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Blue Chip

Brace yourself India – Walmart and Amazon are coming!

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Everyone wants to get into India… Walmart spent billions to do it, and now Amazon is following suit. Amazon is going to buy a 49% stake in More, a booming Indian supermarket. The other 51% of More will stay with the Indian private equity firm Samara Capital. The supermarket has over 540 stores across India.

 

Customers will get more… because Amazon is getting More. The tech giant will address customer needs by providing the groceries they want. Amazon also bought a small stake in Shoppers Stop, an Indian fashion retailer. However, Amazon’s investment in More marks the company’s most significant brick-and-mortar move in the country to date.

 

Walmart invested in… Flipkart to the tune of $16 billion and a 77% stake. Walmart will be killing it in Indian e-commerce no doubt. However, Indians, like Americans, still like to buy groceries in-store. Amazon hopes that More customers will continue to buy groceries in-store…

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Fang

To heck with your ‘Gmail’ privacy!

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Gee, thanks Google… for allowing and defending third-party apps scanning our Gmail accounts. Gmail has over 1.4 billion users, and the platform enables third-party users, such as trip planners and “customer relationship management systems” to integrate themselves right in. These third-parties can use your data as long as they are transparent about how they are using it.

 

Just last year… Google stopped scanning accounts for advertising purposes. If it makes you feel any better, Google has made its privacy policy “easily accessible” to users deciding whether or not to grant access. And if third parties aren’t transparent, Google supposedly removes them before they do any harm.

 

Google says… that third party users must undergo a review process before accessing your account. This process includes an automated and manual review of the developer, app testing, and an assessment of the company’s privacy policy.

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Blue Chip

Getting real clients is proving difficult for Wells Fargo

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We hope you don’t work at Wells Fargo… because the company is planning to cut up to 26,500 jobs over the next three years. We guess there are less fake accounts to service? Just kidding. However, the rise of online banking and the legal bills resulting from those fictitious accounts are putting pressure on the bank.

 

You won’t have a job… but according to CEO Tim Sloan, you will be treated with respect, so there’s that. Legal troubles for Wells Fargo are proving costly and have cut into profit margins in a significant way. The hefty fines are one thing, but added scrutiny has also increased compliance and marketing costs. Last quarter, things like profit, loans, deposits, and revenue (you know, everything important) were down; however, expenses continued to rise.

 

Banks have been shutting down… and Wells Fargo will be joining those banks by dropping another 800 branches by 2020. The company will also be selling all branches in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The third-largest bank in America is in a bit of trouble, to say the least…

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Miscellaneous

The do-it-all app that can make YOU money

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This app can handle everything… it’s called Meituan, and you can use it to make lunch reservations, buy movie tickets, book vacations, and call for car rides. Sounds good, right? If you haven’t heard about this app, it is because it is brought to you by Chinese tech company Meituan Dianping. However, with 300 million users plenty of people have already heard…

 

They killed it in the IPO… with shares of the company ending up 5% on the day. The IPO along with the one-day gains give the stock a market value of $50 billion. The company earned $4.2 billion from the IPO itself which was at the top of its target price.

 

People love their phones… and this app is capitalizing on that fact. The company was formed in 2015 when Meituan and Dianping merged – the two companies are China’s equivalent of Groupon and Yelp, respectively. The company’s biggest investors include Google and Tencent. Meituan Dianping will be using their windfall to improve tech, develop new offerings, and invest in the future. And with $4.2B they should be able to do just that…

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