Category Archives: Stocks

by | August 6, 2018 · 9:21 pm

Snap`s self-serve ads is finally ready to launch, but the drawback here is sliding ad inventory prices

Snap Inc is set to report second-quarter earnings after the market closes on Tuesday August 7. Historically, the company makes big moves in the wake of its quarterly reports. The average single-day price swing is about 24 percent regardless of direction.

Both Facebook and Twitter faces a challenging time. So do Snap Inc. GDPR pushed Facebook`s user counts down compared with the first quarter and that will also impact Snap Inc. Snap is a small company compared to Facebook, and they will not deal with the same level of scrutiny from lawmakers as Facebook.

EPS in March 2017 came in at -$2,31, but have since then been far better with -$,030 a year later. Analysts on average project Snap second-quarter revenue of $250,4 million, up from $182 million in the same quarter last year.

Facebook have the same tools as Snap and that is hurting their profit. Their biggest competitor is also Instagram which makes it difficult for them to be unique. But Snap launched the second version of its Spectacles product, sunglasses that let people take photos and video and use them within the Snapchat app.

This is also the only move that live up to its claims in the SEC filings that Snap Inc is a camera company.

Snap`s self-serve ads is finally ready to launch, but the drawback here is sliding ad inventory prices. Not good in the short run because Snap have only 191 million DAU`s, an increase of 4 million from the Q4 but below estimates of 194 million.

The company has also struggled with the impact of a product redesign in February that was widely criticized. That didn`t help the stock price that crashed to a record low on May 2 after it reported first-quarter earnings.

They missed views on revenue, user growth and several other key metrics, and analysts slashed price targets. The IPO was held in March 2017, and pricing shares were $17. It went up 2,5 percent on Monday and ended the session at $13,05. The stock is down 11 percent in 2018.

Will Snap Inc take a hit from the implementation of Europe`s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)? The same types of issues that led to big declines for Facebook and Twitter.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

Leave a comment

Filed under Stocks

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | August 3, 2018 · 10:39 pm

S&P 500 P/E ratio is 24,34 and the bull market is similar to the 50`s

The bull market continues and the S&P 500 went up in April, May, June and July. So, «Sell in May and go away» would be a disaster for any investor on this planet this year. Just like it was in the 50`s under president Eisenhower. This is not a normal situation in the midterm election.

As you can see from the chart below, similar situation happened in 1954 and 1958. Apple Inc is a big contributor to the bullish market right now, and it just hit a $1 trillion market cap. A milestone we have never seen before for a U.S publicly traded company.

Not only Apple Inc are hitting milestones. Many of the stock exchanges around the world are also hitting now all-time highs. But how expensive are the U.S stocks? The P/E ratio of the S&P 500 has fluctuated from a low of around 6x in 1949 to over 120x in 2009.

The long-term average P/E for the S&P 500 is around 15x, meaning that the stocks that make up the index collectively command a premium 15 times greater than their weighted average earnings.

The trailing P/E ration will change as the price of a company`s stock moves, since earnings are only released each quarter while stocks trade day in and day out. Current S&P 500 PE ratio are down -0,13 percent on Thursday 2 August 2018 (based on trailing twelve month) to 24,34.

Some investors prefer forward P/E which is similar to the trailing P/E, but uses estimates of projected future earnings, typically forecast over the next twelve months. If the forward P/E ratio is lower than the trailing P/E ratio, it means analysts are expecting earnings to increase. If it is higher, analysts expect a decrease in earnings.

These measures are often used when trying to gauge the overall value of a stock index, such as the S&P 500 since these longer term measures can compensate for changes in the business cycle.

A business cycle describes the rise and fall in production output of goods and services in an economy. Business cycles are generally measured using rise and fall in real inflation-adjusted GDP, which includes output from the household and nonprofit sector and the government sector, as well as business output.

Output cycle is therefore a better description of what is measured. The business or output cycle should not be confused with market cycles, measured using broad stock market indices; or the debt cycle, referring to the rise and fall in household and government debt.

To put it into perspective. Apple`s P/E is 18,04. Facebook; 24,56. Netflix; 144,43. Amazon; 165,60. Yelp; 625,17. Groupon; 230,15. Godaddy; 227,27. Under Armour; 136,36. Alibaba; 48,25. S&P 500 is 24,34, so how expensive are they all?

It looks like Amazon are expensive, but that company is up 84,75 percent YoY, while Apple with its 18,14 is up only 35,26 percent. Facebook has lost a lot of money in a few days, and the stock is up only 5,45 percent YoY. Estimated P/E for Tesla in 2019 is – 177,68. The stock went up over 16 percent on Thursday.

Investors need to be aware that the P/E ratio can be misleading a lot of times, especially when the underlying business is cyclical and unpredictable. Cyclical businesses have higher profit margins at the peaks of the business cycles. Their earnings are high and P/E ratios are artificially low. It is usually a bad idea to buy a cyclical business when the P/E is low. A better ratio to identify the time to buy a cyclical businesses is the P/S ratio.

Leave a comment

Filed under Stock market, Stocks

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | July 10, 2018 · 9:30 pm

Electronic scooters and Smart bikes are taking off and the world will be cleaner and healthier

Lime is now teaming up with Uber to make the world smarter. The electronic scooter rental company Lime will be founded by Uber Technologies Inc as part of a $335 million financing round, Lime said on Monday.

The idea is led by Alphabet Inc`s vemtire arm GV, and they values the scooter business at $1,1 billion. Uber plans to promote Lime in its mobile application and slap its logo on the scooters.

This is an idea I came up with about twenty years ago, and a few months later it was a hit. At that time it was without a vehicle. Electric scooters have been on the market for a long time, but now it seems to be a hit worldwide.

Lime was focused on the idea that mobility can be smart, equitable, and fun. By connecting cities and improving the way people experience first and last mile transportation, we aim to leave future generations with cleaner, healthier planet, Lime said.

From smart bikes to electronic scooters and beyond, Lime said they are committed to building strong social bonds, lasting community relationships, and the worlds most versatile smart mobility fleet.

I also came up with the idea of making City Bikes about twenty years ago. It`s funny because nobody had City Bikes at that time. I gave the idea to a friend of mine, and he worked on it. Now, it is everywhere. Even more fun is that Uber has started with the same idea. Twenty years later.

Uber took a huge stake with a startup called Jump Bikes, which rents electric bicycles, before acquiring the business for more than $100 million in April this year. Uber are planning to roll out more City Bikes in many cities around the world.

Lime is only 18 months old but released its e-scooters in Paris last month. The «free-floating» electric scooters are out on the streets and they are controlled with a mobile app. So far, they have been very popular in Washington DC and San Francisco. Now, they take Europe by storm.

The scooters are lightweight, easy to spot to their bright green motors and nippy, with a maximum speed of 15 miles (24 km/h). You locate the nearest one with the app and turn it on by scanning the QR code on the handlebars.

At this point you are charged €1 in Europe and $1 in the U.S. Then you will be charged 15 cents for every minute of ride time. Now, as the weather is fine, it can be cheaper to rent a scooter than taking the crowded bus to the town.

Paris has a chaotic time for its transport network, so Lime is coming in at the right time. It wont be less chaotic when Tour de France is coming to an end in about three weeks. Serving cities is at the core of Limes mission.

From electric scooters to smart bikes, Limes dock free mobility solution reduce traffic congestion, promote healthy living, and solve the all-important challenge of the first and last mile. And thats just the beginning.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

Leave a comment

Filed under Stocks

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | June 15, 2018 · 7:23 pm

President Vladimir Putin use driverless transportation buses at the World Cup in the city of Kazan

Silicon Valley are pushing hard to release driverless vehicles and we know Google is in front of that revolution. But they are not alone. Russia is also in front of that revolution, and President Vladimir Putin are highly supporting driverless vehicles.

Russia has launched their new driverless transportation buses at the World Cup in the city of Kazan, and Russia`s truck maker are showing the world their technology skills. So far, their unmanned vehicles are banned on the open road, so they will travel only 650 meters.

(KamAZ «shuttle» is a bus with the autopilot on electricity. It was first presented at the Moscow International Automobile Salon in 2016)

The truck maker is KAMAZ PJSC, which is co-owned by German automaker Daimler AG and Rostec. KAMAZ is taking the fans from Kazan`s meeting point to the Kazan Arena. The driverless buses will drive on an empty road with no traffic which is surrounded by a light fence to keep away animals and pedestrians.

KAMAZ demonstrated the first autonomous electric bus a few days ago, according to the company. The unmanned M2 category small-class SHATL (Wide Adaptive Transport Logistics) vehicle, developed by KAMAZ in cooperation with NAMI, is intended for hard-surface roads, using data from digital maps, navigation systems and technical vision organs.

«Electric and unmanned vehicles are currently amongst the main directions of development in Russian engineering industry», as stated by the general director of KAMAZ Sergei Kogogin. «SHATL is our latest development, upon the example of which, the main trends in car manufacturing may follow.

KAMAZ is only one of our unique driverless vehicle models. Specialists in KAMAZ are actively working on such models at the moment, within the framework of the development of intelligent transport systems.»

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

Leave a comment

Filed under Stocks

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | June 14, 2018 · 4:56 pm

Boring Company will start to build a high-speed transit tunnel in Chicago

Elon Musk have a boring company, but how boring is that company when we know that they are building high-speed express trains? Not much. One of their first contracts is now a reality and people in Chicago can start to look forward to the future at O`Hare International Airport.

Three months after the Boring Company was selected as a finalist in a bid for Chicagos high-speed transit tunnel, the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel confirmed on Wednesday that Elon Musks Boring Co has been chosen to build the express train that will connect O`Hare International Airport with downtown Chicago.

The Boring Companys transit system, likely in the form of underground high-speed tunnels, will come as a relief to the travelers who currently spend 40 minutes or more and pay as much as $60 for travel by taxi from the Loop, Chicagos downtown central business district, and O`Hare International Airport.

Passengers will be able to travel at high-speed between the two destinations in as little as 12 minutes and at a cost of $20 to $25 per trip.

The transit system will be part of an $8,5 billion overhaul of O`Hare airport. The Boring Company estimates project costs to come in below $1 billion.

The company is near completion on a test tunnel beneath SpaceX and will offer «free demo rides» to the public, barring final regulatory approval.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

Leave a comment

Filed under Stocks

Tagged as , , , , , ,