It could be argued that Americans have long believed “we are what we own” — the bigger, the better; the more, the merrier. Some folks shell out a lot of money to have three or four cars sitting in the driveway, or vacation homes on both coasts. Often times, the cars sit idle and the homes empty for a good portion of the time. However, a monumental economic shift is underway and changing the face of consumerism as we know it. We can now reap the benefits of consumption without the costs of ownership. In fact, those unused… Read More

It could be argued that Americans have long believed “we are what we own” — the bigger, the better; the more, the merrier. Some folks shell out a lot of money to have three or four cars sitting in the driveway, or vacation homes on both coasts. Often times, the cars sit idle and the homes empty for a good portion of the time. However, a monumental economic shift is underway and changing the face of consumerism as we know it. We can now reap the benefits of consumption without the costs of ownership. In fact, those unused or rarely used items just taking up space in your life can begin to fill up your wallet.  This relatively new phenomenon is called consumer-to-consumer sharing. Owners rent out something they are not using — such as a car, a house, tools or a bicycle — using online peer-to-peer services. The go-between company typically has an eBay- or Yelp-style rating system so people on both sides of the transaction can trust each other.  The concept has taken on a life of its own. Forbes estimates that revenue flowing through the “share economy” directly into people’s bank accounts will surpass $3.5… Read More

You may not know it, but while Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) build their data centers near utilities that generate clean energy, then buy power from them… Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) builds its own power plants. #-ad_banner-#Apple recently finished the first phase of a 20,000-square-foot data center in Reno, Nev. The construction includes a 137-acre solar array called Fort Churchill that, when completed, will provide 18 to 20 megawatts of power. And six months ago, Apple announced plans to build a second solar panel farm on the property. Apple also owns a data center in North Carolina, the largest… Read More

You may not know it, but while Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) build their data centers near utilities that generate clean energy, then buy power from them… Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) builds its own power plants. #-ad_banner-#Apple recently finished the first phase of a 20,000-square-foot data center in Reno, Nev. The construction includes a 137-acre solar array called Fort Churchill that, when completed, will provide 18 to 20 megawatts of power. And six months ago, Apple announced plans to build a second solar panel farm on the property. Apple also owns a data center in North Carolina, the largest of its kind in the U.S., powered by two solar farms that generate 42 million kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable energy annually for the 100-acre, 20-megawatt facility. Finally, Apple has two other 338,000-square-foot data centers in the works in Prineville, Ore. — down the road from Facebook’s — which will incorporate solar energy as well. What’s important for investors is all of these huge facilities are being built by one company. As you could imagine, being an Apple partner has contributed to a healthy increase in this company’s share price. In the past year, shares have jumped 168%. Believe… Read More

The cloud computing market is expected to grow 23.5% a year over the next four years, five times faster than the entire rest of the IT market — all the way to $107 billion, according to industry research firm International Data Corp. (IDC). #-ad_banner-#IDC also expects that by 2017, 17% of all IT expenditures will be invested in the public cloud and 59% will go to cloud services in general. And our Canadian friends to the north are in a position to potentially steal billions of dollars in business away from cloud providers in the good ol’ U.S. of A. Read More

The cloud computing market is expected to grow 23.5% a year over the next four years, five times faster than the entire rest of the IT market — all the way to $107 billion, according to industry research firm International Data Corp. (IDC). #-ad_banner-#IDC also expects that by 2017, 17% of all IT expenditures will be invested in the public cloud and 59% will go to cloud services in general. And our Canadian friends to the north are in a position to potentially steal billions of dollars in business away from cloud providers in the good ol’ U.S. of A. In fact, snooping by the National Security Agency is already costing the U.S. cloud industry a whole lot of business. Soon after the initial leaks, 10% of foreign companies said they had already canceled a project with a U.S. cloud provider, and 56% said they’d be less likely to use one. A study by the Information and Technology Innovation Foundation (ITIF) showed that if American providers lose between 10% and 20% of foreign business over three years, the damage could amount to as much as $35 billion. You’ll recall, last June, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the government agency collected… Read More

The subject of female condoms might make some people blush, but the company responsible for manufacturing them has nothing to be embarrassed about.#-ad_banner-#​ In fact, the Female Health Co. (Nasdaq: FHCO) is doing a public service by making its FC2 condom available to women in 143 countries, especially where preventing unwanted pregnancy and protection against HIV are paramount. To many investors, FHCO is the epitome of a socially responsible investment. The FC2 isn’t as well-known as its male counterpart, so FHC has leaned on public agencies to help spread the word, allowing internal efforts to focus on production. Read More

The subject of female condoms might make some people blush, but the company responsible for manufacturing them has nothing to be embarrassed about.#-ad_banner-#​ In fact, the Female Health Co. (Nasdaq: FHCO) is doing a public service by making its FC2 condom available to women in 143 countries, especially where preventing unwanted pregnancy and protection against HIV are paramount. To many investors, FHCO is the epitome of a socially responsible investment. The FC2 isn’t as well-known as its male counterpart, so FHC has leaned on public agencies to help spread the word, allowing internal efforts to focus on production. Once FC2 gained the FDA’s approval in 2009, FHC was off and running, with ownership of patents worldwide. It first reached out to larger cities where HIV/AIDS infections and sexually transmitted diseases were most prevalent. FHC worked with health care providers and agencies to gain a foothold among the public. The company also zeroed in on colleges and universities where on-campus organizations benefited from grants to put together programs that helped make the FC2 a household name among young women. The reliance on public entities has allowed FHC to operate with no debt and high net profit margins — to… Read More

This $103 billion aircraft manufacturer is about to experience some turbulence.#-ad_banner-# It might just be a rogue cloud or a bigger storm brewing, but there’s no telling how investors will react to the latest string of disconcerting news for this company. A couple of items might even be enough to overshadow the fact that Boeing just beat analysts’ estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. Yes, it could get that bumpy for Boeing (NYSE: BA). BA was pummeled this week after the company announced lower-than-expected forecasts for 2014 — but no signals of a continuation of record-breaking jet orders. You can’t… Read More

This $103 billion aircraft manufacturer is about to experience some turbulence.#-ad_banner-# It might just be a rogue cloud or a bigger storm brewing, but there’s no telling how investors will react to the latest string of disconcerting news for this company. A couple of items might even be enough to overshadow the fact that Boeing just beat analysts’ estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. Yes, it could get that bumpy for Boeing (NYSE: BA). BA was pummeled this week after the company announced lower-than-expected forecasts for 2014 — but no signals of a continuation of record-breaking jet orders. You can’t say the same for Boeing’s archrival, France-based Airbus (PAR: AIR), which is making headway in Southeast Asia. Vietnamese carrier VietJetAir is about to order 62 Airbus aircraft for a reported $9 billion, with more orders to come.  Now is a great time to invest in Vietnam, considering it’s expected to become the third-fastest-growing market in the world. Boeing has estimated of the 33,000 commercial aircraft it expects will be required in the next two decades, the U.S. will account for just 20%, with the bulk coming from emerging markets like Vietnam. About Boeing’s aircraft: Lately, its Dreamliner 787 has gotten… Read More

In the investing world, one shareholder’s disappointment is often another’s opportunity. #-ad_banner-#The stock I have in mind sold off nearly 6% after the company reported that its 1% year-over-year increase in third-quarter revenue fell just shy of analysts’ estimates.  Granted, growth has slowed in recent times for this… Read More

This just in: The Department of Agriculture warns that record droughts in Texas and the Midwest may drop beef production to 20-year lows in 2014. I can just see the writing on the wall over the next few days about how you should steer clear of McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), that higher costs to the burger empire will strangle its already tight margins.#-ad_banner-# Expect analysts to dwell on its mere 2.5% growth in profits last year and MCD’s 4% gain on the year — pathetic in the context of a record bull run.  Analysts may focus on McDonald’s’ struggles… Read More

This just in: The Department of Agriculture warns that record droughts in Texas and the Midwest may drop beef production to 20-year lows in 2014. I can just see the writing on the wall over the next few days about how you should steer clear of McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), that higher costs to the burger empire will strangle its already tight margins.#-ad_banner-# Expect analysts to dwell on its mere 2.5% growth in profits last year and MCD’s 4% gain on the year — pathetic in the context of a record bull run.  Analysts may focus on McDonald’s’ struggles in China and Europe or the absence of restaurants in a number of emerging markets. Some could even bring up past menu disasters like the McDLT, McLean Deluxe, McSalad Shakers and McLobster… and the recent switch from Heinz ketchup. But my argument for investing in McDonald’s is based on one simple trait that the Big Mac maker shares with Big Pharma and Big Tobacco — but has nothing to do with food, drugs or cigarettes. They’re all experts at converting revenue into cash — and regularly divvying up portions to shareholders.  Between 2008 and the third quarter of last year,… Read More

The Who sang about “My Generation,” Pepsi gave us “The Choice of a New Generation,” and the technology industry has long been abuzz about “next-gen” everything. “Next-gen” basically refers to any disruptive game-changing, legacy-crushing breakthrough in applications, software, hardware and anything else data-related. (The phrase isn’t exclusive to IT, but techies seem to take it more literally than others.) Anytime a technology comes along that renders a legacy system useless, it’s a very big deal.#-ad_banner-#​ Anytime a company is referred to as the pioneer of that technology and a Forrester Research analyst says its competitors… Read More

The Who sang about “My Generation,” Pepsi gave us “The Choice of a New Generation,” and the technology industry has long been abuzz about “next-gen” everything. “Next-gen” basically refers to any disruptive game-changing, legacy-crushing breakthrough in applications, software, hardware and anything else data-related. (The phrase isn’t exclusive to IT, but techies seem to take it more literally than others.) Anytime a technology comes along that renders a legacy system useless, it’s a very big deal.#-ad_banner-#​ Anytime a company is referred to as the pioneer of that technology and a Forrester Research analyst says its competitors are “stuck in a rut,” it’s a very, very big deal. Anytime a product is tied so closely to the well-being of corporate America, consumers and national security… well, you get the idea. The very big next-gen technology I’m talking about is a new firewall already on the verge of moving from a revolutionary breakthrough to a mainstream adoption.  A firewall prevents malware from getting into computer systems and sensitive data from leaking out. It acts like a doorman at a club, giving access only to those on the guest list. Before the Internet threw curveball after curveball at networked computer… Read More

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has taken its share of knocks over the years for lacking vision and its focus on short-term performance.#-ad_banner-# That said, I’m convinced that the $270 billion-plus company that used to “bring good things to life” is coming back to life…with a vengeance. Changes are happening rapidly at GE as the company gets smarter. After saying good riddance to its dead or dying segments over the past couple years — insurance, NBC, plastics and subprime lending operations, in addition to its commitment to further reduce GE Capital — GE has shifted its… Read More

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has taken its share of knocks over the years for lacking vision and its focus on short-term performance.#-ad_banner-# That said, I’m convinced that the $270 billion-plus company that used to “bring good things to life” is coming back to life…with a vengeance. Changes are happening rapidly at GE as the company gets smarter. After saying good riddance to its dead or dying segments over the past couple years — insurance, NBC, plastics and subprime lending operations, in addition to its commitment to further reduce GE Capital — GE has shifted its focus to the Industrial Internet. It’s a new era that could contribute as much as $15 trillion a year to the global economy by 2020, and GE is emerging as a key player. I’m not talking about futuristic technology that may not see the light of day for decades. This is about machines and people coming together today to connect billions and billions of smart sensors and devices that can manage large-scale industrial machines in the cloud. GE has engineered the platform for doing so and made two dozen technologies available for aviation, health care, rail, energy industries and others… Read More

Despite a bunch of new stats, trends and regulations circulating about the housing market, nothing points to its definitive direction in 2014.#-ad_banner-#​ That leaves prospective homebuyers, home sellers, loan candidates, banks, real estate agents and investors scratching their heads. Making matters more confusing is that even the experts can’t agree or seem to be analyzing the numbers differently. Perhaps a quick review the trends might help clarify the issues at hand. I’ll start with the good news, but a word of warning: The potential bad news that follows could be devastating — and the possibility of the 30-year-fixed… Read More

Despite a bunch of new stats, trends and regulations circulating about the housing market, nothing points to its definitive direction in 2014.#-ad_banner-#​ That leaves prospective homebuyers, home sellers, loan candidates, banks, real estate agents and investors scratching their heads. Making matters more confusing is that even the experts can’t agree or seem to be analyzing the numbers differently. Perhaps a quick review the trends might help clarify the issues at hand. I’ll start with the good news, but a word of warning: The potential bad news that follows could be devastating — and the possibility of the 30-year-fixed rate rising to 5% by the end of 2014 may be the least of your worries. So, without further ado, here’s some good news: A pair of U.S. agencies recently reported that October new-home sales rose 25% from the previous month. Market analyst Trulia says that November’s asking home prices rose 12.1% year over year, up in 98 of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas. And though Case-Shiller data for November won’t be released until Dec. 31, Zillow predicts it will reveal a 13.9% year-over-year increase for the month.  Perhaps the most comprehensive positive comments about 2014 came from Freddie… Read More