Month: May 2020

Now Is The Time To Be Aggressive

Now Is The Time To Be Aggressive

Technology companies with healthy balance sheets should accelerate Product Development efforts. The COVID crisis does not have to entirely be about protecting operating income. Many technology companies threw out guidance during the March quarter. Therefore why be overly sensitive about protecting operating income and earnings? Why not accelerate Product Development efforts if doing so will … Continue reading Now Is The Time To Be Aggressive

Catching Up with CEORater’s 2019 Technology CEOs of the Year

Catching Up with CEORater’s 2019 Technology CEOs of the Year

Our 2019 Technology CEOs of the Year included Andy Florance of CoStar Group (tkr: CSGP), Lance Uggla of IHS Markit (tkr: INFO), Ajay Banga of Mastercard (tkr: MA), Satya Nadella of Microsoft (tkr: MSFT) and Bill Stone of SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC). The risk/reward ratio for the equity markets hasn't been this unfavorable since the … Continue reading Catching Up with CEORater’s 2019 Technology CEOs of the Year

Air Travel Picks Up Over Memorial Day Weekend<span class="badge-status" style="background:red">Premium</span> 

Air Travel Picks Up Over Memorial Day WeekendPremium 

The Memorial Day weekend brought a modest improvement in the rate of decline as it relates to year-over-year airline passenger volume. The year-over-year decline peaked at -96% on April 16th and averaged -88% for the May 22nd - May 24th period. A modest positive for the economy. However, the airlines need to experience far more … Continue reading Air Travel Picks Up Over Memorial Day WeekendPremium 

How to Destroy Productivity & Thwart Innovation: A 4-Step Process<span class="badge-status" style="background:red">Premium</span> 

How to Destroy Productivity & Thwart Innovation: A 4-Step ProcessPremium 

Step 1.) Close down a country: What's done is done. However, one of the consequences of shutting down the United States is that the speculative grade default rate is expected to almost triple - 4.7% to 14.4% - within the next year. Not to speak of the millions of non-public businesses that have suffered revenue … Continue reading How to Destroy Productivity & Thwart Innovation: A 4-Step ProcessPremium 

Passive Investing Makes for Less Efficient Markets

Passive Investing Makes for Less Efficient Markets

Enormous sums of capital piled into passive products (index funds, ETFs) over the past decade. I get it. Why pay management fees if your portfolio manager can't outperform the benchmark? However, let's not be quick to dismiss active managers as dinosaurs. Active managers perform an important function as they decide what a security is worth. … Continue reading Passive Investing Makes for Less Efficient Markets

Work From Home Is Here To Stay

Work From Home Is Here To Stay

We believe that many companies will leverage work from home's lower cost structure by making this option available to employees. We highlight two technology companies that exclusively operate in a distributed fashion: GitLab and Automattic. GitLab and Automattic place a premium on documenting everything from organizational structure to output-driven expectations to corporate culture and day-to-day … Continue reading Work From Home Is Here To Stay

Mr. Market Is Trading On Speculation. Fundamentals Will Matter Again.

Mr. Market Is Trading On Speculation. Fundamentals Will Matter Again.

The market is trading on speculation. Fundamentals don't matter now. Fundamentals will matter again. The Fed can print only so much money before inflation rears its ugly head. We can't continue to devalue the dollar as a matter of long-term monetary policy without consequences. Our "print first, ask questions later" monetary policy and "subsidize everything" … Continue reading Mr. Market Is Trading On Speculation. Fundamentals Will Matter Again.

Binging On Buybacks At Innovation’s Expense

Binging On Buybacks At Innovation’s Expense

Short-term greed has gripped some of the world's largest Technology companies. A number of CEOs and Boards are guilty of trading long-term innovation and customer value for short-term share price support. Innovative companies (we provide examples), have bucked the buyback trend. Record high corporate debt levels have funded record share buyback activity in recent years. … Continue reading Binging On Buybacks At Innovation’s Expense

Restaurant Data: A Few States Are Experiencing An Uptick in Seated Diners<span class="badge-status" style="background:red">Premium</span> 

Restaurant Data: A Few States Are Experiencing An Uptick in Seated DinersPremium 

Diners in some states have turned out as COVID restrictions were lifted. These states include: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Access our PDF sheet HERE. Click HERE to access the Excel data. Data is organized by state and report date. https://soundcloud.com/ceorater