Monthly Archives

You may have heard… that Starbucks is ditching all single-use plastic straws by 2020. But how will we transport liquid from cup to mouth if not for plastic straws? Well, our friends at Starbucks are weighing the options, which include a recyclable sippy cup-type lid and reusable straws.

Paper straws are an option… although they are five times more expensive than plastic straws. That’s right – straw prices will go from 0.5 cents to 2.5 cents per straw. I am sure that adds up but come on, that is still really cheap. And paper straws are a more environmentally friendly alternative to their plastic counterparts.

Any solution is a solution… and if you are worried about that paper straw falling apart in your drink – drink faster. None of these solutions are perfect, but at least they aren’t hurting the only planet we call home (as much).

Read more

It could have helped in Thailand… according to Elon Musk who suggested that his submarine could have rescued the trapped Thai boys. However, at least one Thai official believed the mini-submarine would have been impractical for saving the boys.

Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary… because divers were able to rescue the boys and bring them back safely. But Musk is sure that his contraption could have journeyed through the cave, and he is willing to demonstrate this at any time. It also would have been a perfect size as the mini-sub can hold one child or small adult…and possibly a talented [full-size adult] contortionist.

It is also useful for… other rescue missions, including “vulnerable patients” in toxic environments. Musk has even pondered deploying his submarine underwater again or in space. Who else but Elon Musk…

Read more

Not to rain on your parade… however, the hottest housing market is in Washington state where home prices are up 13% compared to last year. The situation is even worse around Seattle, mostly due to the near 55,000 jobs added to the market last year alone. Take the population coming in for these jobs and combine them with the slow pace of construction, and voila – you have expensive housing.

But don’t let me burst your bubble… because Washington’s market isn’t exactly a bubble. A bubble occurs when prices go up without demand going up, as well. People are getting jobs, and they need living arrangements, so the market is there.

The thing is… housing developers need to use their crystal ball when planning and building a project because each project takes about three years to complete. With all of these countries playing ‘tariff tag,’ along with other local policies, it is difficult to know if the job market in Washington will grow, stay put, or drop.

Read more

We may be getting too close… with voice assistants, such as Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa. We welcomed these devices into our living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms with open arms. But now users are reporting that they have a use for these guys (or things?) in their very own bathrooms.

They are useful… for playing music, looking up information and checking the time – and don’t lie, those features would be helpful even when nature calls. To remedy this, Kohler will be releasing voice-enables bathroom fixtures, and you can even use your favorite voice assistant. The company figures that most people have their hands tied in the bathroom, one way or another, and could use the extra help.

Okay, there is one catch… and that is that these fixtures are incredibly expensive. For instance, Kohler’s Sensate Faucet is $660, and their DTV+ Shower System will set you back about $3,300. If you have privacy concerns regarding your bathroom – I promise you are not that interesting and could probably benefit from the added convenience.

Read more

Check your cupboard… and I’ll bet you have something from Kellogg, McCormick, or Sysco in there. Also, even though the trade war rhetoric is ramping up, we have found there are more important things in life – such as feeding yourself. People need to eat, and that is why there are not many moves safer than food stocks.

In times of uncertainty… consumer staples, like food stocks, tend to outperform the market. Companies like Kellogg began to rally in early July when the first round of tariffs were imposed, and people gave up on their hopes for a quick trade resolution.

Keep an eye on… Mondelez, a food stock that has proved to be one of the best consumer staples over the past month, up 3% in July. And heck, with the way trade talks have been going, the consumer staples rally may just be heating up.

Read more

Breaking news… oh wait, it’s just “fake news.” That situation happens all too often for YouTube users who just want the real story. People with nothing better to do (apparently) spread propaganda and confuse the hell out of us when real news breaks.

YouTube is… “…making changes to put more authoritative content in front of people.” What’s authoritative? Well, it is news-related information that comes from more reliable sources. What you are reading right now is authoritative (I promise).

To best give you the news… YouTube is introducing the “new information panel” which will appear at the top of search results related to developing news stories. Other conspiracy-filled topics will be accompanied with linked to sources like Wikipedia to provide users with more accurate information. So if you are one of those people that tries to convince others that the moon landing was fake – life may get a bit harder for you.

Read more

One million per day… is the amount of Twitter accounts suspended in May and June of this year alone. That equates to 70 million total accounts. After the report of the suspensions broke Twitter stock dropped as much as 9%.

Twitter can explain… so they did, via Ned Segal the company’s CFO, who clarified that most of these accounts were not active within the last thirty days. Since most of these accounts weren’t active they were not included in the “oh so” important monthly active users metric.

Seventy-million and not a peep… from Twitter users, because they were mostly fake accounts – so please, calm down. The suspended accounts have no impact on the company’s user growth, which is much of what Wall Street focuses on. With this information, hopefully, your concerns have been quelled, and you can breathe a sigh of relief for Twitter…

Read more

We have heard enough about tariffs, but… we are about to get a sense of when they will start to hurt profits and by how much. Last Friday, the Trump administration put 25% tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods and China responded in-kind. With the release of second-quarter earnings upon us, we may get a better sense of how these tariffs are impacting companies.

Cars, planes, steel and aluminum products… have been hit the worst, so far. We have already seen Harley-Davidson move some production outside of the United States to combat the tariffs. Given the knee-jerk reaction, it is clear that a company like Harley believes the taxes will impact them immediately.

We will see the impact… for most companies, sometime after second-quarter earnings are released. Businesses that are impacted will likely reflect that impact in their third-quarter guidance (i.e. lower earnings estimates). So we will see it in the guidance and investors are also going to need to know how these companies are going to prepare going forward. Brace yourself – the earnings are coming!

Read more

By 2025… two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. I know what you’re thinking – “pfft 2025, we’ll be living on Mars and traveling by jetpack by then.” However, a more likely future involves more depressing things like climate change, overpopulation, and yes, lack of water.

But don’t worry… because Weather Modification International (WMI) is here to save the day. The company uses ‘cloud seeding’ to “enhance” the precipitation process and get more moisture out of clouds. How does it work? The company’s pilots will target clouds with heavy moisture and inject a “silver iodide mixture.” The water in the clouds will condense around the mixture, become heavy, and fall to the ground.

Here are the results… Idaho Power, which serves 500,000 customers, invested more than $3 million with WMI to increase snowpack in Idaho’s highest mountains. Snowpack is packed snow that melts slowly and feeds streams and rivers as it melts. As a result, the cloud seeding program increased snowpack 8% to 15%. According to Idaho Power, that is enough to power an extra 60,000 homes and equates to $9 million worth of water. I guess you could say WMI can make it rain literally and figuratively.

Read more

Love him or hate him… King James is taking his talents to Los Angeles and all it took to get him there was $154 million. If you are a Los Angeles resident, basketball fan or not, LeBron’s arrival should give you plenty of reason to cheer. If you are a Cleveland fan – my condolences. With LeBron heading west is Cleveland’s economy bound to go south?

Where to start… I am not sure because local hospitality, tourism, and the value of the Cavaliers franchise are likely to take a hit. During LeBron’s time with the Cavs and Heat, the total number of bars and restaurants within a mile of the stadium went up a collective 13%, and total employment rose 23.5%. Also, the total amount of recreation and entertainment saw a $100 million jump, or 10% when James returned to Cleveland in 2015.

The Land will rebound… because as popular as LeBron is there is much more to life than basketball. Cleveland still has insurance, banking, technology, and healthcare. Not only that, but people will take the money they are not spending on the Cavs and use it elsewhere. Cleveland’s economy will be fine, but their basketball team may be hard to watch. That’s okay, though – no one is beating the Warriors this year.

Read more