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Blue Chip

Elon Musk: the SEC won’t let me be!

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The SEC is pissed… at who else but Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk is accused of making “false and misleading” statements to investors via Twitter. Remember that? If not, let us refresh your memory. On August 7th, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking his company private at $420 per share with funding secured. The SEC is claiming that he didn’t secure funding.

 

On the day of the tweet… Tesla’s share price shot up by 9%. However, Tesla hasn’t been doing so hot since and Tesla dropped another 11% in after-hours trading on Thursday. Elon Musk, of course, disagrees with the SEC’s claims and released a statement saying, “This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed.”

 

And it gets stupider… because the SEC’s complaint alleges that Musk rounded up the go-private price to $420 because he thought it would be funny (get it? 420). Musk also failed to consult with, well, anyone of importance about the decision before putting it out there. And, if you know anything, you would know that Musk abandoned his well thought out plan three weeks after the tweet. We’ve said it before, and now we’re repeating it – Elon Musk needs to stay the hell away from Twitter.

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Mid caps

It’s official: Bed Bath & Beyond sucks

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Bed Bath & Beyond is going beyond… normal company operations and calling for back-up by bringing in two top management consulting firms. The firms are supposed to help the company cut costs and improve merchandise. The additional help isn’t a bad idea either given the company’s share price just dropped 25% on Thursday.

 

Customers are going elsewhere… like to Target and TJX-owned HomeGoods. Given the fact that the market is doing so well, dropping 25% is pretty horrific. It’s not just the market doing well, homewares and home-related products are selling like crack – but not for Bed Bath & Beyond who sells those things.

 

It’s not all bad… because the company has improved upon its online sales by making 10% of total sales online. However, the housewares retailer is still getting crushed by companies like Amazon and Wayfair. Maybe they should start selling universal remote controls…

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Blue Chip

Cadillac is BACK….in Michigan…

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Cadillac is going to Michigan… and GM plans to move the company’s headquarters back to Detroit near its technical center. And if you’re wondering what a “technical center” is, it is where GM gets most of their vehicle design and engineering done.

 

GM and Cadillac are close… but not that close, and the Cadillac will remain its own brand and business. Cadillac has big plans for the future that include luxurious electric cars and self-driving vehicles. For this reason, the company thought it made sense to bring the marketers and executives closer to the design team in Michigan.

 

Forget New York… because Cadillac would like to. Since moving to the Big Apple, Cadillac has seen US sales and its luxury car market share decline slowly but surely. However, global sales have done significantly better, up 45% over the same period. And apparently, the international market is where it’s at – 60% of Cadillac sales are now sourced outside of the US compared to 40% three years ago.

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Blue Chip

The Amazon.com website is now a brick-and-mortar

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Cut the crap… and visit Amazon’s store that only sells high-rated items. Amazon currently has a physical store that only sells products with high customer ratings – and this includes non-Amazon items, too. To qualify to be featured in the store, the merchandise must be a top-seller, have a 4-star rating or better, or be new and trending on the website.

 

It is a 4,000 square foot store… that has sections for ‘Most-Wished-For’ and ‘Trending’ that showcases categories normally listed on the website. These sections carry items like the baby blue Fujifilm instant camera and bottles of Gorilla Super Glue. The 4-star ratings are displayed on customer review cards and include snippets from real customer reviews.

 

This store is yet another example… of how Amazon is moving toward brick-and-mortar. The company will maintain a massive online presence, of course, but it is an interesting move nonetheless. And believe it or not, most retail spending still happens in physical stores.

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Blue Chip

Disney is totally and 100% over ‘Sky’

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Comcast gets it all… all of Sky, at least. As we speculated the other day, 21st Century Fox will be selling its 39% stake in Sky to Comcast. This news comes a day after Comcast won a bidding war against 21st Century Fox for 61% of Sky. And Fox has decided to give up and “…congratulate Comcast on their pending acquisition.” Isn’t that nice?

 

To get Sky… Comcast has to pay 25% more than their previous offer – so maybe they are the real losers. Fox also faced hurdles relating to UK regulations and whether the company would be a “fit and proper” owner of the company. The battle became even more significant when Disney outbid Comcast for Fox’s assets, which included the 39% stake in Sky.

 

Now Disney can pay for other things… like their purchase of Fox. Not only did the company save money by losing the bid, they just gained around $15 billion selling their existing stake. And besides, Disney has other fish to fry – including plans to invest in streaming services like Hulu, where the company will soon have a 60% stake. Also, if you thought Disney would be distancing themselves from Comcast – they won’t – because Comcast currently owns 30% of Hulu. Ah, good times…

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Fang

Facebook is doing Facebook things…

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You should know by now… that Facebook isn’t just Facebook – they do all kinds of things. And making virtual headsets falls under the “all kinds of things” category. The company just debuted the Oculus Quest which will be released next spring, and you can have it for a small fee of $399.

 

The latest VR headset… combines the mobility of the Oculus Go with the power of the Oculus Rift. However, unlike the Oculus Rift, this new model doesn’t need a PC to work. The updated headset also features four wide-angle cameras for better position tracking.

 

Even if you don’t get far in life… you’ll get far with this headset because you can move around up to 4,000 square feet. So if you didn’t know Facebook made VR headsets, well, now you know. The company purchased Oculus back in 2014 for $3 billion. And there used to be something called “Facebook Spaces,” a virtual reality social network. We’re not so sure about that idea…but we do know that we are excited for the new headset!

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Hustlin'

Sears is in denial about bankruptcy

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Sears is goin’ broke… however, put in technical terms, the company faces “significant near-term constraints” in its cash position. The company owes $134 million in debt, and those payments all come due in October. CEO Eddie Lampert has proposed that Sears sell the Kenmore appliance brand (to him), along with most everything else.

 

Don’t say bankruptcy… because Lampert was undoubtedly careful not to. However, if you know what bankruptcy entails – Sears is about to file for bankruptcy. Interestingly enough, Lampert’s hedge fund holds much of Sears debt, which is why the CEO is open to buying Kenmore and the company’s home improvement business.

 

Lampert has a conflict of interest… that is pretty apparent. However, decisions to buy and sell aren’t really up to him – they are up to the independent board members of the company. However, Sears issued a statement saying they are “pursuing” the plan but makes no guarantees – so slow your roll there, Lampert.

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Blue Chip

Is AT&T out of their mind!?

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They’re taking on… Google and Facebook in the advertising space with a new business of their own. AT&T announced its new advertising division, Xandr, and a plan to create targeted TV and online advertising. The ads will be shown on channels like CNN and will be different depending on who is watching.

 

This isn’t new… but targeted advertising is particularly interesting for AT&T because it now owns cable channels through its acquisition of Time Warner. Time Warner, now WarnerMedia, comes with CNN, TNT, HBO, and several other high-profile channels. The company also has plenty of existing relationships with its hoard of wireless customers.

 

The ad business is vital to… “fuel the great content being developed,” according to CEO Brian Lesser. And paying for content, such as HBO, doesn’t come cheap. The company aims to give you an HBO experience that is always up-to-date and highly entertaining – you know, so customers don’t get bored and leave.

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Fang

It’s on you now, Facebook – don’t screw it up!

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The Instagram founders are out… from the business they started eight long years ago in San Francisco. CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger went from a small photo-sharing app created in a co-working space to a world-wide app used by 1 billion people today. The app quickly attracted millions of users and was sold to Facebook in 2012 $1 billion.

 

With Facebook’s help… IG took over even further and added additional features like videos, stories, and even television. But the co-founders announced, “We’re planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again.” Systrom and Krieger will go from leaders of the app to two of the billion everyday users.

 

It seems like an amicable separation… however, Bloomberg News reported that Systrom and Krieger are leaving because of tensions with Zuckerberg. The resignation comes six months after the founder of WhatsApp, Jan Koum, announced he was going. The other WhatsApp founder also left in 2017 and supported people deleting their Facebook accounts because of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Will Systrom and Krieger be the next to ‘spill tea’ on Facebook?

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Mid caps

The restaurant formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts

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Apparently, the shorter the name… the cooler you are. Starting in January, Dunkin’ Donuts will be known only as “Dunkin’.” So the word “Donuts” will be missing from advertisements, boxes, and signage at new and remodeled stores and on the company’s official social media accounts.

 

You know the drill… Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t want people to think that they only specialize in making donuts. The company specializes in coffees, teas, speedy service, and fast food – and they have donuts, of course. Beverages, mainly coffee, make up about 60% of the company’s sales. The rebranding is supposed to modernize the brand and the experience for customers.

 

This has been a long time coming… because the company announced last year it was thinking about such a move. Dunkin’ even tested dropping the ‘Donuts’ at stores in California and Massachusetts. The name-change is just-in-time for the company to open 1,000 new US stores by the end of 2020. But call it what you want – we call it delicious.

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