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Blue Chip

The Amazon.com website is now a brick-and-mortar

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Cut the crap… and visit Amazon’s store that only sells high-rated items. Amazon currently has a physical store that only sells products with high customer ratings – and this includes non-Amazon items, too. To qualify to be featured in the store, the merchandise must be a top-seller, have a 4-star rating or better, or be new and trending on the website.

 

It is a 4,000 square foot store… that has sections for ‘Most-Wished-For’ and ‘Trending’ that showcases categories normally listed on the website. These sections carry items like the baby blue Fujifilm instant camera and bottles of Gorilla Super Glue. The 4-star ratings are displayed on customer review cards and include snippets from real customer reviews.

 

This store is yet another example… of how Amazon is moving toward brick-and-mortar. The company will maintain a massive online presence, of course, but it is an interesting move nonetheless. And believe it or not, most retail spending still happens in physical stores.

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Blue Chip

Disney is totally and 100% over ‘Sky’

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Comcast gets it all… all of Sky, at least. As we speculated the other day, 21st Century Fox will be selling its 39% stake in Sky to Comcast. This news comes a day after Comcast won a bidding war against 21st Century Fox for 61% of Sky. And Fox has decided to give up and “…congratulate Comcast on their pending acquisition.” Isn’t that nice?

 

To get Sky… Comcast has to pay 25% more than their previous offer – so maybe they are the real losers. Fox also faced hurdles relating to UK regulations and whether the company would be a “fit and proper” owner of the company. The battle became even more significant when Disney outbid Comcast for Fox’s assets, which included the 39% stake in Sky.

 

Now Disney can pay for other things… like their purchase of Fox. Not only did the company save money by losing the bid, they just gained around $15 billion selling their existing stake. And besides, Disney has other fish to fry – including plans to invest in streaming services like Hulu, where the company will soon have a 60% stake. Also, if you thought Disney would be distancing themselves from Comcast – they won’t – because Comcast currently owns 30% of Hulu. Ah, good times…

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Blue Chip

Is AT&T out of their mind!?

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They’re taking on… Google and Facebook in the advertising space with a new business of their own. AT&T announced its new advertising division, Xandr, and a plan to create targeted TV and online advertising. The ads will be shown on channels like CNN and will be different depending on who is watching.

 

This isn’t new… but targeted advertising is particularly interesting for AT&T because it now owns cable channels through its acquisition of Time Warner. Time Warner, now WarnerMedia, comes with CNN, TNT, HBO, and several other high-profile channels. The company also has plenty of existing relationships with its hoard of wireless customers.

 

The ad business is vital to… “fuel the great content being developed,” according to CEO Brian Lesser. And paying for content, such as HBO, doesn’t come cheap. The company aims to give you an HBO experience that is always up-to-date and highly entertaining – you know, so customers don’t get bored and leave.

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Blue Chip

Comcast just paid $40B for the ‘Sky’

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The bids are in… and Comcast is FINALLY the winner. The cable giant put up a winning bid of $40 billion for Sky in an uncommon, three round action held by the UK’s Takeover Panel. Both companies were bidding for 61% control of Sky. 21st Century Fox already owns 39% of the company. But it’s not over yet, because Sky shareholders have until October 1st to accept the offer.

 

Here is the rationale… for Comcast paying so much frickin’ money for 61% of another company. Sky has 23 million subscribers, primarily in Europe. Sky sells broadband and mobile services and owns top original shows and premium sports content. To sum it up, Comcast wants more European customers and better offerings to compete with Amazon and Netflix.

 

It’s finally over… assuming the deal is accepted. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has defeated bitter rival Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney. And the two CEOs have been feuding for over ten years, dating back to when Comcast attempted a hostile takeover of Disney. Disney and Iger may accept total defeat and sell their 39% to Comcast, but we’ll have to wait and see if that happens.

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Blue Chip

Amazon: Screw your $60 Alexa microwave

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Amazon doesn’t care if they make money… off Alexa, at least. In fact, the $60 the company gets from you for your “Alexa microwave” is entirely beside the point. Sounds weird, right? But it’s Amazon – what do you expect? There is a much bigger purpose for the Alexa voice assistant.

 

Amazon will cash in… when Alexa users buy things off their website, use Amazon Prime content, and use Amazon Web Services. The data that Amazon gets from Alexa is also invaluable to the company. For Alexa to do her job correctly, she needs to know the dirty details about your life. For example, the Alexa microwave can report back to its boss (Amazon) what you eat and when you eat.

 

And lastly… Amazon wants Alexa to take over your LIFE. Soon Alexa will be used in home and out-of-home. On Thursday, the company announced Echo Auto, which allows Alexa to come along on your daily commute. It is 2018 after all and about time we have robots that can answer all of our questions and keep us company, right?

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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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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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Blue Chip

Don’t FORGET your credit cards…

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Square, PayPal, and Venmo… that’s how the kids are paying these days, right? Not entirely…or at least not according to the share prices of AmEx, Visa, and Mastercard. AmEx is up 10%, Visa is up 30%, and last but not least, MasterCard is up 45% on the year. And surprisingly, Visa and MasterCard actually rallied after settling their $6.2 billion “mistake.” These guys just can’t lose…

 

The future of money… WILL includes AmEx, Visa, and Mastercard because all three companies are investing in it. For example, Visa is one of the biggest shareholders in Square and AmEx and Mastercard both are investing in other forms of fintech. Also, traditional credit cards are still thriving in Spain, Italy, Poland, and many other countries, for that matter.

 

And all the money Americans are spending… doesn’t hurt either. In fact, Wall Street is forecasting for all three credit card companies to see significant sales growth this year. So don’t forget your credit card at the market and don’t forget to get your credit card stocks on the market!

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Blue Chip

Sony PlayStation: Your childhood is coming BACK!

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This announcement is a blast from the past… because Sony is planning to release a revamped version of the PlayStation and it will be called PlayStation Classic. The system will be released on December 3rd and will cost you $99.99.

 

The differences… first off, the console will be about half the size of the original. Also, there will be no discs; instead the system will come with 20 pre-loaded games which include “Final Fantasy VII” and Tekken 3.” Sony will announce the other games at a later date.

 

It worked for Nintendo… who released the NES Classic, a remake of the original Nintendo system from the 1980s. The system sold over 2 million retro devices in just five months. Nintendo also released the Super Nintendo Classic Edition which sold over 4 million devices. And honestly, the PlayStation may do just as well, if not better, given the 90s kids desire for nostalgia…and their overall childhood back.

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Blue Chip

Visa, Mastercard flush $6.2 billion down the toilet

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Don’t violate antitrust laws… because it could cost you $6.2 billion and 13 years of your life. That number, a billion with a capital ‘B’ is what Visa and Mastercard were required to pay as a settlement for, well, violating antitrust laws. The lawsuit was settled back in 2012 but rejected by major retailers as ‘unfair’ and eventually overturned on an appeal.

 

Okay, so this settlement… represents a $900 million increase from the original one and still must be approved by the court. However, as you can imagine, both companies are excited to put this behind them and move forward. As for the retailers…they’re excited the extra cash.

 

The biggest retailers… opted out of the settlement and that includes Walmart, Target, and Kroger. These stores represent the top 1% of merchants and were able to negotiate better deals on their own. However, the other 99% saw justice served, and it was a victory for the little guys. So, what did we learn today?

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