Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Czech Air Force Saab JAS-39 Gripen - Iceland Air Policing-NATO Mission


TV Shopping:Big and Getting Bigger

QVC,founded in 1986,is a televised shopping network and part of Liberty Interactive Corporation that reaches 300 million homes worldwide.It is also available on mobile,being the third largest mobile ecommerce retailer,behind Amazon and Alibaba.Liberty Interactive Corporation,consisting of televised shopping networks,as well as lifestyle and travel services websites,is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Global and reaches consumers in the US and China,with France to follow this summer.*
We don't need to be as big as Alibaba,said CEO Greg Maffei.We're in 86 million TV homes in China.It's a new industry there.We have a great app on WeChat.Definitely the live broadcast is at the center of it.*
I think it's going to be a good holiday season.The gas price dividend has given a bit of a tailwind to our business,Mr.Maffei noted.The company trades as a separate stock from Liberty Global's.*
Liberty Interactive Corp(QVCA),Liberty Global plc class A(LBTYA)

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

What To Watch For in the Market

I think the economy is certainly improving,said Jack Ablin,Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of BMO Capital Markets.That being said,we do have European problems that could affect the market.I am watching credit spreads;they are starting to widen.We have to see how that plays out on the credit side.*
I think Bill Gross leaving the money management firm PIMCO may have moved the market.The fact is,banks' trading desks have been whittled back.I do think there was an outflow of bonds into the marketplace,Mr.Ablin added.*
Energy stocks to watch if the Keystone Pipeline wins approval:
Trans Canada(TRP)
Canada Natural Resources(CNQ)
Valero(VLO)
Quarta Services(PWR)*
We're watching a lot of measures,said Jonathan Krinsky,Chief Market Technician at MKM Partners.There's been a sustained pressure on the energy sector.There's a little more upside,maybe one or two percentage points,in the S&P;then we're getting into some real resistance.
It's an outlier market.There's been about seven times in the last 50 years where we've seen a streak this long.It's difficult to extract too much from this data.We haven't seen many streaks like that.It's more interesting than not,and we should keep watching,Mr.Krinsky advised.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Inside Goldman Sachs,November 2014

At a Bank of America Merrill Lynch Banking and Financial Services Conference,Goldman Sachs Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Harvey Schwartz laid out what drives the company's returns.I understand the appeal of a simple firm-wide return target,Mr.Schwartz said.Having one isn't,nor has it ever been the driver of our returns.Our operating principles and philosophy have been essentially to generating superior returns.Underpinning our principles and philosophy is a belief that we should manage our resources dynamically,and therefore,circumstances and return profiles should naturally fluctuate across the cycle.Most importantly,it's not a target per se that drives our firm-wide returns,but rather our capital allocation process.*
Goldman Sachs has named 78 new partners,bringing the total number to 467,or 1.6% of full-time staff.The breakdown by specialty includes:
securities,25;
investment banking,23;
Federated(finance,compliance,risk management and other back and middle office functions),12;
and investment management,11.*
Goldman has added Time Warner Inc. to its conviction buy list on undervaluation,raising the price target to 90.00 per share.*
Goldman Sachs(GS),Time Warner Inc.(TWX)

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Commentary:The Future of Commercial Spaceflight

Last week's devastating blows to commercial spaceflight raise the question of just how viable these enterprises really are,and whether too much confidence has been placed in them.Perhaps it is too early the history of space exploration to rely on commercial vendors to provide cargo flights to the International Space Station,let alone astronaut or civilian transport.It must be realised,however,that many of the engineers at these companies came from NASA itself and are fully qualified to do such work.It is just that we forget how complex and dangerous space exploration is after a good run of successful missions.*
These disruptive accidents are bound to occur,delaying the programs involved until full investigations are completed and reforms carried out.Look at our personal experiences with technology as comparatively primitive as pcs or mobile phones.Even such simple appliances have their aggravating failures.Space technology is much more complicated than these everyday devices.As in the past with the Apollo and space shuttle accidents,the Ariane rocket problems or Russian mishaps,the Orbital Sciences and Virgin Atlantic space programs will eventually regain their footing.Their leadership and staffs,bolstered by previous achievement,are committed to commercial space enough to do this,although the fallen personnel will never be forgotten.*
Orbital Sciences(ORB)