Note to readers: #WeeklyInvestorReader contains a few of the articles I read during the week. Visit my Twitter @HurriCap for any other articles that may not have been included.
Jim Chanos: U.S. Economy is Worse Than You Think – Institute for New Economic Thinking, June 30, 2017 | “The famed short-seller offers a mid-2017 reality check for ‘fake fiscal news,’ economic pipe dreams, and ‘portents of even worse things'”
How a 36-year-old Wall Street prodigy saved Burger King – Business Insider Nordic, June 12, 2017 | “Daniel Schwartz had spent a decade working his way up the corporate ladder on Wall Street when he decided to test his skills in a different trade: cooking burgers and cleaning toilets at a Burger King restaurant in Miami.”
This is Your Nightmare Scenario – The Irrelevant Investor, June 24, 2017 | “What would happen if stocks crash? What would that do to people’s retirement plans? How would that change the way young people think about stocks? And what would it do to our country?”
ENDS, MEANS, AND ANTITRUST – Stratechery, June 28, 2016 | “The European Commission levied a record €2.42 billion ($2.73 billion) fine on Google yesterday for having ‘abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service.'”
A Street Fight Among Grocers to Deliver Your Milk, Eggs, Bananas – New York Times, June 22, 2017 | “Delivering food requires military precision: Bananas can’t get cold. Produce can’t get warm. Eggs, of course, must not get broken. And people expect their food to arrive at specific times.”
4 reasons why Buffett’s partner Charlie Munger considers Albert Einstein his hero – CNBC, June 28, 2017 | “To support his claim, Munger dropped a quote from an unexpected hero of his: Albert Einstein. The theme throughout his speech is that of applying different disciplines to one’s business and career decisions. Near the close of his speech, Munger poses the question: ‘How should the best parts of psychology and economics interrelate in an enlightened economist’s mind?'”
Why Retailers Should Fear Amazon Wardrobe – L2, June 21, 2017 | “Once a sector reaches 20% e-commerce penetration, clear winners start to emerge – specifically Amazon, which generates over half of online retail growth. This has already happened in media and electronics, and now it’s happening in apparel, where e-commerce now accounts for 21% of sales in the US.”
From Music to Maps, How Apple’s iPhone Changed Business – FOX Business, June 23, 2017 | “Ten years ago, hailing a cab meant waiving one’s arm at passing traffic, consumers routinely purchased cameras, and a phone was something people made calls on.”
Google Fined Record $2.7 Billion in E.U. Antitrust Ruling – New York Times, June 27, 2017 | “Google suffered a major blow on Tuesday after European antitrust officials fined the search giant a record $2.7 billion for unfairly favoring some of its own services over those of rivals.”
Taking the pulse of ESPN – Sports Business Daily, June 26, 2017 | “Skipper’s message was simple and direct: ESPN needed top sports properties like the NBA, especially in an environment where pay television was shedding subscribers. It would be a strategic mistake to allow competitors to get such a premium sports property. ‘You have to build a deeper moat,’ he often said when discussing competition. In Skipper’s folksy Southern style, that meant keeping ESPN’s enemies at bay. It meant identifying the rights ESPN wanted — the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, college sports, tennis — and paying a dollar more than anyone else to get them.”
Buffett’s Bet on Store Capital Shows Not All Retail Real Estate Is Equal – Bloomberg, June 26, 2017 | “Warren Buffett is betting that some types of brick-and-mortar real estate will hold up better than others in the age of Amazon.”
Some of the shine has come off Morningstar – Chicago Business, June 24, 2017 | “Mutual fund ratings powerhouse Morningstar isn’t rating so high with Wall Street lately. A stock analyst who had been covering the Chicago investment research company for a decade dropped coverage this month, citing inconsistent earnings in recent years and a potential profit decline again this year. Shareholders seem to agree: Morningstar shares declined 5 percent for the year through June 22, even as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 16.5 percent.”
Stop Reading This Blog. – Oblivious Investor, June 26, 2017 | “Admittedly I don’t mean for the headline to apply to every reader. But I don’t mean for it to be just “clickbait” either. I genuinely mean that some of you would be better off unsubscribing from this blog/newsletter.”
S.E.C. Lets All Firms Keep Parts of I.P.O. Filings Secret – New York Times, June 30, 2017 | “In an attempt to revitalize the public capital markets, the nation’s top regulator of stocks is turning to stealth mode. The Securities and Exchange Commission, in Walter J. Clayton’s first major policy move as chairman, is expanding a program that will allow all private companies to keep some details of their finances and business strategies under wraps early in the process of an initial public offering.”
Amazon Deal Stirs Things Up for Blue Apron – University of Maryland, June 23, 2017 | “For Blue Apron, Amazon’s blockbuster deal to acquire Whole Foods couldn’t have come at a worse time, says Jie Zhang, marketing professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The New York-based meal-kit delivery service was just beginning the marketing for its initial public offering, in which it hopes to raise more than $500 million, when Amazon announced the $13.7 billion deal that could upend the food-retail industry.”
AMZN + WFM = $1T – L2, June 23, 2017 | “Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, should it close, is the white flag (the kind signaling one lap to go, vs. surrender) in Amazon’s march to a trillion. This transaction will be to retail what Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram was to media — the deal everyone wishes they had done. Amazon will reach $1T in value in the next 36 months, at the expense of … everyone.”
Market-beating investor Dan Loeb trumpets ‘rare’ opportunity in Nestle, his biggest bet yet – CNBC, June 26, 2017 | “Third Point owns around 40 million shares of Nestle, according to an investor letter published Sunday. The position totals over $3.5 billion and includes options. The Nestle investment is Third Point’s largest ever, according to the firm.”
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway studied this stock for three years before buying in – CNBC, June 26, 2017 | “Store Capital CEO says Berkshire Hathaway followed the company “closely” beginning in 2014 before investing this year. The company announced Berkshire Hathaway invested $377 million in Store Capital, which represents a 9.8 percent stake in the real estate investment trust.”
Amazon’s Grocery Ambitions Spell Trouble for Big Food Brands – FOX Business, June 26, 2017 | “Amazon.com Inc.’s deeper push into the grocery business threatens to further pinch packaged-food companies already coping with slowing sales. An enduring shift by consumers toward fresh and natural options is eating into the business of big food brands, like Kraft Heinz Co., Kellogg Co., and Mondelez International Inc. They also face growing competition from store brands and upstarts.”
In Swedish
Så stora är Uber i Sverige – Dagens Industri, 2 juli, 2017 | “Uber är omskakat, vd-löst och förlusttyngt. Men i Sverige levererar hundratusentals användare kraftig vinst, kan Di Digital avslöja. ‘Vi fortsätter att växa jättesnabbt’, säger Sverigechefen Martin Hedevåg.”
Rapporterna: en viktig detalj HM inte bemästrat – Gottodix, 2 juli, 2017 | “Tar en tur i detaljerna i HM:s rapport. Den som är lite fräck måste faktiskt ställa frågan varför det här ska vara ett globalt bolag. Riktigt bra går det ju faktiskt här hemma med omnejd.”
Richard Bråse: H&M håller drömmen vid liv – Dagens Industri, 29 juni, 2017 | “H&M håller drömmen om marginalvändningen vid liv när modebolaget levererar oväntat stark lönsamhet i andra kvartalet. Men inte ens vd Karl-Johan Persson verkar övertygad om att modebolaget kan leva upp till ambitionen att vända den fallande marginaltrenden i år.”
Karl-Johan Persson: H&M ligger inte efter digitalt – Dagens Industri, 29 juni, 2017 | “H&M:s resultat för det andra kvartalet var bättre än väntat men en svag försäljningstillväxt och höga varulager oroar. ‘Det finns en bild av att H&M ligger efter digitalt. Det stämmer inte, vi har en framgångsrik onlinehandel för samtliga varumärken och vi kommer ha en fin tillväxttakt många år framöver’, säger vd Karl-Johan Persson.”
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