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Post by Webscout » Fri May 16, 2014 7:17 am

Feel free to add anything that has to do with the markets, business and investing. Show me the Money.:spin:


DEFINITION
:confused: 'disruptive technology'


Part of the Computing fundamentals glossary:
Disruptive technology is a term coined by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen to describe a new technology that unexpectedly displaces an established technology.

In his 1997 best-selling book, "The Innovator's Dilemma," Christensen separates new technology into two categories: sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining technology relies on incremental improvements to an already established technology. Disruptive technology lacks refinement, often has performance problems because it is new, appeals to a limited audience, and may not yet have a proven practical application. (Such was the case with Alexander Graham Bell's "electrical speech machine," which we now call the telephone.)

In his book, Christensen points out that large corporations are designed to work with sustaining technologies. They excel at knowing their market, staying close to their customers, and having a mechanism in place to develop existing technology. Conversely, they have trouble capitalizing on the potential efficiencies, cost-savings, or new marketing opportunities created by low-margin disruptive technologies. Using real-world examples to illustrate his point, Christensen demonstrates how it is not unusual for a big corporation to dismiss the value of a disruptive technology because it does not reinforce current company goals, only to be blindsided as the technology matures, gains a larger audience and marketshare and threatens the status quo.
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Post by Dude » Tue May 20, 2014 4:22 pm

got something for you...

VantageWire - is a website that was on Dragons Den and Keven O'Leary bought it,
it is interesting that they are the only website I have heard of that gives you live stock market quotes for free. No monthly fee, nothing, just free live quotes that are not delayed for 20 minutes like everyone else.
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world,
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Post by Webscout » Tue May 20, 2014 5:52 pm

Why thank yeh Dude....I was not aware.

Love him or hate him O'Leary is one smart dude.
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Post by Dude » Tue May 20, 2014 7:51 pm

your welcome,

sometimes I like to check stock quotes, getting live quotes for free is pretty nice.
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Post by Webscout » Thu May 29, 2014 8:03 am

Why (regular) stocks could drop nearly 50% this year

2013 was an exceptionally strong year for stock investors. This year it's a different story. But we can almost guarantee that one group of 204 "irregular" stocks won't be part of the nail-biting volatility.

Fellow Investor,

We don't normally pay much attention to the gloom-and-doomers of the market.

After 25 years in stocks and achieving a 1,477% return for our long-standing clients, we are usually upbeat when it comes to what's ahead. We focus on the fundamentals of the market and the health of the business we're buying into, not the newest hype or fad. Which is precisely why we can't ignore the current news.

Financial markets, still inflated on cheap money from central bankers, are trying to deny the reality on the ground.

On the earnings front, we are seeing a sea of nega*tive revenue surprises and weak guidance looking forward. Earnings expectations have been overwhelmingly negative for the past few quarters. For the first quarter of 2014, 88% of companies have issued negative guidance.

If there's been a traceable pattern to the U.S. stock market's biggest dips in recent years, including the latest swoon driven by turbulence in emerging markets, it is this: Sell-offs have coincided with periods when the Federal Reserve was ending or pulling back on its market-friendly stimulus programs.

Ever since the Fed began its unprecedented bond-buying program in late 2008, stocks have tended to go up when the central bank has been in the market supporting asset prices. In contrast, stocks have declined whenever the Fed has been out of the market or cutting back on its asset purchases.

The Markit U.S. Manufacturing Index is falling to lows seen during the 2012 growth scare that prompted the rollout of QE3 in the first place.

Almost 80% of the jobs created in the last five years are part-time jobs that won't pay the bills of an average middle class lifestyle.

Food stamp rolls are growing seventy-five times as fast as employment.

Without real growth to support the rising stock market, it's becoming significantly overvalued.

According to the Shiller P/E ratio, stocks are close to 50% overvalued. This market-measuring tool was popularized by Yale's Robert Shiller, who shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in October 2013 for showing that stock prices display some predictability over long periods of time.

The metric uses inflation-adjusted earnings per share over a trailing 10-year period. Right now it is suggesting that stocks are way too high by historical standards.

The Shiller P/E is at its highest levels since the dot-com era, even higher than Black Monday in 1987.

And the current market cap of the stock market is bigger than the gross national product of the U.S. for just the third time in history. The last time that happened was in 2007, just before the financial crisis.

What Happens When the Fed Finally Tapers Off Its Bond Buying?

Only one developed economy has tried this before.

That was Japan between 2001 and 2006. After Japan's stimulus program ended, Japanese stocks fell by 50% over the next two years.

Some analysts are already sounding the alarm on what a taper will mean to the stock market.

As reported by Business Insider, a new report from the global head of Société Générale's asset allocation team explained that the unwinding of easy money policies and broken politics in Washington will prompt today's market to unravel.

Others are predicting far worse:

Nomura Securities strategist Bob Janjuah is warning that over the final three quarters of this year and into 2015, there "could be a 25% to 50% sell-off in global stock markets."

Peter Schiff, known as "Dr. Doom" for his accurate predictions of the 2008 housing market collapse, warns that the United States' current fiscal policy could push the country over a "financial cliff."

Schiff, the president and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, believes that U.S. fiscal policy is fundamentally weak due to the federal government's inability to limit spending, leading to massive debt and a lack of growth.

The question now is: How much longer can investors and the market ignore the signs that something is seriously wrong with the economy, and that it's starting to drag on corporate profits as well?

Seth Klarman, an American billionaire who founded the Baupost Group, a Boston-based private investment partnership, and the author of a book on value investing titled Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor, says the U.S. finan*cial system could collapse at any time: "If the economy is so fragile that the govern*ment cannot allow failure, then we are indeed close to collapse."

Most people understand that growing our national debt over the past 12 years from $6 trillion to $17 trillion is a prob*lem. They have an inkling that we're not on a healthy trajectory. They know that a society's wealth is not unlimited, and that if the economy is so fragile that the government cannot allow a bank or a corporation to fail, then we are indeed close to collapse.

We've all seen how easy it is for a mighty powerhouse like Lehman Brothers to evaporate in a matter of days.

If weak data continues to come in, Wall Street analysts will have no choice but to start issuing warnings to clients—creating a self-feeding cycle of selling and fear.

Even die-hard bull Warren Buffett recently sold more than a third of his stake in Johnson and Johnson, more than half of his stake in global snack maker Mondelez and his entire stake in Kraft foods. Buffett is on record as being very concerned about what the end of the Fed's QE program means for stocks.

Are these the warning signs before the fall? Are small investors about to see their invest*ment and retirement accounts crushed for the second time in five years?

The Real Economy Is in Trouble

Despite the stock market's new highs, clues to the real state of the economy are all around us.

The U.S. government has lost its triple-A credit rating... and the debt ceiling is becoming a constant problem.

50 million Americans get food aid, nearly 1/3 of the U.S. population.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49% of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third did.

More than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income." The poverty rate is the highest since the 1960s.

The labor participation rate is the lowest since 1979, at 63.3%.

There are nearly 11 million people on disability—more than the population of Greece.

How much more punishment can our economy take? The fiscal cliff scare and the government shutdown have already caused businesses to cut back on investment and hiring.

And they have prompted consumers to spend less, making a slow economic recovery even slower. Consumer spending has been flat since March.

Budget battles still dominate Congress, preventing Washington from doing anything constructive to actually help the economy.

And We're Not the Only Country in Trouble

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for 2014 despite the continuation of massive fiscal and monetary stimulus by sovereign nations and central banks throughout the world.

According to the IMF, a slowdown in economic growth in major emerging markets—namely China, Russia, India and Mexico—is creating a drag on overall global economic expansion.

What the IMF does not elaborate on (but should) is this point: How much longer can major economies like the U.S. engage in unprecedented levels of monetary and fiscal stimulus that provides, at best, marginal levels of economic growth?

If all that public debt and money printing can accelerate our economy above stall speed, the next major financial crisis to hit will likely be beyond the powers of even the most creative Treasury Secretary or central banker to contain.

Another Perfect Storm?

Of course, no one knows for sure what will happen in the next few months, but conditions certainly seem to be right for a "perfect storm" to develop.

For example, credit default swaps are soaring, just as we saw during the last financial crisis. Insurance on the debt of major European banks has hit historic levels... even higher than when Lehman Brothers collapsed five years ago.

Gold has been trending lower for two years now, and some are pointing to the move as a possible flashpoint for a broader economic and market shock, comparable to the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998… and even the global financial crisis a decade later. Both events were preceded by sharp drops in gold.

According to PIMCO's Bill Gross, who oversees $2 trillion in assets, the weakness in gold and commodities is "signaling concerns about global growth. Commodities have been sending the signal on growth for a while, and now even louder."

Robert Wiedemer, one of the few economists to alert investors before the crash of 2008, is warning that something even worse is coming next. He is predicting 50% unemployment, a 90% drop in stocks and 100% inflation.

David Dittman, Chief Investment Strategist
Utility Forecaster

ME..

It seems everyone is waiting for a CORRECTION. It will happen one day. I believe there is a LOT of money on the sideline waiting to buy. There is a lot of money out there period. I believe a correction will be short lived. Gold is going down and is a sign that the world is not falling apart. The usual ebb and flow (turmoil).

Some of the predictions will come true. Many will not but the ones that do come true often make gurus of those that did predict correctly...ie the Joe Granvilles of the world. Where is Joe today? Also...we easily forget.
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Post by Webscout » Thu Jun 05, 2014 8:38 am

What Will Happen When the Dollar Collapses?

Note...When not if. Only for readers with a strong stomach.

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http://www.thetradingreport.com/2014/06/04/what-will-happen-when-the-dollar-collapses/
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Strong Banks

Post by Webscout » Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:39 pm

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http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/rxfIKJLQ7yMA
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Can/US-Markets Close for Week Ending June 27/14

Post by Webscout » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:43 am

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Post by Webscout » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:16 am

Read This Before You Buy Any More Stocks!
Iain Butler | June 28, 2014--The Motley Fool
Dear Fellow Investor,

It’s no secret that stock markets around the world have had a tremendous run over the past five years. This is common knowledge. However, we’re concerned that this bull market has now become more of a rodeo ride. As investors continue to pile into this potentially dangerous “Bull Trap,â€
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Week ending July 25, 2014

Post by Webscout » Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:18 am

Week ending July 25, 2014
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Feels like nosebleed territory for TSX. I might take a little off the table before labour day. I feel a correction coming in Oct. Then again, what do I know. Feelings are neither right nor wrong.

How does that make you feel?:p
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Post by Dude » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:14 pm

makes me feel like I need a drink.
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world,
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Aug 1, 2014 week ending

Post by Webscout » Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:57 am

Hard to say what this means. One week doth not market make. My spider sense tells me there will be a short meaningful correction before xmas. The thing about predicting is that you have a 50/50 chance of being correct. If I am right (or a stock market guru says it) it will be remembered as being 'genius'. If it does not happen it will be forgotten along with the other predictors.:-) The key regardless is to be prepared with your dry powder and buy the 'good solid stocks'. Defensive plays. ie CDN Banks. Capital appreciation and a good solid yield. There are others. Timing is everything. Spending some time with your investments is everything. Learn.


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Week ending August 9, 2014

Post by Webscout » Sat Aug 09, 2014 6:01 am

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Week Ending August 15, 2014

Post by Webscout » Sat Aug 16, 2014 6:54 am

Week Ending August 15, 2014

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Final August 22 2014

Post by Webscout » Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:45 am

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