In an article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), former BP plc (NYSE: BP) CEO Lord John Browne said, “Purpose is the litmus test of sustainability in business. Companies that want to be around for decades to come must ensure that society is at the heart of everything they do.” That’s purpose, not profits… and that stands everything we expect from business on its head. #-ad_banner-#Well, almost everything. “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) has been a big buzzword for a while now. The problem is, according to Browne, CSR is more of a lip service and morale booster than a catalyst… Read More

In an article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), former BP plc (NYSE: BP) CEO Lord John Browne said, “Purpose is the litmus test of sustainability in business. Companies that want to be around for decades to come must ensure that society is at the heart of everything they do.” That’s purpose, not profits… and that stands everything we expect from business on its head. #-ad_banner-#Well, almost everything. “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) has been a big buzzword for a while now. The problem is, according to Browne, CSR is more of a lip service and morale booster than a catalyst for improving society… (In most cases, that is. We’ll get to more about this in a minute.) In other words, CSR allows a company to feel good about doing less bad. Does your company recycle? Grand! Does it donate time and money to community causes? Grand! But that’s not enough. In a recent NPR interview, Browne said: While corporate social responsibility was a very well meaning and worthy thing to have started, it no longer serves a useful purpose in that it is detached from the basics of a business, and it is something, which in the words of one… Read More

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed above $50 a barrel for the first time in seven months on June 7. Price movements have created a deep “V” shape over the past year. WTI’s price per barrel fell almost 39.5% between November 2015 and lows in January 2016. #-ad_banner-#But since then, oil prices have won nearly every cent back. That means oil prices have climbed more than 59.3% since mid-January. This swift rise may have a positive impact over the coming quarter for oil companies, and now might be a good time to capture some short-term gains. Let… Read More

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed above $50 a barrel for the first time in seven months on June 7. Price movements have created a deep “V” shape over the past year. WTI’s price per barrel fell almost 39.5% between November 2015 and lows in January 2016. #-ad_banner-#But since then, oil prices have won nearly every cent back. That means oil prices have climbed more than 59.3% since mid-January. This swift rise may have a positive impact over the coming quarter for oil companies, and now might be a good time to capture some short-term gains. Let me explain. Back in April, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) reported its smallest profit since 1999, with only $1.8 billion in profits for the first quarter of 2016. That’s no surprise looking at the chart above. After falling by more than a third, oil prices started swinging madly in the first quarter of 2016, ending even by the end of March. Business Insider reported at the time: On Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Exxon’s rating to “AA+” from “AAA,” stripping the company of its top rating for the first time since the Great Depression. S&P was concerned that Exxon’s debt, acquired… Read More

At the risk of sounding anti-American, I have to begin by saying this… I don’t like Budweiser. #-ad_banner-#But if I have a redeeming, patriotic leg to stand on, it’s that I’m a huge fan of craft beers, and really, what’s more American than a little upstart with passion and hops? One of my good friends is a master brewer in the midst of opening his own brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home of the Brewers, and, yes, the Champagne of Beers, Miller High Life, along with many, many others. There are already a number of popular craft beers in the area,… Read More

At the risk of sounding anti-American, I have to begin by saying this… I don’t like Budweiser. #-ad_banner-#But if I have a redeeming, patriotic leg to stand on, it’s that I’m a huge fan of craft beers, and really, what’s more American than a little upstart with passion and hops? One of my good friends is a master brewer in the midst of opening his own brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home of the Brewers, and, yes, the Champagne of Beers, Miller High Life, along with many, many others. There are already a number of popular craft beers in the area, but the market just keeps growing. That may be one reason why such big beer behemoths like Anheuser Busch-InBev (NYSE: BUD) and SABMiller (OTC: SBMRY) are making a deal. News of the potential deal came out last November, but needed approval from a number of bodies, including the U.S. Justice Department. That approval could come as early as this month. The combined companies would then account for almost a third of the world’s beer, according to Reuters. The deal is worth a reported $107 billion, making it the biggest brewer by capitalization. But why are these two companies merging? As… Read More

In less than a month, the world will have a new Disney theme park. This time, it’s in China. Shanghai, to be exact. The park has already been “open” for trial guests, and the company is pretty excited about the feedback it’s been getting. But Disney’s really hanging a lot on this park. The company expects to earn $300 million from the park in the third quarter of this year. #-ad_banner-#To put that in perspective, Disney (NYSE: DIS) brought in revenues of $12.97 billion in the second quarter of this year. But while you might think that Shanghai Disney’s projected… Read More

In less than a month, the world will have a new Disney theme park. This time, it’s in China. Shanghai, to be exact. The park has already been “open” for trial guests, and the company is pretty excited about the feedback it’s been getting. But Disney’s really hanging a lot on this park. The company expects to earn $300 million from the park in the third quarter of this year. #-ad_banner-#To put that in perspective, Disney (NYSE: DIS) brought in revenues of $12.97 billion in the second quarter of this year. But while you might think that Shanghai Disney’s projected haul is chump change in comparison, consider this: Disney’s net income in the second quarter was only $2.1 billion. That means a $300 million paycheck isn’t so small. Disney has spent $5 billion to bring this park to life, so it would take nearly 17 quarters, or more than 4 years worth of $300 million proceeds in order to make back its initial investment, not to mention upkeep and operational costs. So here’s the thing… Is a $5 billion theme park in China a good bet? Well, if you’re a Chinese billionaire member of the Communist Party, you might not… Read More

Earlier this week, news hit the wires that billionaire fund manager Georg Soros unloaded 37% of his stock investments in favor of gold… #-ad_banner-#And not just one gold investment, but two major shifts into gold. Bloomberg reports: Soros also bought bullish options contracts on 1.05 million shares in the SPDR Gold Trust, which tracks the price of bullion. What’s more, the fund took a stake in the world’s biggest producer of the metal, Barrick Gold Corp., worth $264 million at the end of March, the filing showed. Soros acquired 1.7 percent of Barrick, making it the fund’s biggest U.S.-listed holding. Read More

Earlier this week, news hit the wires that billionaire fund manager Georg Soros unloaded 37% of his stock investments in favor of gold… #-ad_banner-#And not just one gold investment, but two major shifts into gold. Bloomberg reports: Soros also bought bullish options contracts on 1.05 million shares in the SPDR Gold Trust, which tracks the price of bullion. What’s more, the fund took a stake in the world’s biggest producer of the metal, Barrick Gold Corp., worth $264 million at the end of March, the filing showed. Soros acquired 1.7 percent of Barrick, making it the fund’s biggest U.S.-listed holding. Well, first things first. This news comes from a mandatory filing of form 13F. Money managers that oversee more than $100 million have to file the form within 45 days of each quarter’s end. That means this news could be more than four months old. So let’s go back in in time a bit and see what was happening four months ago. This is a six-month chart of the S&P 500, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX). Almost four months ago exactly, ABX shares started climbing in value. On January 19,… Read More

In all honesty, I don’t know where I stand in the genetically-modified crops argument. On one hand, it’s not pleasant to think about eating a food that could technically be classified as a pesticide… But on the other hand, I really like baked goods. #-ad_banner-#(In fact, I once opened my presentation at an international investment conference by talking about cake, but that’s a story for another time.) In the end, though, it doesn’t matter what our personal beliefs are. One of the biggest “health” trends is non-GMO. And food companies are jumping on the bandwagon with both feet. And in… Read More

In all honesty, I don’t know where I stand in the genetically-modified crops argument. On one hand, it’s not pleasant to think about eating a food that could technically be classified as a pesticide… But on the other hand, I really like baked goods. #-ad_banner-#(In fact, I once opened my presentation at an international investment conference by talking about cake, but that’s a story for another time.) In the end, though, it doesn’t matter what our personal beliefs are. One of the biggest “health” trends is non-GMO. And food companies are jumping on the bandwagon with both feet. And in a recent NPR story I learned that this shift is causing major changes in the sugar industry, of all places. Here’s a bit of background. The United States gets a lot of its sugar from sugar beets. These beets can be grown in colder climates, and it’s a major agricultural product. About half of the sugar produced in the United States comes from sugar beets. But in 2008, farmers decided to switch their crops from regular sugar beets to genetically-modified sugar beets. The GMO beets were engineered to tolerate a weed killer called glyphosate. You probably know it better as… Read More

If the economic growth attributed to the use of data were a country, it would be the fourth largest economy in the world, just behind Japan in terms of GDP. According to McKinsey & Co., the flow of data has directly contributed to global GDP growth. In fact, the consultancy firm estimates that from 2004 through 2014, “the openness to global flows has raised world GDP by at least 10%. That’s worth $7.8 trillion alone.” #-ad_banner-#In other words, without the virtual flow of data, the world would be $7.8 trillion poorer. In real-world measurements, the number of terabits per second… Read More

If the economic growth attributed to the use of data were a country, it would be the fourth largest economy in the world, just behind Japan in terms of GDP. According to McKinsey & Co., the flow of data has directly contributed to global GDP growth. In fact, the consultancy firm estimates that from 2004 through 2014, “the openness to global flows has raised world GDP by at least 10%. That’s worth $7.8 trillion alone.” #-ad_banner-#In other words, without the virtual flow of data, the world would be $7.8 trillion poorer. In real-world measurements, the number of terabits per second — a measure of data flows — is 45 times higher now than it was less than a decade ago. This means that data is not only an efficiency, but a good, with a tangible value. And while you can’t trade it on the CME like gold or soybeans, you can trade its leveraging effect by selecting the companies making the most of using data to boost efficiencies and reach customers… or by investing in the digital infrastructure itself. For example, we’ve seen a huge jump in the number of ecommerce companies and transactions. By some estimates 10-15% of the… Read More

Westpac Banking Corporation (NSYE: WBK), Australia’s second largest bank, missed earnings on May 1, when it reported the biggest loan impairment charges in six years for the six months ending March 31. Profits clocked in at A$3.9 billion, lower than the expected A$4.025 billion. #-ad_banner-#This miss sent shares into the weeds, as low as $22.71 on Monday, down from $23.59 at Friday’s close. At the heart of the miss were corporate debt loans and lower commodity prices. This isn’t good news for Australia’s banking industry, and Westpac is the first big bank to report in the country, with other major… Read More

Westpac Banking Corporation (NSYE: WBK), Australia’s second largest bank, missed earnings on May 1, when it reported the biggest loan impairment charges in six years for the six months ending March 31. Profits clocked in at A$3.9 billion, lower than the expected A$4.025 billion. #-ad_banner-#This miss sent shares into the weeds, as low as $22.71 on Monday, down from $23.59 at Friday’s close. At the heart of the miss were corporate debt loans and lower commodity prices. This isn’t good news for Australia’s banking industry, and Westpac is the first big bank to report in the country, with other major institutions reporting later this week into next. And they’re all in the same boat. Many of these Australian banks made loans to the coal and steel industry. Both of these industries are struggling massively right now. The world is moving away from coal as a power source faster than ever before, and China’s slowing growth is slashing demand for iron ore and steel. These factors could mean Australian banking debt could climb to its highest level in eight years by 2018, according to Bloomberg: [Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC: CBAUF), Westpac Banking Corp., National Australia Bank Ltd. (OTC: NABZY)  and… Read More

The latest rumor around the global water cooler that Russia and OPEC-leader Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze oil production at January or February levels has been dispelled… for now. The OPEC leaders meeting in Doha failed to reach an agreement to cap production, with Iran bowing out of the meeting altogether, and refusing to pull back on its oil production. As a result, oil prices took a big tumble. Brent crude fell a harsh 7% on the news. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell almost as much at 6.6%. #-ad_banner-#But does a “no deal” result from the OPEC Doha meeting… Read More

The latest rumor around the global water cooler that Russia and OPEC-leader Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze oil production at January or February levels has been dispelled… for now. The OPEC leaders meeting in Doha failed to reach an agreement to cap production, with Iran bowing out of the meeting altogether, and refusing to pull back on its oil production. As a result, oil prices took a big tumble. Brent crude fell a harsh 7% on the news. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell almost as much at 6.6%. #-ad_banner-#But does a “no deal” result from the OPEC Doha meeting mean production caps are off the table? Or that OPEC wouldn’t seek an alliance outside its cartel? Hardly. In response to the meeting, Qatar’s energy minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said, “We of course respect [Iran’s] position… The freeze could be more effective definitely if major producers, be it from OPEC members like Iran and others, as well as non-OPEC members, are included in the freeze.” Al-Sada said that OPEC members need more time. Which says to me that this won’t be the last we hear of production caps. Indeed, this wasn’t the first time we’d heard about potential cooperation… Read More

According to Bloomberg, “Traders added more than $1 billion to U.S.-traded emerging-market stocks and bond ETFs this month through April 15.” That puts inflows for the year at $4.5 billion… and it’s a major shift in the markets. Analysts are saying we’ve passed the low point, and that the rally could continue. But what’s behind this push higher? #-ad_banner-#The answer is two-fold. First, news out of China is showing some economic stabilization. The country’s GDP growth rate clocked in at 6.7% for the first three month of 2016, and could remain at that level through 2020. Some folks say… Read More

According to Bloomberg, “Traders added more than $1 billion to U.S.-traded emerging-market stocks and bond ETFs this month through April 15.” That puts inflows for the year at $4.5 billion… and it’s a major shift in the markets. Analysts are saying we’ve passed the low point, and that the rally could continue. But what’s behind this push higher? #-ad_banner-#The answer is two-fold. First, news out of China is showing some economic stabilization. The country’s GDP growth rate clocked in at 6.7% for the first three month of 2016, and could remain at that level through 2020. Some folks say this is bad news, as it’s a far cry from the screaming double-digit growth of the last decade. But I say it’s good news, as stable GDP growth in an economy transitioning from developing to advanced is almost unheard of. Many economies in this transition stop growing altogether, or even experience some contraction. Stable growth from an economy that makes up more than 37% of global GDP? I’ll take that. And apparently, so will emerging market investors. The second factor is a stable and recovering U.S. economy. After China, the United States is the world’s second biggest economy, and… Read More