Operating at the Intersection of Technology and the Capital Markets
Month: November 2020
If state election commissions and state legislatures would have adopted voting technology platforms that mimic the Trade Order Management/ Execution Management financial technology systems available on the market today, much of the drama around the 2020 General Election could have been avoided. Many electronic voting systems lack full auditability and therefore leave themselves exposed to … Continue reading A “FinTech” Approach To Election Technology
A few years ago we recommended that IBM (tkr: IBM) roll-up certain Information Services assets to complement its Infrastructure Services business. In the meantime the Information Services space is rolling up itself with S&P Global (tkr: SPGI) working to acquire IHS Markit (tkr: INFO) as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Tickers mentioned: CCC, DNB, … Continue reading S&P Global Reported to Acquire IHS Markit
Google is an information black hole ingesting every bit of data in its path. Google essentially crowdsources data gathering by using willing humans to volunteer information - including sensitive PII data - typically by way of the mobile phone as a conduit. Mobile applications such as Google Assistant, Chrome, Photos, Maps, G-Suite, Google Retail, Google … Continue reading It’s Google’s World. We Just Live In It.
The capital markets would likely experience volatility in the coming weeks should the U.S. Supreme Court take up the Trump campaign's case regarding General Election results in the state of Pennsylvania. We expect the SCOTUS to do so. On Wednesday Pennsylvania judge Patricia McCullough (R) halted further vote certification until her evidentiary hearing Friday morning … Continue reading Pennsylvania Is Getting Interesting. Market Volatility Ahead?
Much like Portfolio Managers pursued Technology stocks at nosebleed valuations in an effort to chase performance this year, Salesforce.com is pursuing richly-valued M&A targets (Slack), as it chases the Enterprise Software market leader - Microsoft. Tickers mentioned: BOX, CERN, CRM, DBX, GOOG, MSFT, TEAM, VRSK, WORK, ZI, ZM Years ago Salesforce (tkr: CRM) realized it … Continue reading Salesforce Is Chasing The Leader
High product usage rates combined with high switching costs equal pricing power. Google Photos - the popular photo & video management platform for Android and iOS - has pricing power to spare. Google ran the playbook perfectly. Years ago Google promised users of its Photos service that the service would remain free for life so … Continue reading 28 Billion New Photos & Videos Each Week Means Google Photos Has Pricing Power
The U.S. is similar to a legacy Technology company whose best days are in the rear view mirror. A telltale sign of this reality is that fact that the Federal Reserve is the largest buyer of U.S. Treasuries. There was a time when Japan and China were the largest holders of U.S. Treasury securities. Today, … Continue reading When You Are Your Biggest Customer
The "Pretender" auto companies will likely fail because they don't have Elon Musk. While we have been critical of Tesla's corporate governance, there is no denying Elon Musk's persistence. Musk's level of persistence is rare. It is highly unlikely that the Pretenders (NKLA, NIO, RIDE, WKHS) have an Elon Musk among their senior ranks. The … Continue reading There Is Only One Elon Musk
It is our contention that beginning Friday evening Microsoft prevented LinkedIn users from accessing the online service via Chrome's browser. We believe Microsoft prevented users from accessing its LinkedIn service via Chrome in the hopes of: Causing a bit of pain for Google/Alphabet; Potentially capturing a cohort of new Edge users who used Microsoft's browser … Continue reading Chrome vs. Edge: Browser Wars 2.0
Amazon (tkr: AMZN) is one of four firms working to reshape the healthcare landscape along with Walmart (tkr: WMT), Alphabet (tkr: GOOG) and Apple (tkr: AAPL). Amazon has established positions in key strategic areas of the healthcare market including healthcare services and insurance (via its Haven joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan) as … Continue reading Amazon Is Reshaping Healthcare
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