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  • Finance 0

    Billion Dollar Unicorns: Apttus Eyeing An IPO

    According to Gartner, the Configure Price Quote (CPQ) application suites market is expected to grow 20% annually through 2015 to 2020, driven by the growth in cloud-based solutions. Billion Dollar Unicorn Apttus is a leading player in the space that is toying with the idea of going public yet again. Apttus’ Journey Apttus was founded in 2006 by Kirk Krappe, Neehar Giri, and Nathan Krishnan as a cloud-based contract lifecycle management software company, which later evolved into a configure price quote solution to help companies manage and personalize their sales contracts. Apttus was bootstrapped initially and was built on Salesforce.com...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    EC The Winners Of The New World Redux

    The New “Winners of the New World” Do you remember Jim Cramer’s February 29th, 2000 speech, “Winners of the New World? You want winners? You want me to put my Cramer Berkowitz hedge fund hat on and just discuss what my fund is buying today to try to make money tomorrow and the next day and the next? You want my top 10 stocks for who is going to make it in the New World? You know what? I am going to give them to you. Right here. Right now. OK. Here goes. Write them down – no handouts here!: 724 Solutions ( SVNX), Ariba (ARBA), Digital Island ( ISLD), Exodus ( EXDS), InfoSpace.com ( INSP), Inktomi ( INKT), Mercury Interactive ( MERQ)...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    “Bank” Some Of Your Gains

    Recently I read Jonathan Clements’ piece Enough Already. The basic idea was to encourage older investors who have made gains in the risk assets, typically stocks, though it would apply to high yield bonds and other non-guaranteed investments that are highly correlated with stocks. His pithy way of phrasing it is: If I have already won the game, why would I keep playing? His inspiration for the piece stems from a another piece by William Bernstein [at the WSJ] How to Tell if Your Retirement Nest Egg Is Big Enough. He asked a question like this (these are my words) back in early 2015, “Why keep taking risk if your performance has been goo...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    September 2017 Import And Export Price Year-Over-Year Inflation Again Increases

    Import and export price inflation continues with import prices and export prices up. Analyst Opinion of the Import / Export Price Situation The elephant in this month’s changes were fuel / oil commodities. Import Oil prices were up 4.2 % month-over-month, and export agricultural prices were up 0.1 %. with import prices up 2.7 % year-over-year; and export prices up 2.9 % year-over-year.. the markets were expecting (from Bloomberg):   Consensus Range Consensus Actual Import Prices – M/M change 0.2 % to 0.8 % +0.5 % +0.7 % Export Prices – M/M change -0.1 % to 0.5 % +0.5 % +0.8 % There is only marginal correlation between e...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Terrific Tuesday – Apple Tests $160 Again

    The bull is back!  Well, it never left but it paused for a day and that’s something, right? As is often the case when the markets need a lift, Apple (AAPL) is getting a boost and, since it’s in the Dow, the $10 run this month has added 85 of the Dow’s 1,000 points but, in the S&P 500, AAPL is a whopping 4% of the S&P 500’s weight so the 6.66% run from $150 to $160 adds 0.25% to the S&P, which is up 100 points (4%) over that time. In the Nasdaq, fuggedaboutit, as AAPL is closing in on 15% of the Nasdaq’s total weight so adding 1% to the index all by itself from that run while the entire index i...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    US Industrial Production Data Dashes ‘Survey-Driven’ Hopes Of Manufacturing Renaissance

    Following August’s storm-driven collapse in Industrial Production (-0.9%, worst since May’09), September was due for a bounce back and it did but only meeting expectations with a 0.3% rise on a surge in Utilities. However, aggregate industrial production for the US remains 2% below its 2014 peak… Manufacturing Surveys have all been soaring heading into today’s IP print… But, while August’s tumble was revised slightly better to a 0.7% drop, September’s print was only ‘as expected’… Driven by a surge in Utilities… Utilities rose 1.5% in Sept. after falling 4.9% in Aug. Mining ...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    EUR Longs Rise To Fresh Multi-Year Highs Ahead Of October ECB

    EURUSD Non-Commercials increased their net long positions in the Euro last week buying 7k contracts to take the total position to 98k contracts. EUR upside positioning has now moved to multi-year highs as investors continue to expect the announcement of further QE tapering at the upcoming ECB meeting this month. Comments ahead of the meeting are likely to keep EUR bid as investors try to gauge the likely outcome of the meeting. Data focus this week will be on German economic sentiment along with a speech by ECB chief Draghi on Wednesday. GBPUSD Non-Commercials reduced their net long positions in Sterling last week selling 4k contracts to take...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Q3 2017 Earnings Boost Shares After Beat

    Goldman Sachs (GS) Q3 2017 earnings were released before opening bell this morning. The firm reported earnings of $5.02 per share on $8.3 billion in revenue, compared to the consensus estimates of $4.17 per share in earnings on $7.5 billion in revenue. In last year’s third quarter, Goldman Sachs reported $4.88 per share in earnings on $7.9 billion in revenue. Institutional Client Services revenues fell 17% to $3.12 billion. Goldman Sachs’ Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities Client Execution (FICC) trading revenue amounted to $1.45 billion, a 26% year-over-year decline, versus the $1.38 billion that was expected. Investment banking rev...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Brexit UK Vulnerable As Gold Bar Exports Distort UK Trade Figures

    Brexit UK vulnerable as gold bar exports distort UK trade figures Britain’s gold exports worth more than any other physical export Gold accounted for more than one in ten pounds of UK exports in July 2017 UK’s stock of wealth has collapsed from a surplus of £469bn to a net deficit of £22bn – ONS error Brexiteers argue majority of trade is outside EU, this is due to large London gold exports Single gold bar (London Good Delivery) is, at today’s prices, worth just over £400,000 “There are few things you’ll ever touch which pack so much weight into such a small size” UK’s economic vulnerability means safe haven gold essen...
    On October 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Germany’s Coalition Talks Are Sowing The Seeds Of The Euro’s Breakup

    For years now within Germany’s policy circles, there have been many who have pushed for an ‘expulsion’ or ‘voluntary exit’ mechanism for the Eurozone. I am now hearing this position advocated by FDP head Christian Lindner, a potential finance minister in the new German governing coalition. I believe this affects Italy the most and sets up an existential crisis down the line for the EU. Thoughts below: During the Greek crisis, there were many moments where I felt that Grexit was not just a possibility but a likelihood. One example is from 2012, when the Austrian and German foreign ministers backed explicit euro expulsion mechanisms....
    On October 17, 2017 / By