accomplish push goals rush would impossible impossible get away want clear youre saying caller kind think little bit even find way get away people started searching rush limbaugh find absolutely results rush well take back right okay bit extreme wouldnt return anything positive would say media matters would number one site would return things hell global warming name doesnt take thousands people takes one guy write line code anyway brandon appreciate get point really break transcript rush remember chicoms told google hey operate country search results gon na show things anti communist government google said oh okay whatever want chinas big market google acquiesced chicoms chicoms run google search part mean dont control everything point google acquiesced chicoms right bat think wont acquiesce obama havent already mean miserable failure search term first thing list george bush bush white house search results already manipulated im sure global warming things makes kind curious google wants make whole thing official claiming search results rooted fact want rank based whether think page contains falsehoods want rank based factual content rather popularity popular page thats people think search return ask question search interesting know brother asked today time doe netanyahus speech begin tomorrow congress didnt know thought know im gon na find various search options tried siri iphone got list websites went google put question time netanyahus speech congress tomorrow got huffing puffington post got cnn got websites antinetanyahu one told time damn speech got latest links speech people opposed matter searched went finally said snerdley call louie gohmerts office somebodys got ta know time 11 oclock tomorrow perfect timing im sure bibi got together boehner said look got ta finished rush starts noon thats whats happened netanyahu speech 11 oclock tomorrow morning end sometime prior noon program begins | 1,027 |
<p>While it's tempting to grab your Social Security benefits as soon as you can (woo hoo, easy money!), claiming Social Security benefits at age 62 is not always your best option. When you claim your retirement benefits has a huge impact on how much money you get.</p>
<p>So when should you file for Social Security? It depends -- read on for some tips on how to decide.</p>
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<p>The Social Security Administration has a magic number that it calls " <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/social-security-full-retirement-age.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1657e4de-b43b-11e7-9765-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">full retirement age Opens a New Window.</a>." This number used to be age 65 for everyone; however, if you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age will be 67. If you were born between 1938 and 1959, your full retirement age will fall somewhere between age 65 and age 67 (see the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/retirechart.html" type="external">Social Security website Opens a New Window.</a> for your exact full retirement age if you fall into this group).</p>
<p>Anyone can claim Social Security benefits once they reach age 62, but claiming Social Security before full retirement age comes with consequences. The earlier you claim Social Security, the smaller your benefits checks will be -- permanently. On the other hand, if you wait until after full retirement age to claim your benefits, you'll get " <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/14/social-securitys-delayed-retirement-credits-it-pay.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1657e4de-b43b-11e7-9765-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">delayed-retirement credits Opens a New Window.</a>" that will permanently increase your Social Security benefits. These delayed-retirement credits max out at age 70, so it doesn't make much sense to wait longer than that.</p>
<p>At this point it may seem like it's always best to wait until age 70 to claim your Social Security benefits, but reality is more complicated than that. To figure out the best age for you to claim your benefits, consider the following questions.</p>
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<p>Claiming Social Security before you actually leave the workforce has one major pitfall. You see, if you're bringing in earned income (aka a paycheck) as well as Social Security benefits and you haven't reached full retirement age yet, you'll be subject to the Social Security earnings limit. That means if your income from work exceeds the SSA's limit for the year, then your benefits will be reduced by $1 for every $2 above that limit that you make. The earnings limit in 2017 is $16,920. As an example, if you brought home $30,000 in wages during 2017, your Social Security benefits checks for the year would be reduced by $6,540 (that's $30,000 minus $16,920, divided by two). The year you're going to hit full retirement age, the rules change slightly: The earnings limit rises to $44,880 per year, and the benefit reduction changes to $1 for each $3 you earned above the limit.</p>
<p>The good news is that once you hit full retirement age, the Social Security Administration will recalculate your benefit amount as though you had claimed Social Security later than you actually did. For example, if you claimed Social Security at age 62 and missed out on 12 monthly Social Security checks due to excess earnings, your benefits will be recalculated as though you'd claimed Social Security at age 63 instead. This generally results in a modest boost to your monthly benefits checks. However, if you're going to be bringing in significant money via a paycheck, it really doesn't make sense to claim your Social Security benefits at that time.</p>
<p>The longer your retirement is, the more Social Security checks you'll collect, and the higher your lifetime earnings from Social Security will be. So if your goal is to maximize your total earnings from Social Security, it makes sense to consider how long you expect to live.</p>
<p>If you're in relatively poor health and think it's unlikely you'll live as long as the actuaries say you should, then claiming Social Security early will maximize your lifetime earnings. Een though your benefits checks will be reduced, you'll receive far more checks than you would have by waiting, so the total amount you'll get over your lifetime will be higher. On the other hand, if you're in excellent health and believe you'll live longer than average, then waiting as long as possible to claim your Social Security benefits could result in higher lifetime payouts. If you think you'll have a pretty average lifespan, then claiming Social Security at your full retirement age is a sound decision.</p>
<p>Of course, all these considerations become pretty meaningless if you really need the money from Social Security. It's certainly better to claim your benefits a little early if the alternative is going bankrupt or <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/09/10/how-badly-will-your-debt-wreck-your-retirement.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1657e4de-b43b-11e7-9765-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">deep into debt Opens a New Window.</a>. Sure, you may not be able to maximize your lifetime earnings that way, but the consequences of running out of money are likely to be a whole lot worse. So if you truly need your Social Security benefits to meet your basic expenses, grab the money and run.</p>
<p>At the extreme opposite end of the spectrum, you may have enough independent retirement savings to meet your needs even without Social Security. If that's the case, then it won't make a big difference whether or not you maximize your benefits, so you could safely file for benefits early and enjoy that extra income while you're young(-ish).</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1657e4de-b43b-11e7-9765-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1657e4de-b43b-11e7-9765-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | tempting grab social security benefits soon woo hoo easy money claiming social security benefits age 62 always best option claim retirement benefits huge impact much money get file social security depends read tips decide continue reading social security administration magic number calls full retirement age opens new window number used age 65 everyone however born 1960 later full retirement age 67 born 1938 1959 full retirement age fall somewhere age 65 age 67 see social security website opens new window exact full retirement age fall group anyone claim social security benefits reach age 62 claiming social security full retirement age comes consequences earlier claim social security smaller benefits checks permanently hand wait full retirement age claim benefits youll get delayedretirement credits opens new window permanently increase social security benefits delayedretirement credits max age 70 doesnt make much sense wait longer point may seem like always best wait age 70 claim social security benefits reality complicated figure best age claim benefits consider following questions advertisement claiming social security actually leave workforce one major pitfall see youre bringing earned income aka paycheck well social security benefits havent reached full retirement age yet youll subject social security earnings limit means income work exceeds ssas limit year benefits reduced 1 every 2 limit make earnings limit 2017 16920 example brought home 30000 wages 2017 social security benefits checks year would reduced 6540 thats 30000 minus 16920 divided two year youre going hit full retirement age rules change slightly earnings limit rises 44880 per year benefit reduction changes 1 3 earned limit good news hit full retirement age social security administration recalculate benefit amount though claimed social security later actually example claimed social security age 62 missed 12 monthly social security checks due excess earnings benefits recalculated though youd claimed social security age 63 instead generally results modest boost monthly benefits checks however youre going bringing significant money via paycheck really doesnt make sense claim social security benefits time longer retirement social security checks youll collect higher lifetime earnings social security goal maximize total earnings social security makes sense consider long expect live youre relatively poor health think unlikely youll live long actuaries say claiming social security early maximize lifetime earnings een though benefits checks reduced youll receive far checks would waiting total amount youll get lifetime higher hand youre excellent health believe youll live longer average waiting long possible claim social security benefits could result higher lifetime payouts think youll pretty average lifespan claiming social security full retirement age sound decision course considerations become pretty meaningless really need money social security certainly better claim benefits little early alternative going bankrupt deep debt opens new window sure may able maximize lifetime earnings way consequences running money likely whole lot worse truly need social security benefits meet basic expenses grab money run extreme opposite end spectrum may enough independent retirement savings meet needs even without social security thats case wont make big difference whether maximize benefits could safely file benefits early enjoy extra income youre youngish 16122 social security bonus retirees completely overlook youre like americans youre years behind retirement savings handful littleknown social security secrets could help ensure boost retirement income example one easy trick could pay much 16122 year learn maximize social security benefits think could retire confidently peace mind after160 simply click discover learn strategies opens new window motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 562 |
<p />
<p>The Chase Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>It was a good year for shareholders of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). The nation's biggest bank by assets saw its shares gain 31% in 2016, outpacing both the S&amp;P 500 and the KBW Bank Index, which tracks two dozen blue-chip bank stocks.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/JPM" type="external">JPM</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>If you look at a chart of JPMorgan Chase's stock price throughout 2016, there are a number of things that stick out. The first is that the year got off to a rough start.</p>
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<p>When oil prices dipped below $30 a barrel in January, analysts and investors became concerned that banks would have to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/05/1q-earnings-1-number-to-watch-closely-at-jpmorgan.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">write off billions of dollars' worth of loans to energy companies Opens a New Window.</a>. This made sense given that low oil and gas prices made it difficult for energy companies to service their debts.</p>
<p>For its part, JPMorgan Chase CFO Marianne Lake estimated at the beginning of the year that the bank would have to set aside $750 million in additional loan-loss reserves if oil prices stayed below $30 a barrel for 18 months. That's a lot of money, though it's hardly fatal for a bank like JPMorgan Chase that earns $6 billion or more a quarter.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, JPMorgan Chase's stock suffered along with the rest of the industry to start out the year. Before shares of the New York-based bank mounted a comeback in February, they were 20% lower than where they began the year.</p>
<p>The second shock came in June, when voters in the United Kingdom voted to separate from the European Union, known as Brexit. This hit JPMorgan Chase hard, causing its shares to lose 10% of their value between the beginning and middle of June.</p>
<p>Investors and analysts were <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/24/why-brexit-is-battering-bank-of-america-and-other.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">worried about a number of issues Opens a New Window.</a>. First, it was feared that the uncertainty brought about by the vote would weigh on business investment, which is often financed by bank loans. It would also give the Federal Reserve another reason to delay raising interest rates, thereby prolonging the bank industry's pain under the historically low interest rates they've faced since the financial crisis.</p>
<p>There was concern as well that <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/08/the-5-different-types-of-banks-you-can-invest-in.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">universal banks Opens a New Window.</a> such as JPMorgan Chase, with sizable European operations based in London, would have to spend money relocating a portion of their staff and facilities to the continent. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said as much earlier in the year.</p>
<p>And for a bank with a large trading operation, it seemed at the time that the added uncertainty as a result of the vote could cause institutional investors to stay on the sidelines. This would deprive JPMorgan Chase of commissions it earns from serving as a market maker in the equity and fixed-income markets.</p>
<p>The point being, the vote in the United Kingdom seemed to have implications for both revenue and expenses, depressing the former while raising the latter.</p>
<p>But even though these were significant shocks, they were more than offset by the trajectory of bank stocks following the presidential election in November. If you look back at the chart of JPMorgan Chase's stock price, the election is what sparked the steep climb on the right-hand side of the chart.</p>
<p>The main source of optimism for bank stocks stems from the incoming administration's promise to roll back regulations in the bank industry -- Donald Trump went so far on the campaign trail to say that he wanted to "dismantle" the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.</p>
<p>If the White House and Congress are able to accomplish this, it could enable JPMorgan Chase to increase the size of its loan portfolio, generate more income from its trading units, operate with more leverage, and cut compliance costs.</p>
<p>The president-elect has also outlined a number of fiscal policies designed to accelerate economic growth, including tax cuts and government-financed infrastructure projects. If these have the desired effect, they could boost inflation, which, in turn, would incentivize the Federal Reserve to raise rates more aggressively.</p>
<p>Finally, the icing on the cake came in December, when the Fed did in fact boost the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/20/what-is-the-fed-funds-rate.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">fed funds rate Opens a New Window.</a>, albeit by only 25 basis points. This helped to consolidate the recent gains in bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, as banks make more money when interest rates rise.</p>
<p>In sum, while it's easy to look at JPMorgan Chase's 31% gain this year and think it was smooth sailing for banks, the multiple bumps along the way made such an outcome far from inevitable at many points throughout 2016.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than JPMorgan Chase When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=9b7ec17d-691a-428e-93db-9ea1aa961ec6&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and JPMorgan Chase wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=9b7ec17d-691a-428e-93db-9ea1aa961ec6&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/JohnMaxfield37/info.aspx" type="external">John Maxfield Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | chase tower downtown dallas texas image source wikimedia commons continue reading good year shareholders jpmorgan chase nyse jpm nations biggest bank assets saw shares gain 31 2016 outpacing sampp 500 kbw bank index tracks two dozen bluechip bank stocks jpm data ycharts opens new window look chart jpmorgan chases stock price throughout 2016 number things stick first year got rough start advertisement oil prices dipped 30 barrel january analysts investors became concerned banks would write billions dollars worth loans energy companies opens new window made sense given low oil gas prices made difficult energy companies service debts part jpmorgan chase cfo marianne lake estimated beginning year bank would set aside 750 million additional loanloss reserves oil prices stayed 30 barrel 18 months thats lot money though hardly fatal bank like jpmorgan chase earns 6 billion quarter nevertheless jpmorgan chases stock suffered along rest industry start year shares new yorkbased bank mounted comeback february 20 lower began year second shock came june voters united kingdom voted separate european union known brexit hit jpmorgan chase hard causing shares lose 10 value beginning middle june investors analysts worried number issues opens new window first feared uncertainty brought vote would weigh business investment often financed bank loans would also give federal reserve another reason delay raising interest rates thereby prolonging bank industrys pain historically low interest rates theyve faced since financial crisis concern well universal banks opens new window jpmorgan chase sizable european operations based london would spend money relocating portion staff facilities continent jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon said much earlier year bank large trading operation seemed time added uncertainty result vote could cause institutional investors stay sidelines would deprive jpmorgan chase commissions earns serving market maker equity fixedincome markets point vote united kingdom seemed implications revenue expenses depressing former raising latter even though significant shocks offset trajectory bank stocks following presidential election november look back chart jpmorgan chases stock price election sparked steep climb righthand side chart main source optimism bank stocks stems incoming administrations promise roll back regulations bank industry donald trump went far campaign trail say wanted dismantle 2010 doddfrank act white house congress able accomplish could enable jpmorgan chase increase size loan portfolio generate income trading units operate leverage cut compliance costs presidentelect also outlined number fiscal policies designed accelerate economic growth including tax cuts governmentfinanced infrastructure projects desired effect could boost inflation turn would incentivize federal reserve raise rates aggressively finally icing cake came december fed fact boost fed funds rate opens new window albeit 25 basis points helped consolidate recent gains bank stocks including shares jpmorgan chase banks make money interest rates rise sum easy look jpmorgan chases 31 gain year think smooth sailing banks multiple bumps along way made outcome far inevitable many points throughout 2016 10 stocks like better jpmorgan chase investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right jpmorgan chase wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns nov 7 2016 john maxfield opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 567 |
<p>Inside the Democratic Party, economic policy is often seen as a contest between President Barack Obama's track record and the anti-Wall Street approach advocated by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.</p>
<p>As Hillary Rodham Clinton heads for an expected 2016 run for president, her allies are pointing her toward something in-between.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A group of Clinton advisers offered a detailed economic agenda last week that aims to help raise wages for millions of workers and close the gap between rich and poor. The policy road map was produced at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank stocked with veterans of the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations. It appeared to target those who are disenchanted with Obama and skeptical that Clinton effectively would police Wall Street and champion middle-class workers.</p>
<p>"While there are large forces, globalization, technology and more, that are creating large challenges for many workers, there is no excuse or intellectual basis for fatalism," said Larry Summers, one of its authors and a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton who later worked for Obama.</p>
<p>The subject is clearly on Hillary Clinton's mind. In her first tweet in more than a month, she posted this Friday: "Attacking financial reform is risky and wrong. Better for Congress to focus on jobs and wages for middle-class families."</p>
<p>Campaigning for Democrats last fall, she often spoke of the need to return to an economic system of broadly shared prosperity.</p>
<p>That goal has eluded Obama, even though he is able to point to a rebounding economy, falling unemployment rates and lower gas prices. Obama, in Tuesday's State of the Union, plans to propose raising the capital gains rate on the wealthy and eliminating a tax break on inheritances. The plan is a nonstarter with Republicans, but Obama will make the case for using the additional revenue for new tax credits and other benefits for the middle class.</p>
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<p>Warren, in a speech this month to the AFL-CIO, said that despite stronger economic growth and a soaring stock market, "America's middle class is in deep trouble." Liberals say the problem of stagnant wages require urgent action.</p>
<p>"We need to be extremely aggressive to deal with income and wealth inequality," said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who may seek the Democratic presidential nomination.</p>
<p>Republicans such as Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are beginning to articulate their own agenda for addressing income inequality, reflecting an expected argument that Obama's policies have not helped millions of workers.</p>
<p>"Their liberal policies are good every four years for a campaign, but they don't get the job done," Romney said in a speech last week to the Republican National Committee.</p>
<p>Clinton's template has been the 1990s, during her husband's two terms, and Summers noted that many of the ideas in the report built upon the "Putting People First" agenda from Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign.</p>
<p>It also cited some of the chief parts of Obama's economic program, such as efforts to raise the federal minimum wage, spend more on roads, bridges and public works, offer paid leave for workers and help students pay for college.</p>
<p>But the report also offered other ideas with broad appeal in the party: tax credits for middle-class families, incentives for employees to partake in profit-sharing, attention to collective bargaining rights and tying the repayment of student loans to a graduate's income earned over two decades or more.</p>
<p>Those responsible for the report have strong Clinton connections.</p>
<p>Along with Summers, the commission included the center's president and CEO, Neera Tanden, a former Hillary Clinton policy adviser; former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a leader of a political action committee set to back a Clinton candidacy; and Steven Rattner, who was chief adviser to Obama's auto bailout task force and is a longtime Clinton donor.</p>
<p>Clinton, who returns to the speaking circuit in Canada this coming week, has said she would offer a "very specific agenda" if she runs for president.</p>
<p>Some progressives said that while the new report offered good ideas, it had deficiencies. Most notably, it does not advocate for the breakup of Wall Street banks, which Warren has sought, and does not push for a higher minimum wage beyond the $10.10 pushed by Obama.</p>
<p>Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org, noted the role of lobbyists only had a passing reference in the findings.</p>
<p>"In some areas, the report represents a largely Washington establishment perspective, and isn't as bold as folks outside the Beltway are probably ready for," Galland said.</p>
<p>Jared Bernstein, a former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said much of the report offered ideas that could unite broad parts of the Democratic coalition. He said it built upon a growing understanding in the party, in the aftermath of the November elections, that simple economic growth is not enough to lift the fortunes of middle-class workers.</p>
<p>"I don't think the 2014 midterms were some sort of fluke. If you don't give people a reason to get up and go vote for you, I'd expect them to sit down and stay home or vote for somebody else," he said. "So you can't assume based on demographics or race or income class that the electorate is going to support you. ... You have to do precisely the kind of policy work that this group is offering us."</p>
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<p>Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KThomasDC</p> | true | 0 | inside democratic party economic policy often seen contest president barack obamas track record antiwall street approach advocated massachusetts sen elizabeth warren hillary rodham clinton heads expected 2016 run president allies pointing toward something inbetween continue reading group clinton advisers offered detailed economic agenda last week aims help raise wages millions workers close gap rich poor policy road map produced center american progress washingtonbased think tank stocked veterans bill clinton obama administrations appeared target disenchanted obama skeptical clinton effectively would police wall street champion middleclass workers large forces globalization technology creating large challenges many workers excuse intellectual basis fatalism said larry summers one authors former treasury secretary president bill clinton later worked obama subject clearly hillary clintons mind first tweet month posted friday attacking financial reform risky wrong better congress focus jobs wages middleclass families campaigning democrats last fall often spoke need return economic system broadly shared prosperity goal eluded obama even though able point rebounding economy falling unemployment rates lower gas prices obama tuesdays state union plans propose raising capital gains rate wealthy eliminating tax break inheritances plan nonstarter republicans obama make case using additional revenue new tax credits benefits middle class advertisement warren speech month aflcio said despite stronger economic growth soaring stock market americas middle class deep trouble liberals say problem stagnant wages require urgent action need extremely aggressive deal income wealth inequality said vermont sen bernie sanders independent may seek democratic presidential nomination republicans jeb bush mitt romney beginning articulate agenda addressing income inequality reflecting expected argument obamas policies helped millions workers liberal policies good every four years campaign dont get job done romney said speech last week republican national committee clintons template 1990s husbands two terms summers noted many ideas report built upon putting people first agenda bill clintons first presidential campaign also cited chief parts obamas economic program efforts raise federal minimum wage spend roads bridges public works offer paid leave workers help students pay college report also offered ideas broad appeal party tax credits middleclass families incentives employees partake profitsharing attention collective bargaining rights tying repayment student loans graduates income earned two decades responsible report strong clinton connections along summers commission included centers president ceo neera tanden former hillary clinton policy adviser former michigan gov jennifer granholm leader political action committee set back clinton candidacy steven rattner chief adviser obamas auto bailout task force longtime clinton donor clinton returns speaking circuit canada coming week said would offer specific agenda runs president progressives said new report offered good ideas deficiencies notably advocate breakup wall street banks warren sought push higher minimum wage beyond 1010 pushed obama anna galland executive director moveonorg noted role lobbyists passing reference findings areas report represents largely washington establishment perspective isnt bold folks outside beltway probably ready galland said jared bernstein former economic adviser vice president joe biden said much report offered ideas could unite broad parts democratic coalition said built upon growing understanding party aftermath november elections simple economic growth enough lift fortunes middleclass workers dont think 2014 midterms sort fluke dont give people reason get go vote id expect sit stay home vote somebody else said cant assume based demographics race income class electorate going support precisely kind policy work group offering us ___ follow ken thomas twitter httpstwittercomkthomasdc | 540 |
<p />
<p>The frenzy over bitcoins has reached a fever pitch, along with their price, which hit a December high of $1,240 and a low of $522 in wild trading gyrations on one popular bitcoin exchange.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The rising interest in Bitcoin has translated into growing, if not widespread, use of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that uses cryptography, or code, to complete financial transactions.</p>
<p>When the first bitcoin ATM opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, in late October, the story was covered globally, showing the rising interest in the digital currency. As reported in The Washington Post, 100,000 Canadian dollars' worth of bitcoins were exchanged in the first eight days.</p>
<p>The bitcoin ATM story mirrors a larger trend of people speculating in bitcoins and driving up the price while early investors cash in. Where is all this going?</p>
<p>The Winklevoss twins</p>
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<p>According to Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, limited supply and the growing demand from China have fueled the bubble. BTC China is now the biggest bitcoin exchange by volume.</p>
<p>If you had bought 5,000 bitcoins for $27 as an early adopter in 2009 and held on to them, you would feel rather smug, having made a small fortune. But what are you likely to do with that money these days? The short answer is to hoard it, hoping it will keep appreciating.</p>
<p>If you are the one Norwegian man who did just that, you could cash them in and buy yourself an apartment, according to theguardian.com. While the story is alluring, it is no longer replicable. For starters, ordinary people would not be able to afford it at current prices unless they are one of the Winklevoss twins, who have watched their $11 million in bitcoins grow in value since their purchase was announced in April.</p>
<p>Like the Winklevosses, there are a growing number of businessmen who hope to bring Bitcoin into mainstream use by accepting the currency as payment for goods and services.</p>
<p>But Chris Cook, senior research fellow at University College London, says it is "disruptive in terms of its security and anonymity. It is also disruptive for the banking industry as a payment method."</p>
<p>However, Cook doubts that Bitcoin will eventually turn into a widespread currency. "Volatility is hard-wired into it, and that is not good for a currency. So long as it is treated as an investment, it will not be useful as a currency," he says. "It is revolutionary as a money-messaging system. But it's vulnerable at both ends."</p>
<p>But regulators signaled in November their willingness to accept Bitcoin as a legitimate payment option, even after the online marketplace Silk Road, where bitcoins were the primary form of payment, was shut down and its founder arrested after authorities accused Silk Road of being used to buy and sell drugs, weapons and pornography, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Bitcoin spending?</p>
<p>For businesses to thrive on Bitcoin, there should be an increasing number of consumers willing to spend their bitcoins.</p>
<p>Ranjan Roy, co-founder of Informerly, a media company in New York, who bought five bitcoins a little more than a year ago, says its use in person-to-person, cross-border transactions would make sense.</p>
<p>But like many others who bought bitcoins, Roy has no intention of spending them, precisely because they keep appreciating in value.</p>
<p>Jonathan Bechtel, CEO of Health Kismet, a health supplement company, was attracted to the idea of Bitcoin because "a decentralized form of money struck me as very powerful and potentially a platform-level technology."</p>
<p>He decided to accept bitcoins as payment for Kismet products, thinking it would bring him publicity and attract new customers while making him an early adopter. However, the results have been disappointing.</p>
<p>"I've had very few sales so far through Bitcoin," he wrote in an email. "In the long run, I'm not discouraged, but I was hoping adoption would have given me a bigger boost."</p>
<p>When John Mardlin, founder of Coin Forest, a daily-deal site like Groupon for bitcoiners only, launched the site in August, he was met with skepticism.</p>
<p>"People asked me why I was opening a business when people do not want to spend their bitcoins because they know it will be worth more in the future," Mardlin says.</p>
<p>Mardlin says he initially invested in bitcoins before the big rise in April and made a good profit, but he is holding the majority of his bitcoins. He says he does transact in bitcoins with his suppliers and pays his Web developers with the cryptocurrency, but grapples with the hold-or-spend issue.</p>
<p>Still, buying and selling bitcoins has become relatively easy, though there are certain risks involved. Computer scientists Tyler Moore of Southern Methodist University and Nicolas Christin of Carnegie Mellon University found that 45% of Bitcoin exchanges close, taking users' money with them. The ones that survive are susceptible to cyberattacks.</p>
<p>What's next for Bitcoin?</p>
<p>In a December newsletter, senior economist Francois Velde of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago debunked the notion of Bitcoin being anonymous.</p>
<p>"A dollar bill in my hand cannot be anywhere else at the same time, my ownership of it is undoubted," Velde wrote. But Bitcoin gives up something as it comes closer to typical currency -- anonymity. To generally validate a transaction, it must be traced back to the bitcoin spender.</p>
<p>"Although some of the enthusiasm for Bitcoin is driven by a distrust of state-issued currency, it is hard to imagine a world where the main currency is based on an extremely complex code understood by only a few and controlled by even fewer, without accountability, arbitration or recourse," Velde wrote.</p>
<p>Braden Perry, partner in Kennyhertz Perry law firm in Prairie Village, Kan., who has studied bitcoins, says he thinks that to make Bitcoin mainstream, it will have to be regulated.</p>
<p>"The question is by whom and how," he says.</p> | true | 0 | frenzy bitcoins reached fever pitch along price hit december high 1240 low 522 wild trading gyrations one popular bitcoin exchange continue reading rising interest bitcoin translated growing widespread use cryptocurrency bitcoin virtual currency uses cryptography code complete financial transactions first bitcoin atm opened vancouver british columbia late october story covered globally showing rising interest digital currency reported washington post 100000 canadian dollars worth bitcoins exchanged first eight days bitcoin atm story mirrors larger trend people speculating bitcoins driving price early investors cash going winklevoss twins advertisement according nicolas colas chief market strategist convergex group limited supply growing demand china fueled bubble btc china biggest bitcoin exchange volume bought 5000 bitcoins 27 early adopter 2009 held would feel rather smug made small fortune likely money days short answer hoard hoping keep appreciating one norwegian man could cash buy apartment according theguardiancom story alluring longer replicable starters ordinary people would able afford current prices unless one winklevoss twins watched 11 million bitcoins grow value since purchase announced april like winklevosses growing number businessmen hope bring bitcoin mainstream use accepting currency payment goods services chris cook senior research fellow university college london says disruptive terms security anonymity also disruptive banking industry payment method however cook doubts bitcoin eventually turn widespread currency volatility hardwired good currency long treated investment useful currency says revolutionary moneymessaging system vulnerable ends regulators signaled november willingness accept bitcoin legitimate payment option even online marketplace silk road bitcoins primary form payment shut founder arrested authorities accused silk road used buy sell drugs weapons pornography according new york times bitcoin spending businesses thrive bitcoin increasing number consumers willing spend bitcoins ranjan roy cofounder informerly media company new york bought five bitcoins little year ago says use persontoperson crossborder transactions would make sense like many others bought bitcoins roy intention spending precisely keep appreciating value jonathan bechtel ceo health kismet health supplement company attracted idea bitcoin decentralized form money struck powerful potentially platformlevel technology decided accept bitcoins payment kismet products thinking would bring publicity attract new customers making early adopter however results disappointing ive sales far bitcoin wrote email long run im discouraged hoping adoption would given bigger boost john mardlin founder coin forest dailydeal site like groupon bitcoiners launched site august met skepticism people asked opening business people want spend bitcoins know worth future mardlin says mardlin says initially invested bitcoins big rise april made good profit holding majority bitcoins says transact bitcoins suppliers pays web developers cryptocurrency grapples holdorspend issue still buying selling bitcoins become relatively easy though certain risks involved computer scientists tyler moore southern methodist university nicolas christin carnegie mellon university found 45 bitcoin exchanges close taking users money ones survive susceptible cyberattacks whats next bitcoin december newsletter senior economist francois velde federal reserve bank chicago debunked notion bitcoin anonymous dollar bill hand anywhere else time ownership undoubted velde wrote bitcoin gives something comes closer typical currency anonymity generally validate transaction must traced back bitcoin spender although enthusiasm bitcoin driven distrust stateissued currency hard imagine world main currency based extremely complex code understood controlled even fewer without accountability arbitration recourse velde wrote braden perry partner kennyhertz perry law firm prairie village kan studied bitcoins says thinks make bitcoin mainstream regulated question says | 534 |
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<p>Confederate battle flag kerfuffle?</p>
<p>Not only is the re-writing of history moving forward full steam ahead, the PC Gestapo conditioning of the nation's children at government-run schools are squashing anyone who's heterodox teaching methods rock the status quo boat.</p>
<p>As noted by <a href="http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/25265-teacher-forced-out-for-using-confederate-flag-in-civil-war-history-lesson" type="external">The American Thinker's Steve Byas</a>,&#160;an instructor of history and government at Randall University, in Moore, Oklahoma, 70-year-old US&#160;History teacher Woody Hart of Rancho Cordova was forced to submit his request for retirement by the School Board.</p>
<p>The catalyst for Hart's forced retirement? Displaying an 1865 period US flag as well as the Confederate Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia in his class.</p>
<p>Not that 1865 Union and Confederate flags usually fly in Mr. Hart's classroom, he just so happened to be teaching his students of the Recent Unpleasantness.</p>
<p>As (partially) reported by Byas; (Emphasis mine)</p>
<p>"He's personally my favorite teacher in the whole school," Ana Kneisely told CBS Sacramento, in reference to a middle school American History teacher, Woody Hart, in Rancho Cordova, California, who was forced to retire by the Board of Education.</p>
<p>Hart, a 70-year-old teacher at Suttle Middle School of the Folsom Cordova United School District, was ousted after using a Confederate battle flag, along with a period United States flag, as part of a lesson on the U.S. Civil War. The school's superintendent, Deborah Bettencourt, released a statement late last week that the board of education had "accepted this Sutter Middle School teacher's retirement - and he will not be returning to school this year."</p>
<p>In an interview with the local CBS affiliate, KCRA, Ana Kneisely, one of Hart's students, explained what had happened. "We just came in and we saw the Union Flag on one side of the room and the Confederate Flag on the other side of the room."</p>
<p>Apparently, this was typical of the way Hart taught. "I actually very much appreciated the way he taught history," Kneisely said. "I felt that we were getting more involved than what our other classes did."</p>
<p>For example, Hart used the two flags of the opposing sides in the Civil War to create interest. The two hanging flags were part of Hart's lesson, as students were members of one of the two armies.</p>
<p>Kneisely added that she did not understand why Hart's display of the flag of one of the two sides involved in the war was controversial, considering that the flags, including the Confederate flag, are also used in the textbook for the same purpose.</p>
<p>Back in November, a black family filed a complaint against Hart for his remarks, in which he explained the unfair way blacks were treated during segregation. Hart told his students that, at one time, some Southerners responded to calls for "black equality" with disdain, saying terrible things such as, "We treat all black people equally. We hang them all."</p>
<p>The Sacramento chapter of a group calling itself Showing Up for Racial Justice also weighed in, demanding a public apology from Hart.</p>
<p>Apparently, Hart was only relating historical incidents in which people went to the South during those days to promote better treatment and equal rights for blacks, only to be told that they do treat blacks equally - they hang them if they are in-state African-Americans, and they hang them if they are visiting African-Americans. Hart was simply telling the students how terribly blacks were far-too-often treated during that time.</p>
<p>And, with the Confederate battle flag, Hart was teaching his class accurate history as to the use of the flag - in battles during the Civil War.</p>
<p>But the school district argued that it did not really matter how the flag was used during the Civil War; it should not be seen by students today. "We recognize that regardless of context, to many of our students, families, and staff, the Confederate flag is a racist symbol of hate. Although this matter is under investigation, it is important to reiterate: Any employee who is found to engage in behavior that creates an unsafe environment for students will face full consequences, including the possibility of initiating termination proceedings."</p>
<p>Bettencourt, the superintendent, said that the district's action did not mean that they were attempting to "limit the free speech of our teachers." Then, in an Orwellian addition, she stated that she expects "teachers and staff will do this work using culturally appropriate strategies."</p>
<p>The district statement added, "It is our schools' responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for all children."</p>
<p>It is not clear how the display of a flag, which was actually used in many battles during the American Civil War, creates an unsafe learning environment for children. And, exactly what is meant by "culturally appropriate strategies?"</p>
<p>The obvious meaning is that certain events and symbols in history are to be censored - or as George Orwell described it in his classic dystopian novel 1984, some things should be disposed of in the "memory hole."</p>
<p>Among those things that should be relegated to the "memory hole," and not even shown to students (because it apparently would make them "unsafe"), is a Confederate battle flag. Since the murders inside a church in South Carolina, in which the killer posted photographs of himself on Facebook along with the flag, there has been an intense offensive against any public display of the historical flag.</p>
<p>The action by this school district raises the question of whether we are to censor history and eliminate certain events and symbols from our collective memory. True historians convey history as it was - the good, the bad, and the ugly - because to do otherwise is simply telling a lie. The very reason we study history is to learn lessons from the collective memory of the human race, both the living and the dead. If certain things are to be excluded from that collective memory, we have crippled ourselves from using the study of history in its proper way.</p>
<p>Today, it is the Confederate battle flag which is to be blotted out from the historical record, because its detractors argue it has been used by racists such as the KKK. Actually, if one examines photographs of Klan rallies, more United States flags are used than Confederate battle flags.</p>
<p>And what are we to do with the Klan practice of burning a cross on someone's lawn? Should the Christian cross be consigned to oblivion, as well? One suspects there are many who would like to do so, using whatever excuse that they can.</p>
<p>In a prime example of the Establishment Media flat-out pushing fake news, the Sacramento <a href="http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/01/19/sutter-middle-school-teacher-retiring-after-confederate-flag-controversy/" type="external">CBS affiliate</a> put their own spin on the faux-controversy;</p>
<p>This is the second time Hart is facing racially charged allegations stemming from a classroom lesson. In November, parents of a teen filed a complaint after they say Hart made remarks during a lesson about equality, saying if you were to hang one black person, you would have to hang all black people.</p>
<p>The parents took exception to the remarks, in part, because their son was the only black student in the classroom.</p> | true | 0 | confederate battle flag kerfuffle rewriting history moving forward full steam ahead pc gestapo conditioning nations children governmentrun schools squashing anyone whos heterodox teaching methods rock status quo boat noted american thinkers steve byas160an instructor history government randall university moore oklahoma 70yearold us160history teacher woody hart rancho cordova forced submit request retirement school board catalyst harts forced retirement displaying 1865 period us flag well confederate battle flag army northern virginia class 1865 union confederate flags usually fly mr harts classroom happened teaching students recent unpleasantness partially reported byas emphasis mine hes personally favorite teacher whole school ana kneisely told cbs sacramento reference middle school american history teacher woody hart rancho cordova california forced retire board education hart 70yearold teacher suttle middle school folsom cordova united school district ousted using confederate battle flag along period united states flag part lesson us civil war schools superintendent deborah bettencourt released statement late last week board education accepted sutter middle school teachers retirement returning school year interview local cbs affiliate kcra ana kneisely one harts students explained happened came saw union flag one side room confederate flag side room apparently typical way hart taught actually much appreciated way taught history kneisely said felt getting involved classes example hart used two flags opposing sides civil war create interest two hanging flags part harts lesson students members one two armies kneisely added understand harts display flag one two sides involved war controversial considering flags including confederate flag also used textbook purpose back november black family filed complaint hart remarks explained unfair way blacks treated segregation hart told students one time southerners responded calls black equality disdain saying terrible things treat black people equally hang sacramento chapter group calling showing racial justice also weighed demanding public apology hart apparently hart relating historical incidents people went south days promote better treatment equal rights blacks told treat blacks equally hang instate africanamericans hang visiting africanamericans hart simply telling students terribly blacks fartoooften treated time confederate battle flag hart teaching class accurate history use flag battles civil war school district argued really matter flag used civil war seen students today recognize regardless context many students families staff confederate flag racist symbol hate although matter investigation important reiterate employee found engage behavior creates unsafe environment students face full consequences including possibility initiating termination proceedings bettencourt superintendent said districts action mean attempting limit free speech teachers orwellian addition stated expects teachers staff work using culturally appropriate strategies district statement added schools responsibility provide safe learning environment children clear display flag actually used many battles american civil war creates unsafe learning environment children exactly meant culturally appropriate strategies obvious meaning certain events symbols history censored george orwell described classic dystopian novel 1984 things disposed memory hole among things relegated memory hole even shown students apparently would make unsafe confederate battle flag since murders inside church south carolina killer posted photographs facebook along flag intense offensive public display historical flag action school district raises question whether censor history eliminate certain events symbols collective memory true historians convey history good bad ugly otherwise simply telling lie reason study history learn lessons collective memory human race living dead certain things excluded collective memory crippled using study history proper way today confederate battle flag blotted historical record detractors argue used racists kkk actually one examines photographs klan rallies united states flags used confederate battle flags klan practice burning cross someones lawn christian cross consigned oblivion well one suspects many would like using whatever excuse prime example establishment media flatout pushing fake news sacramento cbs affiliate put spin fauxcontroversy second time hart facing racially charged allegations stemming classroom lesson november parents teen filed complaint say hart made remarks lesson equality saying hang one black person would hang black people parents took exception remarks part son black student classroom | 629 |
<p>The Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance released a nine page document last week outlining the new tax plan, aptly called The United Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code.&#160;While short on specifics, the plan outlines four goals aimed at simplifying the tax code, cutting taxes, leveling the playing field for American businesses, and bringing back overseas business income. Here's a summary of the major changes that may affect how much tax you pay.</p>
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<p>The new tax framework plans to simplify the tax code by reducing the number of tax brackets. The plan outlines consolidating the seven current tax brackets to just three at 12%, 25%, and 35%. Since income levels for each tax bracket are not identified in this framework, it is impossible to tell at this time whether the consolidation will help or hurt you (unless you're currently in the 39.6% bracket). However, the framework hints that an additional top tier rate may apply so taxes remain progressive.</p>
<p>The new plan proposes almost <a href="https://www.fool.com/taxes/2017/10/02/why-trumps-doubled-standard-deduction-wont-do-yo-2.aspx?source=isesitlnk0000001&amp;mrr=0.33&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a31095e0-a885-11e7-9eef-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">doubling the standard deduction Opens a New Window.</a> with the goals of both decreasing and simplifying taxes. The standard deduction would increase to $24,000 for married joint filers and $12,000 for single taxpayers. The plan eliminates the personal exemption and consolidates it into the larger standard deduction.&#160;However,&#160;notably absent is the Head of Household filing status, which could hurt single parents.</p>
<p>The plan also aims to provide tax relief by increasing the <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/11/15/the-child-tax-credit-what-you-need-to-know.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a31095e0-a885-11e7-9eef-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">child tax credit Opens a New Window.</a> and increasing the income threshold at which a family is eligible to receive this credit. The framework also introduces a provision for a $500 tax credit for dependent care, which will provide some relief to the millions of Americans who care for older family members.</p>
<p>However, the framework identifies no specific information for how much of an increase the child tax credit will be or at what income level a family would be able to qualify for this credit. Since the proposal eliminates the personal exemption for dependents, we must wait for the tax-writing committees to do their work so we can see if this proposal will be helpful or if it will create an increased tax burden for larger families.</p>
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<p>The new tax framework proposes elimination of the AMT, the estate tax, and most itemized deductions. If approved, upper-middle and upper class taxpayers will no longer have to calculate itemized deductions only to find out that they must pay the higher AMT instead.</p>
<p>Most tax experts agree that the <a href="https://www.fool.com/taxes/2017/03/16/how-alternative-minimum-tax-can-cost-you-thousands.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a31095e0-a885-11e7-9eef-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">AMT Opens a New Window.</a>, which was originally intended to make sure the wealthy paid their share of taxes, has increasingly affected upper-middle class from high personal income tax states or with larger families. Eliminating the AMT will be welcome to most; however, there's no indication of how the tax revenue lost from dropping the AMT will be replaced.</p>
<p>Most itemized deductions are also on the chopping block, with the exceptions of the <a href="https://www.fool.com/mortgages/2017/03/06/preparing-your-taxes-the-mortgage-interest-deducti.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a31095e0-a885-11e7-9eef-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">home mortgage interest deduction Opens a New Window.</a> and charitable donations. Also spared from elimination are tax benefits for higher education benefits and retirement security. While no specifics are mentioned, it is encouraging that the new tax framework promises measures to encourage and even raise retirement plan participation.</p>
<p>Notably missing from the framework is any reference to continuing the local and state tax deduction. Eliminating this write-off will certainly be unpopular for anyone who lives in a locality or state with a high tax rate.</p>
<p>Finally, the new tax framework eliminates the estate tax. The tax in its current form only taxes estates valued over $5.49 million. Therefore, most Americans will not be affected by the elimination of the estate tax.</p>
<p>The new tax framework also addresses reducing taxes on businesses. If you're a small business owner, the maximum tax rate for sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations will be reduced to 25%.</p>
<p>The framework also proposes reducing the corporate tax rate to 20% and includes other provisions for favorable tax treatment of corporations. Some economic research indicates that reducing the corporate tax burden should benefit Americans by providing the corporations the ability to increase worker wages or prevent the tax burden from shifting to the consumer in the form of increased prices for goods.</p>
<p>With so many tax provisions left unfinished in the framework, the tax-writing committees have their work cut out for them. It's October, so there's little time to write legislation to flesh out the details for the massive tax reform proposal. With lawmakers eager to get something done, taxpayers will be watching Washington carefully during the autumn months to see what the final product ends up looking like.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a31095e0-a885-11e7-9eef-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a31095e0-a885-11e7-9eef-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | trump administration house committee ways means senate committee finance released nine page document last week outlining new tax plan aptly called united framework fixing broken tax code160while short specifics plan outlines four goals aimed simplifying tax code cutting taxes leveling playing field american businesses bringing back overseas business income heres summary major changes may affect much tax pay continue reading new tax framework plans simplify tax code reducing number tax brackets plan outlines consolidating seven current tax brackets three 12 25 35 since income levels tax bracket identified framework impossible tell time whether consolidation help hurt unless youre currently 396 bracket however framework hints additional top tier rate may apply taxes remain progressive new plan proposes almost doubling standard deduction opens new window goals decreasing simplifying taxes standard deduction would increase 24000 married joint filers 12000 single taxpayers plan eliminates personal exemption consolidates larger standard deduction160however160notably absent head household filing status could hurt single parents plan also aims provide tax relief increasing child tax credit opens new window increasing income threshold family eligible receive credit framework also introduces provision 500 tax credit dependent care provide relief millions americans care older family members however framework identifies specific information much increase child tax credit income level family would able qualify credit since proposal eliminates personal exemption dependents must wait taxwriting committees work see proposal helpful create increased tax burden larger families advertisement new tax framework proposes elimination amt estate tax itemized deductions approved uppermiddle upper class taxpayers longer calculate itemized deductions find must pay higher amt instead tax experts agree amt opens new window originally intended make sure wealthy paid share taxes increasingly affected uppermiddle class high personal income tax states larger families eliminating amt welcome however theres indication tax revenue lost dropping amt replaced itemized deductions also chopping block exceptions home mortgage interest deduction opens new window charitable donations also spared elimination tax benefits higher education benefits retirement security specifics mentioned encouraging new tax framework promises measures encourage even raise retirement plan participation notably missing framework reference continuing local state tax deduction eliminating writeoff certainly unpopular anyone lives locality state high tax rate finally new tax framework eliminates estate tax tax current form taxes estates valued 549 million therefore americans affected elimination estate tax new tax framework also addresses reducing taxes businesses youre small business owner maximum tax rate sole proprietorships partnerships corporations reduced 25 framework also proposes reducing corporate tax rate 20 includes provisions favorable tax treatment corporations economic research indicates reducing corporate tax burden benefit americans providing corporations ability increase worker wages prevent tax burden shifting consumer form increased prices goods many tax provisions left unfinished framework taxwriting committees work cut october theres little time write legislation flesh details massive tax reform proposal lawmakers eager get something done taxpayers watching washington carefully autumn months see final product ends looking like 16122 social security bonus retirees completely overlook youre like americans youre years behind retirement savings handful littleknown social security secrets could help ensure boost retirement income example one easy trick could pay much 16122 year learn maximize social security benefits think could retire confidently peace mind after160 simply click discover learn strategies opens new window motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 533 |
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<p>Recently, investors in General Electric Company(NYSE:GE)saw their stock register one of its' biggest single day increases in years after announcing a plan to dispose of GE Capital. The deal involves selling most of its assets in GE Capital Real Estate to Blackstone, with Wells Fargo &amp; Co. (NYSE:WFC) intending to acquire a portion of the business' performing loans.</p>
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<p>At the time of writing, the stock is outperforming the S&amp;P 500 on a yearly basis, and this move very well may be just the beginning, as management's restructuring plan is just taking hold. Let's take a closer look at the investment thesis and why it makes GE an attractive stock to buy.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/GE" type="external">GE Opens a New Window.</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>The game planThere are three key drivers behind GE's stock price in the future, and all involve internal execution rather than a pure reliance on end markets. Of course, an industrial bellwether like GE is never going to fully escape the orbit of the economy.. In fact, I would argue that a lot of GE's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/03/17/can-general-electric-company-ge-really-increase-it.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">difficulties in the past decade Opens a New Window.</a> are down to how its end markets performed--something beyond GE's control..</p>
<p>However, times change and many of GE's key end markets (aviation, health care, power) all have bright futures ahead. In addition,, there are three reasons why GE has an opportunity to start to outperform its peer group, and they aren't particularly dependent on the economy.</p>
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<p>If GE executes on these three initiatives, then the next 10 years might prove a lot more profitable for investors than the last decade was.</p>
<p>More industrial business, less GE CapitalThe Blackstone/Wells Fargo deal with GE Capital Real Estate is part of the plan to divest assets in GE Capital. The overarching aim is to refocus the company on its core industrial businesses, while at the same time divesting non-core industrial assets -- such as the sale of GE Appliances to Electrolux AB for $3.3 billion.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, GE has already engaged in an IPO for its retail finance arm, Synchrony Financial, and when GE shareholders take up their right to exchange GE stock for shares in Synchrony, GE's share count will be reduced.</p>
<p>Quoting from the press release relating to the Blackstone/Wells Fargo deal, GE's management noted that it expects "...by 2018 more than 90 percent of [its] earnings will be generated by its high-return industrial businesses, up from 58% in 2014." Furthermore, growth in its industrial businesses is a lot stronger than the headline EPS number (which includes GE Capital) suggests.</p>
<p>Turbines are a core activity for GE. Source: General Electric Company.</p>
<p>The Future In 2015, GE's industrial businesses remain on track for operating earnings per share of $1.10-$1.20, up by solid double digits, and in line with expectations. In its first-quarter earnings presentation last Friday, management affirmed that it was on track to meet this target.</p>
<p>The purchase of Alstom's energy assets should give GE the opportunity to consolidate an industry in which it's already a leader. The deal is more about generating growth through buying a complimentary business and generating cost synergies, rather than purely going for top-line growth. Indeed, GE expects to generate $1.2 billion in cost synergies by the fifth-year of the deal. The Alstom deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.</p>
<p>Industrial InternetThe third driver of GE's stock price going forward is harder to grasp, but arguably it's the most powerful. Much has been made of the industrial internet, but many investors are left wondering how exactly it translates into increased profitability.</p>
<p>The industrial Internet simply means the marrying of hardware to Internet-enabled software. The benefit being in the interaction of sensors, software, and big data analytics to better manage the performance of hardware.</p>
<p>One of the benefits of the greater interoperability that the industrial Internet brings is that GE's services revenue should get a boost. For example, sensors on a GE industrial turbine could alert the customer about the need to service the machine. It may not be widely known among investors, but GE makes the bulk of its <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/04/07/why-general-electric-companys-industrial-services.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">industrial profit from services Opens a New Window.</a> rather than actual hardware sales.</p>
<p>The takeawayIn conclusion, the investment thesis behind GE largely lies in the idea that if management executes with the three strategic initiativesI've outlined, the company can outperform its peers. It may seem ironic to make this argument, given the company's turbulent decade dealing with difficult end markets, but long-term investment decisions are best judged on where the company is headed in 10 years' time, rather than where it's been.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/05/why-general-electric-company-a-special-investment.aspx" type="external">Why General Electric Company Is a Special Investment Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSaintGermain/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Lee Samaha Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2015 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | recently investors general electric companynysegesaw stock register one biggest single day increases years announcing plan dispose ge capital deal involves selling assets ge capital real estate blackstone wells fargo amp co nysewfc intending acquire portion business performing loans continue reading time writing stock outperforming sampp 500 yearly basis move well may beginning managements restructuring plan taking hold lets take closer look investment thesis makes ge attractive stock buy ge opens new window data ycharts opens new window game planthere three key drivers behind ges stock price future involve internal execution rather pure reliance end markets course industrial bellwether like ge never going fully escape orbit economy fact would argue lot ges difficulties past decade opens new window end markets performedsomething beyond ges control however times change many ges key end markets aviation health care power bright futures ahead addition three reasons ge opportunity start outperform peer group arent particularly dependent economy advertisement ge executes three initiatives next 10 years might prove lot profitable investors last decade industrial business less ge capitalthe blackstonewells fargo deal ge capital real estate part plan divest assets ge capital overarching aim refocus company core industrial businesses time divesting noncore industrial assets sale ge appliances electrolux ab 33 billion meanwhile ge already engaged ipo retail finance arm synchrony financial ge shareholders take right exchange ge stock shares synchrony ges share count reduced quoting press release relating blackstonewells fargo deal ges management noted expects 2018 90 percent earnings generated highreturn industrial businesses 58 2014 furthermore growth industrial businesses lot stronger headline eps number includes ge capital suggests turbines core activity ge source general electric company future 2015 ges industrial businesses remain track operating earnings per share 110120 solid double digits line expectations firstquarter earnings presentation last friday management affirmed track meet target purchase alstoms energy assets give ge opportunity consolidate industry already leader deal generating growth buying complimentary business generating cost synergies rather purely going topline growth indeed ge expects generate 12 billion cost synergies fifthyear deal alstom deal expected close second half year industrial internetthe third driver ges stock price going forward harder grasp arguably powerful much made industrial internet many investors left wondering exactly translates increased profitability industrial internet simply means marrying hardware internetenabled software benefit interaction sensors software big data analytics better manage performance hardware one benefits greater interoperability industrial internet brings ges services revenue get boost example sensors ge industrial turbine could alert customer need service machine may widely known among investors ge makes bulk industrial profit services opens new window rather actual hardware sales takeawayin conclusion investment thesis behind ge largely lies idea management executes three strategic initiativesive outlined company outperform peers may seem ironic make argument given companys turbulent decade dealing difficult end markets longterm investment decisions best judged company headed 10 years time rather article general electric company special investment opens new window originally appeared foolcom lee samaha opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares general electric company try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2015 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 539 |
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<p>US vs. China: a 'slap-fight,' not a trade war. So far</p>
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<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — First, the United States imposed a tax on Chinese steel and aluminum. Then, China counterpunched Monday with tariffs on a host of U.S. products, including apples, pork and ginseng. On Wall Street, the stock market buckled on the prospect of an all-out trade war between the world's two biggest economies. But it hasn't come to that — not yet, anyway.</p>
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<p>China raises tariffs on US pork, fruit in trade dispute</p>
<p>BEIJING (AP) — China's move to raise import duties on U.S. pork, apples and other products will hit American farm states, many of which voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump isn't going to back down in the escalating trade dispute with China. She tells "Fox and Friends" that Trump is "going to fight back and he's going to push back." China's government says it's responding to a U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum.</p>
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<p>Tech woes, worsening tensions with China sink US stocks</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks tumbled Monday after China raised import duties on a number of U.S. exports, bringing the two economic giants closer to a full-on trade conflict. Big technology companies, long investor favorites, suffered heavy losses. The worries over newly protectionist U.S. trade policies combined with blowback over Facebook's ever-widening privacy scandal have prompted investors to take money off the table. That has meant steep drops in former big winners including Netflix, Microsoft and Alphabet.</p>
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<p>EPA to ease back emissions standards</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Environmental Protection Agency has set a plan to roll back emissions standards for cars and trucks but it didn't specify details. The regulator said Monday standards set by President Barack Obama were inappropriate and too high.</p>
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<p>Facebook CEO defends advertising-supported business model</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — The CEO of Facebook is defending its advertising-supported business model. Mark Zuckerberg's defense comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company wouldn't be in Facebook's situation because Apple doesn't sell ads based on customer data the way Facebook does. Zuckerberg responded Monday that an advertising-supported business model is the only way that the service can survive because not everyone would be able to pay for Facebook if it charged a fee.</p>
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<p>Pace of US factory growth slipped in March</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturers say they expanded at a slower pace in March. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reports that its manufacturing index slipped to 59.3 last month from February's reading of 60.8, which had been the highest since 2004. Any score above 50 signals growth. Multiple companies surveyed for the index said that the introduction of steel and aluminum tariffs by President Donald Trump were causing concerns about rising prices.</p>
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<p>EPA says Pruitt's condo lease didn't violate ethics rules</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — An agency ethics official at the Environmental Protection Agency says Administrator Scott Pruitt's lease of a Capitol Hill condo tied to a prominent fossil-fuels lobbyist didn't violate federal rules. A memo signed by the official concludes that Pruitt's $50-a-night rental payments constitute a fair market rate. Pruitt paid just for nights he occupied the unit, averaging $1,000 a month. Two-bedroom apartments in the neighborhood typically rent for three to four times that amount per month.</p>
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<p>Puerto Rico gov defies board, rejects reform, pension cuts</p>
<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The powers of a federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico's finances could soon be tested as the U.S. territory's governor defies its calls to implement more austerity measures amid an 11-year recession. Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Monday rejected demands that his administration submit a revised fiscal plan to include a labor reform and a 10 percent cut to a pension system facing nearly $50 billion in liabilities. He said the plan he will submit Thursday also will not contain any layoffs.</p>
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<p>French train strikes aim to disrupt travel, test Macron</p>
<p>PARIS (AP) — Trains around France are grinding to a stop as unions stage a mass strike to challenge President Emmanuel Macron's strategy for making his country more economically competitive. Passengers are sharing cars or canceling trips after national railway SNCF said the strike will halt 85 percent of France's high-speed trains and 75 percent of regional trains. A quarter of Air France flights will be grounded Tuesday by a separate strike over pay.</p>
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<p>The Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index gave up 58.99 points, or 2.2 percent, to 2,581.88. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 458.92 points, or 1.9 percent, to 23,644.19. The Nasdaq composite slumped 193.33 points, or 2.7 percent, to 6,870.12. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 36.90 points, or 2.4 percent, to 1,492.53.</p>
<p>Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.93, or 3 percent, to $63.01 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, slid $1.70, or 2.5 percent, to $67.64 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline dropped 5 cents to $1.97 a gallon. Heating oil fell 4 cents to $1.98 a gallon. Natural gas slid 5 cents to $2.68 per 1,000 cubic feet.</p> | true | 0 | ___ us vs china slapfight trade war far continue reading washington ap first united states imposed tax chinese steel aluminum china counterpunched monday tariffs host us products including apples pork ginseng wall street stock market buckled prospect allout trade war worlds two biggest economies hasnt come yet anyway ___ china raises tariffs us pork fruit trade dispute beijing ap chinas move raise import duties us pork apples products hit american farm states many voted donald trump 2016 spokeswoman sarah huckabee sanders says trump isnt going back escalating trade dispute china tells fox friends trump going fight back hes going push back chinas government says responding us tariff hike steel aluminum ___ advertisement tech woes worsening tensions china sink us stocks new york ap stocks tumbled monday china raised import duties number us exports bringing two economic giants closer fullon trade conflict big technology companies long investor favorites suffered heavy losses worries newly protectionist us trade policies combined blowback facebooks everwidening privacy scandal prompted investors take money table meant steep drops former big winners including netflix microsoft alphabet ___ epa ease back emissions standards new york ap environmental protection agency set plan roll back emissions standards cars trucks didnt specify details regulator said monday standards set president barack obama inappropriate high ___ facebook ceo defends advertisingsupported business model new york ap ceo facebook defending advertisingsupported business model mark zuckerbergs defense comes apple ceo tim cook said company wouldnt facebooks situation apple doesnt sell ads based customer data way facebook zuckerberg responded monday advertisingsupported business model way service survive everyone would able pay facebook charged fee ___ pace us factory growth slipped march washington ap us manufacturers say expanded slower pace march institute supply management trade group purchasing managers reports manufacturing index slipped 593 last month februarys reading 608 highest since 2004 score 50 signals growth multiple companies surveyed index said introduction steel aluminum tariffs president donald trump causing concerns rising prices ___ epa says pruitts condo lease didnt violate ethics rules washington ap agency ethics official environmental protection agency says administrator scott pruitts lease capitol hill condo tied prominent fossilfuels lobbyist didnt violate federal rules memo signed official concludes pruitts 50anight rental payments constitute fair market rate pruitt paid nights occupied unit averaging 1000 month twobedroom apartments neighborhood typically rent three four times amount per month ___ puerto rico gov defies board rejects reform pension cuts san juan puerto rico ap powers federal control board overseeing puerto ricos finances could soon tested us territorys governor defies calls implement austerity measures amid 11year recession gov ricardo rossello monday rejected demands administration submit revised fiscal plan include labor reform 10 percent cut pension system facing nearly 50 billion liabilities said plan submit thursday also contain layoffs ___ french train strikes aim disrupt travel test macron paris ap trains around france grinding stop unions stage mass strike challenge president emmanuel macrons strategy making country economically competitive passengers sharing cars canceling trips national railway sncf said strike halt 85 percent frances highspeed trains 75 percent regional trains quarter air france flights grounded tuesday separate strike pay ___ standard amp poors 500 index gave 5899 points 22 percent 258188 dow jones industrial average lost 45892 points 19 percent 2364419 nasdaq composite slumped 19333 points 27 percent 687012 russell 2000 index smallercompany stocks fell 3690 points 24 percent 149253 benchmark us crude lost 193 3 percent 6301 barrel new york brent crude used price international oils slid 170 25 percent 6764 barrel london wholesale gasoline dropped 5 cents 197 gallon heating oil fell 4 cents 198 gallon natural gas slid 5 cents 268 per 1000 cubic feet | 600 |
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<p>Members of president-elect Donald Trump’s transition team continue to prod JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) chief Jamie Dimon to accept the job as the new administration’s Treasury Secretary but Dimon continues to say he’s not suitable for the role, but is offering himself as an unofficial advisor to the new administration on economic and banking issues, the Fox Business Network has learned.</p>
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<p>The back-and-forth with Dimon dates back nearly a week, but has picked up steam in recent days as Trump himself has made it clear to advisers he might want Dimon for the job, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.</p>
<p>While Dimon continues to tell the Trump team he is “not suitable” for the Treasury Secretary position, people inside the Trump transition office believe he’s leaving the door open to accept the post if Trump offers it to him in a direct fashion, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.</p>
<p>Dimon, meanwhile, has told Trump’s transition team that he is willing to work as an unofficial advisor to the new president, “expressing his willingness to help” with economic and banking issues, said one person with direct knowledge of Dimon’s thinking.</p>
<p>But senior advisers to Dimon say that the longtime CEO of the nation’s largest bank based on its $2.4 trillion in assets, has also made it clear he will not leave his job at JPMorgan for government work—a point they say he has made several times throughout his career during both Democratic and Republican administrations.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for the Trump transition effort had no comment, nor did a JPMorgan spokesman.</p>
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<p>Either way, people with knowledge of the Trump transition efforts say a decision on the Cabinent spot could be imminent.</p>
<p>There is, of course, precedent for prospective cabinet officials to put out word that they don’t want the job only to acquiesce when asked by the commander-in-chief. For example, former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) chief Hank Paulson told officials in the administration of President George W. Bush he didn’t want the job as Treasury Secretary, only to agree to take the post when asked by the president himself. Paulson served as Treasury Secretary during the 2008 financial crisis, and helped design the bailout of the U.S. financial system during the banking collapse that fueled the Great Recession.</p>
<p>Trump transition team insiders believe Dimon will do the same if asked, even as his senior advisers say he has made it clear as of Wednesday he won’t take the job.</p>
<p>As Fox Business was first to report, Trump officials have indicated that the president-elect’s campaign finance chief Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund executive, would be Trump’s likely choice for Treasury Secretary, one of the president’s top cabinet positions and point man on his economic agenda.</p>
<p>Sources also say that Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is under consideration as well.</p>
<p>But in recent days Trump himself has concluded that bringing someone of Dimon’s stature into the new administration would be a coup, and that his choice could be made public over the next week. Still, the situation is fluid and Trump himself has been known to change his mind at the last minute.</p>
<p>Dimon is considered among the most successful bankers in the business. He guided JPMorgan through the 2008 financial crisis largely untouched by the massive losses that doomed other banks and necessitated a government bailout.</p>
<p>A lifelong Democrat, Dimon was often touted as a possible Treasury Secretary for Trump’s challenger, Hillary Clinton, with whom he is said to share some ground on economic policy and her plan to raise taxes on the wealthy. Trump’s campaign ran on a plan for a massive tax cut and widespread deregulation.</p>
<p>Indeed Dimon began with a warm relationship with his fellow Democrat, President Obama, often meeting with the newly elected president to discuss post-financial crisis banking issues. But Obama soon found the nation’s big banks to be a convenient scape goat as a post-crisis recession set in, and the mood between the two men began to sour.</p>
<p>Dimon became a critic of Obama’s continued attacks against the banks, and soon found JPMorgan in the regulatory cross hairs of Obama’s U.S. Department of Justice and various Democratic state attorneys general, who forced JPMorgan to cough up billions of dollars for settlements involving various alleged abuses.</p>
<p>Dimon bounced back from the spate of bad publicity and shares of the bank have rebounded, rising nearly 42% over the past two years compared to a 6% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.</p>
<p>Still, Dimon would be an odd fit in a new administration where the president-elect—a brash reality TV star and real estate tycoon—ran as the ultimate outsider, often bashing banks and financial executives as being part of a “rigged” system that has hurt working-class Americans.</p>
<p>While they both would agree on the need to roll back some of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations, they disagree on many other banking issues. Just a month ago, Trump said he would impose a new form of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall law, and possibly bring back the separation of commercial and investment banking.</p>
<p>Dimon is a steadfast opponent of Glass-Steagall and a devotee of the so-called universal banking model that developed after Glass-Steagall’s demise during the Clinton Administration.</p>
<p>Then there are the personal differences; both are strong willed men, not known to take orders from anyone. Trump once called Dimon a “wimp” after the JPMorgan chief shelled out $13 billion in a settlement with the Obama Justice Department for alleged banking improprieties. Dimon, meanwhile, was thought to take a shot at Trump’s volatile campaign rhetoric including his condemnation of Mexican immigrants, in his annual letter to shareholders.</p>
<p>Without naming Trump directly, Dimon wrote “what doesn’t work: denigrating a whole class of people or society.”</p> | true | 0 | members presidentelect donald trumps transition team continue prod jpmorgan nysejpm chief jamie dimon accept job new administrations treasury secretary dimon continues say hes suitable role offering unofficial advisor new administration economic banking issues fox business network learned continue reading backandforth dimon dates back nearly week picked steam recent days trump made clear advisers might want dimon job according people direct knowledge matter dimon continues tell trump team suitable treasury secretary position people inside trump transition office believe hes leaving door open accept post trump offers direct fashion according people direct knowledge matter dimon meanwhile told trumps transition team willing work unofficial advisor new president expressing willingness help economic banking issues said one person direct knowledge dimons thinking senior advisers dimon say longtime ceo nations largest bank based 24 trillion assets also made clear leave job jpmorgan government worka point say made several times throughout career democratic republican administrations spokeswoman trump transition effort comment jpmorgan spokesman advertisement either way people knowledge trump transition efforts say decision cabinent spot could imminent course precedent prospective cabinet officials put word dont want job acquiesce asked commanderinchief example former goldman sachs nysegs chief hank paulson told officials administration president george w bush didnt want job treasury secretary agree take post asked president paulson served treasury secretary 2008 financial crisis helped design bailout us financial system banking collapse fueled great recession trump transition team insiders believe dimon asked even senior advisers say made clear wednesday wont take job fox business first report trump officials indicated presidentelects campaign finance chief steve mnuchin former goldman sachs partner hedge fund executive would trumps likely choice treasury secretary one presidents top cabinet positions point man economic agenda sources also say congressman jeb hensarling rtx chairman house financial services committee consideration well recent days trump concluded bringing someone dimons stature new administration would coup choice could made public next week still situation fluid trump known change mind last minute dimon considered among successful bankers business guided jpmorgan 2008 financial crisis largely untouched massive losses doomed banks necessitated government bailout lifelong democrat dimon often touted possible treasury secretary trumps challenger hillary clinton said share ground economic policy plan raise taxes wealthy trumps campaign ran plan massive tax cut widespread deregulation indeed dimon began warm relationship fellow democrat president obama often meeting newly elected president discuss postfinancial crisis banking issues obama soon found nations big banks convenient scape goat postcrisis recession set mood two men began sour dimon became critic obamas continued attacks banks soon found jpmorgan regulatory cross hairs obamas us department justice various democratic state attorneys general forced jpmorgan cough billions dollars settlements involving various alleged abuses dimon bounced back spate bad publicity shares bank rebounded rising nearly 42 past two years compared 6 rise dow jones industrial average still dimon would odd fit new administration presidentelecta brash reality tv star real estate tycoonran ultimate outsider often bashing banks financial executives part rigged system hurt workingclass americans would agree need roll back doddfrank financial regulations disagree many banking issues month ago trump said would impose new form depressionera glasssteagall law possibly bring back separation commercial investment banking dimon steadfast opponent glasssteagall devotee socalled universal banking model developed glasssteagalls demise clinton administration personal differences strong willed men known take orders anyone trump called dimon wimp jpmorgan chief shelled 13 billion settlement obama justice department alleged banking improprieties dimon meanwhile thought take shot trumps volatile campaign rhetoric including condemnation mexican immigrants annual letter shareholders without naming trump directly dimon wrote doesnt work denigrating whole class people society | 584 |
<p>Democrats are attacking President <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> for “dismantling” President Obama’s legacy on everything from Obamacare subsidies to immigration amnesty, but nobody knew better than Mr. Obama how vulnerable his go-it-alone agenda would be if <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> won the election.</p>
<p>Unable to work with a Republican-led <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> for most of his presidency, Mr. Obama did what he could with his presidential “pen and phone,” issuing executive orders, rules and regulations that in many cases could be overturned by another stroke of the pen — this time by a Republican president. Long before Mr. Obama left office, Republicans were accusing him of overreaching presidential authority, and <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> was vowing to overturn his unilateral decisions.</p>
<p>At a Clinton campaign rally in Cleveland in October 2016, a few weeks before Election Day, Mr. Obama tried to fire up Democratic voters with a plea that his legacy was hanging in the balance on issues such as climate change and health care.</p>
<p>“I’m here to tell you that all that progress goes out the window if we don’t make the right choice right now,” Mr. Obama said at the time. “ <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a>’s closing argument is ‘What do you have to lose?’ The answer is: Everything. All the progress we’ve made right now is on the ballot.”</p>
<p>Among the actions <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> has taken since Jan. 20 are pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement (a U.N. accord never ratified by <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a>), revoking deportation amnesty for young illegal immigrants called “Dreamers” (to Republicans’ complaints that he was exceeding his authority, Mr. Obama dared lawmakers: “Pass a bill”), decertifying the Iran nuclear deal (and requesting more congressional input), ending government subsidy payments to insurance companies under Obamacare (never approved by <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a>), and rolling back about 800 other Obama-era government regulations on a broad front, including portions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law.</p>
<p>Asked at an impromptu news conference Monday if there were any Obama policies he would like to keep, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> replied, “Not too many, I must say. It’s the opposite side of the spectrum.</p>
<p>“We’re very opposite in terms of incentives for jobs and other things,” he said of Mr. Obama.</p>
<p>While other presidents have rescinded policies of their predecessors, the extent of <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s actions is rare, said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation Institute for Constitutional Government.</p>
<p>“He is undoing unilateral executives actions of a prior president that went beyond the executive authority of the president,” Mr. von Spakovsky said. “ <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> is not being given credit or praise the way he should for what he is accomplishing: restoring the rule of law, bringing the executive branch back within the parameters and limits of the Constitution and restoring to <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> authority that prior presidents have stolen.”</p>
<p>He said <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> “is reversing the unfortunate trend we have seen, especially during the Obama administration, of the move towards an imperial presidency that disregards the limits on its power.”</p>
<p>Mr. Obama’s legacy was already on shaky legal ground when <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> took office. On several of Mr. Obama’s initiatives, such as the Clean Power Plan environmental rule and the Obamacare cost-sharing payments, federal courts had ruled the policies questionable, lending more weight to <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s decisions to roll them back. On the immigration amnesty program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, courts were likely to rule against it.</p>
<p>On the economic front, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> is working to rescind and repeal much of Mr. Obama’s agenda, and the U.S. economy continues to pick up steam, defying Mr. Obama’s warnings about unraveling his efforts at economic recovery.</p>
<p>“The unemployment rate is at an almost 17-year low,” <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> said at a Cabinet meeting Monday. “The stock market is soaring to record levels. We just hit a new high on Friday, and I think we’re hitting another new high today because there’s tremendous optimism having do with business in our country.”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> and his advisers view his moves as giving power back to the people — in most cases through <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a>.</p>
<p>“For too long, politicians have tried to centralize the authority among the hands of a small few in our nation’s capital,” <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> told the Values Voter Summit last week in Washington. “Bureaucrats think they can run your lives, overrule your values, meddle in your faith, and tell you how to live, what to say, and how to pray.”</p>
<p>So eager is <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> to disassociate himself from everything Obama, he even told reporters that Mr. Obama and some other presidents didn’t make calls to families of fallen service members and instead wrote letters. He said he makes many calls to families and sometimes writes letters.</p>
<p>His comment about Mr. Obama was wrong, and the media and former Obama aides pointed it out before the news conference ended.</p>
<p>Former Obama adviser Alyssa Mastromonaco called the remark “a f–ing lie” and <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> “a deranged animal.”</p>
<p>Many in the media aren’t happy, either, about <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s purge of Obama polices. New York Times columnist Charles Blow wrote, “ <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> can’t hold a candle to Obama, so he’s taking a tiki torch to Obama’s legacy.</p>
<p>“ <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> can’t get his bad ideas through <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a>, but he can use the power of the presidency to sabotage or even sink Obama’s signature deeds,” Mr. Blow opined. “In fact, if there is a defining feature of <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> as ‘president,’ it is that he is in all ways the anti-Obama — not only on policy but also on matters of propriety and polish. While Obama was erudite, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> is ignorant. Obama was civil, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> is churlish. Obama was tactful, <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> is tacky.”</p>
<p>Senate Republicans said in a statement Monday that they are “turning the page.”</p>
<p>“The last 10 years have been a lost decade where the economy stumbled and opportunities declined,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, wrote in an op-ed. “They suffered through stagnant paychecks, a lack of steady work, and retirement that slipped further away by the day.”</p>
<p>As <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> understands too well, the risk with his assault against the Obama agenda is the same as it was during Mr. Obama’s presidency: that a president of the opposite party can come along and rescind <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a>’s executive actions. <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> needs more cooperation from <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> on work such as repealing Obamacare and hammering out a new immigration policy if his stamp on those issues is to become more permanent.</p>
<p>“We’re going to have great health care in our country,” <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> promised last week. “We’re taking a little different route than we had hoped because getting <a href="/topics/congress/" type="external">Congress</a> — they forgot what their pledges were. So we’re going a little different route.”</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2017/oct/16/donald-trump-reverses-obamas-legally-dubious-execu/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 0 | democrats attacking president trump dismantling president obamas legacy everything obamacare subsidies immigration amnesty nobody knew better mr obama vulnerable goitalone agenda would mr trump election unable work republicanled congress presidency mr obama could presidential pen phone issuing executive orders rules regulations many cases could overturned another stroke pen time republican president long mr obama left office republicans accusing overreaching presidential authority mr trump vowing overturn unilateral decisions clinton campaign rally cleveland october 2016 weeks election day mr obama tried fire democratic voters plea legacy hanging balance issues climate change health care im tell progress goes window dont make right choice right mr obama said time donald trumps closing argument lose answer everything progress weve made right ballot among actions mr trump taken since jan 20 pulling us paris climate agreement un accord never ratified congress revoking deportation amnesty young illegal immigrants called dreamers republicans complaints exceeding authority mr obama dared lawmakers pass bill decertifying iran nuclear deal requesting congressional input ending government subsidy payments insurance companies obamacare never approved congress rolling back 800 obamaera government regulations broad front including portions 2010 doddfrank financial regulatory law asked impromptu news conference monday obama policies would like keep mr trump replied many must say opposite side spectrum opposite terms incentives jobs things said mr obama presidents rescinded policies predecessors extent mr trumps actions rare said hans von spakovsky senior legal fellow heritage foundation institute constitutional government undoing unilateral executives actions prior president went beyond executive authority president mr von spakovsky said trump given credit praise way accomplishing restoring rule law bringing executive branch back within parameters limits constitution restoring congress authority prior presidents stolen said mr trump reversing unfortunate trend seen especially obama administration move towards imperial presidency disregards limits power mr obamas legacy already shaky legal ground mr trump took office several mr obamas initiatives clean power plan environmental rule obamacare costsharing payments federal courts ruled policies questionable lending weight mr trumps decisions roll back immigration amnesty program known deferred action childhood arrivals courts likely rule economic front mr trump working rescind repeal much mr obamas agenda us economy continues pick steam defying mr obamas warnings unraveling efforts economic recovery unemployment rate almost 17year low mr trump said cabinet meeting monday stock market soaring record levels hit new high friday think hitting another new high today theres tremendous optimism business country mr trump advisers view moves giving power back people cases congress long politicians tried centralize authority among hands small nations capital mr trump told values voter summit last week washington bureaucrats think run lives overrule values meddle faith tell live say pray eager mr trump disassociate everything obama even told reporters mr obama presidents didnt make calls families fallen service members instead wrote letters said makes many calls families sometimes writes letters comment mr obama wrong media former obama aides pointed news conference ended former obama adviser alyssa mastromonaco called remark fing lie mr trump deranged animal many media arent happy either mr trumps purge obama polices new york times columnist charles blow wrote trump cant hold candle obama hes taking tiki torch obamas legacy trump cant get bad ideas congress use power presidency sabotage even sink obamas signature deeds mr blow opined fact defining feature trump president ways antiobama policy also matters propriety polish obama erudite trump ignorant obama civil trump churlish obama tactful trump tacky senate republicans said statement monday turning page last 10 years lost decade economy stumbled opportunities declined senate majority leader mitch mcconnell kentucky republican wrote oped suffered stagnant paychecks lack steady work retirement slipped away day mr trump understands well risk assault obama agenda mr obamas presidency president opposite party come along rescind mr trumps executive actions mr trump needs cooperation congress work repealing obamacare hammering new immigration policy stamp issues become permanent going great health care country mr trump promised last week taking little different route hoped getting congress forgot pledges going little different route copyright 2018 washington times llc click reprint permission 160 | 660 |
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<p>Airline stocks had another bad month in June. American Airlines stock fell 11% last month, while Delta Air Lines shares plunged 16%, according to data from <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/Login.aspx" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>. Shares of their fellow legacy carrier United Continental barely managed to avoid a double-digit drop, declining 9% for the month.</p>
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<p>Airline June stock performance. Data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Continental all have substantial international operations. As a result, all three stocks tend to be extremely sensitive to global political and economic dislocation. This put them among the casualties of last month's Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>In the two days following the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union, shares of <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/28/brexit-trounces-american-airlines-delta-united.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">all three legacy carriers plunged Opens a New Window.</a>. The declines ranged from 13% at Delta Air Lines to 17% at American Airlines.</p>
<p>The United Kingdom is a key market for all three legacy carriers. U.S.-U.K. routes account for more than 5% of systemwide capacity at both American Airlines and United Continental. Delta has a smaller direct presence in the U.K., but due to its 49% stake in British airline Virgin Atlantic, it effectively has a major presence there, too.</p>
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<p>Brexit could have a significant financial impact on these airlines. First, flights to London typically carry a large share of high-fare business class travelers. If falling business confidence causes companies to pull back on travel spending, unit revenue on those routes could fall significantly. Second, the British pound has fallen to a multiyear low against the dollar. This reduces the revenue airlines receive for tickets sold in the U.K.</p>
<p>Brexit could impact unit revenue at all three legacy carriers. Image source: American Airlines.</p>
<p>That said, the U.K. hasn't taken any concrete action to leave the EU yet. Travel demand between the U.S. and the U.K. could rebound quickly. Indeed, United Continental announced last week that it will add flights from its West Coast hubs to London over the next year despite the Brexit-related uncertainty.</p>
<p>Last month, Delta Air Lines stock was also weighed down by CFO Paul Jacobson's comment at an investor conference that the company might <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/09/delta-air-lines-may-miss-its-unit-revenue-guidance.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">miss its Q2 unit revenue guidance Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Back in April, Delta estimated that its passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) would decline 2.5%-4.5% in Q2. PRASM then declined about 4% in April and 5% in May. Thus, Delta needed its revenue trend to improve from May to June just to reach the low end of its PRASM guidance.</p>
<p>Instead, Delta reported on Tuesday that PRASM fell by about 5% again in Q2. As a result, it will miss its unit revenue guidance for the full quarter. Delta blamed the shortfall on lower fares for last-minute bookings. This suggests that business travel demand remains somewhat shaky.</p>
<p>Delta Air Lines will miss its Q2 unit revenue guidance. Image source: The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, United Continental announced in late June that its Q2 PRASM will wind up within the upper half of its guidance range. The carrier stated that unit revenue has exceeded expectations on its transatlantic and Latin American routes.</p>
<p>United still expects PRASM to decrease 6.5%-7.5% year over year, which would be worse than Delta's projected performance. Still, investors were relieved that the revenue gap between United and Delta isn't widening even further. Investors are also happy about the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/22/united-airlines-charts-its-comeback-plans.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">$3.1 billion profit improvement opportunity Opens a New Window.</a> identified by United executives on an investor call last month. This is probably why United Continental stock was able to avoid a double-digit decline in June.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, American Airlines hasn't updated its guidance since April. Investors may have to wait until it releases its earnings report later this month to find out whether its performance was more in line with that of Delta or United.</p>
<p>For all three airline stocks, the key to a second-half rebound is better unit revenue performance. If tighter capacity discipline and easier comparisons in the second half of the year more than offset the negative impact of Brexit, shares of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Continental could come roaring back in the next several months.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/05/why-shares-of-american-airlines-and-delta-air-line.aspx" type="external">Why Shares of American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Plunged in June Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of United Continental Holdings and is long January 2017 $40 calls on Delta Air Lines and long January 2017 $30 calls on American Airlines Group. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | airline stocks another bad month june american airlines stock fell 11 last month delta air lines shares plunged 16 according data sampp global market intelligence opens new window shares fellow legacy carrier united continental barely managed avoid doubledigit drop declining 9 month continue reading airline june stock performance data ycharts opens new window american airlines delta air lines united continental substantial international operations result three stocks tend extremely sensitive global political economic dislocation put among casualties last months brexit referendum united kingdom two days following uks vote leave european union shares three legacy carriers plunged opens new window declines ranged 13 delta air lines 17 american airlines united kingdom key market three legacy carriers usuk routes account 5 systemwide capacity american airlines united continental delta smaller direct presence uk due 49 stake british airline virgin atlantic effectively major presence advertisement brexit could significant financial impact airlines first flights london typically carry large share highfare business class travelers falling business confidence causes companies pull back travel spending unit revenue routes could fall significantly second british pound fallen multiyear low dollar reduces revenue airlines receive tickets sold uk brexit could impact unit revenue three legacy carriers image source american airlines said uk hasnt taken concrete action leave eu yet travel demand us uk could rebound quickly indeed united continental announced last week add flights west coast hubs london next year despite brexitrelated uncertainty last month delta air lines stock also weighed cfo paul jacobsons comment investor conference company might miss q2 unit revenue guidance opens new window back april delta estimated passenger revenue per available seat mile prasm would decline 2545 q2 prasm declined 4 april 5 may thus delta needed revenue trend improve may june reach low end prasm guidance instead delta reported tuesday prasm fell 5 q2 result miss unit revenue guidance full quarter delta blamed shortfall lower fares lastminute bookings suggests business travel demand remains somewhat shaky delta air lines miss q2 unit revenue guidance image source motley fool interestingly enough united continental announced late june q2 prasm wind within upper half guidance range carrier stated unit revenue exceeded expectations transatlantic latin american routes united still expects prasm decrease 6575 year year would worse deltas projected performance still investors relieved revenue gap united delta isnt widening even investors also happy 31 billion profit improvement opportunity opens new window identified united executives investor call last month probably united continental stock able avoid doubledigit decline june meanwhile american airlines hasnt updated guidance since april investors may wait releases earnings report later month find whether performance line delta united three airline stocks key secondhalf rebound better unit revenue performance tighter capacity discipline easier comparisons second half year offset negative impact brexit shares american airlines delta air lines united continental could come roaring back next several months article shares american airlines delta air lines plunged june opens new window originally appeared foolcom adam levineweinberg opens new window owns shares united continental holdings long january 2017 40 calls delta air lines long january 2017 30 calls american airlines group motley fool position stocks mentioned try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 558 |
<p>I spoke too soon. In the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/05/these-3-stocks-just-raised-their-dividends.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">previous installment of this series Opens a New Window.</a>, I stated that we were about to enter a fallow post-earnings season period with fewer dividend raises.</p>
<p>Whoops. Last week we saw a fresh batch of raises, including three top names in their respective industries -- consumer-goods giant Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), high-rolling casino operator Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN), and powerhouse chipmaker Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). Read on for the details.</p>
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<p>Saying that Colgate-Palmolive is raising its quarterly dividend is almost like saying the grass is green. The consumer-goods megalith is one of the most regal of the <a href="https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-a-dividend-aristocrat.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dividend Aristocrats Opens a New Window.</a>, with an annual dividend raise streak that stretches back over 50 years. The latest in a very long line of increases will see the company lift its payout by 5% to $0.42 per share.</p>
<p>That's the good news. The bad news is the company's recent performance. In all, 2017 was a relatively weak year. Net sales inched up by only 1.7% to $15.5 billion, while adjusted net profit increased by over 4% to land at $2.5 billion. Cost-cutting and increased advertising spend were two of the key reasons for these fairly modest increases.</p>
<p>My colleague Brian Stoffel has speculated that Colgate-Palmolive's long-established <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/07/death-of-big-brands-5-safe-dividend-stocks-that-co.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">dividend might be at risk Opens a New Window.</a> because of changes in technology and the shifting tastes of consumers. I think he's got a good argument there; although the company has sufficient cash flow to keep up those dividend raises for the time being, I'm not 100% sure this is a buy-and-hold-forever income play.</p>
<p>Colgate-Palmolive's upcoming distribution is to be handed out on on May 15 to stockholders of record as of April 20. Its payout ratio is 56%, and it would yield 2.4% on the most recent closing stock price -- comfortably above the current 1.8% average yield of dividend-paying stocks on the S&amp;P 500.</p>
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<p>2018 has already been quite a year for Wynn Resorts. The company's top global region is on a serious upswing, yet its founder and namesake, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/16/steve-wynn-is-losing-control-of-wynn-resorts.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Steve Wynn Opens a New Window.</a>, stepped down abruptly, following allegations of sexual misconduct. Nonetheless, Wynn Resorts declared a dividend increase, saying its quarterly distribution would get a hefty 50% increase to $0.75 per share.</p>
<p>These days, most of Wynn's take comes from the busy Chinese gaming enclave of Macau. After years of serious revenue declines because of a government crackdown on casino junket operators, the region has come roaring back. Its full-year 2017 take was 19% higher on a year-over-year basis, the first annual increase since 2013.</p>
<p>This propelled Wynn's revenue 44% higher to just over $6.3 billion, while adjusted net profit rose by 62% to over $560 million.</p>
<p>The loss of Steve Wynn, a towering figure in the industry, is going to sting. But the company is well primed for future growth; Macau should remain a vibrant market, while a new casino near Boston is scheduled to open its doors next year. But Wynn the company has a bright future ahead of it. Barring another government crackdown in Macau, I'd bet that the new dividend will at least be maintained for now.</p>
<p>Wynn hasn't yet set the record and payment dates for the new dividend. Regardless, it would yield 1.6% and boast a payout ratio of only 36%.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is dialing up a new quarterly dividend. The company has declared that its next payout will be $0.62 per share, a 9% increase.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is very profitable, netting $1.5 billion in profit on $6 billion in revenue in its most recently reported quarter. It's a power player in the field of chips for mobile devices, and it draws much of its revenue from technology licensing activities.</p>
<p>That's not what has driven up the stock's price over the past few months, however. In late 2017, acquisitive Asian chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) made a play to buy out Qualcomm with a mix of cash and stock. This and a subsequent higher bid from Broadcom were rejected, but the soap opera is still playing out.</p>
<p>Complicating matters is Qualcomm's own acquisition activity. Apparently, it's about to <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/09/qualcomms-nxp-semiconductors-offer-finally-looks-l.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">land its own large takeover target Opens a New Window.</a>, auto-computing specialist NXP Semiconductors.</p>
<p>So there are deals whipsawing back and forth, and we don't yet know how the whole mess is going to settle. As for Qualcomm's internal resources, it has more than enough free cash flow to pay for this raised dividend, plus a round of share buybacks. Still, given that the company's future ownership and structure is up in the air, it's hard to gauge the viability of this new payout. Income investors should exercise caution here.</p>
<p>The new $0.62-per-share amount will, in the company's words "be effective for quarterly dividends payable after March 21, 2018." It didn't get more specific. The theoretical yield is 3.9%, while the payout ratio stands at 63%.</p>
<p>I like it when my pessimistic assumptions turn out wrong. Last week turned out to be another good one for dividend increases, after all. 2018 has been a great year for lifts so far. Let's hope that trend will last.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than QualcommWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=3e956f77-36ad-4c70-a1ad-3cbdff9ea2a5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Qualcomm wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of March 5, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVolkman/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Eric Volkman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd and NXP Semiconductors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | spoke soon previous installment series opens new window stated enter fallow postearnings season period fewer dividend raises whoops last week saw fresh batch raises including three top names respective industries consumergoods giant colgatepalmolive nyse cl highrolling casino operator wynn resorts nasdaq wynn powerhouse chipmaker qualcomm nasdaq qcom read details continue reading saying colgatepalmolive raising quarterly dividend almost like saying grass green consumergoods megalith one regal dividend aristocrats opens new window annual dividend raise streak stretches back 50 years latest long line increases see company lift payout 5 042 per share thats good news bad news companys recent performance 2017 relatively weak year net sales inched 17 155 billion adjusted net profit increased 4 land 25 billion costcutting increased advertising spend two key reasons fairly modest increases colleague brian stoffel speculated colgatepalmolives longestablished dividend might risk opens new window changes technology shifting tastes consumers think hes got good argument although company sufficient cash flow keep dividend raises time im 100 sure buyandholdforever income play colgatepalmolives upcoming distribution handed may 15 stockholders record april 20 payout ratio 56 would yield 24 recent closing stock price comfortably current 18 average yield dividendpaying stocks sampp 500 advertisement 2018 already quite year wynn resorts companys top global region serious upswing yet founder namesake steve wynn opens new window stepped abruptly following allegations sexual misconduct nonetheless wynn resorts declared dividend increase saying quarterly distribution would get hefty 50 increase 075 per share days wynns take comes busy chinese gaming enclave macau years serious revenue declines government crackdown casino junket operators region come roaring back fullyear 2017 take 19 higher yearoveryear basis first annual increase since 2013 propelled wynns revenue 44 higher 63 billion adjusted net profit rose 62 560 million loss steve wynn towering figure industry going sting company well primed future growth macau remain vibrant market new casino near boston scheduled open doors next year wynn company bright future ahead barring another government crackdown macau id bet new dividend least maintained wynn hasnt yet set record payment dates new dividend regardless would yield 16 boast payout ratio 36 qualcomm dialing new quarterly dividend company declared next payout 062 per share 9 increase qualcomm profitable netting 15 billion profit 6 billion revenue recently reported quarter power player field chips mobile devices draws much revenue technology licensing activities thats driven stocks price past months however late 2017 acquisitive asian chipmaker broadcom nasdaq avgo made play buy qualcomm mix cash stock subsequent higher bid broadcom rejected soap opera still playing complicating matters qualcomms acquisition activity apparently land large takeover target opens new window autocomputing specialist nxp semiconductors deals whipsawing back forth dont yet know whole mess going settle qualcomms internal resources enough free cash flow pay raised dividend plus round share buybacks still given companys future ownership structure air hard gauge viability new payout income investors exercise caution new 062pershare amount companys words effective quarterly dividends payable march 21 2018 didnt get specific theoretical yield 39 payout ratio stands 63 like pessimistic assumptions turn wrong last week turned another good one dividend increases 2018 great year lifts far lets hope trend last 10 stocks like better qualcommwhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right qualcomm wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns march 5 2018 eric volkman opens new window position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares qualcomm motley fool recommends broadcom ltd nxp semiconductors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 600 |
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<p>Historically, commercial jet orders have been sharply cyclical, with boom times followed by big busts. In the past year or two, order activity has slowed significantly at Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus (NASDAQOTH: EADSY), indicating that the current cycle is past its peak.</p>
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<p>Order activity for the Boeing 737 has slowed in the past two years. Image source: The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>This order slowdown has made many analysts skeptical that Boeing and Airbus will be able to implement planned production increases for their 737 and A320 narrowbody jet families. This isn't a very realistic concern. With unprecedented narrowbody order backlogs, Boeing and Airbus remain well positioned to go ahead with plans to raise production aggressively in the next few years.</p>
<p>Between 2011 and 2015, Airbus averaged more than 1,000 net orders per year for its popular A320-series planes. During that period, it was building less than half that number on an annual basis. Order activity declined in 2016, but Airbus still managed to secure more than 600 net orders for the A320 family (including the new A320neo series).</p>
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<p>As a result, Airbus ended 2016 with a record backlog of 5,645 A320-family jets. That represents more than 10 years of output at last year's rate.</p>
<p>Boeing had a briefer order peak, with more than 1,000 net orders for the 737 every year from 2012 to 2014. It then added on 588 net orders in 2015 and another 550 in 2016. Even with the 737 falling behind the A320 in the order race lately, Boeing ended last year with an impressive backlog of 4,452 unfilled orders for 737-family jets.</p>
<p>Boeing ended 2016 with a backlog of 4,452 orders for the 737. Image source: Boeing.</p>
<p>In response to strong demand, Airbus and Boeing are in the midst of dramatically increasing narrowbody output. Last year, Airbus increased the A320 production rate from 42 per month to 46 per month. It plans to continue this production growth in the coming years, with output topping out at 60 per month in mid-2019.</p>
<p>Boeing is not far behind. It is currently building 42 737s each month, but plans to boost output in each of the next three years, reaching a production rate of 57 per month sometime in 2019.</p>
<p>If all of these production increases occur as planned, Boeing and Airbus will each be churning out about 675-700 narrowbody jets annually by the end of the decade. Annual order activity has already fallen below this level and could decline further in 2017. Furthermore, some airlines are deferring orders to later years. This doesn't impact the backlog, but it does reduce near-term demand.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, some analysts see this as a bad time to increase production. AirInsight founder Addison Schonland recently stated that he doesn't expect Boeing and Airbus to go ahead with their planned production increases because the <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/01/18/boeing-737-rate-increases-unlikely.html" type="external">order backlog has already peaked Opens a New Window.</a>. Furthermore, he thinks that low fuel prices will encourage airlines to defer more orders.</p>
<p>During many previous industry cycles, declining order activity was followed relatively quickly by production cuts. However, aircraft manufacturers rarely had more than three or four years' worth of production in their backlogs until very recently. Furthermore, Boeing and Airbus have more diverse customer bases today than they did even a decade ago.</p>
<p>Aircraft order backlogs are at unprecedented levels right now. Image source: Airbus.</p>
<p>In short, the backlogs for the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 are truly unprecedented in terms of size. Additionally, both manufacturers have liberally overbooked their production capacity, building in flexibility to accommodate order deferrals and cancellations.</p>
<p>The risk of low fuel prices driving massive order deferrals is also overstated. Fuel efficiency is one reason for replacing older airplanes, but it's not the only reason. As airplanes get older, they become more and more expensive to maintain. Reliability also tends to decrease. This limits the extent to which airlines can keep older planes flying in lieu of ordering new jets.</p>
<p>Furthermore, replacement needs represent a relatively small proportion of narrowbody demand right now. For the next five years, Boeing expects an average of about 200 single-aisle airplanes per year to reach the standard retirement age of 25 years. Most of the airplanes on order are needed for growth.</p>
<p>If the world tips into recession, it's possible that numerous airlines could cancel their growth plans, driving a wave of order deferrals and cancellations. That would undermine the case for raising production of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. But a sluggish order environment alone doesn't threaten the scheduled production increases at Boeing and Airbus.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Boeing When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=4c39b571-66ea-41c6-9f38-3592b27a85fd&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Boeing wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=4c39b571-66ea-41c6-9f38-3592b27a85fd&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Boeing. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | historically commercial jet orders sharply cyclical boom times followed big busts past year two order activity slowed significantly boeing nyse ba airbus nasdaqoth eadsy indicating current cycle past peak continue reading order activity boeing 737 slowed past two years image source motley fool order slowdown made many analysts skeptical boeing airbus able implement planned production increases 737 a320 narrowbody jet families isnt realistic concern unprecedented narrowbody order backlogs boeing airbus remain well positioned go ahead plans raise production aggressively next years 2011 2015 airbus averaged 1000 net orders per year popular a320series planes period building less half number annual basis order activity declined 2016 airbus still managed secure 600 net orders a320 family including new a320neo series advertisement result airbus ended 2016 record backlog 5645 a320family jets represents 10 years output last years rate boeing briefer order peak 1000 net orders 737 every year 2012 2014 added 588 net orders 2015 another 550 2016 even 737 falling behind a320 order race lately boeing ended last year impressive backlog 4452 unfilled orders 737family jets boeing ended 2016 backlog 4452 orders 737 image source boeing response strong demand airbus boeing midst dramatically increasing narrowbody output last year airbus increased a320 production rate 42 per month 46 per month plans continue production growth coming years output topping 60 per month mid2019 boeing far behind currently building 42 737s month plans boost output next three years reaching production rate 57 per month sometime 2019 production increases occur planned boeing airbus churning 675700 narrowbody jets annually end decade annual order activity already fallen level could decline 2017 furthermore airlines deferring orders later years doesnt impact backlog reduce nearterm demand surprisingly analysts see bad time increase production airinsight founder addison schonland recently stated doesnt expect boeing airbus go ahead planned production increases order backlog already peaked opens new window furthermore thinks low fuel prices encourage airlines defer orders many previous industry cycles declining order activity followed relatively quickly production cuts however aircraft manufacturers rarely three four years worth production backlogs recently furthermore boeing airbus diverse customer bases today even decade ago aircraft order backlogs unprecedented levels right image source airbus short backlogs boeing 737 airbus a320 truly unprecedented terms size additionally manufacturers liberally overbooked production capacity building flexibility accommodate order deferrals cancellations risk low fuel prices driving massive order deferrals also overstated fuel efficiency one reason replacing older airplanes reason airplanes get older become expensive maintain reliability also tends decrease limits extent airlines keep older planes flying lieu ordering new jets furthermore replacement needs represent relatively small proportion narrowbody demand right next five years boeing expects average 200 singleaisle airplanes per year reach standard retirement age 25 years airplanes order needed growth world tips recession possible numerous airlines could cancel growth plans driving wave order deferrals cancellations would undermine case raising production boeing 737 airbus a320 sluggish order environment alone doesnt threaten scheduled production increases boeing airbus 10 stocks like better boeing investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right boeing wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns january 4 2017 adam levineweinberg opens new window owns shares boeing motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 560 |
<p />
<p>Shimon&#160;Peres, the Israeli statesman who earned a Nobel Prize for his tireless efforts to forge peace with Palestinians, died on Tuesday. He was 93.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Over a seven-decade career, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;served as prime minister, president and Labor Party chief. He was the last surviving member of a group of leaders who witnessed the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, including David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir and Ariel Sharon, among others.</p>
<p>At the height of his career, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that became known as the Oslo Accords. He shared it with Yitzhak Rabin, a rival Labor leader, and Yasser Arafat, the longtime Palestine Liberation Organization chief.</p>
<p>The accords outlined steps toward a two-state solution to the decadeslong Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- a vision that still hasn't been realized.</p>
<p>"We have to make peace with the Palestinians," Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;said in a video interview posted in 2015 by the&#160;PeresCenter for Peace, a nonprofit organization he set up in 1996. "There's no way to achieve it in my opinion without a two-state solution."</p>
<p>In 2012, President Barack Obama presented Mr.&#160;Peres, then 88 years old and Israel's president, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the highest civilian award in the U.S. Mr. Obama said the Israeli leader, when recently asked what he wanted his legacy to be, quipped: "Well, it's too early for me to think about it."</p>
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<p>Known as the father of Israel's aerospace and nuclear programs, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;was first elected to the Knesset, or parliament, in 1959. He was the country's longest-standing parliamentarian and served in 12 governments. At age 83, he was chosen to serve a seven-year term as president, a largely ceremonial post.</p>
<p>Initially, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;supported Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza -- land captured during the 1967 Middle East war. But he focused his later years on promoting a peaceful resolution with the Palestinians based on separate states.</p>
<p>Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;became acting prime minister in 1977 when Mr. Rabin was forced to step down over a scandal about his wife holding a bank account overseas, which was illegal at the time in Israel.</p>
<p>As acting prime minister, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;lost national elections later that year, the first time the Labor Party was defeated since the founding of the state under Mr. Ben-Gurion. The election marked the beginning of a period of political dominance for the winners, the Likud party, led today by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</p>
<p>After the Labor Party returned to power in 1992, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;was appointed foreign minister under the premiership of Mr. Rabin, with whom he had a strained relationship. The two of them conducted negotiations with the PLO, headed at the time by Mr. Arafat. Those contacts led to the signing in 1993 of the first Oslo Accord.</p>
<p>Upon receiving the Nobel Prize in 1994, Mr.&#160; <a type="external" href="" />Peres&#160;said he wished for "a Middle East that is not a killing field but a field of creativity and growth."</p>
<p>A year later, Mr. Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist. Messrs.&#160;Peres&#160;and Rabin hugged each other at a rally for peace in Tel Aviv, moments before Mr. Rabin was shot dead, recalled Yossi Beilin, a longtime ally of Mr. <a type="external" href="" />Peres&#160;and former deputy foreign minister.</p>
<p>"They hated and respected each other right until the last moments of Rabin," said Mr. Beilin.</p>
<p>Mr.&#160;Peres's death came at a low point for efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The last round of peace talks collapsed in 2014. Palestinian leaders now refuse to enter negotiations unless Mr. Netanyahu freezes construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.</p>
<p>Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and has since fought three wars with the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory.</p>
<p>Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, told the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 that Palestinians no longer considered themselves bound by the Oslo Accords because of what he said was Israel's failure to implement them.</p>
<p>Born in modern-day Belarus to a timber merchant and a librarian, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;emigrated with his family in 1934 to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, encompassing much of the territory that is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. His family changed its name from Perski to the Hebrew style of&#160;Peres, and young Shimon grew up in Tel Aviv.</p>
<p>In 1943, he was elected secretary of the Labor-Zionist youth movement, a grass-roots socialist organization that supported the establishment of a Jewish state. He also became involved in the Haganah, the forerunner to the Israeli military, and in 1953 at the age of 29, was appointed as director-general of the defense ministry by Mr. Ben-Gurion.</p>
<p>A succession of posts at the ministry marked Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;as a man dedicated to Israel's security. During his tenure there, Israel invested in developing a secret nuclear weapons program, which critics said contributed to regional instability, a notion that Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;bristled at in later life.</p>
<p>"Pakistan did it before us, and India," he told The Wall Street Journal in 2007. Israel officially neither confirms nor denies it has nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>The development of nuclear capabilities "helped us achieve peace with Egypt," he added, referring to the peace agreement signed in 1979 after the two countries had fought three wars.</p>
<p>In the wake of Mr. Rabin's assassination, Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;ran for prime minister in 1996 against Mr. Netanyahu. Initially commanding a wide lead in the polls, he and his party soon lost their footing. Hamas launched a string of suicide bomb attacks and voters responded to Mr. Netanyahu's tough talk on security. Mr.&#160; <a type="external" href="" />Peres&#160;lost the race by a small margin.</p>
<p>Mr. Beilin said one of his most-enduring memories of Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;was when he entered his office on the morning after the election. Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;had been up all night and was talking to his wife Sonia, who asked him if he was happy with chicken for lunch.</p>
<p>"Wonderful," Mr. Beilin remembers Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;saying.</p>
<p>"The whole world was shocked by the election but here he was telling Sonia chicken was OK," Mr. Beilin said. "He went through low moments. But optimism never left him."</p>
<p>Mr.&#160;Peres' election losses lent him an image as a weak campaigner. His involvement in initially pushing settlements in the West Bank and in Israel's arms buildup also tarnished his image among some liberal-minded Israelis.</p>
<p>Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;remained a force in Israeli politics throughout the start of the 21st century, and was voted president in 2007 by the Knesset.</p>
<p>"It was only in his latest version as a president that they loved him," said Anita Shapira, the author of Israel: A History. "Overall, he was a tragic figure. He wanted to do more than he could."</p>
<p>He never gave up on trying to advance peace with the Palestinians.</p>
<p>"The duty of leaders is to pursue freedom ceaselessly, even in the face of hostility, in the face of doubt and disappointment," Mr.&#160;Peres&#160;said in 2012 on accepting the Medal of Honor in Washington. "Just imagine what could be."</p>
<p>Write to Rory Jones at [email protected] and Orr Hirschauge at [email protected]</p> | true | 0 | shimon160peres israeli statesman earned nobel prize tireless efforts forge peace palestinians died tuesday 93 continue reading sevendecade career mr160peres160served prime minister president labor party chief last surviving member group leaders witnessed creation state israel 1948 including david bengurion moshe dayan golda meir ariel sharon among others height career nobel peace prize 1994 negotiating israelipalestinian peace deal became known oslo accords shared yitzhak rabin rival labor leader yasser arafat longtime palestine liberation organization chief accords outlined steps toward twostate solution decadeslong israelipalestinian conflict vision still hasnt realized make peace palestinians mr160peres160said video interview posted 2015 the160perescenter peace nonprofit organization set 1996 theres way achieve opinion without twostate solution 2012 president barack obama presented mr160peres 88 years old israels president presidential medal freedom highest civilian award us mr obama said israeli leader recently asked wanted legacy quipped well early think advertisement known father israels aerospace nuclear programs mr160peres160was first elected knesset parliament 1959 countrys longeststanding parliamentarian served 12 governments age 83 chosen serve sevenyear term president largely ceremonial post initially mr160peres160supported jewish settlement west bank gaza land captured 1967 middle east war focused later years promoting peaceful resolution palestinians based separate states mr160peres160became acting prime minister 1977 mr rabin forced step scandal wife holding bank account overseas illegal time israel acting prime minister mr160peres160lost national elections later year first time labor party defeated since founding state mr bengurion election marked beginning period political dominance winners likud party led today prime minister benjamin netanyahu labor party returned power 1992 mr160peres160was appointed foreign minister premiership mr rabin strained relationship two conducted negotiations plo headed time mr arafat contacts led signing 1993 first oslo accord upon receiving nobel prize 1994 mr160 peres160said wished middle east killing field field creativity growth year later mr rabin assassinated jewish extremist messrs160peres160and rabin hugged rally peace tel aviv moments mr rabin shot dead recalled yossi beilin longtime ally mr peres160and former deputy foreign minister hated respected right last moments rabin said mr beilin mr160peress death came low point efforts resolve israelipalestinian conflict last round peace talks collapsed 2014 palestinian leaders refuse enter negotiations unless mr netanyahu freezes construction jewish settlements west bank israel withdrew gaza 2005 since fought three wars islamist movement hamas controls palestinian territory mahmoud abbas president palestinian authority administers west bank told united nations general assembly september 2015 palestinians longer considered bound oslo accords said israels failure implement born modernday belarus timber merchant librarian mr160peres160emigrated family 1934 british mandate palestine encompassing much territory israel west bank gaza strip family changed name perski hebrew style of160peres young shimon grew tel aviv 1943 elected secretary laborzionist youth movement grassroots socialist organization supported establishment jewish state also became involved haganah forerunner israeli military 1953 age 29 appointed directorgeneral defense ministry mr bengurion succession posts ministry marked mr160peres160as man dedicated israels security tenure israel invested developing secret nuclear weapons program critics said contributed regional instability notion mr160peres160bristled later life pakistan us india told wall street journal 2007 israel officially neither confirms denies nuclear weapons development nuclear capabilities helped us achieve peace egypt added referring peace agreement signed 1979 two countries fought three wars wake mr rabins assassination mr160peres160ran prime minister 1996 mr netanyahu initially commanding wide lead polls party soon lost footing hamas launched string suicide bomb attacks voters responded mr netanyahus tough talk security mr160 peres160lost race small margin mr beilin said one mostenduring memories mr160peres160was entered office morning election mr160peres160had night talking wife sonia asked happy chicken lunch wonderful mr beilin remembers mr160peres160saying whole world shocked election telling sonia chicken ok mr beilin said went low moments optimism never left mr160peres election losses lent image weak campaigner involvement initially pushing settlements west bank israels arms buildup also tarnished image among liberalminded israelis mr160peres160remained force israeli politics throughout start 21st century voted president 2007 knesset latest version president loved said anita shapira author israel history overall tragic figure wanted could never gave trying advance peace palestinians duty leaders pursue freedom ceaselessly even face hostility face doubt disappointment mr160peres160said 2012 accepting medal honor washington imagine could write rory jones roryjoneswsjcom orr hirschauge orrhirschaugewsjcom | 673 |
<p>For the week ended Sep 10, in percent. * denotes revision.</p>
<p>NOTE: Averages for are based on the number of planted acres, not</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>the number of states.</p>
<p>CONDITION:</p>
<p>very poor poor fair good excellent</p>
<p>09/10 09/03 09/10 09/03 09/10 09/03 09/10 09/03 09/10 09/03</p>
<p>Colo 1 1 13 12 28 32 48 48 10 7</p>
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<p>Ill 4 4 8 10 32 32 46 43 10 11</p>
<p>Ind 5 6 12 13 31 30 41 40 11 11</p>
<p>Iowa 3 3 10 9 27 26 51 53 9 9</p>
<p>Kans 5 4 13 12 28 30 43 42 11 12</p>
<p>Ky 1 1 3 3 15 16 61 57 20 23</p>
<p>Mich 3 3 16 11 32 33 40 41 9 12</p>
<p>Minn 1 1 2 3 15 15 65 65 17 16</p>
<p>Mo 2 2 7 7 29 28 50 50 12 13</p>
<p>Nebr 4 4 8 9 24 24 47 45 17 18</p>
<p>NC 1 1 3 4 19 17 46 49 31 29</p>
<p>ND 7 6 13 14 31 32 44 44 5 4</p>
<p>Ohio 2 3 7 7 30 31 46 46 15 13</p>
<p>Pa 0 0 1 1 12 11 44 44 43 44</p>
<p>SD 10 10 16 16 31 32 39 38 4 4</p>
<p>Tenn 1 1 2 1 11 10 47 51 39 37</p>
<p>Texas 0 0 3 3 18 18 57 57 22 22</p>
<p>Wisc 3 3 7 7 20 18 49 51 21 21</p>
<p>18-state</p>
<p>avg 4 4 9 9 26 26 48 48 13 13</p>
<p>yr-ago 2 2 5 5 19 19 54 54 20 20</p>
<p>PROGRESS:</p>
<p>--Dough-- --Dented--</p>
<p>09/10 09/03 2016 Avg 09/10 09/03 2016 Avg</p>
<p>Colo 90 80 96 97 54 31 75 74</p>
<p>Ill 100 96 100 99 82 67 90 88</p>
<p>Ind 96 94 100 97 76 65 86 79</p>
<p>Iowa 98 94 99 96 76 60 89 81</p>
<p>Kans 97 93 97 98 84 75 87 86</p>
<p>Ky 96 92 95 96 88 81 89 88</p>
<p>Mich 84 79 89 91 63 44 63 62</p>
<p>Minn 96 93 100 97 71 51 88 80</p>
<p>Mo 100 100 100 99 93 88 94 93</p>
<p>Nebr 99 97 99 98 86 68 87 85</p>
<p>NC 100 100 100 100 98 95 98 98</p>
<p>ND 94 87 97 95 56 31 75 69</p>
<p>Ohio 95 91 97 97 69 54 75 76</p>
<p>Pa 79 66 95 93 57 38 72 69</p>
<p>SD 97 90 97 97 60 43 80 78</p>
<p>Tenn 99 98 100 100 95 92 98 96</p>
<p>Tex 100 97 100 96 88 87 83 86</p>
<p>Wis 86 79 94 89 48 33 80 63</p>
<p>18-state</p>
<p>avg 96 92 99 97 75 60 85 81</p>
<p>--Mature-- --Harvested--</p>
<p>09/10 09/03 2016 Avg 09/10 09/03 2016 Avg</p>
<p>Colo 9 2 12 14 0 (NA) 0 1</p>
<p>Ill 26 13 39 41 2 0 3 6</p>
<p>Ind 26 13 33 29 1 (NA) 3 3</p>
<p>Iowa 15 3 27 28 0 (NA) 1 3</p>
<p>Kans 45 30 40 44 10 3 7 15</p>
<p>Ky 68 52 72 65 22 11 25 21</p>
<p>Mich 4 1 15 13 0 (NA) 0 1</p>
<p>Minn 2 1 16 17 0 (NA) 0 1</p>
<p>Mo 42 21 61 55 12 4 17 19</p>
<p>Nebr 18 10 25 27 2 (NA) 1 3</p>
<p>NC 88 83 94 93 56 38 64 49</p>
<p>ND 4 3 21 18 0 (NA) 1 1</p>
<p>Ohio 16 7 25 18 0 (NA) 0 0</p>
<p>Pa 16 1 20 21 1 0 3 3</p>
<p>SD 4 1 17 21 0 (NA) 0 2</p>
<p>Tenn 79 60 83 69 26 8 35 28</p>
<p>Tex 67 66 67 69 60 57 58 58</p>
<p>Wis 4 2 27 15 0 (NA) 0 0</p>
<p>18-state</p>
<p>avg 21 12 31 31 5 (NA) 5 6</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 11, 2017 16:21 ET (20:21 GMT)</p> | true | 0 | week ended sep 10 percent denotes revision note averages based number planted acres continue reading number states condition poor poor fair good excellent 0910 0903 0910 0903 0910 0903 0910 0903 0910 0903 colo 1 1 13 12 28 32 48 48 10 7 advertisement ill 4 4 8 10 32 32 46 43 10 11 ind 5 6 12 13 31 30 41 40 11 11 iowa 3 3 10 9 27 26 51 53 9 9 kans 5 4 13 12 28 30 43 42 11 12 ky 1 1 3 3 15 16 61 57 20 23 mich 3 3 16 11 32 33 40 41 9 12 minn 1 1 2 3 15 15 65 65 17 16 mo 2 2 7 7 29 28 50 50 12 13 nebr 4 4 8 9 24 24 47 45 17 18 nc 1 1 3 4 19 17 46 49 31 29 nd 7 6 13 14 31 32 44 44 5 4 ohio 2 3 7 7 30 31 46 46 15 13 pa 0 0 1 1 12 11 44 44 43 44 sd 10 10 16 16 31 32 39 38 4 4 tenn 1 1 2 1 11 10 47 51 39 37 texas 0 0 3 3 18 18 57 57 22 22 wisc 3 3 7 7 20 18 49 51 21 21 18state avg 4 4 9 9 26 26 48 48 13 13 yrago 2 2 5 5 19 19 54 54 20 20 progress dough dented 0910 0903 2016 avg 0910 0903 2016 avg colo 90 80 96 97 54 31 75 74 ill 100 96 100 99 82 67 90 88 ind 96 94 100 97 76 65 86 79 iowa 98 94 99 96 76 60 89 81 kans 97 93 97 98 84 75 87 86 ky 96 92 95 96 88 81 89 88 mich 84 79 89 91 63 44 63 62 minn 96 93 100 97 71 51 88 80 mo 100 100 100 99 93 88 94 93 nebr 99 97 99 98 86 68 87 85 nc 100 100 100 100 98 95 98 98 nd 94 87 97 95 56 31 75 69 ohio 95 91 97 97 69 54 75 76 pa 79 66 95 93 57 38 72 69 sd 97 90 97 97 60 43 80 78 tenn 99 98 100 100 95 92 98 96 tex 100 97 100 96 88 87 83 86 wis 86 79 94 89 48 33 80 63 18state avg 96 92 99 97 75 60 85 81 mature harvested 0910 0903 2016 avg 0910 0903 2016 avg colo 9 2 12 14 0 na 0 1 ill 26 13 39 41 2 0 3 6 ind 26 13 33 29 1 na 3 3 iowa 15 3 27 28 0 na 1 3 kans 45 30 40 44 10 3 7 15 ky 68 52 72 65 22 11 25 21 mich 4 1 15 13 0 na 0 1 minn 2 1 16 17 0 na 0 1 mo 42 21 61 55 12 4 17 19 nebr 18 10 25 27 2 na 1 3 nc 88 83 94 93 56 38 64 49 nd 4 3 21 18 0 na 1 1 ohio 16 7 25 18 0 na 0 0 pa 16 1 20 21 1 0 3 3 sd 4 1 17 21 0 na 0 2 tenn 79 60 83 69 26 8 35 28 tex 67 66 67 69 60 57 58 58 wis 4 2 27 15 0 na 0 0 18state avg 21 12 31 31 5 na 5 6 end dow jones newswires september 11 2017 1621 et 2021 gmt | 631 |
<p />
<p>After paying out billions of dollars in subsidies to promote greener cars - and creating a gold-rush among unknown start-ups - China is tightening its grip on the world's biggest electric vehicle (EV) market to weed out weaker domestic firms.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But some leading local EV makers are, for now, ignoring calls to apply for costly manufacturing licences, preferring to invest in design and technology innovation.</p>
<p>That, analysts warn, could prove costly down the road if they fail to secure permits to make and sell their new cars.</p>
<p>China has rapidly built the world's largest EV market, throwing money - subsidies of $4.5 billion (3.63 billion pounds) last year alone - at a sector it hopes will lower fuel imports, improve big city air quality and create technological champions.</p>
<p>Subsidies, paid to the manufacturer for each car sold, can be worth more than a third of the sticker price of a model like BYD's &lt;002594.SZ&gt; e6. Subsidies are due to be phased out over the next few years.</p>
<p>Automakers have responded with a slew of electric cars, with more models to come from SAIC Motor &lt;600104.SS&gt; and Chongqing Changan Automobile &lt;000625.SZ&gt; at the Guangzhou auto show, which opens on Friday, while General Motors is set to unveil a concept car previewing its new-energy plans at the event.</p>
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<p>Beyond the traditional automakers, Beijing opened the sector to investment by technology firms and others. EV start-ups such as LeEco, Future Mobility and WM Motors have raised hundreds of millions of dollars to develop green car technology.</p>
<p>Sales of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) in China - including all-electric and plug-in hybrid models - totalled 337,000 in January-October, up sharply from last year, but still some way short of China's target to have 5 million NEVs on its roads by 2020.</p>
<p>CRACKDOWN</p>
<p>In recent months, authorities have cracked down on firms making substandard products and gaming the subsidy schemes through phantom car sales. State support has been tightened and there are new rules for companies applying for a licence to make all-electric cars.</p>
<p>These include intellectual property rights; research and development; sales and after-sales support plans; trial production of at least 15 cars; and more. Separately, new safety rules for NEVs, such as battery testing, will make life tougher for weaker firms.</p>
<p>Since March, just a handful of companies, all auto industry veterans including those with ties to BAIC Motor &lt;1958.HK&gt; and Chery [CHERY.UL], have been granted licences - around a quarter of the total applications, auto executives say.</p>
<p>The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which approves the licences, could not be reached for comment. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Some of the leading tech and start-up companies, including those backed by Tencent &lt;0700.HK&gt; and Foxconn &lt;2354.TW&gt;, are holding off from applying, saying they are either still some way from actually making cars or expect the rules to change.</p>
<p>Jack Cheng, head of manufacturing at NextEV, which is backed by Tencent and Hillhouse Capital, said the company would apply for a licence - but only after it makes its first car, delaying investing directly in manufacturing and instead teaming up with traditional automaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC) &lt;600418.SS&gt;.</p>
<p>"We don't really want to spend too much money on manufacturing, to be honest, and the government policy might change," Cheng told Reuters.</p>
<p>Wang Chao, chairman of EV start-up Kaiyun Motors, said that instead of pitching directly for a licence, he preferred to buy a struggling petrol car maker whose licence can also be used to make electric vehicles. That 'grandfathering' process allows firms to produce cars in existing factories, though they would need permission for any new plant.</p>
<p>"You can spend tens of millions and get a licence, but all you get is a licence. If you buy a company, you also get a factory," Wang said.</p>
<p>HIGH STAKES</p>
<p>Start-ups are taking a gamble by not getting a licence now, says Yale Zhang, Shanghai-based managing director of consultancy Automotive Foresight.</p>
<p>An NDRC licence will be a likely prerequisite for selling an electric car, and the public security bureau, which issues car licence plates, is unlikely to give out plates for cars made by companies with no central approval.</p>
<p>"The best thing for them is to secure a licence, otherwise there might be some problems," Zhang said.</p>
<p>The state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has said the new rules should lead to a more sustainable EV sector. "It will affect the market's short-term development, but in the long-term will lead to better quality and more cost effective development," Shi Jianhua, a CAAM deputy secretary, said last month.</p>
<p>Zhang at Automotive Foresight estimates companies need to have least 3 billion yuan ($438 million) to meet the new R&amp;D, sales and plant standards.</p>
<p>While several start-ups have the funding, they are reluctant to fork out on licence applications now, though several said it was inevitable.</p>
<p>For example, Cheng at NextEV - which aims to have raised 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) at home and abroad by the year-end - said he'd rather spend on developing technology. NextEV will pay contract manufacturer JAC for each car produced, though Cheng foresees the relationship going deeper in future.</p>
<p>As China winnows down the number of firms racing to produce clean, smart, internet-connected cars, auto executives are calling an end to the recent boom.</p>
<p>"This is the golden era. In two or three years, you won't be able to start a new company," said Wang of Kaiyun Motors.</p>
<p>"There are over 20 (electric passenger car) companies. Most will put out one model, maybe not even that, and disappear," he said, predicting only a handful will survive in the long run.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Jake Spring, with additional reporting by Cheng Fang and BEIJING Newsroom; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Ian Geoghegan)</p> | true | 0 | paying billions dollars subsidies promote greener cars creating goldrush among unknown startups china tightening grip worlds biggest electric vehicle ev market weed weaker domestic firms continue reading leading local ev makers ignoring calls apply costly manufacturing licences preferring invest design technology innovation analysts warn could prove costly road fail secure permits make sell new cars china rapidly built worlds largest ev market throwing money subsidies 45 billion 363 billion pounds last year alone sector hopes lower fuel imports improve big city air quality create technological champions subsidies paid manufacturer car sold worth third sticker price model like byds lt002594szgt e6 subsidies due phased next years automakers responded slew electric cars models come saic motor lt600104ssgt chongqing changan automobile lt000625szgt guangzhou auto show opens friday general motors set unveil concept car previewing newenergy plans event advertisement beyond traditional automakers beijing opened sector investment technology firms others ev startups leeco future mobility wm motors raised hundreds millions dollars develop green car technology sales newenergy vehicles nevs china including allelectric plugin hybrid models totalled 337000 januaryoctober sharply last year still way short chinas target 5 million nevs roads 2020 crackdown recent months authorities cracked firms making substandard products gaming subsidy schemes phantom car sales state support tightened new rules companies applying licence make allelectric cars include intellectual property rights research development sales aftersales support plans trial production least 15 cars separately new safety rules nevs battery testing make life tougher weaker firms since march handful companies auto industry veterans including ties baic motor lt1958hkgt chery cheryul granted licences around quarter total applications auto executives say national development reform commission ndrc approves licences could reached comment ministry industry information technology respond requests comment leading tech startup companies including backed tencent lt0700hkgt foxconn lt2354twgt holding applying saying either still way actually making cars expect rules change jack cheng head manufacturing nextev backed tencent hillhouse capital said company would apply licence makes first car delaying investing directly manufacturing instead teaming traditional automaker anhui jianghuai automobile jac lt600418ssgt dont really want spend much money manufacturing honest government policy might change cheng told reuters wang chao chairman ev startup kaiyun motors said instead pitching directly licence preferred buy struggling petrol car maker whose licence also used make electric vehicles grandfathering process allows firms produce cars existing factories though would need permission new plant spend tens millions get licence get licence buy company also get factory wang said high stakes startups taking gamble getting licence says yale zhang shanghaibased managing director consultancy automotive foresight ndrc licence likely prerequisite selling electric car public security bureau issues car licence plates unlikely give plates cars made companies central approval best thing secure licence otherwise might problems zhang said statebacked china association automobile manufacturers caam said new rules lead sustainable ev sector affect markets shortterm development longterm lead better quality cost effective development shi jianhua caam deputy secretary said last month zhang automotive foresight estimates companies need least 3 billion yuan 438 million meet new rampd sales plant standards several startups funding reluctant fork licence applications though several said inevitable example cheng nextev aims raised 20 billion yuan 29 billion home abroad yearend said hed rather spend developing technology nextev pay contract manufacturer jac car produced though cheng foresees relationship going deeper future china winnows number firms racing produce clean smart internetconnected cars auto executives calling end recent boom golden era two three years wont able start new company said wang kaiyun motors 20 electric passenger car companies put one model maybe even disappear said predicting handful survive long run reporting jake spring additional reporting cheng fang beijing newsroom editing clara ferreiramarques ian geoghegan | 601 |
<p />
<p>iPhone SE. Source: Apple.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Apple isn't giving up on smaller smartphones. The company's most recently released handset, the iPhone SE, sports a 4-inch display -- downright tiny by 2016 standards. Most of Apple's competitors reserve such pint-sized phones for the bargain bin, equipping them with subpar internals that make for a less-than-ideal user experience. In this regard, the iPhone SE is dramatically different and unique, boasting speedy silicon that allows it to stand toe-to-toe with its much larger rivals.</p>
<p>But there's something even more intriguing about the iPhone SE: its price tag. Starting at $399, the iPhone SE is $250 cheaper than the iPhone 6s, and $150 cheaper than the iPhone 6. Given its relative affordability, many have speculated that the iPhone SE is an iPhone aimed explicitly at emerging markets, whose consumers lack the purchasing power of their counterparts in more developed economies.</p>
<p>That may be the case, but Apple will be fighting an uphill battle: Emerging market buyers have demonstrated a strong preference for smartphones with much larger screens.</p>
<p>When you only have a smartphone, every inch mattersPhablets -- oversized smartphones that border on the realm of traditional tablets -- were viewed skeptically in developed economies when they began to emerge in 2012. That extra screen real estate made watching videos and playing games easier, but came with a fair number of trade-offs, some of which Apple emphasized in its advertising. In a television spot for iPhone 5, before the release of the larger iPhone 6, Apple declared that going with a 4-inch display was simply a matter of "common sense" given that the smaller size meant you could hold the phone in your palm and navigate around the screen with your thumb.</p>
<p>But emerging market consumers took to the phablet with far greater zeal. In the second quarter of 2013, phablets outsold both tablets and laptops combined in the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/05/06/apple-could-be-about-lose-another-market-to-samsun.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Asia-Pacific region</a> (excluding Japan). By the third quarter, smartphones with displays larger than 5 inches represented over one-fifth of total handsets sold globally, with Asian economies driving most of the demand. Emerging market buyers, many of whom lack traditional PCs and home Wi-Fi connections, were drawn to the cellular-equipped phablet as the perfect all-in-one device: small enough to double as a phone, large enough to replace a PC. In 2014, research firm Jana conducted a survey of smartphone users across several different emerging markets. Consumers (in countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Mexico) overwhelmingly said they wanted phones with screens that were 5 inches or larger.</p>
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<p>Unsurprisingly, Apple saw an unprecedented increase in demand following the release of the larger iPhone 6 (4.7 inches) and iPhone 6 Plus (5.5 inches), and for a time became the largest seller of smartphones in China. Its Chinese rivals, which have overtaken it in recent months, sell a larger variety of phones, but almost all sport fairly large displays. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Xiaomi phone much smaller than 5 inches. Even its ultra low-priced Redmi 3 boasts a 5-inch panel.</p>
<p>The same is true for Huawei, but to an even greater extent. In recent quarters, Huawei has emerged as one of the world's largest sellers of tablets. In the fourth quarter of 2015, for example, it shipped 2.2 million units, according to research firm <a href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS40990116" type="external">IDC</a>. A far cry from Apple's 16.1 million, but Huawei's growth was far more impressive (up a stunning 124.6% on an annual basis).</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.idc.com/" type="external">IDC</a>.</p>
<p>Huawei's approach to the tablet market, however, is unique: Most of the company's tablets are equipped with cellular radios. "Huawei's focus remains on cellular-connected tablets," wrote IDC. It's difficult to say for certain how consumers are choosing to use these Huawei slates, but they may be using them more like phones than tablets. Huawei's MediaPadX2 sports a 7-inch display and comes equipped with an LTE radio. In the U.S., LTE tablets aren't unheard of, but they are less popular, and often have larger displays.</p>
<p>A great phone, but not the perfect solution for emerging marketsThe iPhone SE has received rave reviews, and for $399, offers great value compared to the rest of Apple's lineup. Its existence doesn't pose a risk to Apple's bottom line: If anything, it could help endear its handsets to consumers turned off by the prospect of fumbling with a giant phone. But, with emerging market consumers demonstrating a strong preference for bigger handsets, it's unlikely to lead Apple to emerging market dominance.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/22/the-iphone-se-has-one-big-problem.aspx" type="external">The iPhone SE Has One Big Problem</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMattera/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sam Mattera</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | true | 0 | iphone se source apple continue reading apple isnt giving smaller smartphones companys recently released handset iphone se sports 4inch display downright tiny 2016 standards apples competitors reserve pintsized phones bargain bin equipping subpar internals make lessthanideal user experience regard iphone se dramatically different unique boasting speedy silicon allows stand toetotoe much larger rivals theres something even intriguing iphone se price tag starting 399 iphone se 250 cheaper iphone 6s 150 cheaper iphone 6 given relative affordability many speculated iphone se iphone aimed explicitly emerging markets whose consumers lack purchasing power counterparts developed economies may case apple fighting uphill battle emerging market buyers demonstrated strong preference smartphones much larger screens smartphone every inch mattersphablets oversized smartphones border realm traditional tablets viewed skeptically developed economies began emerge 2012 extra screen real estate made watching videos playing games easier came fair number tradeoffs apple emphasized advertising television spot iphone 5 release larger iphone 6 apple declared going 4inch display simply matter common sense given smaller size meant could hold phone palm navigate around screen thumb emerging market consumers took phablet far greater zeal second quarter 2013 phablets outsold tablets laptops combined asiapacific region excluding japan third quarter smartphones displays larger 5 inches represented onefifth total handsets sold globally asian economies driving demand emerging market buyers many lack traditional pcs home wifi connections drawn cellularequipped phablet perfect allinone device small enough double phone large enough replace pc 2014 research firm jana conducted survey smartphone users across several different emerging markets consumers countries india indonesia philippines vietnam mexico overwhelmingly said wanted phones screens 5 inches larger advertisement unsurprisingly apple saw unprecedented increase demand following release larger iphone 6 47 inches iphone 6 plus 55 inches time became largest seller smartphones china chinese rivals overtaken recent months sell larger variety phones almost sport fairly large displays youd hardpressed find xiaomi phone much smaller 5 inches even ultra lowpriced redmi 3 boasts 5inch panel true huawei even greater extent recent quarters huawei emerged one worlds largest sellers tablets fourth quarter 2015 example shipped 22 million units according research firm idc far cry apples 161 million huaweis growth far impressive stunning 1246 annual basis source idc huaweis approach tablet market however unique companys tablets equipped cellular radios huaweis focus remains cellularconnected tablets wrote idc difficult say certain consumers choosing use huawei slates may using like phones tablets huaweis mediapadx2 sports 7inch display comes equipped lte radio us lte tablets arent unheard less popular often larger displays great phone perfect solution emerging marketsthe iphone se received rave reviews 399 offers great value compared rest apples lineup existence doesnt pose risk apples bottom line anything could help endear handsets consumers turned prospect fumbling giant phone emerging market consumers demonstrating strong preference bigger handsets unlikely lead apple emerging market dominance article iphone se one big problem originally appeared foolcom sam mattera position stocks mentioned motley fool owns shares recommends apple try foolish newsletter services free 30 days fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy | 515 |
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Andrew Stiles</a> July 25, 2012 5:00 am</p>
<p>One of the largest donors to the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA is the founder and former CEO of a company that pioneered the practice of shipping work overseas.</p>
<p>Dr. Irwin Jacobs, who founded the telecommunications firm Qualcomm in 1985 and served as chairman and CEO until March 2009, gave <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2012&amp;id=U0000003408&amp;type=I&amp;super=N" type="external">$2 million</a> to Priorities USA in June, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.</p>
<p>He has also given <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2012&amp;id=U0000003408&amp;type=I&amp;super=N" type="external">$100,000</a> to American Bridge 21st Century, the left-wing research operation <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/08/after-slow-start-brocks-american-bridge-takes-1-mil-from-soros/" type="external">funded by</a> billionaire financier George Soros.</p>
<p>Jacobs has personally donated more than $370,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2007, including nearly $12,000 to President Obama.</p>
<p>His net worth is estimated at <a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/54/8ARX.html" type="external">almost $2 billion</a>.</p>
<p>His son Paul, who is also a prominent supporter of the Democratic Party, succeeded Jacobs as CEO. Paul has donated more than $62,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2007, including $5,000 to Obama.</p>
<p>Qualcomm has enjoyed substantial success over the past several years while it has dramatically expanded its operations overseas.</p>
<p>The company’s profits jumped from <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2010/snapshots/10570.html" type="external">$1.6 billion</a> in 2009 to <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10570.html" type="external">$4.3 billion</a> in 2011, an increase of nearly 300 percent.</p>
<p>During that same period, the San Diego-based firm increased its number of properties owned or leased outside the United States from 70 to 99, according to <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/804328/000123445211000360/qcom10-k2011.htm" type="external">documents</a> filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. During that time, the company pared down its U.S. property holdings from 76 to 73.</p>
<p>Qualcomm announced in 2011 that it planned to invest <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/01/03/qualcomm-to-invest-1b-in-taiwan-display-plant/" type="external">$1 billion</a> to build a massive manufacturing facility in Taiwan. The move was unsurprising, given that the company generates most of its revenue overseas, particularly from sales in South East Asia.</p>
<p>Like a number of U.S.-based corporations, Qualcomm has <a href="http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/07/09/apples-sizeable-influence-on-tech-overseas-cash-growth-per-moodys/" type="external">substantial cash holdings in offshore accounts</a>. As of 2012, the company had about $16.5 billion in offshore cash.</p>
<p>President Obama has accused his Republican challenger Mitt Romney of promoting the "outsourcing" of American jobs and wanting to "give tax breaks to companies who are shipping jobs overseas."</p>
<p>"I'm a big proponent of insourcing," the president said at a fundraiser in Oakland on Monday.&#160;"I want to end these tax breaks and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in Oakland, right here in the United States, making products that we sell around the world, stamped with three proud words: Made in America."</p>
<p>The Obama campaign did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Qualcomm <a href="http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2011/01/tech-companies-spearhead-new-k.php" type="external">supports</a> a largely Republican effort to allow U.S.-based corporations to reinvest their foreign cash back home, an effort the president has opposed.</p>
<p>GOP lawmakers <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/197325-house-gop-freshmen-push-for-repatriation" type="external">have been calling for</a> a temporary tax break for businesses that reinvest foreign-earned assets in the United States, which they say will provide a much-needed boost for the sluggish economic recovery. This so-called "repatriation tax holiday" could add <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/08/business/la-fi-foreign-earnings-jobs-20110908" type="external">nearly 3 million jobs</a> to the economy, according to a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.</p>
<p>Prominent Democrats such as Bill Clinton and Rahm Emanuel have also <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-01/bill-clinton-backs-tax-holiday-on-foreign-profits-with-caveats.html" type="external">backed</a> the concept of a tax holiday.</p>
<p>Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm has said it "could be a great stimulus." William Bold, the company’s senior vice president of government affairs, has <a href="http://www.qualcomm.com/media/blog/2011/07/14/repatriation-win-us-economy" type="external">criticized</a> Democrats for "clinging to misguided arguments" against the proposal.</p>
<p>"The point is, repatriation is no longer an imperative for corporations such as ours," he wrote on the company’s website. "Without a dramatically reduced tax rate … repatriation simply will not happen. Much of the nearly $1 trillion held by American companies will sit offshore, or be invested in foreign ventures. How is that scenario a win for American taxpayers?"</p>
<p>Many blame the reluctance of corporations to repatriate their offshore assets on the U.S. corporate tax rate, which is the <a href="http://blog.heritage.org/2012/03/30/no-fooling-u-s-now-has-highest-corporate-tax-rate-in-the-world/" type="external">highest in the world</a>. House Republicans <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/197325-house-gop-freshmen-push-for-repatriation" type="external">have proposed</a> lowering the rate on repatriated profits from 35 percent to as low as 5.25 percent.</p>
<p>The Obama administration, however, has <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58491.html" type="external">opposed</a> the Republican effort, saying it would only consider the issue of repatriation in the context of comprehensive tax reform.</p>
<p>The president has not seriously engaged Congress on the issue of tax reform since taking office.</p>
<p>Republicans cite the president’s failure to do so as one of several examples of how his policies have " <a href="http://www.obamanomicsoutsourced.com/" type="external">shipped the recovery overseas</a>."</p>
<p>Obama’s own record of outsourcing is extensive. His Department of Energy, through its clean energy loans program, has awarded billions of dollars in taxpayer financing to foreign-owned companies and firms that manufacture their products overseas.</p>
<p>As the Free Beacon <a href="" type="internal">reported</a> in June, the Obama administration is using prison labor to assemble solar panels manufactured in Taiwan, despite claiming the panels are "domestically sourced and produced."</p>
<p>The Obama campaign also has contracts with <a href="" type="internal">foreign telemarketing firms</a>.</p>
<p>The Jacobs are joined by a host of other prominent Obama donors engaged in the practice of <a href="" type="internal">shipping work outside the country</a>.</p>
<p>Lawmakers were <a href="http://www.ajc.com/sports/lawmakers-furious-over-china-1477383.html" type="external">shocked</a> to learn earlier this month that the United States’ Olympic team uniforms were made in China. Ralph Lauren, who heads the company that made the uniforms, has given $7,300 to Obama and more than $35,000 to Democratic National Committee (DNC) since 2008.</p>
<p>DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse did not return a request for comment.</p> | true | 0 | andrew stiles july 25 2012 500 one largest donors proobama super pac priorities usa founder former ceo company pioneered practice shipping work overseas dr irwin jacobs founded telecommunications firm qualcomm 1985 served chairman ceo march 2009 gave 2 million priorities usa june according center responsive politics also given 100000 american bridge 21st century leftwing research operation funded billionaire financier george soros jacobs personally donated 370000 democratic candidates committees since 2007 including nearly 12000 president obama net worth estimated almost 2 billion son paul also prominent supporter democratic party succeeded jacobs ceo paul donated 62000 democratic candidates committees since 2007 including 5000 obama qualcomm enjoyed substantial success past several years dramatically expanded operations overseas companys profits jumped 16 billion 2009 43 billion 2011 increase nearly 300 percent period san diegobased firm increased number properties owned leased outside united states 70 99 according documents filed securities exchange commission time company pared us property holdings 76 73 qualcomm announced 2011 planned invest 1 billion build massive manufacturing facility taiwan move unsurprising given company generates revenue overseas particularly sales south east asia like number usbased corporations qualcomm substantial cash holdings offshore accounts 2012 company 165 billion offshore cash president obama accused republican challenger mitt romney promoting outsourcing american jobs wanting give tax breaks companies shipping jobs overseas im big proponent insourcing president said fundraiser oakland monday160i want end tax breaks start rewarding companies create jobs right oakland right united states making products sell around world stamped three proud words made america obama campaign respond requests comment qualcomm supports largely republican effort allow usbased corporations reinvest foreign cash back home effort president opposed gop lawmakers calling temporary tax break businesses reinvest foreignearned assets united states say provide muchneeded boost sluggish economic recovery socalled repatriation tax holiday could add nearly 3 million jobs economy according study us chamber commerce prominent democrats bill clinton rahm emanuel also backed concept tax holiday paul jacobs qualcomm said could great stimulus william bold companys senior vice president government affairs criticized democrats clinging misguided arguments proposal point repatriation longer imperative corporations wrote companys website without dramatically reduced tax rate repatriation simply happen much nearly 1 trillion held american companies sit offshore invested foreign ventures scenario win american taxpayers many blame reluctance corporations repatriate offshore assets us corporate tax rate highest world house republicans proposed lowering rate repatriated profits 35 percent low 525 percent obama administration however opposed republican effort saying would consider issue repatriation context comprehensive tax reform president seriously engaged congress issue tax reform since taking office republicans cite presidents failure one several examples policies shipped recovery overseas obamas record outsourcing extensive department energy clean energy loans program awarded billions dollars taxpayer financing foreignowned companies firms manufacture products overseas free beacon reported june obama administration using prison labor assemble solar panels manufactured taiwan despite claiming panels domestically sourced produced obama campaign also contracts foreign telemarketing firms jacobs joined host prominent obama donors engaged practice shipping work outside country lawmakers shocked learn earlier month united states olympic team uniforms made china ralph lauren heads company made uniforms given 7300 obama 35000 democratic national committee dnc since 2008 dnc communications director brad woodhouse return request comment | 524 |
<p />
<p>Image source: 3D Systems.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>After two and half years of disappointment, 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) is ready to turn over a new leaf. Under the new leadership of Vyomesh Joshi, a 32-year Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) veteran <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/22/3d-systems-corporations-new-ceo-could-make-233-mil.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">with a track record of improving operational performance Opens a New Window.</a>, the company has a fresh perspective on how to win the future. Going forward, 3D Systems will focus on operational excellence, growing the lifetime value of its customers, and investing in reliable and valuable 3D printing solutions.</p>
<p>The company has only had four months under Joshi, so his new approach hasn't had enough time to show results. However, if Joshi can prove that his turnaround plan is working, 3D Systems' stock could rise again. Here are three factors that could help that happen.</p>
<p>Under the previous leadership of Avi Reichental, some of 3D Systems' professional and industrial 3D printers had ongoing quality and reliability issues, whichdamaged the company's reputation in the marketplace. In hindsight, it's clear that management was too distracted byReichental's overly aggressive acquisition strategy to properly enforce its quality control procedures.</p>
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<p>During 3D Systems' second-quarter earnings call last week, Joshi noted that the company has been investing in repairing that reputational damage by hiring a supply chain and operations manager and incurring greater than expected warranty servicing costs. The aim of these investments is to improve trust and goodwill between the company and its customers, and communicate that management is taking a more measured approach when it comes to introducing new products. On the call, Joshi also suggested that he would rather delay a new product launch than meet a deadline at the risk of having quality controls issues.</p>
<p>If these measures pay off, frustrated customers could become satisfied customers, and satisfied customers are more likely to expand their relationship with 3D Systems in the future.</p>
<p>An exoskeleton augmented with 3D-printed parts (white) for a customized fit. Image source: 3D Systems.</p>
<p>One of the bright spots in 3D Systems' second-quarter earnings was its healthcare solutions revenue, which increased 11.4% year over year to $38.8 million, even as <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/03/3d-systems-earnings-improvements-outshine-plunging.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">overall revenue fell 7% Opens a New Window.</a> to $158.1 million. Joshi believes that the company's holistic approach in healthcare played a major role in the segment's success. On a high level, 3D Systems' end-to-end healthcare solution enables customers to simulate, plan, rehearse surgeries, as well as 3D print surgical instruments, medical implants, and dental devices.</p>
<p>In other words, an end-to-end solution enables customers to manage their entire 3D printing workflow from conceptualization to final product. Not only does this approach appear to resonate well with customers who are looking for more than a 3D printer, it's also 3D Systems' blueprint for driving growth and remaining differentiated in the marketplace.</p>
<p>In the future, it plans to apply what it learned from building out its suite of healthcare solutions to its other three main target segments: automotive, aerospace, and consumer goods. If 3D Systems can replicate it success in healthcare in other key markets, the company is likely to improve its long-term growth prospects.</p>
<p>With the entrance of HP and Carbon3D into its space, 3D Systems faces increased competition. Carbon3D's M1 printer <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/04/carbon3d-unveils-the-m1-the-future-of-3d-printing.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">claims to be anywhere from 25 to 100 times faster than anything before it Opens a New Window.</a>, while HP's Mutli Jet Fusion technology <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/11/04/hp-3d-printer-what-does-it-mean-for-3d-printing-st.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">claims to be 10 times faster than leading extrusion-based and selective-laser-sintering technologies Opens a New Window.</a>. Although there's been a growing concern among investors that these companies will threaten 3D Systems' competitive position, the magnitude of that threat remains unknown.</p>
<p>When asked about HP and Carbon3D, Joshi noted that both of these companies are initially offering their printers with limited materials and value-added solutions. He also emphasized that 3D Systems provides complete 3D printing solutions:</p>
<p>If Joshi's belief that customers want more than a 3D printer is accurate, the competitive concerns that investors are worried about could be overblown.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the long-term success of 3D Systems -- and the direction of its stock price -- hinge on the performance of the underlying business, driven by factors that improve the demand of its products and services. If the company shows meaningful progress in these areas, it can help improve its value proposition in the marketplace, which in turn, may result in a higher stock price.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2691&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTopDown/info.aspx" type="external">Steve Heller Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of 3D Systems. The Motley Fool recommends 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source 3d systems continue reading two half years disappointment 3d systems nyse ddd ready turn new leaf new leadership vyomesh joshi 32year hewlettpackard nyse hpq veteran track record improving operational performance opens new window company fresh perspective win future going forward 3d systems focus operational excellence growing lifetime value customers investing reliable valuable 3d printing solutions company four months joshi new approach hasnt enough time show results however joshi prove turnaround plan working 3d systems stock could rise three factors could help happen previous leadership avi reichental 3d systems professional industrial 3d printers ongoing quality reliability issues whichdamaged companys reputation marketplace hindsight clear management distracted byreichentals overly aggressive acquisition strategy properly enforce quality control procedures advertisement 3d systems secondquarter earnings call last week joshi noted company investing repairing reputational damage hiring supply chain operations manager incurring greater expected warranty servicing costs aim investments improve trust goodwill company customers communicate management taking measured approach comes introducing new products call joshi also suggested would rather delay new product launch meet deadline risk quality controls issues measures pay frustrated customers could become satisfied customers satisfied customers likely expand relationship 3d systems future exoskeleton augmented 3dprinted parts white customized fit image source 3d systems one bright spots 3d systems secondquarter earnings healthcare solutions revenue increased 114 year year 388 million even overall revenue fell 7 opens new window 1581 million joshi believes companys holistic approach healthcare played major role segments success high level 3d systems endtoend healthcare solution enables customers simulate plan rehearse surgeries well 3d print surgical instruments medical implants dental devices words endtoend solution enables customers manage entire 3d printing workflow conceptualization final product approach appear resonate well customers looking 3d printer also 3d systems blueprint driving growth remaining differentiated marketplace future plans apply learned building suite healthcare solutions three main target segments automotive aerospace consumer goods 3d systems replicate success healthcare key markets company likely improve longterm growth prospects entrance hp carbon3d space 3d systems faces increased competition carbon3ds m1 printer claims anywhere 25 100 times faster anything opens new window hps mutli jet fusion technology claims 10 times faster leading extrusionbased selectivelasersintering technologies opens new window although theres growing concern among investors companies threaten 3d systems competitive position magnitude threat remains unknown asked hp carbon3d joshi noted companies initially offering printers limited materials valueadded solutions also emphasized 3d systems provides complete 3d printing solutions joshis belief customers want 3d printer accurate competitive concerns investors worried could overblown ultimately longterm success 3d systems direction stock price hinge performance underlying business driven factors improve demand products services company shows meaningful progress areas help improve value proposition marketplace turn may result higher stock price secret billiondollar stock opportunity worlds biggest tech company forgot show something wall street analysts fool didnt miss beat theres small company thats powering brandnew gadgets coming revolution technology think stock price nearly unlimited room run early intheknow investors one click opens new window steve heller opens new window owns shares 3d systems motley fool recommends 3d systems try foolish newsletter services free 30 days opens new window fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights opens new window makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 532 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>Amazon.com(NASDAQ: AMZN) has big plans to disrupt yet another industry. According toRecode, the e-commerce giant is currently hiring brand managers to "build authentic activewear private label brands." Amazon did not confirm the project, but an activewear line would fit with the company's ambitions in fashion and apparel.</p>
<p>In recent years, Amazon has taken steps to make apparel a key component of its e-commerce business, launching private-label lines in suits, dresses, and shoes, and also spending millions on ad campaigns, touting the slogan, "Smart is Beautiful," a play on the company's reputation for value.</p>
<p>The company also started airing a daily runway fashion show on its website called "Style Code Live," and it opened a 46,000-square-foot photography studio in London allowing it to create more than 500,000 images of clothes every year.</p>
<p>Given that, the company's moves into activewear, or athleisure, are not surprising.</p>
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<p>Athleisure has become a buzzword in recent years as clothing like yoga pants have gone from being worn strictly for exercise to being acceptable as streetwear, or even for the office.</p>
<p>No company has been more responsible for this trend thanlululemon athletica(NASDAQ: LULU), which was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998 on the simple observation that women wore ill-fitting clothes to practice yoga. It has since grown to nearly 400 stores, but its trademark product has remained its yoga pants, priced in the range of $98.</p>
<p>Lululemon's blockbuster growth and fat profit margins in the post-recession years attracted competition from all corners of the fashion world. Small, independent companies like Lucy and Prana have popped up to compete with Lulu, and entrenched apparel giants like Nike,Under Armour, Nordstrom,Victoria's Secret, and Gaphave also launched their own athleisure lines. Gap's Athleta chain is a virtual carbon copy of Lululemon, and it has quickly grown to 120 stores since Gap acquired it in 2008.</p>
<p>However, there are a number of signs that the industry has quickly reached maturity.</p>
<p>Due in part to self-inflicted wounds such as a massive pant recall, but also because of industry competition, Lululemon's growth has slowed down dramatically from its heady, post-recession days. The stock peaked in 2013, and though shares briefly rose north of $80 last year, they quickly fell again.</p>
<p>In fiscal 2012, Lululemon's sales per square foot were $2,058, but that number fell25% to $1,541 in fiscal 2015, which ended last February, a clear indicator of market saturation.</p>
<p>In addition,NikeandUnder Armour both plummeted by more than 20% last year as margins have thinned in the greater sportswear industry.</p>
<p>Industry observers see the market hitting "peak athleisure." The Robin Report said the fashion trend was "rolling over,"and other sources say that retail buyers are buying more denim and less activewear, reversing a long decline in denim.</p>
<p>Activewear is never going to go away, of course, but the idea of high-end athleisure as fashion that Lululemon essentially created seems to be fading, and with it the need for more producers of such garments.</p>
<p>Amazon has been so good at disrupting so many industries because it's either jumped on emerging technologies or pioneered them itself. It opened as online bookstore at the dawn of the internet and used that as a platform to sell virtually everything today. It was an early inventor of e-books, making its Kindle line the clear leader, and got in on cloud computing and video streaming during its first days as well, growing them to successful ends.</p>
<p>But the company has struggled when such disruption wasn't ready for the taking. Amazon was rather late to the smartphone market when it launched the Fire phone, which subsequently flopped. It introduced its online grocery brand AmazonFresh 10 years ago, and it only now looks like it's ready to ramp up operations.</p>
<p>Apparel seems to present a similar challenge to food, especially in activewear, where logos are generally featured prominently. Amazon has no such fashion cache, and it takes time to develop such a brand. As in other areas, it could focus on innovation within athletic wear, but that requires a different kind of know-how than its usual technological advances. Lululemon's success came in part from its patented technical fabrics like luon, underlying how innovation can lead to success in fashion, but Amazon has never shown such capabilities in apparel.</p>
<p>For Amazon, launching its own activewear brand may be just another step on its quest for world dominance, but this now-saturated market is going to be tougher to crack than most.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Amazon.com When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=848ab37d-eab6-462a-8db8-0d0caf3b2d01&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and Amazon.com wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Nike and Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com, Lululemon Athletica, Nike, Under Armour (A Shares), and Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool recommends Nordstrom. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source getty images continue reading amazoncomnasdaq amzn big plans disrupt yet another industry according torecode ecommerce giant currently hiring brand managers build authentic activewear private label brands amazon confirm project activewear line would fit companys ambitions fashion apparel recent years amazon taken steps make apparel key component ecommerce business launching privatelabel lines suits dresses shoes also spending millions ad campaigns touting slogan smart beautiful play companys reputation value company also started airing daily runway fashion show website called style code live opened 46000squarefoot photography studio london allowing create 500000 images clothes every year given companys moves activewear athleisure surprising advertisement athleisure become buzzword recent years clothing like yoga pants gone worn strictly exercise acceptable streetwear even office company responsible trend thanlululemon athleticanasdaq lulu founded chip wilson 1998 simple observation women wore illfitting clothes practice yoga since grown nearly 400 stores trademark product remained yoga pants priced range 98 lululemons blockbuster growth fat profit margins postrecession years attracted competition corners fashion world small independent companies like lucy prana popped compete lulu entrenched apparel giants like nikeunder armour nordstromvictorias secret gaphave also launched athleisure lines gaps athleta chain virtual carbon copy lululemon quickly grown 120 stores since gap acquired 2008 however number signs industry quickly reached maturity due part selfinflicted wounds massive pant recall also industry competition lululemons growth slowed dramatically heady postrecession days stock peaked 2013 though shares briefly rose north 80 last year quickly fell fiscal 2012 lululemons sales per square foot 2058 number fell25 1541 fiscal 2015 ended last february clear indicator market saturation additionnikeandunder armour plummeted 20 last year margins thinned greater sportswear industry industry observers see market hitting peak athleisure robin report said fashion trend rolling overand sources say retail buyers buying denim less activewear reversing long decline denim activewear never going go away course idea highend athleisure fashion lululemon essentially created seems fading need producers garments amazon good disrupting many industries either jumped emerging technologies pioneered opened online bookstore dawn internet used platform sell virtually everything today early inventor ebooks making kindle line clear leader got cloud computing video streaming first days well growing successful ends company struggled disruption wasnt ready taking amazon rather late smartphone market launched fire phone subsequently flopped introduced online grocery brand amazonfresh 10 years ago looks like ready ramp operations apparel seems present similar challenge food especially activewear logos generally featured prominently amazon fashion cache takes time develop brand areas could focus innovation within athletic wear requires different kind knowhow usual technological advances lululemons success came part patented technical fabrics like luon underlying innovation lead success fashion amazon never shown capabilities apparel amazon launching activewear brand may another step quest world dominance nowsaturated market going tougher crack 10 stocks like better amazoncom investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right nowand amazoncom wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns january 4 2017 jeremy bowman opens new window owns shares nike armour c shares motley fool owns shares recommends amazoncom lululemon athletica nike armour shares armour c shares motley fool recommends nordstrom motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 543 |
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<p>Saying that you're going to buy a stock and never sell it seems a bit audacious. And in truth, it is: The future is simply unknowable. But I've owned shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG) -- formerly known as Google -- for almost a decade, and I can't fathom a circumstance under which I'd consider parting with my shares.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Google Canada.</p>
<p>Currently, shares of the company make up a whopping 13% of my family's real-life stock holdings. But we're totally comfortable with that allocation.</p>
<p>Here's why:</p>
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<p>If you're sitting around the dinner table arguing about a provable fact, you resolve the dispute by simply "Googling" the answer. The fact that the name is so embedded in our lexicon speaks volumes to the search engine's dominance.</p>
<p>According to Statista, Alphabet's Google search owns 90.4% of the global market on desktops. And perhaps more important, according to NetMarketShare, it commands 93.8% of the mobile search market share globally.</p>
<p>But as you're probably well aware, Google is much more than just search. It has six other applications with over 1 billion users. These include Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome, Android, and Google Play Store.</p>
<p>"Sure," you might say, "but the company doesn't charge for most of those products. That's not great business."</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>While you'd be right, you'd be missing out on what's dubbed the "oil of the information age": data. With every user in all seven of those aforementioned apps, the company is able to collect gobs of data. In fact, I don't think it would be too hard to argue that Google has more data on the people walking this earth than any other organization, at any other time in human history.</p>
<p>That data is worth billions to advertisers. In the old days, companies would try to target their audience by putting ads in magazines or newspapers where potential customers might be lurking. But the feedback loop wasn't great: Advertisers never knew just how effective that ad spending was.</p>
<p>Not so anymore. With Google's advertising platform, companies get real-time feedback on how efficiently their ads are being placed, and how much business they produce. Given the data hoard that the company has, ads placed through Google can be more targeted to the perfect customer than any other available source. That's a huge moat for the company.</p>
<p>It also helps explain why Google advertising brought in $67 billion in sales last year for the company, or 90% of all revenue.</p>
<p>If you think you've missed the boat, rest assured you haven't. A March 2016 report from eMarketer shows that there's still a lot of room for internet advertising to grow.</p>
<p>Image source: eMarketer.</p>
<p>And with TV still retaining one-third of the global market share in 2019, I can only imagine that the runway for internet ad growth will continue for much of the next decade.</p>
<p>Back to that name change, from "Google" to "Alphabet." You might better understand the reasoning if you look at the new corporate name as "Alpha-Bet." This rendering of the name reflects the company's practice of taking a lot of moonshot bets on revolutionary technologies outside its main search and data-capturing business.</p>
<p>This is what famed trader, academic, and thinker Nassim Taleb would call a barbell approach: having a large a reliable stream of revenue on one side while taking lots of small bets on the other. While the likelihood of any one moonshot succeeding is small, all it will take is one or two winners over the next decade to make a meaningful difference for shareholders.</p>
<p>What are these moonshots? We probably don't know all of them, but the ones we do include self-driving cars, a connected home, a life sciences company, and lightning-fast internet connection.</p>
<p>I'm a sucker for a good mission statement. When it is clear and powerful, it can be the compass that helps guide management and employees alike toward a common goal.</p>
<p>Google's mission statement is: "To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."</p>
<p>The mission of new-formed parent company Alphabet is multifaceted but can be broken down to: "Getting more ambitious things done[,] ... empowering great entrepreneurs and companies to flourish ... [and] as a result of all this, improving the lives of as many people as we can."</p>
<p>Those are both powerful and flexible enough objectives to keep the company relevant in a quickly changing world.</p>
<p>Lest you think that you might have a few executives who are in this for short-term gain, Alphabet is still run by its co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Together, they -- along with all of the other company executives and board members -- own almost 48 million shares of Alphabet, and accountfor 60% of the company's voting power. To put the number of shares in perspective, it is equivalent to almost $40 billion at today's prices.</p>
<p>Another metric that's often overlooked is a company's culture. If Page and Brin really do want to accomplish the ambitious goals they've laid out, they need a stable and motivated workforce to get things done.</p>
<p>To get an idea for the company's approach, a 2010 filing with the SEC stated that "[monetary] incentives are secondary to career growth, work environment, and engaging work opportunities. We seek to develop a highly motivated and collaborative workforce that pursues achievements for the sake of progress and innovation before individual gain."</p>
<p>Based on employee reviews on Glassdoor.com, I'd say the company is doing pretty well.</p>
<p>Image and data credit: Glassdoor</p>
<p>Finally, if you've got a company that's going to be taking lots of small bets that can be costly, it's good to know that management is sitting on a pretty expansive war chest. And that's what you get with Alphabet.</p>
<p>Long-term debt: $3.9 billion</p>
<p>Cash, short-, and long-term investments: $88.8 billion</p>
<p>This, and the other nine reasons above, helps me sleep well at night knowing my family is invested in -- and likely won't sell for a long time -- such a company.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Alphabet (A shares) When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=bef4984c-5342-479f-9c0d-70bcafce65b4&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Alphabet (A shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCheesehead/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Stoffel Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | saying youre going buy stock never sell seems bit audacious truth future simply unknowable ive owned shares alphabet nasdaq googlnasdaq goog formerly known google almost decade cant fathom circumstance id consider parting shares continue reading image source google canada currently shares company make whopping 13 familys reallife stock holdings totally comfortable allocation heres advertisement youre sitting around dinner table arguing provable fact resolve dispute simply googling answer fact name embedded lexicon speaks volumes search engines dominance according statista alphabets google search owns 904 global market desktops perhaps important according netmarketshare commands 938 mobile search market share globally youre probably well aware google much search six applications 1 billion users include gmail youtube google maps chrome android google play store sure might say company doesnt charge products thats great business image source getty images youd right youd missing whats dubbed oil information age data every user seven aforementioned apps company able collect gobs data fact dont think would hard argue google data people walking earth organization time human history data worth billions advertisers old days companies would try target audience putting ads magazines newspapers potential customers might lurking feedback loop wasnt great advertisers never knew effective ad spending anymore googles advertising platform companies get realtime feedback efficiently ads placed much business produce given data hoard company ads placed google targeted perfect customer available source thats huge moat company also helps explain google advertising brought 67 billion sales last year company 90 revenue think youve missed boat rest assured havent march 2016 report emarketer shows theres still lot room internet advertising grow image source emarketer tv still retaining onethird global market share 2019 imagine runway internet ad growth continue much next decade back name change google alphabet might better understand reasoning look new corporate name alphabet rendering name reflects companys practice taking lot moonshot bets revolutionary technologies outside main search datacapturing business famed trader academic thinker nassim taleb would call barbell approach large reliable stream revenue one side taking lots small bets likelihood one moonshot succeeding small take one two winners next decade make meaningful difference shareholders moonshots probably dont know ones include selfdriving cars connected home life sciences company lightningfast internet connection im sucker good mission statement clear powerful compass helps guide management employees alike toward common goal googles mission statement organize worlds information make universally accessible useful mission newformed parent company alphabet multifaceted broken getting ambitious things done empowering great entrepreneurs companies flourish result improving lives many people powerful flexible enough objectives keep company relevant quickly changing world lest think might executives shortterm gain alphabet still run cofounders larry page sergey brin together along company executives board members almost 48 million shares alphabet accountfor 60 companys voting power put number shares perspective equivalent almost 40 billion todays prices another metric thats often overlooked companys culture page brin really want accomplish ambitious goals theyve laid need stable motivated workforce get things done get idea companys approach 2010 filing sec stated monetary incentives secondary career growth work environment engaging work opportunities seek develop highly motivated collaborative workforce pursues achievements sake progress innovation individual gain based employee reviews glassdoorcom id say company pretty well image data credit glassdoor finally youve got company thats going taking lots small bets costly good know management sitting pretty expansive war chest thats get alphabet longterm debt 39 billion cash short longterm investments 888 billion nine reasons helps sleep well night knowing family invested likely wont sell long time company 10 stocks like better alphabet shares investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right alphabet shares wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns january 4 2017 suzanne frey executive alphabet member motley fools board directors brian stoffel opens new window owns shares alphabet shares alphabet c shares motley fool owns shares recommends alphabet shares alphabet c shares motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 671 |
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<p>Image source: Flickr user Sprott Money.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For investors, this year has been one gigantic roller coaster ride. We began the year with the worst two-week start in recorded history. After 10 trading sessions, all three major U.S. indexes were showing losses of between 8% and 10%, and those losses would worsen slightly through mid-February. Then the stock market did an abrupt about-face, with the broad-based S&amp;P 500 finishing the quarter higher by 0.8% and marking its <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/27/7-stock-market-events-in-2016-that-havent-occurred.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">biggest intra-quarter reversal in 83 years</a>.</p>
<p>Although this volatility has sacked a number of industries, such as biotech, on a year-to-date basis the metal and mining industry, according to data from Fidelity, is up 46.2% through Thursday, April 28. Comparatively, the benchmark S&amp;P 500 is up just 1.6%. Among the outperformers within the mining industry are silver miners. Excluding any silver miners with valuations under $200 million, we're left with 10 miners up by an average of 151.7%.</p>
<p>Table by author. YTD data through April 28, 2016.</p>
<p>I'm going to go ahead and repeat that for those of you who might be skimming. The 10 silver miners with valuations in excess of $200 million have seen their shares prices rise by an average of nearly 152% year to date.</p>
<p>Seven reasons to consider investing in silver miners These gains haven't come about by chance, either. There are genuine fundamental and psychological reasons why silver miners have been on the rise. Here are seven specific reasons you might want to consider adding silver miners to your own portfolio.</p>
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<p>1. Physical silver is nearly at a one-year high First of all, don your Captain Obvious cape and say it with me -- silver prices are pressing up against a one-year high. We'll get into some of the fundamental reasons we're seeing such a push in the silver market in a moment, but the "obvious" thing to realize is that higher average underlying silver prices could mean expansive margins for silver miners. Keep in mind this doesn't mean profits necessarily, but it very well could mean smaller losses or bigger gains if already profitable.</p>
<p>Image source: Coeur Mining.</p>
<p>2. The gold-to-silver ratio favors a move higher for silverPast performance may be no guarantee of future results, but one ratio you can tend to count on over time is the gold-to-silver ratio, or put more simply how much gold trades at per ounce compared to silver's per-ounce price. The two metals tend to trade in tandem, with the gold-to-silver ratio last century averaging just below 50-to-1. More recently, this ratio was as high as nearly 80-to-1. Historically, when the ratio gets far above its historical norms silver becomes an intriguing buy candidate.</p>
<p>As of Thursday's close, the gold-to-silver ratio was nearly 72, implying silver could outperform gold in the near or intermediate term. But as you'll see below there are more important reasons to buy miners than just this interesting psychological point.</p>
<p>3. Low-yield environment spurs precious metal investmentKeeping in mind that gold and silver trade in tandem, the current low-yield environment in the U.S., Japan, Germany, and other industrialized nations is reducing the opportunity cost of owning physical silver.</p>
<p>Within the U.S., the Federal Reserve has taken a very cautious approach to raising lending rates because of slower-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP growth, whereas the Bank of Japan has turned to a negative interest rate policy in an effort to avoid economic stagnation and deflation. Buying bonds isn't very attractive in a low or negative interest rate environment, meaning the opportunity cost of owning physical gold and silver, which pay no dividends, is extremely low, thus making both metals considerably more attractive to short- and long-term investors.</p>
<p>Image source: Pixabay.</p>
<p>4. Solar demand could be hugeLet's not forget that supply and demand matter, too. If physical demand for silver is on the rise, then chances are that the underlying price of spot silver will be buoyed or rise as well. Looking forward, the solar industry could be one of the biggest sources of growth for silver, the best metallic conductor of heat and electricity. As of 2015, the solar industry only accounted for 6% of silver demand, but the industry has been growing at an average clip of 53% per year over the last decade.</p>
<p>Other potential demand drivers in 2016 could be physical silver coins as well as ethylene oxide (EO), a component used in the production of plastics, solvents, and detergents, although growth in both areas has been fairly constant.</p>
<p>5. Improving industry fundamentals One of the biggest issues with the silver mining industry five years ago was it was focused on mine and production expansion without any regard to cost. Following a 70% tumble in silver prices from its peak, miners that expanded without giving credence to cost were chastised in a big way.</p>
<p>However, what we're seeing now are genuine fundamental improvements within the sector that include lower all-in sustaining costs (AISC), higher ore grades, and a choice to mine quality over quantity. Just this week Coeur Mining announced that in spite of a slight decline in first-quarter revenue, it managed to reduce its adjusted net loss by nearly two-thirds. At the heart of Coeur Mining's improvement was a 14% decline in AISC, as well as improved ore grades.</p>
<p>6. Access to dividends Physical silver may not offer investors a dividend, but invest in the right silver miner and you could gain the benefit of a stipend.</p>
<p>One of the most prominent dividend payers in the industry is royalty interest company Silver Wheaton . Instead of operating and building out mines like a traditional miner, Silver Wheaton instead exchanges capital for the right to buy a certain amount of production at a low fixed cost.</p>
<p>Image source: Silver Wheaton.</p>
<p>Silver Wheaton has arranged two dozen long-term contracts (some of which are life-of-mine), with its fourth-quarter results showing fixed average per-ounce cash costs of $4.17 for silver and $393 for gold. Since Silver Wheaton's margins are almost wholly dependent on underlying metal price movements (and to some extent the production capabilities of its contracted partners), a rally in silver (and gold) prices will usually have a more immediate impact on profitability for Silver Wheaton than any other silver stock. This can, in turn, boost Silver Wheaton's dividend, which is currently yielding 1.1%.</p>
<p>7. M&amp;A activity implies expansion Last, but not least, we've seen an increase in merger and acquisition activity within the mining industry, including silver.</p>
<p>In March, Silver Standard Resources announced that it was acquiring gold miner Claude Resources for $253 million. Since the acquisition, which is pending approval from Claude's shareholders, is being conducted almost solely in Silver Standard common stock, and Silver Standard's shares have risen handsomely in value, the value of the deal has increased substantially since first announced. If approved, Claude Resources positive cash flow and capability of producing approximately 75,000 ounces of gold annually from its Seabee Mine and Santoy Gap will help add more diversity to Silver Standard's relatively silver-heavy production.</p>
<p>More important, M&amp;A activity is often viewed as a sign of willingness to take on risk. If miners are willing to pay a premium to acquire assets from another miner, or buyout a company altogether, it implies that the long-term outlook for the industry is improving.</p>
<p>Are silver miners right for you portfolio? That's up to you to decide, but there are certainly compelling reasons to suggest they might be.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/08/7-reasons-why-its-time-to-consider-investing-in-si.aspx" type="external">7 Reasons It's Time to Consider Investing in Silver Miners</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams</a>owns shares of Claude Resources, but has no material interest in any other companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong</a>, track every pick he makes under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/trackultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TrackUltraLong</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong</a>.The Motley Fool owns shares of Silver Wheaton. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | true | 0 | image source flickr user sprott money continue reading investors year one gigantic roller coaster ride began year worst twoweek start recorded history 10 trading sessions three major us indexes showing losses 8 10 losses would worsen slightly midfebruary stock market abrupt aboutface broadbased sampp 500 finishing quarter higher 08 marking biggest intraquarter reversal 83 years although volatility sacked number industries biotech yeartodate basis metal mining industry according data fidelity 462 thursday april 28 comparatively benchmark sampp 500 16 among outperformers within mining industry silver miners excluding silver miners valuations 200 million left 10 miners average 1517 table author ytd data april 28 2016 im going go ahead repeat might skimming 10 silver miners valuations excess 200 million seen shares prices rise average nearly 152 year date seven reasons consider investing silver miners gains havent come chance either genuine fundamental psychological reasons silver miners rise seven specific reasons might want consider adding silver miners portfolio advertisement 1 physical silver nearly oneyear high first captain obvious cape say silver prices pressing oneyear high well get fundamental reasons seeing push silver market moment obvious thing realize higher average underlying silver prices could mean expansive margins silver miners keep mind doesnt mean profits necessarily well could mean smaller losses bigger gains already profitable image source coeur mining 2 goldtosilver ratio favors move higher silverpast performance may guarantee future results one ratio tend count time goldtosilver ratio put simply much gold trades per ounce compared silvers perounce price two metals tend trade tandem goldtosilver ratio last century averaging 50to1 recently ratio high nearly 80to1 historically ratio gets far historical norms silver becomes intriguing buy candidate thursdays close goldtosilver ratio nearly 72 implying silver could outperform gold near intermediate term youll see important reasons buy miners interesting psychological point 3 lowyield environment spurs precious metal investmentkeeping mind gold silver trade tandem current lowyield environment us japan germany industrialized nations reducing opportunity cost owning physical silver within us federal reserve taken cautious approach raising lending rates slowerthanexpected fourthquarter gdp growth whereas bank japan turned negative interest rate policy effort avoid economic stagnation deflation buying bonds isnt attractive low negative interest rate environment meaning opportunity cost owning physical gold silver pay dividends extremely low thus making metals considerably attractive short longterm investors image source pixabay 4 solar demand could hugelets forget supply demand matter physical demand silver rise chances underlying price spot silver buoyed rise well looking forward solar industry could one biggest sources growth silver best metallic conductor heat electricity 2015 solar industry accounted 6 silver demand industry growing average clip 53 per year last decade potential demand drivers 2016 could physical silver coins well ethylene oxide eo component used production plastics solvents detergents although growth areas fairly constant 5 improving industry fundamentals one biggest issues silver mining industry five years ago focused mine production expansion without regard cost following 70 tumble silver prices peak miners expanded without giving credence cost chastised big way however seeing genuine fundamental improvements within sector include lower allin sustaining costs aisc higher ore grades choice mine quality quantity week coeur mining announced spite slight decline firstquarter revenue managed reduce adjusted net loss nearly twothirds heart coeur minings improvement 14 decline aisc well improved ore grades 6 access dividends physical silver may offer investors dividend invest right silver miner could gain benefit stipend one prominent dividend payers industry royalty interest company silver wheaton instead operating building mines like traditional miner silver wheaton instead exchanges capital right buy certain amount production low fixed cost image source silver wheaton silver wheaton arranged two dozen longterm contracts lifeofmine fourthquarter results showing fixed average perounce cash costs 417 silver 393 gold since silver wheatons margins almost wholly dependent underlying metal price movements extent production capabilities contracted partners rally silver gold prices usually immediate impact profitability silver wheaton silver stock turn boost silver wheatons dividend currently yielding 11 7 mampa activity implies expansion last least weve seen increase merger acquisition activity within mining industry including silver march silver standard resources announced acquiring gold miner claude resources 253 million since acquisition pending approval claudes shareholders conducted almost solely silver standard common stock silver standards shares risen handsomely value value deal increased substantially since first announced approved claude resources positive cash flow capability producing approximately 75000 ounces gold annually seabee mine santoy gap help add diversity silver standards relatively silverheavy production important mampa activity often viewed sign willingness take risk miners willing pay premium acquire assets another miner buyout company altogether implies longterm outlook industry improving silver miners right portfolio thats decide certainly compelling reasons suggest might article 7 reasons time consider investing silver miners originally appeared foolcom sean williamsowns shares claude resources material interest companies mentioned article follow caps screen name tmfultralong track every pick makes screen name trackultralong check twitter goes handle tmfultralongthe motley fool owns shares silver wheaton try foolish newsletter services free 30 days fools may hold opinions believe considering diverse range insights makes us better investors motley fool disclosure policy copyright 1995 2016 motley fool llc rights reserved motley fool disclosure policy | 838 |
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<p>The future of fintech is bright, almost blindingly so, but many of the entrepreneurs in the industry fail to grasp what will eventually lead to the downfall of countless fintech firms, particularly those that lend money.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>There's a belief among technology-based lenders that the goal should always be to say "yes." If someone needs money, it's less about whether that person or business is a good credit risk than it is about the customer experience and the length of time it will take the borrower to access their funds.</p>
<p>The homepage of LendingClub (NYSE: LC) advertises personal loans of up to $40,000. You can "apply online in minutes" and "get funded in as little as a few days," the company says. Another prominent fintech lender Funding Circle claims that small businesses can get loans from between $25,000 and $500,000 in as little as 10 days.</p>
<p>These are innovative services that seek to fill important niches in the credit markets. They enable people who have historically been shunned by banks to get loans in order to expand their businesses or to pay off credit card debt at less usurious rates.But even good ideas can be taken too far.</p>
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<p>It's on this note that fintech lenders can learn a lot from the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/08/04/the-history-of-banking-in-one-chart.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">history of banking Opens a New Window.</a>. And the most important lesson of all revolves around the frequent need to say "no."</p>
<p>Digging into the history of banking will one day prove invaluable to fintech investors. Image source: iStock/Thinkstock.</p>
<p>The credit cycle is the most powerful force in finance. Credit expands at a voracious rate when times are good. But it then contracts with such suddenness and viciousness that anyone who isn't prepared for the turn will be crucified on the cross of credit, similar to the 17,000 banks that have failed since the Civil War.</p>
<p>Lenders get overconfident when the economy is ascending. They convince themselves and those around them that <a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-Time-Different-Centuries-Financial/dp/0691152640" type="external">this time is different Opens a New Window.</a>; thatthey've finally cracked the nut on protecting their institutions against widespread default.</p>
<p>Warren Buffett <a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1990.html" type="external">refers to this Opens a New Window.</a> as the institutional imperative, which he defines as "the tendency of executives to mindlessly imitate the behavior of their peers, no matter how foolish it may be to do so." Buffett wrote this in the early 1990s, just as the credit cycle came crashing down on an entire generation of lenders who had convinced themselves that credit risk was a thing of the past."In their lending, many bankers played follow-the-leader with lemming-like zeal, now they are experiencing a lemming-like fate," Buffett continued.</p>
<p>We've seen tendencies like these emerge time and again throughout history. In the 1980s, investment managers believed that so-called portfolio insurance had eradicated the risk of owning stocks -- a close cousin of bonds and thus merely an alternative type of credit. It only became clear how naive this was once people realized that portfolio insurance had actually accelerated the market crash on October 19, 1987 -- so-called Black Monday.</p>
<p>The same was true in the lead-up to the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/02/28/25-major-factors-that-caused-or-contributed-to-the.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">financial crisis of 2008 Opens a New Window.</a>. Lenders had convinced themselves that mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps offered ironclad protection against a downturn in the housing market. This liberated them to lend money to all comers irrespective of income, assets, and credit history. We all know how that story ended.</p>
<p>This is why the best bankers, those like JPMorgan Chase's (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon, are obsessed with risk and humble in the face of the credit cycle. "No one has the right to not assume that the business cycle will turn," implored Dimon on the eve of the last crisis. "Every five years or so, you have got to assume that something bad will happen."</p>
<p>This is also why investors and entrepreneurs should recoil whenever they hear leaders of fintech companies insinuate that they've neutralized credit risk once and for all. Take this <a href="https://www.zestfinance.com/our-story.html" type="external">claim Opens a New Window.</a> from ZestFinance, an online lender that applies "Google-like math" to make credit decisions:</p>
<p>This lack of humility is a mistake. While there's always the possibility that ZestFinance has truly tamed credit riskfor the first time in thousands of years of lending, there are entire graveyards filled with companies that have said the same thing throughout history.</p>
<p>The idea that credit should flow swiftly and freely is laudable, but it must be tempered with reality. Banks are retail operations that sell money, a commodity that anyone would wantat the right time and at the right price. When it comes to credit, in turn, it's often more noble and responsible to say "no" than it is to say "yes."</p>
<p>"It's a well-known maxim that one of the hardest things about running a business is to maintain the ability to say no and thereby save limited resources for the best opportunities," writes Duff McDonald in his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Man-Standing-Ascent-JPMorgan/dp/B005CDTFCY" type="external">biography Opens a New Window.</a> of JPMorgan Chase's Dimon. "Over time, most companies simply lose their discipline."</p>
<p>The same point was made by Fred Schwed, Jr. in his classic satire of Wall Street <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Where-Are-Customers-Yachts-Street/dp/0471770892" type="external">Where Are the Customers' Yachts? Opens a New Window.</a>:</p>
<p>This seems insensitive and exclusionary, but there's more than a grain of truth to it. Just ask the hundreds of banks that failed in the wake of the financial crisis after convincing themselves that credit risk had been eradicated from the face of the earth.</p>
<p>The key to avoiding this fate is to embrace inefficiency, albeit to a careful and conscious extent. It's on this score that claims from fintech companies (such as LendingClub, ZestFinance, and to a lesser extent Lending Tree (NASDAQ: TREE)) about rapidly approving loans to people that they've never met in person is so concerning to anyone with any knowledge of the ceaselessly undulating waves of the credit cycle.</p>
<p>More than a century ago, one of the two namesakes of JPMorgan Chase, John Pierpont Morgan, was asked during a Congressional hearing if commercial credit was based on money or property. "No sir. The first thing is character," Morgan responded. The inquisitor persisted: "Before money or property?" To which Morgan responded: "Before money or property or anything else. Money cannot buy it ... because a man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom."</p>
<p>It's tempting for fintech entrepreneurs to reject this as outdated advice. After all, we no longer lumber around in horses and buggies like Morgan did. The Pony Express has since been replaced by the telegraph, which was later replaced by the telephone. Penicillin wasn't discovered until 15 years after Morgan uttered these words. And, of course, we now have the internet and big data.</p>
<p>"Since the modern credit system was created in the 1950's, the world has changed," claims ZestFinance. "Technology has changed. So should credit."</p>
<p>But the truth is that credit hasn't changed, or at least not as much as statements like these might otherwise lead one to believe. Technology can assist in the underwriting process, but it isn't a panacea that renders credit risk obsolete. More specifically, technology shouldn't be viewed as a substitute for assessing character, which is admittedly an inefficient process, though one that must be embraced by fintech lenders with an interest in surviving the unforgiving vicissitudes of the credit cycle.</p>
<p>I'm picking on ZestFinance only because it's the most open with its belief that the power to assess creditworthiness has been fundamentally transformed by technology. Indeed, based on conversations I've had with fintech entrepreneurs in the past, this opinion is common among fintech entrepreneurs who are well meaning and have years of experience writing code, but little knowledge of the undomesticated nature of credit.</p>
<p>One explanation for this naivety is that many fintech entrepreneurs don't appreciate how common financial crises are. In the nearly 215 years since the turn of the eighteenth century, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/28/7-lessons-about-bank-stocks-from-200-years-of-hist.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">as I've noted previously Opens a New Window.</a>, the United States has experienced 14 major bank panics. That equates to one every decade and a half.</p>
<p>Another explanation is that fintech entrepreneurs involved in lending have the luxury of being dogmatic, as their personal capital tends to be insulated from their firms' credit decisions. Just like the fat cat bankers of yore, marketplace lenders such as LendingClub and Lending Tree traffic in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Other-Peoples-Money-How-Bankers/dp/1438285264" type="external">other peoples' money Opens a New Window.</a>, merely matching creditors with debtors. The inherent fragility of this model has proven itself repeatedly in the past. It was a loan broker that caused the nation's first "too big to fail" bank, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/02/11/5-lessons-from-americas-first-too-big-to-fail-bank.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Continental Illinois Opens a New Window.</a>, to go under in 1984. And it was mortgage brokers like Countrywide Financial that led to so much destruction in the crisis eight years ago, which explains why JPMorgan Chase has forevermore sworn them off.</p>
<p>Nassim Taleb makes this point especially elegantly in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto/dp/1400067820" type="external">Antifragile Opens a New Window.</a>. "For the Romans, engineers needed to spend some time under the bridge they built -- something that should be required of financial engineers today," he writes. "The English went further and had the families of the engineers spend time with them under the bridge after it was built."</p>
<p>In short, while it's tempting to dismiss the hundreds of years' worth of experience reflected in the history of banking as outdated, fintech lenders do so at their peril. This won't be obvious until the credit cycle takes a turn for the worse, which could be many years from now, but when it happens it's those companies that embrace the lessons of the past that will not only survive the chaos and disorder, but emerge from it in a stronger competitive position.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than LendingTreeWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/JohnMaxfield37/info.aspx" type="external">John Maxfield Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of LendingClub. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | true | 0 | future fintech bright almost blindingly many entrepreneurs industry fail grasp eventually lead downfall countless fintech firms particularly lend money continue reading theres belief among technologybased lenders goal always say yes someone needs money less whether person business good credit risk customer experience length time take borrower access funds homepage lendingclub nyse lc advertises personal loans 40000 apply online minutes get funded little days company says another prominent fintech lender funding circle claims small businesses get loans 25000 500000 little 10 days innovative services seek fill important niches credit markets enable people historically shunned banks get loans order expand businesses pay credit card debt less usurious ratesbut even good ideas taken far advertisement note fintech lenders learn lot history banking opens new window important lesson revolves around frequent need say digging history banking one day prove invaluable fintech investors image source istockthinkstock credit cycle powerful force finance credit expands voracious rate times good contracts suddenness viciousness anyone isnt prepared turn crucified cross credit similar 17000 banks failed since civil war lenders get overconfident economy ascending convince around time different opens new window thattheyve finally cracked nut protecting institutions widespread default warren buffett refers opens new window institutional imperative defines tendency executives mindlessly imitate behavior peers matter foolish may buffett wrote early 1990s credit cycle came crashing entire generation lenders convinced credit risk thing pastin lending many bankers played followtheleader lemminglike zeal experiencing lemminglike fate buffett continued weve seen tendencies like emerge time throughout history 1980s investment managers believed socalled portfolio insurance eradicated risk owning stocks close cousin bonds thus merely alternative type credit became clear naive people realized portfolio insurance actually accelerated market crash october 19 1987 socalled black monday true leadup financial crisis 2008 opens new window lenders convinced mortgagebacked securities credit default swaps offered ironclad protection downturn housing market liberated lend money comers irrespective income assets credit history know story ended best bankers like jpmorgan chases nyse jpm jamie dimon obsessed risk humble face credit cycle one right assume business cycle turn implored dimon eve last crisis every five years got assume something bad happen also investors entrepreneurs recoil whenever hear leaders fintech companies insinuate theyve neutralized credit risk take claim opens new window zestfinance online lender applies googlelike math make credit decisions lack humility mistake theres always possibility zestfinance truly tamed credit riskfor first time thousands years lending entire graveyards filled companies said thing throughout history idea credit flow swiftly freely laudable must tempered reality banks retail operations sell money commodity anyone would wantat right time right price comes credit turn often noble responsible say say yes wellknown maxim one hardest things running business maintain ability say thereby save limited resources best opportunities writes duff mcdonald biography opens new window jpmorgan chases dimon time companies simply lose discipline point made fred schwed jr classic satire wall street customers yachts opens new window seems insensitive exclusionary theres grain truth ask hundreds banks failed wake financial crisis convincing credit risk eradicated face earth key avoiding fate embrace inefficiency albeit careful conscious extent score claims fintech companies lendingclub zestfinance lesser extent lending tree nasdaq tree rapidly approving loans people theyve never met person concerning anyone knowledge ceaselessly undulating waves credit cycle century ago one two namesakes jpmorgan chase john pierpont morgan asked congressional hearing commercial credit based money property sir first thing character morgan responded inquisitor persisted money property morgan responded money property anything else money buy man trust could get money bonds christendom tempting fintech entrepreneurs reject outdated advice longer lumber around horses buggies like morgan pony express since replaced telegraph later replaced telephone penicillin wasnt discovered 15 years morgan uttered words course internet big data since modern credit system created 1950s world changed claims zestfinance technology changed credit truth credit hasnt changed least much statements like might otherwise lead one believe technology assist underwriting process isnt panacea renders credit risk obsolete specifically technology shouldnt viewed substitute assessing character admittedly inefficient process though one must embraced fintech lenders interest surviving unforgiving vicissitudes credit cycle im picking zestfinance open belief power assess creditworthiness fundamentally transformed technology indeed based conversations ive fintech entrepreneurs past opinion common among fintech entrepreneurs well meaning years experience writing code little knowledge undomesticated nature credit one explanation naivety many fintech entrepreneurs dont appreciate common financial crises nearly 215 years since turn eighteenth century ive noted previously opens new window united states experienced 14 major bank panics equates one every decade half another explanation fintech entrepreneurs involved lending luxury dogmatic personal capital tends insulated firms credit decisions like fat cat bankers yore marketplace lenders lendingclub lending tree traffic peoples money opens new window merely matching creditors debtors inherent fragility model proven repeatedly past loan broker caused nations first big fail bank continental illinois opens new window go 1984 mortgage brokers like countrywide financial led much destruction crisis eight years ago explains jpmorgan chase forevermore sworn nassim taleb makes point especially elegantly book antifragile opens new window romans engineers needed spend time bridge built something required financial engineers today writes english went families engineers spend time bridge built short tempting dismiss hundreds years worth experience reflected history banking outdated fintech lenders peril wont obvious credit cycle takes turn worse could many years happens companies embrace lessons past survive chaos disorder emerge stronger competitive position 10 stocks like better lendingtreewhen investing geniuses david tom gardner stock tip pay listen newsletter run decade motley fool stock advisor tripled market david tom revealed believe 10 best stocks opens new window investors buy right lendingtree wasnt one thats right think 10 stocks even better buys click opens new window learn picks stock advisor returns february 6 2017 john maxfield opens new window owns shares lendingclub motley fool position stocks mentioned motley fool disclosure policy opens new window | 954 |
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<p>The long drag of the Great Recession and its post-recessionary slump has pulled down young people all across the United States, leaving them with the highest unemployment rate and leading to dwindling college enrollment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/class-of-2014/" type="external">new research from the Economic Policy Institute Opens a New Window.</a>, there is a large and significant increase in the share of young high school and college graduates who are out of work and not in school. The spike in what the EPI calls “idled young adults” is caused by the weak economy, and the EPI reports that this represents an “enormous loss of opportunities for this cohort that will have lasting consequences.”</p>
<p>“The paths that you start down really does make a difference in your future -- and the paths young adults are being set up for in the future are not good ones,” explains Heidi Shierholz, an economist at EPI and co-author of the study. “In a strong job market, you have choices. But because of the current environment, these [young adults] end up taking a job for lower wages since employers can offer lower wages when people are desperate for work. And those young workers will not see the kind of increased wage trajectory that they would otherwise have gotten.”</p>
<p>Very high unemployment among young adults is not something unique to the Great Recession. In fact, young workers always experience disproportionate increases in unemployment during periods of labor market weakness. It’s just that this recession and its aftermath, Shierlotz points out, is the longest, grimmest period of weakness in more than seven decades. She says that because of this, the long-run wage trends for young graduates are bleak, with paychecks substantially lower today than in 2000. (Since 2000, the inflation-adjusted real wages of young high school graduates have dropped 10.8% and those of young graduates have dropped 7.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is in sharp contrast to the strong wage growth for these groups between 1995 and 2000, when wages rose 15.4% for young high school graduates and 19.1% for young college graduates.)</p>
<p>“The paths that you start down really does make a difference in your future -- and the paths young adults are being set up for in the future are not good ones,”</p>
<p>“We are a long way from full employment, but people who have taken the lion’s share of the harm are under 30,” says Gary Burtless, an economist at Brookings Institution. “And reaching adulthood in a miserable job market can have lingering affects.”</p>
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<p>Research from EPI shows that entering the labor market in a bad economy can not only lead to reduced earnings but also greater earnings instability and more spells of unemployment over the following 10-15 years.</p>
<p>“These [young adults] will get back to what they should be paid in 10-15 years&#160;-- but will never get recoup that lost part of their lifetime earnings,” Shierholtz explains.</p>
<p>Burtless says taking advantage of school could be a way to compensate for less work experience -- but the high cost of education may be proving too high for many young Americans.</p>
<p>“The heart of the question is [since] they have entered the workforce at a historically horrible time, have they gone to school more and increased their education to compensate for their lack of work experience?” asks Burtless. “If you can’t find a job that is going to look good on your resume, than certainly it is better to complete at degree….”</p>
<p>Yet, according to EPI, college enrollment rates have not increased despite the lack of job opportunities during the Great Recession and in its aftermath and, in fact, have dropped since 2012.</p>
<p>Cost does seem to be part of the reason. EPI estimates that in the 2013-2014 school year, the total cost of attendance for an on-campus student at a four-year, in-state public college is $22,826; for a four-year private institution, the price climbs to $44,750. That means the inflation-adjusted cost of a four-year education -- including tuition, fees, and room and board -- increased 125.5% for private schools and 129.1% for public schools over the 1983-1984 school year. Median income only increased 15.6% during this period, according to EPI, which the report says “leaves families and students unable to pay for most colleges and universities in full.”</p>
<p>In addition to these idle workers between the ages of 18-24, there are many slightly older young adults that Shierholtz says may feel stuck.</p>
<p>“You want your first several years out of college to be in a strong labor market…. [older Millennials] did luck out if they got a job in 2007, but they were not completely saved by the impact,” she says. “For most people, they would of done better if they have switched jobs. So while they may be better off than their brothers or sisters two to three years younger than them, they’re not better off than a sibling a few years older.”</p>
<p>EPI report points out that the low level of young adults voluntarily leaving their jobs in this country, which is about 20% lower than its 2007 level, not only represents lost prospects for workers of all ages but also illustrates a critical loss of opportunities for young workers simply because they are likely to be in the process of identifying their own abilities and interests and might have greatly benefited from leaving a job and moving into another that is a better fit.</p>
<p>Between 2007 and the middle of 2009, the average number of young adults voluntary quits dropped by a staggering 43%, from 2.9 million a month to 1.6 million a month. And while the voluntary quit rate has picked up, as Shierholtz points out, many have been locked into their jobs, unable to find a workplace with better potential for wage growth. The report says this low quit rate is also one of the factors underlying their wage declines since the start of the Great Recession.</p>
<p>“That sense of feeling stuck and having anxiety -- that fits with what we have heard from many young people,” says Rory O'Sullivan, deputy executive director of the youth advocacy group Young Invincibles. “But there is also a sense of optimism and hope from this group…. Hard times can bring out the best in people.”</p>
<p>The notion that there is resounding optimism among this cohort does seem to ring true. According to Pew Research Center, almost half of Millennials think the country’s best days are ahead of them, which is a more positive take on the future than that of any of older generation. Still, the weak demand for workers in the overall economy and the consequential weak labor market is undoubtedly hurting young people in a very real way, says Burtless.</p>
<p>“It’s heartbreaking to think that we threw away the lessons from 1929 to 1946…. The first 12 months we did act and we did well by the lessons. But we didn’t act long enough. And then we forgot all the lessons we learned,” he says, referring to the pullback on government spending. “So, 10 years from now, we will be back on track unless there is a remarkable spurt of growth that kind of can fix all the scars and bruising…. But if not, [the aftermath of the recession] will continue to be hum-drum growth, and young people will continue to be at a disadvantage.”</p> | true | 0 | long drag great recession postrecessionary slump pulled young people across united states leaving highest unemployment rate leading dwindling college enrollment continue reading according new research economic policy institute opens new window large significant increase share young high school college graduates work school spike epi calls idled young adults caused weak economy epi reports represents enormous loss opportunities cohort lasting consequences paths start really make difference future paths young adults set future good ones explains heidi shierholz economist epi coauthor study strong job market choices current environment young adults end taking job lower wages since employers offer lower wages people desperate work young workers see kind increased wage trajectory would otherwise gotten high unemployment among young adults something unique great recession fact young workers always experience disproportionate increases unemployment periods labor market weakness recession aftermath shierlotz points longest grimmest period weakness seven decades says longrun wage trends young graduates bleak paychecks substantially lower today 2000 since 2000 inflationadjusted real wages young high school graduates dropped 108 young graduates dropped 77 according bureau labor statistics sharp contrast strong wage growth groups 1995 2000 wages rose 154 young high school graduates 191 young college graduates paths start really make difference future paths young adults set future good ones long way full employment people taken lions share harm 30 says gary burtless economist brookings institution reaching adulthood miserable job market lingering affects advertisement research epi shows entering labor market bad economy lead reduced earnings also greater earnings instability spells unemployment following 1015 years young adults get back paid 1015 years160 never get recoup lost part lifetime earnings shierholtz explains burtless says taking advantage school could way compensate less work experience high cost education may proving high many young americans heart question since entered workforce historically horrible time gone school increased education compensate lack work experience asks burtless cant find job going look good resume certainly better complete degree yet according epi college enrollment rates increased despite lack job opportunities great recession aftermath fact dropped since 2012 cost seem part reason epi estimates 20132014 school year total cost attendance oncampus student fouryear instate public college 22826 fouryear private institution price climbs 44750 means inflationadjusted cost fouryear education including tuition fees room board increased 1255 private schools 1291 public schools 19831984 school year median income increased 156 period according epi report says leaves families students unable pay colleges universities full addition idle workers ages 1824 many slightly older young adults shierholtz says may feel stuck want first several years college strong labor market older millennials luck got job 2007 completely saved impact says people would done better switched jobs may better brothers sisters two three years younger theyre better sibling years older epi report points low level young adults voluntarily leaving jobs country 20 lower 2007 level represents lost prospects workers ages also illustrates critical loss opportunities young workers simply likely process identifying abilities interests might greatly benefited leaving job moving another better fit 2007 middle 2009 average number young adults voluntary quits dropped staggering 43 29 million month 16 million month voluntary quit rate picked shierholtz points many locked jobs unable find workplace better potential wage growth report says low quit rate also one factors underlying wage declines since start great recession sense feeling stuck anxiety fits heard many young people says rory osullivan deputy executive director youth advocacy group young invincibles also sense optimism hope group hard times bring best people notion resounding optimism among cohort seem ring true according pew research center almost half millennials think countrys best days ahead positive take future older generation still weak demand workers overall economy consequential weak labor market undoubtedly hurting young people real way says burtless heartbreaking think threw away lessons 1929 1946 first 12 months act well lessons didnt act long enough forgot lessons learned says referring pullback government spending 10 years back track unless remarkable spurt growth kind fix scars bruising aftermath recession continue humdrum growth young people continue disadvantage | 656 |
<p>1. Israel says Palestinian hunger strike leader ate in secret</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/78760029d6e447bbb843e6c3e017be4d" type="external">JERUSALEM (AP)</a> - Israel's Prison Service released footage on Sunday that it says shows the leader of a mass Palestinian hunger strike breaking his fast, a claim dismissed by the Palestinians as an attempt to undermine the open-ended strike, now in its 21st day.</p>
<p>Assaf Librati, a spokesman for the prison service, said strike organizer and Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti ate a candy bar on May 5 and cookies on April 27. He said surveillance was increased and Barghouti was caught on film eating.</p>
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<p>2. Shampoo advert from Malaysia ten years ago:</p>
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<p>Shampoo commercial from Malaysia today:</p>
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<p>3. Two bombs kills and wounds people in Muslim area of the Philippines</p>
<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/philippines-bomb-sparked-feud-claims-attack-47254985" type="external">A bomb explosion</a> that killed two people in a Muslim community in Manila was sparked by a personal feud, Philippine police officials said Sunday, but the Islamic State group claimed its fighters were responsible.</p>
<p>Police said a package being delivered by a man exploded late Saturday in downtown Manila's Quiapo district, killing him and another man receiving it at a Shiite centre. Police said four others were wounded.</p>
<p>Another explosive, either a homemade bomb or a grenade, went off more than two hours later near the scene of the first blast and wounded two policemen deployed to help secure the area and investigate the bombing, according to authorities.</p>
<p>In the video below, experts explain why Sunni Muslims murder Shiia Muslims:</p>
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<p>4. ISIS widow Sally Jones moved up on US "kill list" after inspiring female terror recruits</p>
<p><a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/801469/ISIS-British-recruiter-Sally-Jones-US-kill-list-high-priority" type="external">ISIS bride Sally Jones</a>has been moved up the US army's kill list amid claims she and her late husband plotted a series of failed terror attacks.</p>
<p>The 49-year-old mother of two from Kent is now considered a "high priority" for assassination after she and her jihadi husband Junaid Hussain masterminded an IS recruitment drive and devised several potential terror plots against allied troops.</p>
<p>The entire article is quite interesting and shows the depth of murderous fanaticism in the whole family. However it never gives her convert name of Um Husan al-Britini. Western media often tends to use the Western name for people who convert to Islam and commit terror or antisocial acts, while using the convert name for people who convert to Islam and preach the narrative of a peaceful Islam.</p>
<p>Here is a video on her from September, 2016:</p>
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<p>5. Israeli police kill Palestinian girl who tried to attack them in Jerusalem&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-violence-idUSKBN1830U6" type="external">Israeli paramilitary police officers</a>shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian teenage girl who tried to attack them at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday, a police spokeswoman said.</p>
<p>The incident was the latest in a 19-month-long period of sporadic street attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, and the bustling Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem's walled Old City where it occurred has seen many attacks.</p>
<p>Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said a knife was recovered from the scene together with a farewell letter from the teenager to her family quoting a verse from the Koran that signed off with the word "shahida" - Arabic for martyr.</p>
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<p>6. Videos suggest that the French government sent out deliberately pre-spoiled ballots making voting for Marine Le Pen impossible</p>
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<p>7. Saudi Arabia will be razed except for Mecca &amp; Medina if it attacks Iran: Defense minister</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/387557-iran-saudi-attack-threat/" type="external">Responding to Saudi Arabia's latest threats</a> to take their conflict inside Iran, Tehran said it will leave nothing standing in the kingdom except for Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina if the Saudis do anything "ignorant," Al-Manar reports. [?] Dehghan's comment followed unusually blunt remarks by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said on Tuesday that any struggle for influence between Riyadh and Tehran would take place "inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia."</p>
<p>In a rare interview broadcast on multiple Saudi TV channels, the 31-year-old prince, who was named in 2015 by his father, King Salman, as successor to the throne, outlined his vision of modern-day Iran.</p>
<p>Making use of sectarian terms, Prince Salman said Iran is eager "to control the Islamic world" and to spread its Shiite doctrine, according to AP.</p>
<p>(This may be a good time for the KSA to move all their aircraft and missiles to Mecca &amp; Medina.)</p>
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<p>8. Mixed sex mosque opens in California:</p>
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<p>9. Italian police seize 37 TONS OF DRUGS designed for the ISLAMIC STATE agents in Libya</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/387612-italy-drugs-terrorists-libya/" type="external">Police in the northern Italian city of Genoa</a> have intercepted a huge drug shipment bound for Libya. Tons of psychotropic medications, destined for Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL), were seized in cooperation with the Italian customs office.</p>
<p>The shipment contained 37.5 tons of tramadol - a synthetic opioid used in treating pain and also actively used across the Middle East as a narcotic substance. The haul also included Captagon, known as the "fighter drug" - an amphetamine-containing substance used by jihadists in several Middle Eastern war zones to enhance battle performance, the Italian La Repubblica newspaper reported citing investigators.</p>
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<p>10. Tokyo cops arrest two "refugee" Turks in gang rape</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2016/02/22/tokyo-cops-arrest-turkish-asylum-seekers-in-gang-rape-of-woman/" type="external">TOKYO (TR)</a> - Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested two Turkish nationals currently applying for refugee status for allegedly raping a woman in Kita Ward, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Feb. 22).</p>
<p>At approximately 12:30 a.m. on December 27 of last year, Onder Pinarbasi, 22, and a 16-year-old boy allegedly took the woman, aged in her 30s, to a public toilet near JR Akabane Station and sexually assaulted her. The suspects also stole 9,000 yen in cash from the victim.</p>
<p>Pinarbasi, who has been charged with rape and robbery, claims the boy committed both crimes. The boy admits to onlyl the robbery charge. "I did not force myself upon her," he is quoted by police in denying the rape accusation, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun (Feb. 22). [?] The suspects arrived in Japan last year. They applied for refugee status in August and October, telling the Immigration Bureau of Japan that they did not want to return to Turkey due to "problems that exist between relatives."</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 0 | 1 israel says palestinian hunger strike leader ate secret jerusalem ap israels prison service released footage sunday says shows leader mass palestinian hunger strike breaking fast claim dismissed palestinians attempt undermine openended strike 21st day assaf librati spokesman prison service said strike organizer palestinian uprising leader marwan barghouti ate candy bar may 5 cookies april 27 said surveillance increased barghouti caught film eating 160 2 shampoo advert malaysia ten years ago shampoo commercial malaysia today 160 3 two bombs kills wounds people muslim area philippines bomb explosion killed two people muslim community manila sparked personal feud philippine police officials said sunday islamic state group claimed fighters responsible police said package delivered man exploded late saturday downtown manilas quiapo district killing another man receiving shiite centre police said four others wounded another explosive either homemade bomb grenade went two hours later near scene first blast wounded two policemen deployed help secure area investigate bombing according authorities video experts explain sunni muslims murder shiia muslims 160 4 isis widow sally jones moved us kill list inspiring female terror recruits isis bride sally joneshas moved us armys kill list amid claims late husband plotted series failed terror attacks 49yearold mother two kent considered high priority assassination jihadi husband junaid hussain masterminded recruitment drive devised several potential terror plots allied troops entire article quite interesting shows depth murderous fanaticism whole family however never gives convert name um husan albritini western media often tends use western name people convert islam commit terror antisocial acts using convert name people convert islam preach narrative peaceful islam video september 2016 160 5 israeli police kill palestinian girl tried attack jerusalem160 israeli paramilitary police officersshot killed knifewielding palestinian teenage girl tried attack entrance jerusalems old city sunday police spokeswoman said incident latest 19monthlong period sporadic street attacks palestinians israelis bustling damascus gate entrance jerusalems walled old city occurred seen many attacks police spokeswoman luba samri said knife recovered scene together farewell letter teenager family quoting verse koran signed word shahida arabic martyr 160 6 videos suggest french government sent deliberately prespoiled ballots making voting marine le pen impossible 160 7 saudi arabia razed except mecca amp medina attacks iran defense minister responding saudi arabias latest threats take conflict inside iran tehran said leave nothing standing kingdom except muslim holy cities mecca medina saudis anything ignorant almanar reports dehghans comment followed unusually blunt remarks saudi deputy crown prince mohammed bin salman said tuesday struggle influence riyadh tehran would take place inside iran saudi arabia rare interview broadcast multiple saudi tv channels 31yearold prince named 2015 father king salman successor throne outlined vision modernday iran making use sectarian terms prince salman said iran eager control islamic world spread shiite doctrine according ap may good time ksa move aircraft missiles mecca amp medina 160 8 mixed sex mosque opens california 160 160 9 italian police seize 37 tons drugs designed islamic state agents libya police northern italian city genoa intercepted huge drug shipment bound libya tons psychotropic medications destined islamic state former isisisil seized cooperation italian customs office shipment contained 375 tons tramadol synthetic opioid used treating pain also actively used across middle east narcotic substance haul also included captagon known fighter drug amphetaminecontaining substance used jihadists several middle eastern war zones enhance battle performance italian la repubblica newspaper reported citing investigators 160 10 tokyo cops arrest two refugee turks gang rape tokyo tr tokyo metropolitan police arrested two turkish nationals currently applying refugee status allegedly raping woman kita ward reports sankei shimbun feb 22 approximately 1230 december 27 last year onder pinarbasi 22 16yearold boy allegedly took woman aged 30s public toilet near jr akabane station sexually assaulted suspects also stole 9000 yen cash victim pinarbasi charged rape robbery claims boy committed crimes boy admits onlyl robbery charge force upon quoted police denying rape accusation according yomiuri shimbun feb 22 suspects arrived japan last year applied refugee status august october telling immigration bureau japan want return turkey due problems exist relatives 160 | 661 |
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