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)

News Notes:Turkey's Rate Hike;Yahoo's Report

Turkey's central bank more than doubled interest rates January 29 in an effort to support the nation's currency,the lira.When you see the Turkish rate hike,you're gonna see their economy in decline,predicted CNBC market analyst Jim Cramer on the "Squawk On The Street" program.I think we could see a 2-6% downside based on the emerging markets.This is the way it is,and you just have to ride it through.It doesn't work.You end up with hyperinflation.When you're going down,it's a source of panic and worry.
We have to go through the handwringing.It's like an HBO drama.I wish I hadn't seen it happen over and over before.You're gonna see people come in and say Turkey is terrible,and they will sell.Twenty-two years ago we went through this cycle in Turkey.We weren't as connected as we are now.We didn't have shows like this to talk about Turkey.
This could be a 2-6% decline in the S&P.It's the arc of freaking out.*
Tech titan Yahoo reported a drop in revenue for the fourth consecutive quarter,with a drop in display ad prices.As well,Yahoo was affected when Alibaba growth slowed.
These are tech companies,not content companies.CEO Marissa Meyer's up against really big,great companies like Google and Facebook-two of the great arsenals of democracy.You can't go up against Facebook and Google without spending a fortune, master investor Jim Cramer pointed out.
On the plus side,Yahoo received 340,000 applications for employment,and 40% of its hires were engineers.There was big growth in its Tumblr site.There were also signs of improving display ad revenues,and Yahoo did beat its earnings estimate,while matching its revenue estimate.*
Jim Cramer's new book,"Get Rich Carefully,"is on sale now.*
Yahoo(YHOO),Google(GOOG),Facebook(FB)

Voices and Trends in International Business-December 2013

Snack food vendor Mondalez International is being crushed by PepsiCo and its Frito Lay division all over the world,CNBC analyst Jim Cramer pointed out.
A German government agency has cleared Tesla's Model S of being a fire trap.There is no fire issue.They are not bound by the four walls of the earnings per share convention.
Exxon Mobil had a great quarter.It's got Warren Buffet's imprimatur.
BP's been a very strong stock,and I think it can go much higher,Cramer said.*
Ford Motor Company November sales rose 7.2%,versus an Edmunds estimate 0f 3.0%.*
3M was downgraded from hold to sell by JP Morgan.*
IBM provided near real time raw data on the beginning of the Christmas shopping saeson.The growth rate was down by 21%.The size of the shopping cart got smaller.People just weren't buying as much,although more of them were shopping.Mobile sales accounted for 17% of the total,and the iOS platform handled 60-70% of the business versus Android.*
It's expensive to open brick and mortar stores in China,said Shaun Rein,managing director at strategic market consultant CMR China.Ecommerce is more popular there than in the US.Ecommerce will grow 50% a year in China for the next five years.Online merchant Alibaba is a very innovative company.
US companies need to get Chinese managers and get them to react quickly to the Chinese marketplace.A third of purchases are returned in China,and 20% of all sales are from gifting-including gifts for corrupt officials,although there is a crackdown on that.
Mr.Rein is author of the book "The End of Cheap China:Economic and Cultural Trends that Will Disrupt the World."*
PepsiCo(PEP),Tesla Motors(TSLA),Ford Motor Company(F),Exxon Mobil(XOM),International Business Machines(IBM),3M(MMM),Mondalez International(MDLZ),Alibaba.com Ltd(ALBCF)