In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche
Now for a truly frightening fact they are not telling you: The U.S. government itself is currently underwriting a large portion of that debt. Manuel estimated that around $4.6 trillion, or a little over 25%, of the national debt is in the form of intergovernmental holdings; that is, it is owed by one government agency to another.
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One problem facing both FedEx and UPS is that future growth in online retail is going to come in areas outside their normal business.
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Get the picture, folks; the amount of Kroger’s revenue growth exceeded Walmart’s by $1.66 billion. That should be of concern to Walmart investors and to its executives because Walmart reported a market cap of $232.43 billion and an enterprise value of $274.63 billion on June 15, 2015. Kroger had a market cap of $35.07 billion and an enterprise value of $45.62 billion on the same day.
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Auto insurance could be a gateway for selling other products, such as disability insurance, bonding, life insurance and health insurance, to networked transportation drivers and others in the gig economy. The potential profits to be made could be enormous; a survey that Edelman Berland conducted for the Freelancers Union found that 53 million Americans, or 34% of the population, are involved in some sort of freelance work.
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Hard to say, but after this deal, Uber is behaving more and more like a hedge fund company or a venture capital firm. It uses its core transportation business to generate cash then reinvests that cash in other ventures.
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Other organizations that could benefit could be Netflix, Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY), Sears (NYSE: SHLD), Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), Best Buy (NYSE: BB) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT). All of these retailers could get access to the $404 billion Chinese market through alliances with Alibaba and stores on Tmall. Walmart, which already has a presence in China and a working relationship with Alibaba, could be in a great position here.
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Another possibility is that BOFI’s growth is not from stealing customers from brick and mortar banks as its cheerleaders claim but from swiping depositors from other online banks.
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The whole telematics issue raises the interesting question of whether auto insurers are still a good investment. Value investors like Warren Buffett have long thought of auto insurers that way because of all the float their premiums generate, but is that still true in the face of all the competition in today’s insurance industry?
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hat gives Target more control over pricing and promotion and increases its ability to offer special discounts or promotions to loyal customers; for example, lower prices to those who use its popular shopping apps and credit cards. This strategy has worked well for Kroger, which often undercuts Walmart Stores Inc.’s (NYSE: WMT) prices with its house brands. A similar strategy has worked well for Costco Wholesale Inc. (NASDAQ: COST), which heavily pushes its store brands.
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One reason why Lending Club’s business is so good could be that large numbers of Americans simply lack the money or the good credit records necessary to borrow from traditional banks.
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