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Blue Chip

Kroger is really going to China

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Now that they’re doing online groceries… Kroger wants to be in China’s online grocery market, too. The company will start by selling its Simple Truth-brand products on Alibaba’s Tmall Global site. FYI, Tmall is Alibaba’s e-commerce platform for foreign brands. And yes, I said ‘FYI’ like a smug douchebag – but I promise, I didn’t know what Tmall was either.

 

Expanding is excellent for Kroger… because now, not only is Kroger expanding their online presence, they will also be going overseas for the first time.  Thanks to technology, companies like Kroger no longer need a physical presence to have a presence in China or any other coveted markets. Expanding to a new market should better allow them to compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart in the never-ending war of online groceries.

 

Joining forces with Alibaba… gives Kroger access to China’s massive markets. However, Kroger is not the first to get this idea – we have seen companies like Starbucks and Walmart do similar things. It looks like North America is old news…just kidding, we are still a huge deal to everyone who is anyone (am I right!?).

Fang

Some alternative stocks to sink your ‘FAANGs’ into

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FAANG stocks are all good bets… and they include Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google, in case you didn’t know. And although these stocks have been getting hammered lately, they will probably be okay in the long run. However, there is life outside of FAANG people…including small and mid-cap stocks which include promising future technologies like artificial intelligence and self-driving cars.

 

Also, if you can stomach crypto… maybe you should consider buying now while the price is far below its $20,000 glory days. Blockchain technology could have an impact on business for many years to come. Although cryptocurrency may be going through a rough patch, you can’t introduce a new currency and expect a seamless transition.

 

Think about Tesla… because Elon Musk doesn’t seem to be joking about taking his company private. Moreover, the $420 per share price tag seems like a good deal for whoever will ultimately provide the funding. Just a few ideas to get you out of the FAANG bandwagon.

IA

Start-up

This company is doing ‘Uber’ well

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Uber killed it… in the second quarter. The ride-share company’s quarterly revenue was up 63% compared to last year. Gross bookings also increased by 41% to nearly $12 billion. With such an impressive rate of growth, it is no wonder why this private company continues to release results when they are not even required to.

 

Investing in the future… and in case you haven’t noticed, the company is moving way beyond cars. Uber is delving into the bike-share and scooter-share markets, as well. The company also operates UberEATS and is investing heavily in the Middle East and India.

 

Pay attention closely… because Uber could be going public as soon as 2019 and begin profit-sharing for the first time. However, for everything great the company is doing, they still have their fair share of issues. These issues include regulatory hurdles, such as New York City limiting the number of ride-share vehicles allowed in the city. Why does the “man” always gotta bring us down?

International

Want to own a home in New Zealand? TOO BAD.

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The United States isn’t the only one… with a red-hot housing market. Prices in New Zealand are not much more attractive for homebuyers, comparatively. To remedy this, the country’s parliament has decided to ban foreigners from purchasing most of their residential property. However, they can still invest in apartment buildings and certain parts of the housing market.

 

Oh, it’s “our” fault… because New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is blaming foreign buyers for the crazy housing prices – although it is mostly the Chinese. The country also wants to see people that live there purchasing homes. But to buy a house, you need to be able to afford a house. Still, the effects of the new law are mostly unknown, especially considering foreign buyers only make up about 3% of total transactions.

 

Any relief would help… because housing prices have gone up nearly double over the last ten years in New Zealand. Prices are also up 5% this year alone. To give you an idea of who can afford to live in New Zealand, Peter Thiel and that guy fired from NBC’s Today Show have homes there. However, we have our housing market to complain about – so I am not sure how this story made the cut (slow news day…).