I had a tough time getting out of the gate this morning. My trading has picked up considerably as of late and it seems there is more interesting reading out there lately. In fact, my reading this morning brought to light an interesting memory. Does anyone remember Steve Case? Of course you do, if you know anything about the rise of the Internet for personal users. Just in case, though, Steve Case is the man who brought the world AOL. He is now a billionaire investor running a company that finances technology startups.
Anyway, this morning I read an interview with the man about e-commerce and he said the following, which reminded me, again, how fast things are changing in today’s world of technologically ubiquity.
- Five years ago, you’d have spent six months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to build an e-commerce site. Now you can do it in 30 minutes for 30 bucks. I think that is pretty cool. It completely democratizes e-commerce for everybody.
There it is – the world is changing fast and this means opportunity for many, particularly market players. His commentary also delivered another fact that rocked my thinking – 95 percent of retail establishments in the U.S. consist of a single store.
We tend to think of the US retail world in terms of big malls, chain stores, and mega sites, but the fact is that currently only 6% of the $380 billion in retail sales happen online, which means of the other 94% that happen in brick and mortar stores, 95% are mom and pop stores. This reality means little for the market, but it does mean lots for Steve Case’s assertion that the now low cost for getting into e-commerce means greater democratization of e-commerce. As well, and more importantly for market players, it means greater democratization of commerce overall. Can the 95% of mom and pop single stores dent the huge online retail-sales market? If so, what will it mean for the chain stores, malls, and mega sites? Interesting …
- Canadian retail sales rose by a larger-than-expected 1.0 percent in September from August on the back of higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
- The Ifo institute’s business climate index for Germany increased to its highest since April 2012, rising to 109.3 this month from 107.4 in October and topping consensus of 107.7.
The above is just my daily fix of positive global economic news. I need a little every day to keep me thinking right, to keep me positive.
- Laird Plc, which makes electromagnetic shielding and heat control components for wireless devices, said full-year profit rose 17 percent, propped up by acquisitions and growing demand in the smart-device market. The company, which makes parts used in Apple’s iPhones and iPads, said first-quarter revenue would be flat compared with the same year-earlier period, but forecast higher sales in the second half of 2013 would boost full-year growth.
The above is just another now-daily fix for me. Not only does it help my developing understanding of this market (smart devices support), but it adds to my global economic high. Clearly, the smart device market is expected to do well in Q4, which suggests the overall economy might do better than expected in Q4. Hey, but what else is new?
On to another daily fix for me, and that is my research into the transforming auto industry, which is part of the transforming energy industry, another fix for me.
- While the Europeans were heralding the all-electric vehicle at the Guangzhou auto show this week, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor were unveiling hydrogen fuel cell cars at shows in Tokyo and Los Angeles. The rush into all-electric cars comes as Beijing ramps up a program to put 5 million new energy vehicles – defined as all-electric battery vehicles and heavily electrified “near all-electric” plug-in hybrids – on the road by 2020. China this year expanded the definition of new energy cars to include fuel cell cars.
I am already finding trades related to the above, which, aside from my interesting reading this morning, kept me from getting out the gate on my writing this morning.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
