Published Research on Digital Lifestyle Theme

Hey folks, as you likely suspect we at Tematica do a lot of leg work and deep dives when developing our investment themes and refreshing our thematic mosaic. This means that in addition to scouring financial filings, company presentations, and earnings transcripts, we also chat with company management, thought leaders, and other industry movers and […]

This conversation is provided for informational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Tematica Research was compensated by a third party to conduct this interview. The information described herein is taken from sources that we believe to be reliable, but we do not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of […]

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.

Tematica Research Membership

For Experienced Individual Investors and Financial Professionals

The Tematica Individual Membership provides thematic investing strategies, trading ideas, and analysis of the most pressing economic and market developments that drive both our thematic perspectives and investing strategies.
Financial Professionals and experienced Individual Investors that become members receive access to the Thematic Leaders List which includes the top stock in each theme, plus our top overall most thematically-positioned stock. Membership also includes the Tematica Select List which are additional trading ideas of stocks riding our 10 investment themes and regular on-going insights and commentary on the market from a thematic perspective.

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.

Over 500 Million Facebook user’s data from 2019 has been made publicly and freely available. While not every record is current, this release still affects many users of the social network. The data includes phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, and — in some cases — email addresses. Source: 533 million Facebook […]

Video Game publisher Activision recently published a report that outlines how players downloading and installing various cheats for Call of Duty: Warzone are not only gaining an unfair edge over their competitors but are also installing any number of credential stealing, computer compromising, and all-around not good malware as well. Want to get better? Start […]

A bipartisan group of US Senators published a letter yesterday calling for updated minimum standards for broadband access across the United States.  Current Standards dictate a 25Mbps minimum but even by Federal Communications Commission household broadband guidelines, it is clear that a 25Mbps connection is inadequate for most families even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. […]

In an attack reminiscent of the Solarwinds hack, The French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) recently released a report detailing actions taken by Russian hackers “Sandworm” targeting products offered by IT Monitoring system provider Centreon. The company has since responded stating that effected users were using an unsupported freeware version of […]

One of the wonderful things about thematic investing when it is done right, is the number of recognizable and relatable points of confirmation to be had once an investor has fine-tuned their focus, or as we at Tematica like to say, strapped on your thematic lens. The traditional investor analyzes and assess a variety of […]

Just when you thought that the digital infrastructure underlying the internet and overall connectivity wasn’t strained enough in the work-from-home, learn-from-home, stay-at-home era, it appears that Google has joined the ranks of direct streaming services switching on direct to YouTube capabilities on its Stadia gaming platform. Rolling out to some users now, Stadia appears to […]

In as much as everyone is focusing on 5G, self-driving cars, and an impending IoT revolution there is already plenty of demand for high bandwidth digital infrastructure. Virgin Media has revealed that Tuesday 10 November saw its busiest day on record for internet traffic across its network. Source: Virgin Media sees record breaking network traffic […]

The first known cyberattack hit in 1988, when what became known as the Morris Worm installed itself on a computer every one out of seven times, even if the computer claimed it already had the program. With each installation, the infected computers would become further debilitated until they finally crashed. The worm damaged approximately 6,000 […]

When we look back on 2020, there will be several notable items that jump out from the record books. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy will likely be at the top of the list, as will the pull-forward in digital transformation that ensued as people adjusted how they worked, lived, and […]

In a targeted phishing attack it appears hackers have manged to deploy two known pieces of malware that have proliferated throughout several state agencies. DHS, FBI and MSFT are investigating. Hackers have launched a sprawling, multifaceted cyber-attack against the state of Washington, according to two people familiar with the matter. Source: Hackers Have Infiltrated Many […]

Whether it’s the comments from companies over the last few months or the monthly Retail Sales reports of late, there is little question over the accelerated shift to digital shopping as a result of the pandemic. New data shows this adoption is rather widespread, and in what may be surprising to some includes Boomers. Chalk […]

e recently discussed the market opportunity and some of the technical aspects associated with 5G, shorthand for the fifth generation of mobile network technology that is widely expected to expand the scope of mobile data and connectivity. The simple truth is that for carriers to recoup their hefty investments in any new mobile network, consumers and […]

We’ve been hearing about this new 5G technology for years and how it is going to revolutionize our lives, make autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things possible, and reduce cholesterol levels. Ok, maybe not that last one, but it has been touted as being a Very Big Deal. So just what is 5G? 5G refers […]

Just as the internet has changed how we can communicate, transact, consume, and produce, so will Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) improve, and in some respects, utterly transform our lives. Source: An Investor’s Primer on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) | Nasdaq

“Desperate times call for desperate measures” is a famous saying and given the weeks of COVID-19 led lockdown, it’s not surprising to see businesses being hit by sagging sales are getting creative. This creativity includes leveraging Tematica’s Digital Lifestyle investing theme and in the case of 7 Eleven, it also means tapping into our Guilty […]

Yesterday US investors were surprised to see the market suddenly drop around midday, the Dow falling almost 400 points at one point, with no one clear, obvious catalyst. The suspected culprit was a report of new coronavirus cases at a Beijing hospital combined with other reports of the outbreak accelerating outside of China. The coronavirus […]

Recently I touched on the several new additions to the S&P Dow Jones Dividend Aristocrats, a group of S&P 500 constituents that have increased their dividends for at least 25 years. Now, I am circling back to the latest dividend payment from an existing Aristocrat: PepsiCo (PEP) . Widely known for its products that include Pepsi, Lays, […]

The main equity indices closed mostly in the green in Asia today after China cut its 1-year loan prime rate (LPR) by ten basis points and its 5-year by five basis points. This move comes after the People’s Bank of China had earlier cut the rate on $28.65 billion worth of 1-year medium-term lending facility […]

The major equity indices in Asia bounced back from their recent slides shrugging off a growing list of companies warning over the impact of the coronavirus as all but the Shanghai composite closed in the green today. By midday, the main European equity indices were also in the green and US equity futures point to […]

Last Friday we noted traders would likely take a cautious stance heading into the long weekend that saw US equity markets closed yesterday in observation of Presidents’ Day and we were correct in our thinking as stocks gave back most of their gains to finish the day little changed. That concern proved to be on […]

One of the time-tested strategies for investors is buying companies with an increasing dividend policy. To say it is one of the most loved and most watched strategies would be something of an understatement given the incremental income it generates for investors and the $6.7 billion in assets held by ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats […]

Love may be the theme for today’s Valentine’s day, but the markets are mostly feeling, “I think I’ll just throw on my comfy sweats, grab a pint of ice cream and go for a Netflix marathon.” Or maybe that’s just us. Yesterday investors continued to reassess risk concerning COVID-19, leaving the major US indices little changed. […]

Stocks continued to shrug off concerns over the coronavirus and kicked into high-gear risk-on mode. The Nasdaq 100 and Nasdaq Composite both hit new all-time highs. The VIX dropped 10% yesterday alone and the yield on the US 10-year rose 7 basis points. Absent from the party were WTI crude, which fell another 1% to […]

Yesterday the major indices reversed a bit of the decline since fears over the coronavirus began. The Nasdaq 100 lead the major US indices, gaining 1.5%, the Nasdaq Composite 1.3%, the S&P 500 0.7% and the Dow 30 0.5% while the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) lost 4.6%. The oil market continues to suffer with estimates that China’s oil […]

First off, after a nail biter of a game heading into half time, the Kansas City Chiefs dominated the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl LIV.  Before the game, the AFC and the NFC were tied for Super Bowl victories at 27 each. The last time both conferences had the same number of wins was […]

As we get ready to close the books on January, gains in equities earlier in the month have come under pressure as the coronavirus continues to expand. Earlier today China’s National Health Commission confirmed there have been 9,692 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 213 deaths, but reports suggest the virus has reached at least […]

In yesterday’s Daily Markets note, your authors shared that as equity markets looked to shrug off the mounting coronavirus news, our suspicion that we had yet to see the real fallout on economic growth and earnings expectations. It would seem we were correct in that thinking. Overnight economists updated their forecasts in an attempt to […]

As your authors commented to each other when discussing yesterday’s market rebound following the coronavirus inspired sell-off on Monday – “that didn’t last long!”  The Nasdaq 100 lead the rebound, gaining 1.6% on the day with the Nasdaq Composite a close second, up 1.4%. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.0% and […]

Despite the accelerating velocity for the current earnings season, markets remain focused on the rapidly spreading coronavirus which has surpassed 4,500 cases in China and led China to restrict travel to Hong Kong as the death toll tops 100. Some 60 million are under travel restrictions in China, and select countries, including Indonesia and the […]

Which stocks and sectors could see the most pressure today with Coronavirus spreading? Tematica’s Chris Versace joins Jay Coulter’s The Resilient Advisor Podcast to discuss that and discuss the week ahead’s economic data and earnings reports to watch. Click here to view the episode  

Investors are starting the week off with itchy fingers as they look to assess the growing impact of the coronavirus. As we write today’s Daily Markets note, roughly 2,800 people in China have been infected and 80 killed by the disease, and infections also reported in Europe and the US.  In response, Hong Kong has […]

Despite a rough start yesterday, the major US equity indices managed to close little changed after the World Health Organization (WHO) calmed rising fears around the coronavirus coming out of China. The WHO’s declaration that coronavirus is not a global emergency helped travel stocks such as American Airlines (AAL) and United Airlines (UAL) rebound. In contrast to the WHO, however, yesterday the Centers for […]

Despite a rather volatile session yesterday, stocks ended basically flat but well off their intraday highs. That said, the Nasdaq 100 is up nearly 40% YoY and up nearly 120% over the past four years. While many are comparing today’s markets to those of the late 1990s, your authors included, the Nasdaq 100 rose over 600% […]

The major US equity indices all closed in the red yesterday on the news that the Center for Disease Control identified the first case of coronavirus in the US – a traveler from China was diagnosed in Seattle. Shares of Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) lost 6.2% and 5.3% respectively on concerns that the increasingly global outbreak […]

Coming off the Martin Luther King holiday for which the US markets were closed yesterday, shares in Hong Kong led losses in Asia after Moody’s cut its rating for the city from Aa2 to Aa3 on Monday; there are also concerns over a new strain of coronavirus in China just as Lunar New Year holiday travel heats up. As we write […]

Many of the major US equity indices hit new all-time highs again yesterday, pretty standard at this point in 2020. After just 11 trading days in the new year, the S&P 500has already hit five all-time highs and yesterday moved past the 3,300 level for the first time, which has the index once again flirting with […]

One day after the US and China inked their phase one trade agreement, Asian equity indices finished on a mixed note, and European equities are also mixed while US equity futures point to a positive open as investors dig into and attempt to digest the eight-part, 96-page agreement. The long and short of it is there […]

Today is the day many have been waiting for as China and the US are expected to officially ink their phase one trade deal later this morning. In a potential “buy the rumor, sell the news moment,” Asian equities finished the day lower, and European equity indices are currently mixed, but little changed as are US equity […]

Today kicks off December quarter earnings season with earnings for the S&P 500 expected to have declined by 2% in the December quarter according to FactSet. If earnings do in fact contract during the December quarter, it will be the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year net income declines for the S&P 500. Despite this, the index managed to […]

This cybersecurity company will likely draw you in with its special $12 dividend, and then keep you for a while. In the last few days, NortonLifeLock (NLOK), the company formerly known as Symantec before selling its enterprise business to Broadcom (AVGO), announced a $12 per share special dividend. Before discussing that eye-popping special dividend, let’s […]

Last Friday stocks gave back all their earlier gains to leave the major US equity indices lower on the day. The major indices took a hit on Friday in response to the December Employment Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed nonfarm payrolls rose just 145k in December, well below expectations for 160k […]

The S&P 500 set a new intraday high and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high yesterday as investors breathed a sigh of relief and unclenched following President Trump’s statement that he would tighten sanctions on Iran – which would remain in place “until Iran changes its behavior” — rather than use military […]

Yesterday stocks tried to shake off the stress of the rising conflict between the US-Iran, but all the majority equity indices closed in the red. Early this morning US stock market futures dropped on the news that more than a dozen ballistic missiles were launched from Iran at two military bases in Iraq that host […]

The flight to safety trade reversed mid-day yesterday and is continuing this morning even though Bloomberg is reporting Iran considering thirteen response scenarios to the death of Qassem Soleimani. President Trump yesterday threatened 52 sites for retaliation against Iran, including some of cultural significance, and sanctions on Iraq. Mr. Market is back to being unimpressed. Asian equities closed […]

Who would have guessed back in December that the US-China trade war, which utterly dominated market headlines, would be pushed to the back-burner by threats between the US and Iran lobbed back and forth across Twitter? We are pretty sure Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey did not imagine his creation being used by the President as a […]

The seemingly unstoppable upward movement of equity markets may have met its match last night. Yesterday, the first day of trading in 2020, saw the Nasdaq 100 rise 1.6%, the Nasdaq Composite gain 1.3%, the Dow 1.2%, and the S&P 500 0.8% driven in large part by the news that China’s central bank cut reserve […]

As 5G fires up across the nation and beyond, this chip-maker will likely be called on to let phones connect to new and old generations of networks. As the smartphone market has matured, it has become increasingly tied to replacement demand. Look at these statistics: As of December 2019, there are 5.175 billion unique mobile […]

Welcome to the first day of trading in 2020! Equity markets in Asia finished the day mixed with markets in Japan and New Zealand closed. The major stock indices in Europe were mostly in the green by midday trading except for Switzerland and Russia while US equity futures indicate positive moves at the open. Even […]

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen and Abbott Labs all recently raised their dividends and should prosper amid the aging population. One of my investment themes, as I look for structural changes tied to the evolving economic, demographic, technological and psychographic landscapes, is the Aging of the Population. It’s no secret that several countries are experiencing a demographic […]

The equity markets have now been closing higher for five consecutive days, marking the longest winning streak since… wait for it…  November. This is giving investors the usual Christmas rally after last year’s brutal lump of December coal. While yesterday did technically see a higher close for the major indices, it was only by a smidgen […]

As investors get ready to close the books on 2019, we will, of course, review those stocks that beat the S&P 500’s year-to-date return. Those winning stocks go hand-in-hand with the common investor phrase “generating alpha.” One of those alpha generators is… Read more here

Yesterday major US indices rose to new highs in the fourth day of positive closes, but your authors here remain traumatized after coffee futures rose 7%, the biggest rally for the commodity since 2015. The coffee market panic was driven by an off-cycle crop year in Brazil coupled with strong global demand – perhaps all those late-night […]

Over the weekend we had confirmation of the phase-one trade deal between the US and China, which is putting equity markets is in a risk-on kind of mood as we head into the last full week of trading of 2019. Asian equities closed mixed on the day, while European equities are trading higher. US futures point to […]

This is the last full week of trading in 2019 as the markets will slow considerably after that given the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Following Friday’s developments that have likely taken a meaningful amount of uncertainty out of the market, odds are investors will once again turn to assess the speed of the global […]

Santa came a tad earlier than usual this year, giving investors what they wanted most – a reduction in geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in liquidity – but is it all as it appears? Click here to read more including key economic data for the day and stocks making headlines and other news.

Everybody loves getting a present, be it an expected or unexpected one, and we are certainly in the present-giving time of year. For investors, the unexpected present could be a surge in the share price of one of their holdings, a larger-than-expected dividend increase or, in some very special instances, a special dividend. Special dividends […]

Today is all about the Fed, which, ironically, is expected to do nothing and leave rates unchanged. The major equity markets in Asia closed mixed today without much movement in either direction. By midday trading, the major European equity markets were also mixed and again lacking significant moves. US equity futures are mixed this morning with little movement predicted at […]

This is a quaint idea, but as the data published by ShopperTrak for Black Friday 2019  showed there is no putting the digital shopping genie back in the bottle, especially not after companies like Target and Walmart have ramped up their digital commerce efforts to battle Amazon. Some holiday traditions are easy to explain — […]

Yes, all good things do come to an end and that means an end to the Tematica Investing newsletter.

The Tematica Research Cleaner Living Index, which captures those companies benefitting from the shift to better for you products and services, cleaned up in 3Q 2019 compared to all the major US stock market indices.

Today’s Big Picture US market futures point to a modestly lower open Friday morning. After the disappointing manufacturing and services data this week, all eyes will be on today’s Nonfarm Payrolls report, which is expected to see 145,000 jobs added in September, up from 130,000 in August with the unemployment rate holding at 3.7% and wages gaining […]

Today’s Big Picture Barring any new developments on the trade wars or impeachment inquiry front, investors are focused on the release of September services data for the US and Europe. Has the weakness in manufacturing around the world expanded has into services? Stocks in Asia again were in the red today on news that the US will […]

As we get ready for the September quarter earnings season, we’re taking a look at how the September quarter faired.

In this week’s issue we are adding a new Digital Lifestyle position to the Select List, one that is benefitting from the shift in how consumers pay. We also touch on one of the first 2019 holiday shopping forecasts that is very favorable for this new Select List resident as well as a few other Tematica choices. We’ll also use the pullback in our new Living the Life Thematic Leader to improve the average cost basis.

Get ready for the market day ahead with the latest developments that will impact the economy and the stockmarket.

As the stock market and investors wait for the Fed’s upcoming monetary policy meeting and any additional US-China trade developments, we’re adding a new Thematic Leader for our Living the Life investing theme. We also share what investors are likely to focus on in the week ahead, and why the August Retail Sales report was rather confirming from a thematic perspective.

On this episode of the Thematic Signals podcast, Tematica’s Chris Versace breaks down the latest trade developments (including why he doesn’t think a two-step deal is likely) and discusses the European Central Bank rate cut before shares his thoughts on the continued plight of brick & mortar retail as Forever 21 is slated to file […]

In this week’s issue we dig into Apple’s 2019 iPhone event (yeah it was largely expected, but there were a few positives too), why we think Elliot Management is wrong about AT&T’s media play, how Volkswagen is about to disrupt the electric vehicle market, why a new California law could wreak havoc on Uber and Lyft, and why it’s likely game over for GameStop.

Here at Tematica, one of the things we like more than anyone of our investing themes is when two or more of them intersect as it forms a super-theme of sorts. We’ve seen numerous examples over the last several quarters, but there are also times when the tailwind of one of our themes presents a […]

Thematic Signals Podcast: Fixed Income View of Today's Market

On this episode of the Thematic Signals podcast, host Chris Versace is joined by Peter Tchir, who is the Head of Macro Strategy at Academy Securities who provides his fixed income perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the current market.

In this week’s issue we recap the August stock market turbulence and share why it is more than likely going to continue in September, which is historically the worst month for the stock market. We establish a cover price for our short position in Veeco Instruments and examine recent Cleaner Living M&A moves by The Hershey Company.

With comments on trade offering a conflicting perspective, investors should continue to focus on the data, which continues to point to a slowing global. While trade related posturing will likely continue, we will look to focus on the details of any would be trade deal. Following D23 2019, we are boosting our price target on DIS shares. Also, here’s what you should be watching during this last week of summer.

From Greenland (what was that all about?) to a serious escalation in the trade war, politics are making for a Magic 8-Ball Market.

In this issue of Thematic Investing, we dig into the July Retail Sales Report as well as the issues that confounded the stock market last week. We examine what to watch in the week ahead during the dog days of summer that brings seasonally low trading volumes. We also examine what happens when a company slashes its dividend, and it’s not good news at all.

On this episode of the Thematic Signals podcast, we’re digging into the July Retail Sales and quarterly earnings results from Walmart as both confirm the hard-blowing tailwinds associated with our Digital Lifestyle, Middle-Class Squeeze, Aging of the Population and Cleaner Living Investing themes.

Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes. Here’s are several notable pieces from the last few days.

As we saw last week, trade and geopolitics are likely to take center stage as the bulk of the June quarter earnings season is in the rear view mirror. While retail earnings are still ahead of us, odds are both trade and geopolitical issues will keep the market rangebound near-term as it contends with a big ball of uncertainty. Our response will be to ferret out thematically well positioned companies with inelastic business models that are dividend payers.

Investors need to be watching the moves in the dollar closely, look for those companies with strong balance sheets and cash flows and consider increasing liquidity. The next few months (at least) are likely to be a bumpy ride.

Dr. Roy Speiser of CWR Environmental Products joins this week to discuss the environmental abuse, industrial greed and governmental neglect that has led to the harsh reality that our water supply is not as clean or as safe as we think it is.

In this week’s earlier than usual issue we sum up what hit the stock market last week and where it means the herd will likely head in the near-term. The good news is, we are already there with a number of Thematic Leader and Tematica Select List holdings. We also touch on the key data to watch this week, as well as call out a confirming article in the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek that speaks to the coming streaming video war that could change one of the playing fields associated with our Digital Lifestyle investing theme.

This week is probably the busiest one in some time as we have a seas of corporate earnings and economic data coming at us, not to mention the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting at which it is widely expected to cut rates. And I’ll tell you why I’m not feeling so bad about being stopped out of Netflix shares.

When economies and markets are near a turning point, often the headlines tell a very different story than is revealed by digging deeper into the data – you can’t judge a book by its cover.

A look at the thematic outlook we can piece together from the flow of earnings reports we’ve received thus far, including what’s moving Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), International Airlines Group (ICAGY), IBM (IBM), Netflix (NFLX), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) and the impact of spending on cybersecurity.

We are in the early stages of the June 2019 quarterly earnings season, and yes, there are disappointments to be had. The economic data continues to point to a slowing economy, and expectation related concerns for the second half of 2019 remain. We are boosting our stop loss on Costco Wholesale shares, and Axon Enterprises catches a nice win.

In the 1976 motion picture, All the President’s Men, the catchphrase “Follow the Money” was coined. It was the advice given by the Deep Throat character as reporters Woodward and Bernstein looked to uncover the scandal that came out of the Watergate break-in. When it comes to thematic investing, the same advice should be heeded. Very […]

Central bankers around the world are opening the stimulus flood gates, markets celebrate and all is good with the world… or is it?

The domestic stock market stared the September quarter giving back some of the June gains as concerns over Fed interest rate cut prospects and the June quarter earnings season weighed on investors. Heading into that, the Thematic Leaders and Select List positions have several strong performers year to date. In particular, we will continue to hold AT&T and Universal Display shares. Finally, we recap the first half return for the Tematica Research Cleaner Living Index.

On this episode of the Thematic Signals podcast, Tematica’s Chris Versace gets investors and corporate leaders ready for what Fed Chairman Powell may do at this week’s semi-annual testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee.

“Retailers closed a record 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then smashed that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet, according to estimates by the commercial real-estate firm CoStar Group.” And that’s before Amazon unveiled the shift in its Prime service to one-day from two-day shipping. In short order, […]

To date the majority of conversation around 5G mobile network deployments has been in the U.S., as once again Verizon and AT&T battle over whose network will be the best. In the past, the eurozone has blazed the next generation of mobile technology due in part to both Ericsson and Nokia being housed there. But […]

Chris Versace digs into what investors should be watching in the month of July, in particular, the potential for the Fed to NOT cut interest rates at its July monetary policy meeting, and for earnings guidance to be softer than Wall Street is expecting.

Key points inside this issue  June quarter earnings season could reset second half expectations  Introducing the Tematica Research Cleaner Living Index Setting protective stop loss levels for the Select List  We are issuing a Sell rating and removing both AXT Inc. (AXTI) and Energous Corp. (WATT) shares from the Select List  And the data continues […]

As we get ready to enter the second half of 2019, we will see several streaming video services launching, including the high profile ones from Disney and Apple, with more to follow in the coming quarters. No surprise as consumers flock to that aspect of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, preferring to watch what they […]

As consumers continue to shift to digital shopping, a key stool in our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, we are not only seeing more companies embrace the direct to consumer (D2C) business model, but we are also seeing more digital shopping solutions for those companies come to market. Internet shopping platform company Shopify is doing just […]

There are weeks when sitting down to write this piece is tough because not much worthy of note has happened in the markets or the economy outside of the usual noise. This week, that was most definitely not the case. Thank God it is Friday – we all need a break. New Market Highs and […]

Using Options to Protect Yourself in an Uncertain Market

On this episode of the Thematic Signals podcast, Tematica’s Chris Versace is joined by Bob Lang, founder of and Chief Options Trader at Explosive Options, to talk all options and options strategies, including how an investor can use them to protect themselves in an uncertain stock market. While we focus on thematics, Bob focuses on charts and technical analysis to chart his way for both the market and his options trades.

Today we have Fed Wednesday and all eyes will be watching not only what the Fed says but how it says it when it comes to what’s next for monetary policy. Odds are the Fed will wait until it knows the fallout from the G20 summit, but investors are already bracing for an ugly next few weeks. This is prompting us to revisit stop loss levels for the Thematic Leaders.

Sal Gilbertie of Teucrium Trading joins the Thematic Signals Podcast and shares how investors should think about commodities across the 5 to 7-year cycle and why the upcoming G20 summit could serve as another catalyst for commodity prices to move higher.

Man showing electronic flight ticket

It’s long been thought that you leave home with four things – keys, money, wallet and your phone. Over time that thought process has shifted due to digital locks and payment systems to just your wallet and phone. We here at Tematica have been wondering for some time when personal identification, be it an identity card, […]

Poshmark is a company that from the get to has embraced the digital shopping aspect of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, enabled consumers to both earn additional income as they monetize their closets and score fashionable finds at favorable prices versus buying them new off the store rack. Over the years, we’ve had the company […]

Near-term bad news is good news for the stock market but we run the risk of the market over pricing in a Fed rate cut in the near-term. The key the Fed will likely be watching will be the upcoming trade meeting. Also, with GDP expectations coming down, we see more risk in EPS expectations that have yet to really follow that move lower. As the streaming video market is poised to get more competitive in the second half of 2019, we are adding a stop loss to Netflix shares.

As we brace for the second half of 2019, the growing battle between streaming video services will be joined by one for streaming gaming services. Already Apple has announced its own streaming gaming platform – Apple Arcade – and now we have the formal launch of Google’s Stadia streaming service in November. We can also […]

The markets bet big on Central Bank intervention as labor markets and economic activity overall slows amidst rising geopolitical risks. Plus, we have definitive proof we’ve hit the peak of the economic cycle.

Trade worries continue to escalate stoking uncertainty in the process and raising investor concerns. This has led the major market indices to leak year to date gains, but we have yet to see the trade and tariff impact be factored into earnings and growth expectations for the second half of 2019. As that happens in the coming weeks, the market waters are likely to remain choppy at best. We’ll continue to heed the thematic signals that have guide our thematic investing lens that has allowed the bulk of the thematic leaders to shine so far in 2019.

As we wind up the most recent barrage of quarterly earnings, we are being left with a sour taste in our collective mouths thanks to retailers, particularly those focused on apparel. While some data points to those mall-based retailers, like The Gap being hard hit, other data suggests retailers are not matching consumer preferences either for […]

Welcome to the Thematic Signals podcast, where we look to distill everyday noise into clear investing signals using our thematic lens and our 10 investing themes. Every week we not only discuss key events that are shaping the stock market, but we also look at key sign posts for the changing economic, demographic, psychographic, and […]

In the United States over 80% of households enjoy broadband internet access, a fact that many of us take for granted and as we stream media to our TV’s and other devices and install IoT devices in an attempt to achieve the perfectly “connected home”.  Of course, no country has reached the heights of South […]

With trade and economic uncertainty remaining in focus for the stock market, we are addding a defensive thematic position in AT&T shares to the Select List given the sticky mobile busines, 6.3% dividend yield and the pending valuation transformation to be had with WarnerMedia. Retailers continue to be in headwind hotwater with two of our investing themes, and Gap specific decision puts its dividend at risk. That has us adding a Gap put position at Tematica Options+ this week.

While the markets are obsessing over the latest trade war headlines, few are watching what really matters . . . and it affects everyone.

As expected, US-China trade has once again taken center stage, and with prospects likey stalled in the short-term, it means the market is once again sitting on trade pins and needles. Meanwhile fresh data show the economy is slowing considerably compared to the March quarter, and odds are investors will start to question June quarter EPS expectations and the market’s current valuation. With President Trump dropping the hammer on Chinese telecom company Hauwei, we discuss the impact to the Thematic Leaders and Select List residents.

The gaming market is already dwarfing the movie box office and as we’ve seen in the social media space and year ago in the internet space, eyeballs drive revenue. This is leading gaming companies to recruit popular gamers to help drive awareness of their latest games much the way consumer product companies are utilizing social media […]

The market has embraced a new round of uncertainty as US-China trade took a route few were expecting just a few weeks ago. New rounds of tariffs have amped up trade talk tensions while leading investors to once again question growth expectations for the economy and earnings.

Several of us here at Tematica have been waiting for the day when banks would recognize that if they embraced our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, the bank branch would one day go the way of the cassette tape – a fond memory of a bygone era. While banks have made strides over the years between […]

We see this every month in the Retail Sales report and almost every week in our everyday lives – consumers continue to flock to digital shopping – and that is spurring demand for distribution centers and warehouses as well as workers to fill them. As Amazon looks to expand not only the reach of its […]

While the “experts” claim the economy is booming and the bull market is solid, we see the emperor does not have new clothes.

This week another Art of the Deal salvo from President Trump brought volatility back in the market as US-China trade talk concerns erupted. We suspect this is part of some late stage negotiating strategy by Trump to win extra concessions from China, but we need to see how trade talks progress this week to see what happens next. Also this week, the European Union once again trimmed its 2019 growth prospects and following its March quarter earnings we are removing Del Frisco’s shares from the Thematic Leaders.

As the March quarter earnings season wears on, we’ve got some updates to share on several thematic leaders and select list residents. We also puzzle through the latest economic data, which despite the eye popping initial March quarter GDP print suggest the global economy is on a slowing path. With a choppy earnings market, we’re sitting out from making a new options call this week, waiting for the choppy waters to calm before putting capital to work in either long or short option positions.

This morning we received the first estimate for Q1 2019 GDP, and it looked at first glance to be considerably better than was expected with the economy expanding at a 3.2% annual pace versus consensus expectations for 2.3% and growth of 2.2% in Q4 2018. Just don’t break out the champagne quite yet as right away we see reasons to dig deeper.

This week we go from the frying pan into the earnings season fire with 30% of the S&P 500 companies report their quarterly results. This will offer a number of thematic data points, as we illustrate with the results from Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, Twitter and Verizon. We also chew on the conflicting signals between the Retail Sales and Housing data for March. The answer to that leads us to add a call option position in Home Depot shares at Tematica Options+.

News coming out of Bentonville, AR this week details a series of store enhancements and renovations to 500 Walmart stores in the coming years. As we read through the discount retailer’s plans, the “ding” buttons were going off in our heads as many of them directly touch upon our investment themes. At a reported total cost of $11 billion, these plans are set to have a major impact on both store operations and the customer experience of shoppers. Here is a quick rundown of what we learned.

Ahead of the Easter holiday week, we have a jam packed issue as we review some of the latest economic data and breakdown the IMF’s recent downward revision for its 2019 GDP forecast. And yes, earning season is almost upon us. Before that, we have Disney’s annual Investor Day at which it will formally debut its streaming service Disney+. We also visit with Middle Class Squeeze Thematic Leader Costco Wholesale (COST) following blow out March quarter same-store sales. And eMarketer gives us reasons to be positive on Alphabet/Google as well as Thematic King Amazon. At Options+, we will continue to hold our short position in Veeco Instruments as well as our inverse call option position as earnings season gets underway.

Walmart is teaming with Alphabet Inc. to take the grocery fight via voice ordering to Amazon and its Whole Foods, Alexa combination. In a blog post, Walmart shared that starting this month, customers would be able to grocery shop through the Google Assistant by saying, “Hey, Google, talk to Walmart.” This seems like a positive […]

In June of 2018, Amazon (AMZN) acquired Pillpack as its first significant move into the health care space through with its online pharmacy that lets customers buy medications in pre-made doses. Just this week, the internet giant announced that its Echo device — viewed as a critical “trojan horse” across more and more spaces — […]

As we close the books on the barn burning March quarter for stocks, risks remain as we head into the March quarter earnings season. A number of Thematic Leaders delivered outsized returns during the March quarter, and we recap several positions that have been in the news including Apple, Universal Display and others.

At the intersection of our Connected Society and Disruptive Innovators investing themes sits those companies that will turn the datafication of our lives into actionable information.

Airbnb continues to experience high growth as it benefits from the tailwinds of our Connected Society and Middle-Class Squeeze investment themes.

One might think that today’s Digital Lifestyle would have lead to an overall reduction in traffic on the roads as more folks work for home or in their leisure time choose to stream movies via Netflix (NFLX) and order food via food delivery services. That notion couldn’t be further from reality however. According to new data from […]

Geopolitics continue to provide an oversized degree of uncertainty as the C suite is increasingly concerned we will experience a recession before the close of 2020. With so many unknowns, focusing on what we do know reveals significant risks.

We continue to recevie more signs of a slowing global economy that along with other factors looks to be setting up a rocky March quarter earnings season. We continue to think investors should have some downside protection in their holdings for at least the next several weeks.

For UPS, Amazon’s has success has been a bit of a dilemma for the package delivery service. On one hand, there has been a drastic increase in its package delivery demands, while on the other, Amazon appears to be actively encroaching on UPS’ business model as it continues to expand its own logistics operations, even down […]

With the stock market seemingly once again ignoring the growing risks that could lead to a rocky March quarter earnings season, we are making sure subscribers have downside protection amid their holdings.

Tematica Research Context and Perspectives

The early equity market strength in 2019 has many on financial television claiming we are off to the races yet again (shock) but taking a step back and looking at both the internals of the markets and the longer-term economic and geopolitical trends, we see more signs of weakness and rising risks.

Walmart is joining the ranks of the tablet market, which comes at a time when some device owners are balking at the increasing price points for smartphones. This tablet, which will have a price point that is very friendly with cash strapped consumers associated with our Middle-class Squeeze investing theme, leverages Chinese manufacturing and the […]

The construction and weighting of the indices that power the major market indices as well as ETFs make all the difference as highlighted by Boeing’s current 737 aircraft issues.

The driver for the market so far this week has been retail and Boeing, and we tackle what’s going on with both. We’re adding a new Disruptive Innovator to the Select List and holding steady with Del Frisco shares following good earnings, but not a word on its strategic initiatives.

Last week’s economic data confirms the global economy continues to slow, and for now, the US remains the best economy on the block. Through the first two months of 2019, the domestic stock market has been on fire even as earnings expectations and dividends continue to be cut. As earnings season fades, time to watch insider selling activity to gauge what lies ahead. Following last week’s earnings report and subsequent drop, we’re doubling down on a Digital Infrastructure Thematic Leader.

Spinning out of Mobile World Congress 2019, an annual mobile event that tends to see a number of announcements each year, perhaps the biggest news on the 5G front is found in one of the smallest devices that you’ll probably never see. These strips could help solve the coverage and range issues associated with 5G […]

Liquidity Trumps Fundamentals in The March 1 edition of Context and Perspectives

Equity markets have once again diverged materially from fundamentals as the perception of the central bank put from the world’s biggest economies overrides fundamentals. I’ve been admittedly surprised by how long this has been going on and how wide the divergence has become, but we are seeing now seeing substantial overhead resistance level for the S&P 500 at a time when challenging fundamentals are growing.

The end of February was a painful month for consumers. Not only did we learn that Personal Income fell in January, marking the first such decline in a number of months, but there will soon be fewer locations for consumers to spend. As I discussed on a recent Cocktail Investing podcast, we continue to see […]

In this week’s issue, we dig into the latest shareholder letter from Warren Buffett, examine the growing number of dividend cuts and other factors make the year to date melt up in the stock market something of a head-scratcher. That best performance in 20+ years hinges on a successful trade deal with China, but there are other factors that we need to examine so we don’t fall prey to a “buy the rumor, sell the news” scenario. We recap the sharp move in Universal Display shares following its latest earnings report and touch on favorable news emanating from Mobile World Congress 2019 for Nokia.

As we enter Mobile World Congress 2019, arguably the mobile event of the year, 5G network and device launch details are coming into greater focus. Verizon is taking the early lead in the US staking out 5G to 30 cities in the US by the end of 2019. Of course, 30 cities is hardly national […]

A few days ago we ran across a story that probably didn’t make headlines in too many places. Here at Tematica, however, it was quickly shared with the team because it perfectly depicts the coming together of two of our investment themes: The New Global Middle Class and the Digital Lifestyle. Here is part of […]

Another week of the stock market melting up as December quarter issues continue to fall the wayside. Yet, companies continue to serve up weaker guidance leading earnings expectations to fall. There are fresh concerns over the speed of the domestic economy, which continues to look like the best one on the economic block. We break down recent positive data for Amazon, Google, and Costco Wholesale, and discuss what’s ahead with Universal Display and Mobile World Congress 2019.

Mexico looks to mobile payment systems to lift people out of poverty.

Context & Perspectives on the Market and Economy for February 15 2019 by Lenore Hawkins of Tematica Research

  The market is now back in a bullish mood that is driven primarily by the “not gonna happen” news flow hopes. Rate hike? Not gonna happen. Government shutdown repeat? Not gonna happen. China trade war escalation? Not gonna happen. The question is, just how long can the “not gonna happen” hopes keep pumping hot […]

As we approach the halfway market for the current quarter, stocks continued to rally as December quarter concerns appear to melt away. While the market is hopeful, we will continue to focus on the details and nitty-gritty. Several Thematic Leaders continue to trounce the market and upcoming economic data should put some favorable context around Costco Wholesale (COST) shares. With Middle-class Squeeze consumers struggling, we take a look at LendingClub (LC) shares.

We view today’s sharp drop in the shares of USA Technologies (USAT) that comes on the back of what we see as no new developments in the Board’s previously announced accounting investigation as an opportunity to improve our cost basis in teh shares. Not should we not be surprised by the resignation of its auditors, one would have expected it several weeks ago. Moreover, the revenue called into question is a modest amount vs. reported revenue for the quarters in question.

The US stock market rallied in January and continues to move higher in February even as earnings expectations for the market continue to slump. While caution is warranted near-term, opportunities are emerging with Thematic King Amazon being a shining example. A Board additional to Living the Life company Del Frisco’s signals it is seriously evaluating takeover bids.

We recently published a Thematic Signal in which we discussed the comment from Netflix management why it isn’t so worried about HBO, but rather Fortnite. If there was any doubt it was put to rest in the form a recent live concert held inside Fortnite that drew “25 times as many people that attended Woodstock in […]

We inherently know that we as people are spending more time online shopping, streaming, communicating and the like. So much so that Apple and others have built tools to tell us as individuals how much time we are spending chewing through data. A new study puts some context and perspective around what that looks like […]

Tematica Research Context and Perspectives for Feb 1 2019: What if Everyone Is Looking the Wrong Way?

Over the past few months, the investing markets have considered Federal Reserve Chairman Powell enemy number one. Earlier this week the markets once again showed that America’s central bank drives sentiment more than any other factor, forget trade wars, forget earnings, forget political drama, it is the Fed and only the Fed that matters. Investing is all about finding an inflection point, where the market is wrong – pricing an asset too high or too low, believing a policy to be beneficial when it isn’t or vice versa. Given the ubiquitous nature of the belief that the Fed is the central bank that really matters to the market, what if that supposition is wrong? What if everyone is looking in the wrong direction with the wrong set of expectations?

The market catches a positive breather following Apple’s not as bad as it could have been December quarter earnings report. We still have several hundred reports to go, and the preponderance of companies are issuing weaker than expected guidance. As we navigate upcoming reports and puzzle what they mean for 2019 earnings expectation, the Fed will emerge from its latest monetary policy meeting today, and later this week we should learn how the latest round of US-China trade talks went. Verizon is bulls up on 5G, and that along with issues for China mobile company Huawei as well as bullish earnings report from Ericsson pave the way for a solid one from Disruptive Innovator Leader Nokia.

While China’s economy may be slowing now, the long-term implications associated with our Living the Life, Rise of the New Middle-class and Digital Lifestyle investing themes in that market will continue to be felt. Even if China’s economy slows to something between 5%-6%, the economic reality is it will continue to grow far faster than […]

As earnings expectations get cut for the first half of 2019, we remove Altria (MO) from the Thematic Leaders and discuss takeout speculation on USA Technologies. With earnings season kicking into high gear over the next week, volatility is likely to ensue and that keeps us on the sidelines this week.

We can pretty much agree the Digital Lifestyle tailwind continues to change consumer behavior and shake up how companies do things. Early on it was with commodity items – books, CDs, DVDs, and the like – but as consumer became increasingly comfortable with digital shopping and the quick delivery times, the kinds of products they are […]

Within its December quarter earnings comments, Netflix shared something that caught a number of folks off guard. I’m talking about this comment from the company’s latest quarterly investor letter in particular: “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO.” Let’s deal with the HBO part of the comment first. HBO has developed a […]

As the Market Bounces Off Oversold Conditions, Is this the start of another bull run?

So far in 2019, we are seeing a reversal of the heavily oversold conditions from the end of 2018. Those stocks that were hit the hardest in 2018 are materially outperforming the broader market in 2019. The fundamentals, however, both domestically and internationally are not giving us reason to think that this bounce is the start of another major bull run. With all the uncertainty out there, despite the market’s recent “feel good” attitude, we expect to see rising volatility in the months to come as these problems are not going to be easily sorted out.

Earlier this week, we discussed how Pizza Hut will be digging deeper into our Guilty Pleasure tailwind by expanding its offering to include the delivery of beer. Today, we have Domino’s Pizza sharing that it looks to deliver significant growth as it expands its footprint. The details are below, but with expansion in India and […]

Several new findings confirm what we have been observing over the last several quarters – the continued whittling down for the usage of cash. There is little question given the data that a key driver of this is the accelerating shift toward digital shopping be it delivered or picked up by the buyer at a locker or store location. The […]

The December quarter earnings season is upon us, and those reports have started on a decidedly mixed front. We’ve gotten more data pointing to a slowing economy, and the government shutdown continues. As we wait for the pace of earnings reports to move into high gear, the second half of 2018 was home to a number of thematically inspired M&A, and odds are more will be had in 2018. We add back USAT shares to the Tematica Select List and review several of the Thematic Leaders.

It’s not only the pace of the smartphone market that is slowing here in the US, so is the rate at which we are downloading apps even though Apple’s App Store and Google Play remain dominant platforms. A new report shows that China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia are the driving force behind app downloads and […]

We have another sign that transformation is underway at the pharmacy, which over the years has morphed from pharmacy only to a mix of pharmacy, personal care products, and convenience store. Yes, I’ve been known to pick up holiday decorations and even some pre-movie candy. There has been another set of pivots, including the launch […]

Artificial Intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, smartphones, tablets, and cloud computing. These are the “sexy” Disruptive Innovators, Digital LIfestyle and Digitial Infrastructure theme gadgets that grab the headlines for the annual Consumer Electronics Show held each year in Las Vegas. What isn’t expected is the latest and greatest purchases we will make for Nana in 2019.

The thematic tailwinds associated with our 10 investment themes will continue to blow hard in 2019 and we will continue to focus on those companies that are capitalizing on those tailwinds and driving profit growth. In that light, we are using the market pullback to add to Axon Enterprises, the Safety & Security Thematic Leader, which will drop the cost basis considerably.

For much of the past decade, the Clicks vs Bricks battle has been playing out on the retail landscape of the country. The “Death of the Mall”, “Retailmageddon” — these are headline-grabbing phrases in the news on an almost daily basis. Some context and perspective is key however, and the retail landscape is a murky […]

Last night Apple fired an earnings flare across investor bows calling out the impact of not only the slowing global economy, and China’s in particular, but also the impact of the current US-China trade war. Those factors and several others are likely to weigh on corporate results and guidance to be had in the upcoming December quarter earnings season.

The stock market reacted badly to the Fed’s latest monetary policy statement, but in re-reading it, it looks to be the prudent move after all.

As we get ready for the quiet holiday weeks for the stock market, we recap Costco’s latest earnings report as well as dig into several economic ones. While the November Retail Sales report is positive for several Thematic Leaders and Select List positions, the overall report adds to the growing list of data that points to slower growth ahead. We also share what to watch this week in the markets.

Market dynamics are reflecting the increase in macro/political volatility across much of the world, but the headlines have yet to catch up with the primary drivers underlying the deep changes. In our previous Context & Perspective piece, I discussed how we are seeing a profound decline in the level of liquidity at a time when debt levels are back to record highs. This week is a highlight reel of warning signs in the context of those record levels of debt.

In this issue, investor anxiety continues and we’ll hang onto our short S&P 500 position. Del Frisco’s shares garner some activity attention, but the fundamentals remain intact. Plus, what we should be focusing on in the week ahead.

We’ve seen a pronounced pickup, as expected, in the shift to digital shopping that is one of the central aspects of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme. New research shows that shift is also serving as a spark for cyber attacks, increasing the risk of malicious activity that is a tailwind for cyber spending and our Safety & Security investing theme.  

Smartphone demand is expected to explode in India as more than 400 million new users come onstream in the next few years, which will drive several thematic tailwinds in the process.

We are adding some downside protection to our holdings even as Samsung draws a line in the 5G sand and that has us calling Nokia shares up to the Thematic Leaders from the Select List. We also add shares of Skyworks Solutions to the Contender’s List and address recent cannabis rumors surrounding Altria.

We’ve closed the books on a painful November, and while progress on the US-China trade front is popping the stock market today a number of issues remain that will likely come into focus as the relief rally fades. We recap the Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday holiday shopping, a boon for our Digital Lifestyle investing theme and discuss what investors should be watching this week as we kick off the last month of the trading year.

We are in the midst of major shifts in market dynamics. With risiing debt levels and falling liquidity we are seeing a headwind to EPS generation that investors and the multiples they assign to the stock market will have to contend with.

Cisco Systems says more traffic will be created in 2022 than in the first 32 years since the internet started. That’s a powerful tailwind for our Digital Infrastructure investing theme that is being led by our Digital Lifestyle and Disruptive Innovators investing themes. 

While we’ve witnessed the digital wallet explode in Asia, thus far it remains a rather fragmented nascent market here in the US. We’ve seen efforts by Apple, Google, PayPal, and others, but so far here in the US adoption of mobile payments remains low compared to that in Asia. Yes, there are some successes, like the […]

Apple is looking to overhaul electronic medical records, starting with 9 million veterans, which would not only expands its iPhone user base but make the device even stickier with consumers. We see it as a dynamic push-pull between our Digital Lifestyle and Digital Infrastructure investing themes.

Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the stock market continued to take several gut punches this week, which erased the market’s year to date gains. While we saw this coming, it’s still a tough pill to swallow, but we’ll be patient and prepared as we listen to the confirming data that are our Thematic Signals. Inside this issue, we chart the key items to watch over the coming days, including Black Friday to Cyber Monday, the upcoming Fed minutes and the G20 Summit face-off between the US and China. We also take a look at WATT shares.

The stock market continues to grapple with several headwinds across the geopolitical, economic and economic landscapes. Near-term the changing market mood will be challenging, but we continue to receive favorable signals that confirm our thematic approach.

After a brutal October, the market has managed to regain some of the ground it lost in the early days of November. But it is unusual for the S&P 500 to lose 10% or more twice in any given year. Going back roughly half a century, such double-dipping typically precedes or occurred in conjunction with a recession, (with the exception of 1987 which wasn’t much fun). Is this time different?

While we’re enjoying the post-mid-term election rebound in the market, several concerns remain and that means remaining cautious near-term. We’re also discussing earnings from Axon, Disney and Del Frisco’s as well as sharing what’s on ou radar screen for next week. Hint: Italy.

While Wall Street questions Apple’s earnings, we see its moves as very much in step with our Digital Lifestyle investing theme.

Our disruptive technology investing theme is pervading many aspects of the grocery industry from robotics to autonomous delivery vans, reinventing one of the oldest sectors of the economy.

This week we closed the books on the month of October, and what a month it was for the stock market. In short, the month of October wiped out most the market’s year to date gains as investors digested both September quarter earnings and updated guidance that spurred a re-think in top and bottom line expectations.

Mondelez often floats to the top of the conversation whenever we dig into our Guilty Pleasures investment theme — Cadbury Creme Eggs, Oreos,  Nutter Butters, Toblerone . . . these pieces of heaven here on earth are all part of the Mondelez empire and are perfect representatives of those products and services consumers will buy no matter what the economic environment. But at the same time, the snacking giant focuses its business around a core concept of “empowering people to snack right by offering the right snack, at the right time, in the right way” and that is why this new initiative announced by Mondelez caught our attention because it taps into three more of our investment themes

A successful shift to gaming content from hardware is driving Sony’s business higher.

As expected economic reality is catching up with the stock market, leading to another volatile week as investors reset expectations. With more of the same likely on tap next week, I’m sitting back and collecting earnings-related data points to update our investing mosaic using our thematic lens as the risk to reward in stock prices becomes more favorable.

October Buy-the-Dip Trick or Treat?

For months we have pointed out that US stocks have been outperforming the rest of the world and we warned that this earnings season would likely be a very bumpy ride as earnings would probably be decent, but guidance would not support the market’s multiples. Our concerns have proven warranted.

Retail companies, like Proctor & Gamble, are tapping into the changing needs and preferences of the aging population to jumpstart their growth prospects.

New findings from OC&C Strategy confirm the influence of Gen Z Chinese shoppers on the luxury goods market, a major aspect of our Living the Life investing theme

In a busy as well as volatile week, we continue to receive confirming data points for our investment themes and thematic holdings from a variety of sources including the September Retail Sales report as well as September quarter earnings reports and other events. This week we are scaling once again into our DFRG shares.

The growing Boomer population will have profound implications – both good and bad – for the housing market according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) and we could not agree more.

What we are currently seeing in the market is a symptom of a whole lot of leverage in equities that had been in rich territory at a time when, even though it is still moving along, signs abound that the economy is slowing. Is this a ‘buy the dip’ opportunity or is it just the […]

Soon to go public Revolve is embracing media influencers to drive sales, a strategy that leverages our Living the Life investing theme.

If we were only to read the headlines, one might think that cybersecurity is the only form of protection one needs these days. I’ll grant you that as we venture deeper into our Digital Lifestyle and Digital Infrastructure themes, odds are cybersecurity will play an increasing role, but there will still be other forms of […]

Retailers and other businesses are chewing through industrial space using it to ramp fulfillment center needs as they position themselves for digital shopping growth.

Following yesterday’s sharp selloff, we’re explaining the why behind it and what our battle plan will be over the coming days and weeks as corporate reporting for the September quarter kicks into high gear.

In this week’s packed issue of Tematica Investing, we are adding to our positions in Alibaba (BABA) and Del Frisco’s (DFRG), assessing the National Retail Federation’s 2018 Holiday Shopping Forecast, and previewing Costco’s (COST) earnings report that will hit after today’s market close.

Revisions to S&P’s Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) means big changes to mutual fund and ETF holdings that tracks one of several indices, but were these reclassifications outdated before they even launched?

Since the Great Recession, we’ve seen new auto sales rebound due in part to the attractive if not aggressive low to no interest financing. That’s helped mask the rising cost of buying a new car as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) ranging from Ford and General Motors to Volkswagen and Honda have packed connective technology and […]

We’ve got a full issue this week as we tackle the findings of the recent flash ISM Report and the Business Roundtable survey, get ready for the Fed’s expected rate hike later today and share one of the bigger changes taking place at S&P that will reverberate through mutual funds and ETFs. All that plus some good news for our AAPL and OLED shares.

Over the last several quarters, one of the few blemishes to be had with Disney has been ESPN as chord cutters moved away from the sports programming behemoth. While it took some time for Disney to get its digital offering together, which included some headcount pruning and other cost-saving measures, this past April it launched […]

Last week all eyes were on Apple and Fall 2018 new model iPhone launch and this week Amazon is taking the new product spotlight as it announces a number of new Echo products and others that include its digital assistant, Alexa. These products confirm that our view several years ago that voice would be the […]

If you’ve been in a checkout line – either one with a cashier or a self-checkout one – you’ve probably experienced the hassle of waiting in line, sometimes for what may seem like forever if coupons, checkbooks and the like are being fished for. One of the successful strategies employed by Amazon is its ability […]

Following the recasting of our investing themes over the last several, we are introducing The Thematic Leaders, which crystallize and embody their respective thematic tailwinds.

Following several bullish data points from last week, including ones found in the August Retail Sales report, we are adding to our position in Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG). The August Retail Sales report was also positive for our Amazon, UPS, Costco Wholesale and McCormick & Co. shares.

It’s rather easy to recognize the growing influence that gaming (and by that we mean video games) is having on our culture from entertainment, sports, and a few other vantage points. With networked and multi-player gaming, we are seeing gaming chip away at more traditional forms of content consumption, with certain titles giving way to […]

People shop at convenience stores, well, because they are convenient. In an effort to maintain its level of convenience in today’s Digital Lifestyle world, 7-Eleven announced today that it is expanding its mobile payment options to include Google Pay and Apple Pay and most of its locations. “Frictionless experiences are the future, and digital payments […]

In this issue, we finish our thematic recasting as we revisit our Aging of the Population investing theme and introduce AMN Healthcare (AMN) shares to fold.

With the news of delayed 10K filing and an internal investigation into accounting and other issues, we are exiting the shares of USA Technologies.

The right to defend yourself and your property apply in today’s increasingly connected world, just as it did more than 200 years ago. While the public debate and much of the media coverage focus on the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, the threats we face today are changing, just as the way we interact with people, data and content are changing.

Based on the company’s robust August same-store sales results, which capped its August quarter, we are boosting our price target on COST shares to $250 from $230.

The inelastic nature of the products produced by these guilty pleasure companies has enabled them to weather price increases better than other products and services that are considered to be more of a commodity in nature. One in particular, as unfashionable as it might be, has us adding it to the Tematica Select List this week.

When even the owner of a gym is struggling the time for fitness, we see the market as ripe for a Disruptive Innovator. Peleton is the first major entrant into this space we see between Disruptive Innovator and the Digital Lifestyle in which those seeking fitness are able to squeeze a class into their ever […]

We have long said one of the dark sides of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme is a tailwind for our Safety & Security theme, and a new report makes the case for the not only the reverse, but it also invokes our Disruptive Innovators one as well. I’m talking about mobile payments. With debit and […]

In this missive, we are breaking down the August ISM Manufacturing Report and its components, plus sharing a quick update on Paccar that keeps us bullish on the shares. We also remind subscribers that after tonight’s market close, Costco Wholesale shares its latest same-store-sales report.

Much has been made about the declining ratings in the NFL over the past two seasons and its causes. Cord-cutting, political protests, distaste for the violent hits, the fact that your team hasn’t had an 11-win season since 1991 . . . no matter what the cause, fewer and fewer folks plopped down on the couch last season and that has owners concerned.

Tematica’s Living the Life investing theme looks to capture the global spending on higher-end affordable luxury as well as luxury branded goods and services that from an economic perspective have a high-income elasticity of demand. As people become wealthier, which we are seeing with the Rise of the Middle Class across many emerging economies, especially China, they will buy more luxury goods.

I’ve been keeping a close watch on the shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG. The company was previously part of what we now refer to as our Clean Living investment theme given its use of fresh, high-quality raw ingredients including meats that are raised without the use of non-therapeutic antibiotics or added hormones and none of the ingredients in the food (excluding beverages) in U.S. restaurants contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). 

Over the last few quarters, we’ve seen a growing number of streaming content services come to market to challenge the success had by Netflix and to a lesser extent Amazon’s Prime Video. And the new entrants are from over given the pending launch of Disney’s Disney Play, AT&T/Time Warner’s DC Universe, Walmart’s Vudu and of […]

We are nearing the commercial deployments of 5G, one of the next-gen technologies that fall under our Disruptive Innovators investing theme. By sharing its 5G essential patent licensing rates, Nokia is offering one of the firmest signals that 5G devices will soon be a reality. Initial shipments are expected to begin in 2019 and reach […]

In this week’s issue, we are closing out our position in Habit Restaurants with a tasty gain, adding a new position in Alibaba as part of Digital Lifestyle investing theme. We also have some updates on our positions in Apple and Universal Display, both of which have been on a tear lately.

The Rise of the New Middle Class investment theme that we cover at Tematica Research focuses on areas around the world where rising disposable incomes are driving demand for a host of products and services. While their absolute level of wealth will remain quite low compared with that of consumers in developed countries, this group […]

There is are several factors pressuring margins at hospitals that are poised to accelerate the pace in hospital closures. This comes at a time, keeping with or Aging of the Population investing theme and Boomer Economy Index, that population dynamics are expected to drive a spending shift that favors the demand for healthcare. As we […]

As the current bull market is poised to make history, the Tematica Investing Select List continues to deliver above market returns. Ahead of the post Labor Day race to the end of 2018, we’re pruning shares of Paccar, Rockwell Automation and GSV Capital and scaling into shares of Applied Materials and Netflix at current levels.

Acquisitions are one way a company can transform its business as it looks to tap into the tailwinds associated with our thematic lens. I’ve talked before about how Best Buy is targeting the Boomer Economy, another way of describing our Aging of the Population investing theme, and earlier this week it took another step in […]

The chicken or the egg problem that has been facing mobile payment adoption in the US continues to ease with Costco Wholesale joining the ranks of 7-11 and CVS Health to accept Apple Pay. It’s all about reducing transaction friction but I’d also add it’s a relief for someone like me that sometimes forgets his […]

We saw many confirming data points for Amazon, Costco Wholesale, Habit Restaurant and McCormick & Co. shares in the July Retail Sales report as well as in Walmart’s stellar July quarter results.

To understand exactly how Amazon has changed the landscape, we look at this interview by eMarketer with representatives from eBay, PayPal and OLX Brasil discussing the challenges of managing an eCommerce business in Latin America

  They say too much information is a dangerous thing, but in the case of consumers, access to information is helping reshape how they are living their lives: According to a recent survey from Label Insight, 39% of U.S. consumers say they would switch from the brands they currently buy to others that provide clearer, […]

As we hit the midpoint of the current quarter, we acknowledge our quarter to date winners as well as those that are lagging the market. We also scale deeper into Dycom shares, examine the impact our Middle-Class Squeeze investing theme is having on the housing market and share a Digital Lifestyle company that could be the next Blue Apron.

When it comes to the market that is diabetes — it affects some 30 million Americans, more than 9% of the population, according to the CDC and rates of those diagnosed with diabetes rises with age, to 25% of those 65 and older — we are seeing a number of new products and services that […]

  When it comes to the confluence of our Digital Lifestyle and Aging of the Population investment themes, this recent article from eMarketer hits the nail on the head: A June 2018 survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation in collaboration with AARP Foundation shed more light on the digital grocery buying behavior of older […]

We’ve all heard about and even longed or the day when we would no longer have to carry one’s money, credit cards, keys, and identification. Mobile payments like Apple Pay and aspects of the Connected Home have helped ease the burden on our pockets and bags, but identification has been the more elusive category. It seems, […]

A new report finding security holes in digital trading platforms is a sharp reminder of one downside associated with our Digital Lifestyle investing theme. While most tend to take it for granted the ease of shopping or in this case trading or at least buying and selling stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs online, few are likely […]

With transaction friction increasing across our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, one underappreciated market is unattended retail even though it is poised to deliver significant growth in the coming years. One driving aspect of digital shopping that is carrying over to unattended retail is the consumer convenience to grab, pay and go without waiting on line […]

After last night’s close GSV Capital (GSVC) reported June quarter results — while the financial media headlines reported a mixed quarter in terms of revenue and the bottom line — our view is the quarter was a solid one characterized by the continued increase in its net asset value per share.

With Farmland Partners slashing its 3Q 2018 dividend by 75% and dim prospects for the following dividend payment, we are exiting FPI shares as the investment thesis has changed considerably.

Last night’s July sales report from Costco confirms our thesis as it continues to take consumer wallet share and open additional warehouses that will drive high margin membership fee income.

Much the way a car would be challenging to drive if there were no roads or a radio would only play static if there were no radio stations, there would be no Digital Lifestyle to live if the underlying high-speed data networks, increasing computing power, and falling storage costs that make it possible didn’t exist, which is where our new theme, Digital Infrastructure, comes into play.

Our focus on Disney remains the coming transformative events that are the acquisition of Fox’s TV and movie assets, and the 2019 launch of its Disney streaming service. The former doubles down on the existing content strategy, while the latter could lead to a change in how investors value Disney shares. To me, that is a far greater opportunity than the modest June quarter miss on the top and bottom line.

In this week’s issue, we book a tasty win as we trim back our position in Habit Restaurant (HABT) and share some updates on Costco Wholesale and United Parcel Service.

During the June quarter earnings call, the CEO of Charter Communications Tom Rutledge caved to mounting cord cutting pressure on its TV business admitting that it no longer sees cable TV as a stand-alone product. On the one hand, we are surprised to see this admission as it casts some serious strategic questions on the […]

Amazon’s recent PillPack acquisition and surging health and beauty sales should have not only have traditional pharmacies and beauty retailers concerned but really every retailer should be asking themselves just how “Amazon-proof” is their business model?

It’s a big issue this week as we once again boost our Apple price target, talk on the shifting stock market dynamic and provide updates on Nokia, AXT, and Habit Restaurant as we also explain why we remain bullish on Amazon and Costco shares.

Over the last few days, we’ve had quarterly results from two companies that are riding tailwinds associated with our Digital Lifestyle investment theme – Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN). The report from each company, however, and their reception from investors couldn’t have been more different. 

Established businesses tend to focus on improvements to their existing products and services, making iterative changes and adjustments along the way, which allows them to maintain their pole position in their particular category, without rocking the boat too much, safe and steady. Disruptive Innovators on the other hand not only look to rock the boat but often tip it over and completely change the lake. 

Straight from the horse’s mouth, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson explains the value of the AT&T-Time Warner marriage echoing the reasons why we recently combined our Connected Society, Content is King and Cashless Consumption investing themes to form the Digital Lifestyle one. All we can say is great job Randall, you’re going somewhere kid!   We’ve […]

This week we are in the throes of an earnings season and trade meetings that could shape the market outlook for stocks in the back half of 2018. Those same drivers will have the market trade day-to-day in the very near-term. We discuss that as well as share updates on Dycom (DY), Nokia (NOK), AXT Inc. (AXTI), Farmland Partners (FPI), Paccar (PCAR) and United Parcel Service (UPS).

We’re also looking for confirming data points for our investment themes, especially those that are poised to disrupt existing business models. In the case of 5G mobile technology, one of the meaningful questions is when we will see commercial deployments of both 5G networks and 5G devices. After all, a 5G network is pretty hard […]

As we saw this past Prime Day 2018, Amazon is targeting international expansion of its Prime services. It’s also doing the same with its acquisition of online pharmacy as PillPack it looks to disrupt the pharmacy market, an event that we here at Tematica are anxiously awaiting. As Amazon builds on PillPack that acquisition should […]

If we needed any confirmation that aspects of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme are bleeding over into in-person fun, here it is – theme parks are adding free Wi-Fi. Now, in some cases, it may be to stream videos, but more likely it’s to access maps, schedules, and tickets that one finds inside a theme park’s […]

The knee-jerk reaction when it comes to the fall of broadcast content is streaming service from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and others. While that is certainly putting a world of hurt on broadcasters and forcing advertisers to rethink where to spend their advertising dollars, it would be a mistake to overlook the growing influence that gaming-related […]

If you’ve purchased a new or used car, then you know the pain associated with the process and what a time suck it is. Even after all the research, there is the customary back and forth with the salesperson and his or her manager to haggle out a deal BEFORE you get to the financing […]

As the dust settles on Prime Day 2018, Amazon (AMZN) shares some positive data points that bode well for our United Parcel Service (UPS) shares, while Ericsson offers reaffirming comments on 5G that solidify our view on Dycom (DY), AXT (AXTI) and Nokia (NOK) shares.

As we get ready to drink from the earnings fire hose later this week, we share our thoughts not only the overall market but also on Amazon’s 2018 Prime Day, Netflix 2Q 2018 earnings report, what happened with Farmland Partners last week and how the June Retail Sales Report was a positive for our Habit Restaurant and Costco Wholesale shares.

We’ve recently recasted our Middle Class Squeeze and New Middle Class investing themes, which entailed splitting a few themes apart and reconstituting them to make them clearer and more focused. Today, we’re combining Connected Society, Content is King and Cashless Consumption to form our Digital Lifestyle investing theme, which reflects consumers’ existing and increasingly digital footprint and making a key addition to the Tematica Investing Select List along the way.

As part of constantly revisiting and testing our investing themes, from time to time we will make changes and enhancement to them. As part of that ongoing effort, we recently re-cast part of our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class investing theme. That move left Rise of the New Middle Class, which we’ve shortened to the New Middle Class and focuses on areas around the world, notably China and India, but other emerging markets as well where rising disposable incomes are driving demand for a host of products and services.

The growing number of headwinds from trade and tariffs to slowing growth, higher interest rates and the rebound in the dollar could result in more conservative guidance than the market is expecting. What could it mean if that expected EPS growth in the second half? Well, you’ll just have to listen to the episode to find out.

In this week’s Tematica Investing issue, we recap the 2Q 2018 performance and share why we think the upcoming earnings season is likely to lead to a major reset of earnings expectations vs. levels expected back in January. The reason? Trade, tariffs and uncertainty.

One of the industries that has both adapted to and felt the pain of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme is the music industry, something near and dear to the hearts and souls of team Tematica. Over the decades, we’ve seen the migration from vinyl albums to 8-track to cassettes to CDs followed by the abiltiy […]

While mobile payments made with one’s smartphone and other forms of contactless payments, such as transactions completed with watches, necklaces and rings, may not be blazing the payment trail in the US, it’s a very different story outside the US. A great example of the Cashless Consumption aspect of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme and […]

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about growing the company’s Services business as way to not only diversify its revenue stream, but in my view also make its iOS and other devices even stickier with consumers. As we have seen before Content is King is a key driver in our Digital Lifestyle investing them […]

This week we moved from signs that tariffs and inflation would play a role in the upcoming earnings season to investors recognizing that is the likely reality following reports from Harley Davidson and Universal Stainless & Alloy Products. With earnings expectations for the S&P 500 yet to factor in this reality, we could be in for a bumpy 2Q 2018 earnings season as expectations for the second half of 2018 get rejiggered. We’re also doing some Select List pruning, cutting GLW, LYTS and OLED shares in the process.

One of the problems with US investors is they tend not to look much past thier shores for investment opportunities or confirming data points. Here at Tematica, we recognize our investment themes are global in nature, and that causes us to take a more wholistic perspective. The US is not the only country battling truck […]

We as a people have been carrying many things in our pockets when we leave the house – first keys and wallet then keys, wallet and phone. As part of our Cashless Consumption investment theme we have seen mobile wallets begin to proliferate as well as apps like Apple Pay and PayPal that likely mean […]

The dust has barely settled on the legal ruling that is paving the way for AT&T (T) to combine with Time Warner (TWX), and we are alread hearing of new products and services to stem from this combination. No surprise as we are seeing a blurring between mobile networks and devices, social media and content […]

From time to time we recast and sometimes streamline our investing themes to ensure they remain both relevant and relatable. This week we are combining our Cash-strap Consumer theme with the Fall in our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class to form the Middle Class Squeeze investing theme.

With trade and tariffs being the market words of the week, we review the positioning and exposure for that on the Tematica Investing Select List. We’re cutting MGM Resorts (MGM) from the Select List, and are recasting our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class theme into two – the New Middle Class and the Middle Class Squeeze.

In this week’s issue we are adding a new company, Farmland Partners, to the Tematica Investing Select List, and sharing some positive updates for Rockwell Automation shares.

This latest report from eMarketer serves to inform over the disparity between internet access in the developed and developing economies, but we see it more as confirming our Rise of the New Middle Class investing theme. Moreover, odds are these developing economies will leap frog the developed ones in terms of new, Disruptive Technology adoption. […]

There are several aspects to our Safety & Security investing theme, one of which is being proactive vs. reactive, which we see as one of the differences between “security” and “defense.”  While the headlines over the last few years have focused on body-cameras, we are seeing the coming together of our Connected Society and Safety […]

Costco’s May sales data shows it continued to gain consumer wallet share in May.

In this week’s issue of Tematica Investing, we bump up our price target for Apple following WWDC 2018. MGM Resorts avoids the Las Vegas strike while Paccar shares catch an upgrade. We also examine the sudden decision by De Beers to accept lab grown diamonds, which has us looking at shares of Charles & Covard.

What can we say other than it’s the latest sign of the woes faced by traditional brick & mortar retailers – the closing of once iconic flagship locations as they are caught between the push-pull of our investment themes. In this case it’s the accelerating shift toward digital shopping that is part of our Connected […]

In today’s increaingly Connected Society and our Digital Lifestyle, in which credit card, brokerage and banks are practically forcing one to go paperless, only now are mutual fund companies able to do the same. Much like those that have already made the switch, it will save billions of dollars on paper and mailing costs – […]

We continue to hear more and more about chord cutting as consumers increasingly to over the top and streaming vidoe services and they shift how, where and when they consume that content. Given the Content is King perspective that we have, it comes as little surprise to see that consumers are utilizing multiple platforms because […]

One of the strategies behind getting consumers to adopt alternative payments is to reduce if not remove friction to the transaction as well as make it easy peasy for the consumer to use. In the case of Comcast teaming with Fandango to enable the buying of movie tickets through the television, it’s pretty cool but […]

In this week’s issue of Tematica Investing, we’re making some moves with the Tematica Investing Select List as we exit Starbucks shares and trim back our position in USA Technologies. We preview Costco’s earnings later this week and offer updates on our holdings in Apple, MGM Resorts, Paccar and Rockwell Automation.

The iPhone is not only one of the most addictive devices around, something that is becoming even more so thanks to Fortnite, it is also one of the most connected. As tends to be the case, however, Apple will lag the overall market with features until a tipping point is at hand. It appears that […]

On the news that Apple plans to fully transition its iPhone lineup to organic light emitting diode displays, we are adding back shares of Disruptive Technology company Universal Display (OLED) to the Tematica Investing Select List.

As the market flip flops on trade negotiations with China and North Korea, we are adding back a specialty contractor that is poised to prosper from the pending 5G network buildout. We also share why we’re sticking with Applied Materials shares and dig through LendingClub shares as part of our Cash-strapped Consumer investing theme.

A new report from App Annie confirms what we’ve already suspected when it comes to our Connected Socity – that consumers are increasingly using mobile apps to shop. Per the report, consumer spending has more than doubled, exceeding $86 billion in 2017, up more than 105% since 2015. Interestingly, while time spent in apps increased by […]

  Just because you build it and offer it doesn’t mean consumers will use it. We’ve heard that before and it also applies to mobile payment platforms given that Samsung Pay is the most widely available among Apple Pay (AAPL) and Google Pay (GOOGL), but it’s the least used of the three. The most popular […]

While we applaud Coca-Cola (KO) for embracing technology to connect with consumers while enabling them to customize their soda beverage of choice, the larger question to us is how does this fit with the shifting consumer preference for healthy food, snacks and drinks? In many ways it appears that Coca-Cola is looking to extend the […]

The world of cashless consumption continues to expand as PayPal (PYPL) makes a direct move to compete with Square (SQ) on its home turf by acquiring iZettle. This also brings it into competition with Verifone (PAY) and other payment/transaction hardware companies. Our view has been the mobile payments landscape, like many that are in their […]

Target has been one of those retailers that in our view has been lost between the shift to digital commerce offerings from Amazon (AMZN) and club/warehouse ones from Costco Wholesale (COST) and others. What we find interesting is how Target continues to baby step its way into the Connected Society with GPS maps being deployed […]

Tematica Chief Macro Strategist joined Neil Cavuto and Charlie Gasparino to dig into the latest on a Delaware court ruling in favor of National Amusement’s Shari Redstone and what its impact could be on various classes of stock shares

Tematica Research co-founder Chris Versace says the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates four times this year, but investors should stay in the market. Click Below to Watch the Video  

The April Retail Sales report offered a number of confirming data points for several of our investment themes and a number of positions on the Tematica Investing Select List. We also preview what we’ll be listening for in upcoming earnings from Applied Materials (AMAT), and share what Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook had to say about original content and Apple.

Disney’s March quarter earnings confirmed the power of our Content is King investing theme as well as the benefits to be had with lower tax rates and share buyback programs. Operating results were favorable as was cash generation, and with prospects of more to come Disney is moving down the path with its own direct to consumer streaming services. If those services are successful, it could cause a major re-think in how peopel value DIS shares.

This week we are adding shares of a quick-service restaurant chain as part of our Guilty Pleasure investing theme , while also boosting our price target on a recently added name to the Tematica Investing Select List following robust margin performance in the March quarter and strong prospects for more realized synergies.

We continue to hear about the retail apocolypse that is destroying brick & mortar retail. Each monthly Retail Sales report shows continued share gains by non-store retail sales, government speak for digital commerce, one of the core drivers of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme. Following the path blazed by Nike (NKE), Carter’s (CRI), Calvin Klein […]

We are turning a rare mistake into a long-term opporutnity as we formally add shares of AXT (AXTI) back to the Tematica Investing Select List.

Live from the floor of the NYSE, Tematica CIO Chris Versace shares his insights into the latest earnings release by Apple (AAPL) and Snap (SNAP) and explains that while Apple is much more than a cell phone company, SNAP is really just a feature, not a sustainable business model as it stands now.

During a busy week of earnings and start of the month economic data, Apple once again put the doomsayers in their place with another quarterly beat and an upsized capital return program that supports our $200 price target. Let’s talk the Fed ahead of today’s latest monetary policy press release, and we’re using the robust pullbacks in AXTI and LYTS to scale into these positions on the Tematica Investing Select List.

  Literally from “the street”, Tematica Chief Investment Officer joined Olivia Voznenko of Modern Wall Street from just outside the New York Stock Exchange to discuss what we were looking to see from Apple’s quarterly earnings announcement:   As a bonus question, Olivia asked Chris the question we always like to hear: “what industries are […]

We’re seeing an earnings season develop that far from what was expected. The S&P 500 group of companies were expected to deliver 17%-18% EPS growth year over year in 1Q 2018 and reaffirm the outlook that would equate to at least 18% EPS growth in 2018 vs. 2017. The commentary that we’ve gotten over the last week, raises some questions about those growth expectation.

Earnings season for 1Q 2018 is underway, and while we’ve gotten off to a promising start, the season is only just getting started. We’ll continue to watch all the data as it comes in for 1Q 2018 to size up what we’re likely to hear in the coming weeks. We’ve got some bullish results from a competitor of Applied Materials, and we’re putting Habit Restaurant shares under the microscope.

As the stock market continues to see-saw back and forth based on the latest headlines emanating on the geopolitical front, we’re adding back shares in this Cashless Consumer company to the Tematica Investing Select List, and checking in on several other Select List positions. With 1Q 2108 earnings season kicking off next week, we’re likely to see the uncertainty of the last few weeks play out in corporate guidance, making the market volatility to continue. Our perspective should be it’s a chance to scoop up well thematically positioned companies at better prices.

Amid all of the market gyrations, we continue to focus on the medium to longer-term opportunities associated with our thematic signals. That has us issuing a Buy rating and to the Tematica Investing Select List for a company with an Asset Lite investment theme angle.

As we digest this tit for tat tariff action between the Trump Administration and the Chinese government, our growing concern at Tematica Research is what this means for the guidance to be had in the upcoming 1Q 2018 earnings season.

As we close the books on 1Q 2018, we are starting the new quarter off on very different footing than we have in some time – one that has investors filled with questions, concerns and a good dash of uncertainty. This is likely to make for a challenging 1Q 2018 earnings season that is right around the corner.

One of the key tenants for investing is to not fall in love with your investments, and that has putting the near-term prospects of Facebook shares under the microscope after a week-long public relations storm for the company. There is certainly going to be a short-term disruption underway in where and how companies will advertise. In the medium to longer-term, advertisers will still want to reach consumer where they are and the question is will that be Facebok?

Brookdale Senior Living is a company that is positioned to benefit from our Aging of the Population investment theme. But we must determine whether those thematic tailwinds are enough for its stock to earn a buy rating at this point in time.

Here is our quick analysis of the Fed’s monetary policy statement exiting the March 2018 meeting, and we find it rather Goldilocks in nature with risks to the upside in terms of what is to be had from tax legislation.

“The talk of the death of the mall, and many bankruptcies of retailers … it’s basically because [mall owners] are not servicing their customers properly in a way that they like,” Lowy said. That’s mall operator Westfield co-CEO Steven Lowy sharing his view at the recent ShopTalk conference and while it is possible a factor that is […]

As we wait for the results of the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting later today, we’ll put an Aging of the Population company under the microscope and share some thought on what renewed privacy concerns are likely to bring about.

Unlike companies like GoPro and SNAP, which have failed to realize their entire business is a feature, not a product, Blackberry has embraced the fact that at its core feature is security, not connectivity in the form of a phone or smartphone.  This is perspective is reinforced with it’s recently announced deal with former rival […]

This could very well just be a playbook for when and where Amazon is going to head next, or it could be the last bastions of retail that will continue and thrive . . . only time will tell. … roughly 96% of US internet users said they primarily shop for food and beverages at […]

While it is rather clear to us why Toys R Us is filing bankruptcy and even Star Wars themed toy sales weren’t enough to help Mattel (MAT) this past holiday season, in-app purchases for the new iOS version of Fortnite are rather revealing. The recently launched gaming app, which sits at the center of our […]

Shares of social media platform and Connected Society hub, Facebook, are being hit over renewed privacy concerns spinning out of more revelations concerning the 2016 presidential election. With the company already refocusing on quality interactions among its users, we expect it will answer the call for greater privacy safeguards as it expands its reach into video related content.

With headwinds mounting for Universal Display shares, we’re exiting the position on the Tematica Investing Select List and collecting the long-term gains to be had since first adding the shares in October 2016. Given the long-term prospects of organic light emitting diode displays, we’re adding OLED shares to the Tematica Investing Contender List, looking to call them back to active duty when the industry begins adding fresh capacity.

Amid DC-centric uncertainty back in vogue, we are seeing renewed uncertainty in the market this week. We’ll stick to our thematic knitting, which should Trump-proof the Tematica Investing Select List. We also game out the pending bankruptcy for Toys R Us, the latest but certainly not the last company to fall victim to our Connected Society investing theme.

Even though Costco missed EPS by a modest amount, the underlying strategy remains very much intact and that has us continuing to hold this Cash-Strapped Consumer company that is embracing aspects of our Connected Society theme.

As the market vacillates back and forth based on the latest concerning proposed steel and aluminum tariffs, we share our sobering perspective and continue to share updates for positions on the Tematica Investing Select List.

I continue to think Trump is following the negotiating strategies he laid out in his 1987 book, Art of the Deal, should Trump actually enact the trade tariffs on steel and aluminum, then what? As an investor, we have to game out the potential outcomes so we can assess the potential risk and position ourselves accordingly, which is what we’ve done here today.

The latest entrant into the meal kitting business continues our bearish call on Blue Apron (APRN) shares, and we take a look at an Aging of the Population company that looks to get a lifeline from China for its balance sheet and its business.

The February heavy truck order data is in, and it confirms the current upswing in demand that led us to add this Economic Acceleration/Deceleration position on the Tematica Investing Select List.

We have to question whether President Trump will go ahead with his proposed tariffs or is it a negotiating tactic at a time when NAFTA negotiations remain underway? We’ve seen the president pull this tactic from his book, Art of the Deal, several times over the last year and given the potential consequence of a trade war to the domestic economy as well as the stock market, there are several reasons we can’t rule this possibility out.

In this week’s review of the Tematica Investing Select List, I’ll highlight some of strong returns we’ve seen recently as well as share some of my current thoughts on its holdings. 

The increasingly short-term focused nature of the stock market has battered shares of Universal Display (OLED) as the industry takes a normal pause to digest added capacity over the last 12-24 months. We’ve seen this before, and it’s likely a bump in the road as end demand continues to rise. We will use this recent pain to our long-term advantage and scale into the position at current prices. As we do this, we are suspending our stop loss.

The stock market will pivot and roll based on the latest data point similar to what we saw between the January Employment Report and the January CPI Report. Said another way, volatility is back and will be with us at least for the next several weeks. As I’ve said before, volatility is not a bad thing – it can offer us an opportunity if we’re prepared, and given our Contender List, I would argue that we are just that.

  The demise of cash has been something we’ve written quite a bit about here in Thematic Signals, and that investment theme has played a significant role in several of our Tematica Investing Select List holdings that have produced strong returns for our subscribers. Of course, there are always two sides of a coin — […]

We’ve got a shortened week for the stock market, but there will still be some economic data that will bring some clarity on inflation, the recent scourge of the stock market. We also have two holdings on the Tematica Investing Select List reporting earnings this week, and we share what’s expected and what we’re looking for.

The bottom line is whether you’re a fan of super hero films or not, Disney’s The Black Panther is a well-crafted story that expands as well as enhances the Marvel tapestry, and the post-credit scenes advance the inter connected storyline that Marvel has carefully put in place over the last 10 years. It’s great fun, and I recommend seeing it.

Applied Materials delivered another spectacular quarter as chips continue to become the new fabric of our digital lives and OLED demand continues to not only grow but widen out as well. The cherry on top was the boosted dividend, which adds support to the upside with our price target, and upsized buyback authorization that should cushion potential downside in AMAT shares.

Earlier this morning we received the January Consumer Price Index (CPI), one of the closely watched measures of that now dirty word – inflation. As a quick reminder, the market swings over the last two weeks were ignited by the headline wage data in the January Employment Report, as well as other signs, such as rising freight costs. This topic of resetting inflation expectations and what it may mean for the Fed and interest rates has been a topic of conversation amongst all investors this week.

Inflation rising while hourly earnings have fallen in 5 of the past 6 months. The Fed will find it is under further pressure to hike and/or taper, which applies the brakes to any economic acceleration from tax cuts and more government spending.

You’ve probably noticed that retailers are doing all they can to clear out winter-related items as they prepare for the spring season. It means sales, sales, sales, and in some cases compressed margins. Walk through almost any mall, and you’ll see signs for buy one get one free, buy one get the next one 50% […]

With the market’s volatility over the last several days, a number of stocks are revisiting levels that are 5%, 10%, 15% lower than they stood at end of January. And while investors have been thunderstruck by the market gyrations, the day to day data from the December quarter earnings season as well as recent economic data, has continued to confirm certain opportunities. One of the recurring drum beats this earnings season has been companies talking about rising freight costs and the impact on earnings, due to the national shortage in available trucks.

The recent reset for domestic stocks following a rapid ascent over the last few month has removed some of the froth from the market. Of course, as valuations levels have drifted back to earth from the rare air they recently inhabited there are opportunities this new market dynamic bring, but there have also been several casualties.

As we all know, yesterday’s market drop saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall 1,175 points, marking its worst closing point decline on record. As we like to say, context is key, and that drop of more than 1,100 points, however, equated to a percentage decline of 4.6% — understandably unsettling, but nowhere near as sharp a punch to the gut one would expect by relying on just the absolute point drop.

After yesterday’s mixed earnings blitzkrieg that featured results from Apple, Amazon, Alphabet/Google and United Parcel Services, we’re boost several price targets and trimming one.

Shares of this Disruptive Technology company are soaring after an upbeat long-term outlook

With tax reform changes poised to spur capital spending on factories and productivity improvements, we’re adding this Tooling & Re-tooling company to the Tematica Investing Select List.

While the herd is caught up in changes to Facebook that may lead to a dip in average usage, we see the surge in average revenue per user as the real drive in earnings. With advertising rates climbing and the company focused on monetizing the majority of its platforms, we see it continuing to win overall advertising spend dollars in the coming quarters.

The market’s current “priced to perfection” status has brought about some jumpiness the last few days. Such volatility is not a bad thing as it allows us to take advantage of potential disconnects between businesses and stock prices. Case in point, is the opportunity we are seeing with Universal Display and Apple.

This morning this Disruptive Technologies company delivered better than expected December quarter results, but with the market priced to perfection, investors will be drilling into its smartphone comments to determine the near-term direction of the shares. We’ll be buyers on weakness given the long-term prospects for the adoption of the company’s products.

In a recent Thematic Signal post, we shared that Apple (AAPL) is making in roads with Apple Pay as smartphones account for a growing percentage of digital commerce. We lamented on the lack of loyalty program support in Apple Pay, but it is becoming increasingly clear that shoppers want digital couponing. Currently there are third […]

The current headlines are rumor mongering over iPhone X production cuts for the first half of 2018, but Apple continues to improve the stickiness of iPhone by tapping into the exploding world of mobile payments with Apple Pay. Initially off to a slow start, Apple Pay is now reportedly accepted in 50% of US retail […]

As earnings season for the Tematica Investing Select List heats up, in this post we break down what we’ll be watching in reports from six holdings in the coming days. In particular, given the recent melt-up in the market that has been fueled in part by favorable fundamentals and 2018 tax rate adjustments, we detail what we’ll be hoping to hear from these key companies and their forecasts for the coming quarter and beyond.

Shares of this Disruptive Technology company have been hard hit in the short-term, but it’s the long game that matters most.

Following an earning beat and clarity on tax reform benefits, we are boosting our price target on this non-residential construction play.

As we wrap up an exciting week at the Inside ETFs Conference, we share our thoughts on several earnings announcements out this week that either includes or directly impact several names on our Tematica Select List, in particular, some chatter around iPhone chatter around sales.

Winter weather could hamper construction activity for this company on the Select List, but the underlying need to rebuild remains.

While some focus on the short-term, Apple remains a long-term story and a core Connected Society holding.

As we assess potential tax related benefits to be had, we’re adding this pharmacy turnaround, Aging of the Population company to the Contender List

As we move deeper into 4Q 2017 earnings season, we are seeing the Wall Street herd once again come around and upgrade companies that we’ve been bullish on and reside on the Tematica Investing Select List due to the strong thematic tailwinds propelling their businesses.

Not all retailers are riding the digital shopping tailwind that is part of our Connected Society investing theme.

Parental responsibilities are nothing new when it comes to technology, but Apple already intends to tackle this renewed concern.

It used to be that if you ran out of laundry detergent, the dirty clothes would pile up. Those days may soon be over as Amazon (AMZN) is rolling out virtual  Dash buttons to third-party screens, like those now found on washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and other appliances. This further extends Amazon’s reach into the […]

Adding two infrastructure rebuilding plays to the Contender List, and watching a third as well.

2018 is off to a solid start and several positions on the Tematica Investing Select List are benefitting — as expected — from the announcements at CES 2018

It used to be there were a handful of places on could retreat to find some downtime, but it looks like we are on the verge of losing one as Moen is bringing the connected home and virtual assistant connectivity into the shower. Based on the price points, this functionality will mesh with our Affordable […]

Two pieces of construction related data add to our bullish outlook on this Tematica Investing Select List holding.

AT&T throws its hat into the 5G ring, and it’s good news for these two Select List holdings.

As we enter 2018, let’s recap key moves on the Tematica Investing Select List in 2017 as we boost several price targets, trim one position back and see what’s on tap in January.

New gaming data from Macau confirms our cautious stance with this Guilty Pleasure holding.

Amazon was certainly the largest thematic disruptor of 2017, and by every indication it’s looking like it could be putting on a repeat performance for 2018. Of course, there are several other thematic disruptors we see on the horizon as we take out our crystal ball a peek ahead to the coming year in this special issue of Tematica Investing.

With consumers increasing shifting their content consumption to streaming services, be it online or via mobile, we are seeing a number of moves by companies to position themselves accordingly. AT&T (T) is looking to buy Time Warner (TWX), Alphabet (GOOGL) is expanding the reach of YouTubeTV and Apple (AAPL) is hiring programming talent. Amid all […]

There are several thematic aspects that make the Disney acquisition of Fox a good one.

The better than expected November Retail Sales report had several early holiday presents for the Tematica Investing Select List. We discuss!

Beneath the as expected December Fed meeting, signs emerge the stock market isn’t buying all of what Yellen had to say.

We’ve spent our fair share of time looking into the future of autonomous vehicles — the technology behind them, the players that are making it happen and the implications this new technology could have on everything from the car manufacturers to parking systems to rental car companies. One comment, in particular, stands out from our special […]

In this week’s issue, we share some larger Select List thoughts as well as what we’ll be focusing on as the Fed exits its latest FOMC meeting. We also lay the groundwork for Thursday’s earnings from Costco.

We’ve been rather vocal over the disruption that has occurred due to our Connected Society investing theme but also the disruption yet to be had. We see the potential partnering of Ford and Alibaba supporting our view that the current Retailmegaddon is poised to spread from beyond the mall and brick & mortar retail to […]

We cover a lot of ground in this week’s issue, shedding a name vulnerable to California wildfires as we discuss mobile gaming and body camera stocks and offer favorable iPhone X findings for our Apple shares.

In 2017 the intersection of our Connected Society and Content is King investing themes saw Digital Kill the TV Ad.

Amazon customers can now buy retail goods for every member of their family on the site’s marketplace — including their pets. The eCommerce giant has launched Pet Profiles, which allows customers to add their pets to their account.According to news from The Next Web, users can sign up their first pet and receive a one-time 20 […]

The adoption of social media by companies to reach customers, share its wares, drive revenues and build its brands continues. Amid the battle between Facebook and LinkedIn, we are seeing businesses embrace Instagram, in some cases as its only web presence, to reach customers. Even as we peruse Instagram, we are seeing more companies have […]

Over the last year, we’ve seen considerable progress in the use of voice interface technology, due in part to the success of Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa, but also efforts by Alphabet and to a lesser extent Apple. Like most Disruptive Technologies, we are seeing the use cases continue to expand and ripple across our Cashless Consumption […]

Despite the advantages offered by Cashless Consumption, may in the Eurozone continue to pay with cash, even more than they admit. Is this a permanent headwind for our Cashless Consumption investing theme or a tailwind in disguise?

In this week’s issue, we once again boost our Amazon (AMZN) price target and offer several updates alongside yet another annual dividend increase from McCormick & Company

Mobile phones are making our Connected Society ever more connected as we become increasingly obsessed with that precious device. It is the first thing many of us look at in the morning and the last thing at night, but there is ample opportunity for a lot more folks around the world to join us addicts!

The holiday weekend shopping data confirms our view on several Connected Society positions on the Tematica Select List, and the data is prompting us to book a hefty call option win for Tematica Options+ subscribers.

In this holiday week issue of Tematica Investing, we’re trimming back another profitable position and setting the stage for the upcoming holiday shopping season that kicks off later this week.

As we head into the last several months of 2017, we’re harvesting some big gains with these two thematic positions and optimizing 2017 capital gains by shedding two positions on the Select List.

Robust demand drivers discussed on last night’s earnings call has us once again boosting price targets for these two Disruptive Technology positions on the Tematica Investing Select List.

  Earlier this week we shared that Lord & Taylor partnered with Walmart, and just a few days later Calvin Klein shared a new relationship with Amazon as part of its Amazon Fashion efforts. We expect to see the lines become increasingly drawn over the coming weeks as months as retailers and branded apparel companies […]

After Amazon acquired Whole Foods, it seems that many forgot about its prior effort to disrupt the grocery industry with Amazon Go. Now the company has shared that it is close to bringing this worker-less concept that relies on its mobile app and a litany of sensors to allow shoppers to do their thing all […]

  Earlier today it was reported that at the Morgan Stanley European Technology, Media, and Telecoms Conference in Barcelona, T-Mobile USA’s (TMUS) Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said T-Mobile would roll out its 5G network in the U.S. by 2020. This builds on the recent news that AT&T (T) would bring its 5G Evolution service […]

E-sports has a growing fandom that is garnering corporate endorsement deals and seeing competitive leagues debut. Today we share an overview of this aspect of our Content is King investing theme.

It’s starting to accelerate, the shift to digital commerce from brick & mortar that is part of our Connected Society investing theme, and it’s giving way to some interesting partnerships and business models. In this case, it’s Walmart, traditionally a retailer that meshes with our Cash-Strapped Consumer investing theme, partnering with Lord & Taylor, a retailer […]

After months of speculation over tax reform, we now have competing proposals on how to reduce corporate taxes and put more capital in the hands of individual taxpayers. From an investing perspective, there has been much buildup over what this could mean for both the U.S. economy as well as corporate profits and earnings per share as early as 2018. If you’re thinking this sounds like expectations are likely ahead of themselves, we’re right there with you.

Our Rise and Fall of The Middle Class investing theme was front and center as Alibaba’s Singles Day blew away Black Friday in the U.S., with about 90% of those sales done via mobile, illustrating the power of our Connected Society investing theme.

  To resist the crush of the convenience and cost-savings of online shopping, the old brick and mortar retailers need to have some sort of angle — a terrific experience, a unique offering, or as this article in the New York Times suggests a luxury item that you would like to touch and feel and […]

To start the week off, we are scaling into one position, exiting another, boosting some price targets and sharing other Select List updates. This is all part of our process of cleaning up the Select List as we come down to the final stretch of 2017 and begin to prepare for 2018.

Here’s our strategy for this Connected Society-Content is King company following last night’s earnings

Leveraging its smartphone install base and the popularity of messaging Apple is bringing its Apple Pay Cash feature to market with its iOS 11.2. Currently available to those in the iOS beta program, Apple Pay Cash will offer stiff competition to Venmo, owned by PayPal (PYPL) as well as other “send cash” apps like Zelle […]

Over the last several trading days, we’ve had a number of companies on the Tematica Select List report their quarterly earnings. This has us focusing today’s issue on recapping what was said, and sharing our views as well as making any price target adjustments.

We are adding a position in this digital advertising platform company that is riding the shift toward digital ads.

On this week’s Cocktail Investing Podcast, Tematica’s Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins do a deep dive on our Connected Society investing theme and discuss the coming creative destruction to be had with 5G wireless technology. Carriers like AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are beta-ing 5G networks and commercial deployments are expected to begin in a […]

  Most U.S. investors tend to keep their purview on domestic companies and their shares, but there is a problem with that strategy. That limited gaze means missing out on opportunities outside the U.S. that are benefitting from our thematic investing themes. For example, when most folks think of the company riding our Connected Society […]

Being a smart investor means knowing when to avoid a troubled stock like this one.

Amid a busy week that has the latest from the Fed and the first look at the proposed tax reform bill, we several earnings reports from companies on the Tematica Investing Select List

Apple reports 3Q 2017 results this week. The focus will be on the company’s guidance not only on iPhone production commentary, but the timing around these models being launched in other markets. We see the Apple story far from over and are using this opportunity to make a move on the shares with an aggressive price target.

We are taking advantage of the missed perception in yesterday’s 3Q 2017 earnings report to scale into the shares of this Disruptive Technology company on the Tematica Investing Select List.

We are boosting our price target on AMZN shares after Amazon crushed expectations, led by its increasingly profitable Amazon Web Services business, which we see as a key differentiator vs. brick & mortar retailers.

We have seen the creative destruction that Amazon has unleashed on the world of retail and now we are seeing it occur in food & grocery, and soon apparel. Even as Amazon expands its footprint in these markets, it is laying the groundwork for another move into pharmaceuticals. We see Amazon’s underlying logistics business that […]

  Over the last three years Wal-mart has been exploring ways to compete more effectively with the rise of e-commerce, but also help improve its in-store experience for those shoppers that continue to… you know… actually go to a physical store. One of those strategies has been to test robots that would scan the shelves […]

With earnings season underway, here are our thoughts on results from AXTI, NOK, and UPS as well as comments on BETR shares.

  While there were lots of details in Nike’s 3Q17 earnings call, one item, in particular, came into focus under our thematic investing lens, at that was the following quote from Nike Brand President Trevor Edwards: “Undifferentiated, mediocre retail won’t survive. We will be shifting away from this over the next five years.” We, of course, […]

As the pace of 3Q 2017 reports increases, we are seeing the market swing back and forth based on whatever the news is of the day —‚ good and bad. As the market goes through its daily gyrations, we’ll continue to use our thematic lens to guide us through the earnings onslaught. In particular, we take a look at recently added Corning and its first earnings announcement since being added to the Tematica Select List.

Is now the time to pick off Blue Apron, one of the more widely publicized IPO’s of 2017? In this post we dig into why this busted IPO isn’t cheap even at current levels, and it has a lot to do with the 800-pound gorilla that has entered the space, Amazon.

The investing herd continues to catch up to us, and here’s what’s on tap this for earnings on the Tematica Investing Select List

Given the growing number of cord-cutters in the U.S. as more shift from broadcast TV to a variety of streaming services, Nielsen (NLSN) is pivoting its business model to ride this Connected Society tailwind. Give the enormous pool of advertising dollars that are at stake given the shift in viewer consumption habits it makes perfect […]

As semiconductor capital equipment company Lam Research (LRC) reported quarterly earnings that topped expectations and guided the current quarter above expectations, we are boosting our price target on AMAT shares.

This week the roller coaster that is 3Q17 earnings season is reaching full speed. As we stand at the crosswinds of the thematic tailwinds and headwinds that are being revealed through all of the earnings reports and conference calls, there are several key items that we are learning from Netflix and CSX that are crucial for investors to understand.

Source: Rent the Runway seeks to broaden appeal with new monthly service |Chain Store Age   Yesterday, apparel Rent the Runway company announced a new, lower-priced service to broaden its target audience: The New York-based company on Monday announced a less costly membership option that allows women to rent four items from its website, choosing […]

Tematica’s investing strategy focuses not only on those long-term forces that generate formidable tailwinds or headwinds but also on major pain points, as solutions can generate serious value to entrepreneurs and investors alike. The problem of Social Security numbers for definitive identification is one such pain point.

Peltz’s play for P&G highlights it is not focused on true product innovation.

Recently it was announced that Amazon (AMZN) partnered with Olo, a supplier of order and pay technology to thousands of U.S.  restaurants, to expand its burgeoning food order/delivery service. After testing a similar solution over the last year, Facebook (FB) is now taking its own take on this live across the U.S. As we watch […]

During the summer, we here at Tematica spoke at length on the growing number of private label products and brands at Amazon (AMZN). Having seen the strategy work at a number of other retailers, like Costco Wholesale (COST), Kohl’s (KSS), Wal-Mart (WMT) and even JC Penny (JCP), we see it as “expected” that Amazon would […]

The publishing industry has been one of the early victims of the internet as readers shifted to online articles and publications, which altered the dynamics of the all-important advertising revenue stream and subscription dynamics. As we approach nearly two decades of internet related creative destruction, the rise of mobile usage is another thorn in the […]

As it’s transformation continues, we’re adding one of the early pioneers in the “smartphone” space to the Tematica Contender List.

While we like to focus on the out-performers we tend to spend as much if not more time on the ones that are underperforming.

  Jane Helgesen had a rough night recently, as nausea kept the 71-year-old retired nurse scurrying to the bathroom. A sensor under the bed recorded her comings and goings, sending alerts to her daughter, Britt, who lives nearby. Feeling better the next day, Helgesen used a doorbell camera to welcome guests, whose images are displayed […]

A new report from Moody’s reinforces the negativity surrounding department stores like Macy’s (M), JC Penny (JCP) and Nordstrom (JWN). Unlike most that focus on the shift to digital commerce that is part of our Connected Society theme, Moody’s adds a perspective that meshes extremely well with our Cash-Strapped Consumer and Rise & Fall of the […]

The 2017 holiday shopping forecast from the National Retail Federation adds credence to our thesis on two call option plays.

This week we’re pouring over earnings results and beginning of the month data looking for sign posts for our investing themes, including several items impacting our Foods with Integrity investment theme, as well as the Connected Society. Additionally, we look at the weather-related impact on retail sales and what it might mean for several of the stocks on the Tematica Select List with retail exposure.

As we upsize our price target for this Connected Society derivative, we are adding a call option play to the mix as well.

We’re upping our price target on this Connected Society derivative company as we get ready for holiday shopping 2017.

Fewer people are moving today than at any point in recent history and while inventories are tight, sellers are having to cut asking prices…

Surprise surprise! More reports on the growing frequency of cyber attacks – painful for companies and consumers, but great for this position on the Tematica Investing Select List.

A shooting in Las Vegas is pressuring casino stocks, but we’ll remain patient with the one of the Tematica Investing Select List.

We’ve seen several gaming and augmented and virtual reality applications as well as some furniture based ones come to market but now we are seeing a new partnership jump into the AR/VR waters. This pairing of MasterCard and Swarovski brings our Disruptive Technologies and Cashless Consumption investment themes together as shoppers can purchase within the […]

Applied Materials served up a stronger than expected multi-year outlook, which reaffirms our long-term view in its business as well as another.

As we close out Q317, Nike’s earnings results reinforce several as our investment themes as well as our recent comments on the dollar.

  As the quote goes, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”  This article by The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson lays out the parallels between today’s Amazon and impact Sears had in America 100 years ago: Why is Amazon looking more and more like an old-fashioned retailer? The company’s do-it-all corporate strategy […]

Apple shares have slipped since the company’s lackluster September special event as investors question iPhone 8 model demand ahead of the early November launch of the iPhone X. That slip in Apple shares has overflowed and resulted in the same downward pressure on our Universal Display (OLED) shares, but there is potential upside still to be had.

Apple’s shift to glass will likely drive incremental glass demand, much the way its shift to organic light emitting diode displays with the iPhone X is spurring demand for those products

Historically speaking, the adoption of new technology has been West to East, but when it comes to mobile payments the East is clearly leading the West. This has profound implications for potential winners in the push away from cash, checks and even debit and credit card swipes that is part of our Cashless Consumption investing […]

Stocks continued to inch higher over the last several days ahead of today’s next Fed policy meeting. Over the last few days, we’ve seen GDP expectations for the current quarter revised lower from economists, regional Fed banks and even companies like FedEx (FDX), which sees GDP hitting all of 2.2% this year. I continue to […]

We are exiting this Disruptive Technology position ahead of what could be a contentious time ahead of a key compliance mandate.

We are once again boosting our price target on this Disprutive Technology company, and call out what it could mean for another position on the Tematica Investing Select List.

As we enter the peak season for the corn harvest, we check in on current conditions what it could mean for CORN shares as well as a potential China-related game changer for corn demand.

After recently adding Nokia Corp. (NOK) shares to the Contender List, we are now adding them to the Tematica Select List given continued progress in its higher margin, intellectual property (IP) business.

We knew Apple’s special event this week was headed downhill fast when the first thing mentioned about the new iPhone was the pretty colors it would come in. This week in Cocktail Investing we share our takeaways and insights for that event, as well as for the latest economic data and thematic signals that are the backbone of our thematic investing lens.

  As we’ve entered the latest season, NFL ratings have continued to fall. While some may attribute it to concussion-related concerns, we see the loss in viewers stemming from the need to compete with consumers being able to watch what they want, when they want, where they want. In other words, it’s the confluence of […]

  With innovation stalling, at least for now, in the smartphone market, we see companies shifting their R&D investments in technologies that are poised to disrupt other markets. One of those receiving the most attention these days is the automotive industry. While the guts of cars and trucks have become littered with chips and sensors, […]

We are seeing another sign of brick & mortar retailers embracing creativity to expand their business beyond the physical store format. While this could lend a helpful boost to the shift to mobile payments from credit and debit cards, we see it more as retailers contending with headwinds associated with our Connected Society investing theme. […]

  Alipay, a third-party mobile and online payment platform developed by Alibaba (BABA), is  teaming with First Data Corp. (FDC) tells that not only is our Cashless Consumption theme heating up in general, but the greater adoption of Cashless Consumption products and services outside the US likely means more international players than many a U.S. centric […]

Even though our concerns over the underlying fundamentals of the market remain — especially amidst this most recent rebound — thematic tailwinds continue to propel several of our positions on the Tematica Select List, particularly those tailwinds for the Cash-Strapped Consumer and Connected Society investment themes.

Guilty Pleasure company MGM Resorts is making some below the operating line moves that could give greater confidence in the company hitting EPS forecasts.

Several of the Disruptive Technologies investment theme companies on the Tematica Select List will play a key role in the Apple Special Event scheduled for Tuesday, September 12th, even if the companies themselves are never mentioned. With expectations once again running high ahead of this Apple event, here’s what we’ll be watching for as it pertains to the Tematica Select List.

While there may be some enthusiasm for Apple’s newest iPhone model, odds are it’s not going to alter the business model in a meaningful keeping the company reliant on a slowing market.

Despite the potential impact to be had from Irma, Disney’s return to business in the coming quarters, plus its buyback program, keep us comfortably patient with the shares.

Another day, another company compromised through a cyber attack. With this latest high profile attack on Equifax (EFX), personal information, such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers as well as credit card numbers for tens of thousands of people. Given the sensitivity of the information, we strongly suspect IT budgets at […]

From time to time, we are reminded of the growing threat of cyber attacks, one of the downsides of our increasingly Connected Society. This attack on computer networks of U.S. energy companies speaks to risks associated with the “industrialization of the internet” better known as the internet of things as part of our Safety & […]

With the Labor Day holiday behind us, things are picking up this September and it’s no rest for the weary as we make several moves on the Tematica Options+ Select List

In this week’s issue, we dissect what’s likely to happen in the stock market as we move deeper into September from August and face several issues that could once again make for a tumultuous, drama-filled September.

Late last week, while many were trying to squeeze in the last few days of summer vacation, Cash-Strapped Consumer company Costco Wholesale (COST) reported better than expected August sales, once again proving despite Amazon (AMZN) related fears, Costco continues to gain consumer wallet share.

A new coverage initiation pops shares of this Disruptive Technology company ahead of Apple’s next iPhone event on Sept. 12.

MGM Hotels & Resorts, Macau China

Adjusting for the impact of Typhoon Hato, August gaming revenue growth in Macau remained impressive, which is good news for our Guilty Pleasure investment theme position MGM.

  We’ve seen a number of companies, like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) look to position themselves within our Content is King investing theme. It’s a smart strategy as that proprietary content is a competitive moat that helps reduce customer churn. With Watch, Facebook (FB) is looking to push into streaming video and vie with Alphabet’s […]

Our latest weekly issue of Tematica Investing sees us shedding one position, but offers confirming data points for several others on the Tematica Select List.

Best Buy continues to make progress on its digital efforts, but it’s not enough to make the Tematica grade just yet.

After visiting several Whole Foods locations, here is our initial view on the Whole Foods-Amazon marriage.

While all eyes were on the less than robustly viewed Mayweather McGregor bout in Las Vegas, upcoming data will chart the course for this Guilty Pleasure company.

Data leading to an upgrade for SBUX shares at Wedbush confirms our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class and Affordable Luxury thesis on the shares.

A filing by Samsung Electronics confirms our bullish stance on this semiconductor capital equipment company as China looks to become a player in chips.

While this time it really seems like it could happen, the dire threats of the elimination of the human workforce isn’t anything new: WHEN the first printed books with illustrations started to appear in the 1470s in the German city of Augsburg, wood engravers rose up in protest. Worried about their jobs, they literally stopped […]

Battle Lines Between Amazon and Wal-Mart are being set

As the country turns the page on the eclipse, political maneuvering retakes center, all while the battle lines between Wal-Mart and Amazon are being set for the future of retail. Of course, we have our sleeper pick too that is strengthening its position while everyone else focuses on WMT and AMZN.

We’re not only seeing a blurring of our Content is King and Connected Society investing themes here in the U.S., we’re seeing in China as well in a deal between Tencent and the NFL. Live news and sports were two of the holdouts in streaming content, but with Google (GOOGL) adding streaming news to YouTube; […]

Several quarters ago we shared our view that after capacitive touch, voice would be the next interface to watch. We’ve seen adoption growth in smartphones with Apple (AAPL) and Siri, Microsoft (MSFT) and Cortana, and then in intelligent speakers like Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa powered Echo products. We’ve even read about licensing deals between Amazon and […]

Over the last few quarters, we’ve been rather vocal here at Tematica about the “transformation” at malls across the U.S. as part of the headwind that many brick & mortar retailers are facing “thanks” to our Connected Society theme. The move by Wegmans is a new one, but it also underscores the types of changes […]

New technology adoption can be driven, primarily, by two forces – bubbling up based on consumer demand or pushed down due to a mandate from companies or the government. With contactless payments, we’ve seen consumer uptake grow as mobile payments, like Apple Pay, have come to smartphones and wearables. Now Mastercard  (MA) and Visa (V) are mandating […]

Here at Tematica, we are watching the changing landscape when it comes to advertising dollars. We’ve witnessed the shift from analog advertising at newspapers to Internet-focused advertising and we are now seeing another shift emerge.  For many, especially outside the US, the smartphone is the first device on which they access the internet. A report by comScore […]

  Whether it’s on the go, at work or at home, streaming content continues to account for a growing portion of consumer content consumption. It’s, therefore, no surprise that Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and others are looking to join Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) in delivering proprietary content. On the flip side, Disney (DIS) is […]

Several months ago, Chief Macro Strategist Lenore Hawkins shared a view that has been percolating inside Tematica for a while – 2-day delivery or less is the standard by which e-commerce and traditional retailers will be judged. With the success of both Amazon Prime and Prime Now, we are seeing others striving to meet that […]

  Through our thematic lens, we see this as Content is King meeting the Connected Society, a theme that has led to much creative destruction over the last several years. With Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN) and now even Apple (AAPL) moving into proprietary content that is streamed to wherever and whenever consumers want, perhaps it’s […]

We’ve seen the reports of rising consumer debt, and a new one confirms one aspect of our Cash-strapped Consumer investing theme —  “wage growth has been stagnant for five years for a large segment of the working populace — and that using cards is the result of the simple fact that people have to use […]

Our Content is King theme isn’t the only one getting a lot of attention this week as more companies look to invest not only in payments, which we see as Cashless Consumption but also artificial intelligence, a slice of our Disruptive Technologies theme. As we look at these moves, we are reminded of the global […]

While it’s true that companies, especially large ones, take time to evolve their business very much the way it takes a large boat to turn. That said, there is a tipping point at which the turn picks up speed, and we are seeing that at Wal-Mart when it comes to our Connected Society investing theme. […]

  Thus far Apple (AAPL) has stayed on the Content is King theme sidelines, but a combination of recent hire and a purported $1 billion check book to develop content change that. Granted, that $1 billion is well below what Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) are spending, but Apple has Apple TV – a solid […]

We expect Disney shares are likely to trade sideways over the next several weeks as the market continues to digest the recently announced moves by the House of Mouse. We, on the other hand, continue to see our Content is King investment theme providing significant tailwinds to the business, and as such we’re suspending our stop-loss and will instead look to use further share weakness to improve our cost position.

We expect Disney shares are likely to trade sideways over the next several weeks as the market continues to digest the recently announced moves by the House of Mouse. We, on the other hand, continue to see our Content is King investment theme providing significant tailwinds to the business, and as such we’re suspending our stop-loss and will instead look to use further share weakness to improve our cost position.

We are using the mismatch between reset earnings expectations vs. the pullback in shares of this Food with Integrity company to improve our cost basis.

A premium outerwear best known for its signature goose-down jacket with fur-trimmed hood is expanding its fledgling store footprint.  Canada Goose Holdings Inc. announced plans to open three additional retail stores this fall, with locations in Boston, Calgary (Canada), and Tokyo, Japan. Also opening this fall are two previously announced stores in Chicago and London.  “Having a […]

It’s a phrase we use often here at Tematica, but it bears repeating: the only thing better than one thematic tailwind, is multiple tailwinds. This story on pymnts.com — a favorite of ours for keeping tabs on our Cashless Consumption investment theme among others — we count three themes:

Timberland, the shoemaker, has rolled out a concept store that will be completely overhauled and stocked with new products every six weeks to help enhance its customer service and the retail experience.According to a report announcing the news, the new brick-and-mortar format will be located in a mall in Pennsylvania and will be called Timberland Tree […]

The Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota paved the way for the construction of thousands of climate-controlled malls throughout the US that looked like it. Source: History of Southdale Center, the first modern American shopping mall – Business Insider   The great American mall is struggling to say the least. The causes are many, but all […]

Dan Sisco has discovered a technology that allows him to access half a dozen major TV channels, completely free.“I was just kind of surprised that this is technology that exists,” says Mr. Sisco, 28 years old. “It’s been awesome. It doesn’t log out and it doesn’t skip.”Let’s hear a round of applause for TV antennas, […]

You’ve got to spend money to make money. That appears to be the mantra over at Netflix, where the DVD-by-mail service turned mega-streaming outlet has racked up nearly $20 billion in debt expanding its platform to new areas, producing original content, and buying the rights to show other company’s movies and TV shows.The Los Angeles […]

Historically September has been one of the worst performing months for the market, and given our concerns about earnings expectations vs. the market’s valuation, the pending normalization of the Fed’s balance sheet and speed of the economy not to mention continued drama in DC and North Korea, we want to dress the investing table properly ahead of entering the last month of the quarter.

Tune in for this special episode of Cocktail Investing, featuring a recording from our last Thematic Summit that we held for our institutional subscribers at the end of June. It was a deeper than usual look at the economy and markets, and we also discussed a number of things as they relate to the Tematica Select List. The Select List is our recommended list of thematically well-positioned companies for our subscribers.

Would you consider getting a cable-replacement TV service from a cable company? If so, Comcast has a proposal for you.The company says it is rolling out an internet-based streaming video service, called Instant TV, this fall. The service will join other streaming video services from pay TV providers, including Dish’s Sling TV and DirecTV Now […]

We are in the thick of things this week, amid several hundred earnings reports, anxiously awaiting the latest Fed commentary coming out of its monetary policy meetings, and of course, there all that is coming out of Washington D.C. these days. In this week’s issue we walk through the implications of each as well as dig into thematic data points coming out of earnings reports.

While Alphabet warns of rising costs in its Google division, it crushes 2Q 2017 expectations as it continues to ride several thematic tailwinds. The market, however, is putting downward pressure on the shares, a move we don’t think is warranted as we look at the situation through our thematic investment lens.

One of things keeping the Unemployment Rate low has been the explosion in demand for workers in the many fulfillment and distribution centers across the country — after all, someone has to grab all the orders from the shelves and put them in the box to ship to you.  Or do they?

Three Square Market (32M) is offering implanted chips to employees interested in being biohacked.The new scheme, which 32M emphasized as being voluntary, begins on 1 August. According to the firm, the RFID chip will be implanted into their hand to “make purchases in their break room micro market, open doors, login to computers, use the […]

  Amazon.com Inc plans to meet on Wednesday with a dozen U.S. ranchers, seeking to expand distribution of organic and grass-fed meats as it takes over Whole Foods Market Inc, according to the meeting’s organizer.Analysts and investors have speculated that Amazon is aiming to combine its expertise in order fulfillment with the grocer’s facilities to […]

Well, the continued melt-up in the markets can only be met by the melt up coming out of Washington DC this week — we’re talking the temperatures here in DC, not the White House. The current record highs for the market means the multiple is being stretched even further — 18.5x earnings today versus 16.2x expected 2017 earnings in early November. The same earnings that have not been materially trimmed despite evidence of a slowing economy and the push out in the Trump agenda. Things are getting hot everywhere it seems.

This week, Amazon sent more than a flare across the bow of newly public meal kit company Blue Apron (APRN) and took one step deeper into expanding its food focused efforts

At last weekend’s D23, Disney shared what’s up and coming for both its animated as well as live action movies. For those of us that have been paying attention, there was only modest new news, but the event did solidify our view that 2017 is a transition year for the company’s core film business and will set the stage for strong growth potential in 2018 and beyond.

Second quarter earnings season really began late last week, and it has been anything but smooth sailing, exactly as we have been predicting for awhile

Janet Yellen finally copped to the fact that the domestic economy is indeed moderating, and Wall St quickly followed with the same assessment. But as a regular reader, you know, it’s been a drum we’ve been banging for quite some time. The scary thing is it comes at a time when the S&P 500 closed Friday at 18.7x times 2017 earnings per share. This week we break it all down and what it means for investors as we head into what will no doubt be some serious readjustments in expectations.

    Visa Takes War on Cash to Restaurants. Company offers up to 50 merchants $10,000 apiece to upgrade payment technology and stop taking cashVisa’s new initiative is part of its broader effort to steer Americans away from using cash, long one of its biggest competitors. Visa Inc. has a new offer for small merchants: […]

In this week’s issue, we’re adding a new commodities ETF to the Tematica Select List as part of our Scarce Resources investment theme. Plus updates on AMZN, AMT, OLED, MKC, IFF and BETR.

Online shopping from a great selection at Amazon Smart Home Services Store. Source: Amazon.com: Amazon Smart Home Services   For the most part, Amazon’s Echo devices are pretty much “plug-and-play”.  We recently received the Amazon Echo Live devices and it was pre-configured to our Amazon Prime account, and by simply entering our WiFi password automatically […]

Trader Joe’s has Two Buck Chuck. Amazon? A new wine label called Next with bottles costing $20, $30 and $40 a pop.The company recently announced that it helped develop this new wine brand produced by King Vintners, a subsidiary of Oregon’s King Estate Winery, and had started selling it on Amazon.com. In a press release, […]

Amazon’s Echo is about to have some more competition in the digital assistant arena: China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba will start selling a $73 voice-activated speaker.The Tmall Genie X1 will be available for 499 yuan ($73) to the first 1,000 people who buy it during a one-month trial, the company announced on Wednesday. It may prove […]

As it seems like most of the country is on vacation this week, we’re going to use the lull in activity to take a moment to look back at the quarter that was and get our house in order as we enter the back half of the year.

With the Nasdaq Composite Index and technology, in general, starting to pull back, we’re using it as an opportunity to take our gains on this ETF and move on.

The cyber threats keep coming, which is good news for HACK, and the market seems to be putting an unfair beating on COST, which we’ll use to our advantage this morning by adding to our position.

While we see many favorable aspects to Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market, we also see the pullback in Costco shares as an opportunity to take another run at the shares of the warehouse retailer.

While many have been focused on the retail environment —and we count ourselves among them here at Tematica — we’ve also been watching the painful restaurant environment over the past few months. It’s been one characterized by falling same-store-sales and declining traffic – not a harbinger of good things when paired with rising minimum wages. […]

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) today introduced the Consumer Direct Offense, a new company alignment that allows Nike to better serve the consumer personally, at scale. Leveraging the power of digital, Nike will drive growth—by accelerating innovation and product creation, moving even closer to the consumer through Key Cities, and deepening one-to-one connections.“Through the Consumer Direct […]

It seems every day we hear about the inevitability of the autonomous car with many hoping that it will usher in a new area of safety. Globally, road crashes are the 9th leading cause of death. Clearly, there is room for improvement and Apple’s (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook agrees, citing the auto industry as ripe for a major disruption in a recent interview.

While May Retail Sale disappointed, it confirmed several of our investing themes as well as positions on the Tematica Select List

We’ve likely seen peak housing, auto, consumer sentiment, inflation and real interest rates while unemployment has bottomed.

Following last week’s addition of a Guilty Pleasure company, this week we’re adding another new position in a company that is a compound semiconductor substrate company.

  Facebook Inc.FB may soon help its users do something unfamiliar on the platform: pay for news. The social-media giant is building a feature that would allow users to subscribe to publishers directly from the mobile app, according to people familiar with the matter. The feature, long-requested by publishers, is expected to roll out by the […]

The prevalence of “paywalls” on websites could be on the rise. That’s at least one of the possible unintended consequences of a bill Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn is pushing for.

Investors in some of the high-flying stocks like Facebook and Alphabet that have driven the Nasdaq Composite Index more than 17 percent higher year to date should ponder what an advertising tax could mean to revenues and EPS expectations

Macy’s (M) gross margin warnings serve as a reminder of the more than challenging retail environment that is a direct fallout of our Connected Society and Cash-Strapped Consumer investing themes.

Our Guilty Pleasure investing theme examines a variety of companies and businesses that range from alcohol, beer and spirits to chocolate, tobacco and gaming. We examine each of these, and when the time is right, meaning a thematic tailwind is blowing and there is sufficient net upside to be had, we’ll add shares to the Tematica Select List. That’s what we’re doing today with

The Connected Society isn’t just a story driven by Millenials as more and more seniors are getting connected as well. You will find more statistics at Statista   Smartphones, once the bane of the silver-haired crew has seen a dramatic uptick in adoption. It isn’t just smartphones though. Regardless of how they do it, seniors […]

We nearly passed right over this article on Business Insider because it didn’t seem all that newsworthy to us — the ins and outs of how Amazon is producing its video content.  But then near the bottom came some very interesting figure: Global dominationJPMorgan has estimated that Amazon will spend $4.5 billion on video in […]

The latest May jobs creation and cuts reports confirms out views on several Tematica Select List positions

We see this next iteration of exercise sitting at the intersection of our Connected Society and Fountain of Youth investing themes, and it sure doesn’t hurt to get a positive endorsement from Mary Meeker! Peloton, a four-year-old startup that sells exercise bikes tied to a live-streamed workout experience, is revving up for expansion armed with […]

We’re adding an aerospace company to the Tematica Contender’s List, which is where we list companies that we’re doing more work on and in some cases we’re waiting for the risk to reward trade-off to reach more appetizing levels.

As the face of retail morphs in response to several of our thematic headwinds, including Connected Society, Rise & Fall of the Middle Class, Food with Integrity and the Fountain of Youth,  brick and mortar retailers and mall centers are attempting to innovate and improve their in-store experience. We’d note the following trends that per […]

While ink sales have started to rebound at HP, we have to question if something CEO Meg Whitman said in 2012 still holds. Back then Whitman shared ink sales served as a back of the envelope economic indicator with the though being the busier companies are, the more ink they consume. Our thinking today is […]

Over the past few years, esports have taken the gaming world by storm. Although China accounts for 57% of worldwide esports viewership, according to IHS Markit, the market in Europe has gained a lot of attention recently for its rapid growth.In the run-up to this week’s Wargaming.net 2017 World of Tanks Grand Finals in Moscow, […]

With the Burrito chain’s health scare firmly in the rearview mirror, the question still remains if this Foods with Integrity investment theme company can make the full comeback and overcome a new set of hurdles that sit in front of them. CLICK HERE TO WATCH (forward to the 38 min mark): http://www.cheddar.com/videos/147086

Facebook has signed deals with millennial-focused news and entertainment creators Vox Media, BuzzFeed, ATTN, Group Nine Media and others to make shows for its upcoming video service, which will feature long and short-form content with ad breaks, according to several sources familiar with the situation.Facebook is planning two tiers of video entertainment: scripted shows with […]

As the stock market has moved higher and higher, it’s not lost on us that a number of holdings on the Tematica Select List have been inching up week after week, closing the gap on our respective price targets.

There are several drivers of a company’s business as well as the price of its shares, assuming it is publicly traded. We described many of these in Cocktail Investing: Distilling Everyday Noise into Clear Investment Signals for Better Returns, but a short list includes new technology, regulatory mandates, the overall speed of the global economy […]

With ransomware set to be THE cyber attack strategy of 2017, here’s what Tematica learned from our conversation with Focal-Point regarding WannaCry and other ransomware attacks.

Washington, D.C., is enlisting Square Inc.’s help as its taxi commission tries to help the city’s cabbies compete with Uber drivers. By the end of August, all of the taxis in Washington have to tear out their traditional meters and start using smartphones or tablets, in what the city government has been describing as a […]

Executive Edge: Amazon considering entering pharmacy business  5 Hours Ago | 01:08Amazon is hiring a business lead to figure out how the company can break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market.For the last few years, Amazon has held at least one annual meeting at its Seattle headquarters to discuss whether it should enter the pharmacy business, says […]

Mother Nature sensing we might like the lull after the last few week heavy flow of earnings and data, many across the globe are contending with the WannaCry ransom ware cyber attack. Today we dig into what it means for our Safety & Security investment theme position.

Traditional landline telephone service has been going the way of the Dodo bird as chord cutters look to slash communication costs and rely increasingly on their smartphones. With the latest software update, one can call or message any contact that has Amazon’s free Alexa app on their phone, an Echo or Echo Dot provided they have […]

    The battle for the digital consumer is on with Amazon responding to Walmart’s attempts to grow its online and mobile business. Back in February, Amazon cut its free shipping price from $49 to $35 and this week is slashed that down to $25, which compares to Walmart’s current $35 minimum for free shippping. […]

Nothing sadder than when a CEO refuses to accept the changing landscape and instead points fingers at other “happenings.” Case in point below, the newly installed CEO of Coca-Cola (KO) is blaming our Connected Society investing theme for hurting soda volumes. While we admit fewer people are going to the mall, there are other headwinds […]

We see several confirmations of our thematic tailwinds in several of our holdings, including Disney (DIS), Amplify Snacks (BETR), USA Technologies (USAT), AMN Healthcare (AMN), Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

It literally feels like every day Amazon is rolling out something new — whether it’s auto parts store, a video version of its Echo Device or a new Amazon exclusive piece of content, which we have today. It’s no secret that Amazon Prime is the Trojan Horse of everything Amazon goes these days — getting a […]

TrumpCare passing the House and heading to the Senate for a vote has put pressure on healthcare workforce solutions company AMN Healthcare (AMN) even as it reported better than expected March quarter results.

We are boosting our price target on Connected Society company Facebook (FB) to $160 from $150 following this week’s better than expected 1Q 2017 quarterly results and arguably cautious outlook.

In this alert we share the consensus expectations for two key holdings on the Tematica Select List, as well as our thoughts heading into earnings reports next week.

After last night’s market close, this Disruptive Technology investment theme company smashed consensus expectations for 1Q 2017 on both the top and bottom line, leading us to raise our price target (again!)

In this week’s issue we set the table for what is expected from several companies on the Tematica Select List, and also update our price targets for Amazon and Alphabet.

  A new class of unemployed workersAs more and more retail workers lose their jobs, a new class of unemployed and underemployed workers is emerging in America that’s larger and more geographically far-reaching than the coal industry Trump has vowed to revive.What does this class look like? Nearly half are women, about 17% are Hispanic […]

As early details of President Trump’s tax proposal hit, investors should be asking which companies stand to benefit the most?

While the earnings reports we’ve received thus far have been encouraging, in sifting between the headlines there are some reasons to be concerned and as we get the bulk of this week’s reports today and tomorrow, we suspect more concerns will bubble to the top. 

A preview of what we’re looking for in AT&T’s upcoming earnings announcements at the cross-section of the Connected Society and Content is King, while also looking for confirming data points to support our Dycom (DY) position

The market has been mostly trending sideways as the primary driver of the market, namely the expanding P/E ratios based on assumptions around the impact of future Trump administration policies and prospects for earnings growth, come into question. We have been seeing heavier volume on down days than on up for both the Dow and […]

One of the nation’s hottest gyms isn’t a gym. And it’s free.Fitness Blender, an online-workout company run by personal trainers Kelli and Daniel Segars, is the most-watched fitness channel on YouTube and just passed 4 million subscribers. That’s more than the number of members at 24 Hour Fitness, one of the nation’s biggest health-club chains.Fitness […]

During our downtime last week, we’ve rolled up our thematic sleeves and today we are adding two new positions to the Tematica Select List as part of our Cashless Consumption and Food with Integrity investing themes.

For now, Netflix Inc. investors can have rapid subscriber growth or a big jump in profit — not both.The streaming-video giant reported first-quarter user gains that fell short of estimates because there wasn’t a “House of Cards”-style hit to draw new viewers and retain others. On the other hand, the lack of big-budget productions boosted net […]

Gymboree Corp., the struggling children’s clothing retailer, is preparing to file for bankruptcy as it faces a June 1 interest payment on its debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter.The Bain Capital-controlled company is seeking to reorganize its debt load and may transfer control to its lenders, including Searchlight Capital and Brigade Capital […]

Every once and a while we come across a data point that we even we shake our heads at and today is one of those days. We know gaming is a key aspect of our Content is King investing theme, but we were surprised to learn the Universty of Utah created a varsity sports program […]

Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) on Thursday unveiled a wireless service with an unlimited data plan, making it the first major U.S. cable provider to enter the highly competitive wireless market.Unlimited data, talk and text will be available by mid-year for $65 per line for up to five lines, or $45 per line for customers with Comcast’s […]

It looks like April is at least starting off more like March than January or February. As we discussed in this week’s Monday Morning Kickoff, we are in what we call No Man’s Land — that time period after the quarter close and before companies start reporting their earnings. It tends to be a time of reduced trading volume, something we’ve seen at both NYSE and Nasdaq listed stocks, as investors wait for tell-tale signs of what’s to come. Another way to phrase it is to say they are waiting for the first signs of what is likely to come.

The only thing better than one thematic tailwind pushing on a company’s business is two… so you can imagine how powerful three of them must be! Amazon is a company actively adding that 3rd leg to the stool.

Restaurants stocks are challenged by consumer spending and a shift in eating preferences. That same preference shift bodes very well for two “buy the bullets, not the gun” companies on the Tematica Select List

This Asset-Iite Business Model company is taking steps to win back advertisers, while a Rise & Fall of the Middle Class one holds its annual Investor Day today.

Restaurants stocks are challenged by consumer spending and a shift in eating preferences. That same preference shift bodes very well for two “buy the bullets, not the gun” companies on the Tematica Select List

  This week the House of Representatives officially confirmed Congress’ decision to repeal ISP protections which, as we discussed last week, permits internet providers like Verizon and AT&T to sell your browsing history and location info to advertisers.But never fear — PornHub is here. According to our extensive “research,” they’ve officially rolled out a secure, […]

Following in the footsteps of HBO, AT&T, and Comcast, it’s looking like Verizon wants to appeal to the watch what I want, when I want, where I want Connected Society viewer. More competition should serve to improve choice, price and programming choices, and hopefully lower cable bills as well. The question is what does this […]

Amid slowing growth prospects, we assess where thing stand in the stock market as we get ready for the deluge of 2017 first-quarter earnings announcements, which promises to result in a bumpy ride.

With three trading days left to go in the quarter, we wanted to share some quick thoughts on several Tematica Select List positions

  Since the advent of the VCR, the basic formulas has been the same: release the movie into theaters, and then after a period of time release to directly to consumers, whether it’s a premium cable channel, VCR tape, DVD, or streaming service.  Of course, what has changed has been the decrease in the period […]

If you’re a fan of that one show where the undead aren’t the biggest threat to the living, or the one where the Cinnabon guy used to be a shady-ish lawyer, but you want a little more from the shows, you’re just the person AMC is looking for: The cable network is preparing to launch an online […]

Uber Technologies Inc. is suspending its self-driving car program after one of its autonomous vehicles was involved in a high-impact crash in Tempe, Arizona, the latest incident for a company reeling from multiple crises.In a photo posted on Twitter, one of Uber’s Volvo self-driving SUVs is pictured on its side next to another car with […]

Spring has brought a different kind of fresh air to the stock market as expectations for both GDP and earnings are starting to be revised lower, and odds are there is more to come. We’ll continue to be patient and focus on thematics, with the intent of using any market weakness to add new positions to the Tematica Select List and scale into existing ones where it makes sense.

Rising consumer debt levels amid higher interest rates and a lack of wage growth are an ominous sign for this automotive company.

Over the weekend, Barron’s published two favorable articles offering confirming data points for several positions on the Tematica Select List

The power of streaming the content you want, when you want it on the device you prefer is not to be underestimated. It’s been a sea-change in how people consume content, and that has led to a shift in the hardware that people use. With Netflix outstripping digital video recorders (DVRs), we have to question […]

Whether its running out of dryer sheets, laundry detergent or even fabric softener, it’s one of those things that we tend not to think about until it’s too late. It usually means a quick run to store to grab some before that laundry pile gets too out of control. Feeling your pain, GE Appliances has […]

Source: McDonald’s, late to mobile ordering, seeks to avoid pitfalls | Reuters McDonald’s Corp has begun testing its long-awaited U.S. mobile ordering app, with the goal of avoiding the kinds of service hiccups that have haunted digital debuts by companies such as Starbucks Corp.Digital ordering has been challenging for many restaurant chains and their customers. […]

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, CEO Nick Woodman said the company had realized one crucial error it made since it went public in 2014.”We failed to make GoPro contemporary and failed to align GoPro to the smartphone movement,” Woodman said. “The smartphone has set a new bar for convenience” and for how much work […]

With inflation ticking up amid a slowing domestic economy, the Fed is walking a tightrope as it looks to stay on track with more interest rate hikes in 2017.

While the February Retail Sales Report headline figure came in as expected, thematic tailwinds and headwinds paved the way for those sectors that saw stronger retail sales and poured cold water on those that continue to contract.

Keeping in mind the Fed has a knack for boosting interest rates at the wrong time, and it increasingly looks like Trump’s fiscal policies will take longer than expected to take hold and boost the economy, we continue to tread prudently and cautiously in the near-term.

Donald Trump announces major cuts to several key departments in America. Voters in the Netherlands re-elect Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the results are being felt around the world, Boom Bust’s Bianca Facchinei has the full story. Chief investment officer at Tematica Research, Chris Versace joins us to discuss larger repercussion by the federal rate […]

Amazon has all the pieces to dominate the eSports category, in particular, the infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Healthcare expenditures are being driven by a combination of our Aging of the Population and Rise & Fall of the Middle Class investing themes, but there are two other Tematica themes that are poised to change the how, where, when and why people consume healthcare — Connected Society and Disruptive Technology. There is little argument that […]

As we discussed on the latest edition of Cocktail Investing, we’re not really shocked that RadioShack is once again filing for bankruptcy. Between the move to digital commerce that has weighted on foot traffic into RadioShack stores and the near disposable nature of many consume electronics today, it’s not been an easy road for the […]

This Food with Integrity company delivered in-line earnings and guidance as it shrugs off food deflation with continued organic growth and cost savings initiatives.

Given all the data points we’re looking at this week the only conclusion we can draw is that things are not headed in the direction of an expanding economy, but rather a slowing one.

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat and the latest Connected Society-Content is King hybrid company has gone public but is it really worth the $34.7 billion market cap it had when it closed out its first week of trading?

As the stock market continues to melt higher, our weekend reading turned up two charts that add to our already increasingly cautious view in the near-term stock market.

We were stopped out of this Cash-strapped Consumer play amid weaker than expected earnings, but news on membership fees gives us reason to keep an eye on the shares.

Costco (COST) shares were hit on Friday following weaker than expected earnings, but news on membership fees and continued warehouse growth gives us reason to keep an eye on the shares.

We’re seeing Connected Society mobile carriers morph their business models toward Content is King given their thinking that people will want to consume content on all these mobile devices. It’s true, so true in fact that Chevrolet is following AT&T and Verizon in offering an unlimited data plan for Chevrolet owners who have an in-vehicle OnStar […]

Most tend to focus on the Connected Society headwind that is rippling through brick & mortar retail apparel companies like Macy’s and Kohl’s, but there are other retailers that are being hit. Consumer electronics retailers, like Best Buy and HHGregg, have seen their business raked over the Amazon coals and pivoted to appliances, an already […]

The last several years have been a dark time for McDonald’s as its domestic same-store sales fell 1.3 percent in 2016. Worse yet, the number of customers its been drawing has been dropping every year for the last four years. After tinkering and tinkering with its menu, what does McDonald’s management think will turn things […]

In this week’s program, Tematica’s cocktail mixologists, Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins talk about everything from the market’s reaction to Trump’s speech before Congress to the widening divide between the real hard economic data reports coming in, and finally an in-depth conversation with boxed.com CEO Chieh Huang

On this week’s Cocktail Investing, we touch on issues that are plaguing fast food restaurants, better known as quick service restaurants. While some might focus on improving the food or getting in tune with consumers that are shifting their preferences more in line with our Food with Integrity investing theme, some QSRs like Pizza Hut, […]

While Trump delivered a good speech last night, there was little to be had in details and policy timetables. But the stock market loved it and is gapping higher yet again today, which looks to us like it’s increasingly further out along its skis. 

Google’s YouTube on Tuesday unveiled a web-TV service that will offer a package of over 40 broadcast and cable channels for $35 a month, making the tech giant the latest entrant in a race to win over millions of consumers who are shifting away from traditional TV.The new service, dubbed YouTube TV, is set to […]

Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) on Wednesday reported an unexpected drop in same-store sales for the holiday quarter, the latest example of an electronics retailer struggling with waning demand and fierce competition from online stores.The retailer said sales at stores open for more than a year fell 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Analysts were […]

We are once again boosting our price target on this Disruptive Technology stock, which faces ramping demand across a number of applications. Subscribers that are underweight the shares should use any post-Trump speech weakness to build their positions.

Ahead of President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 28, investors should consider some defensive measures just in case the stock market gets a case of post-speech indigestion.

Later this week Tematica Select List company Dycom Industries (DY), a specialty contractor serving the wireless and broadband markets, will report its quarterly results. Here’s what Wall Street is expecting.

Ahead of President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night, we are putting some defensive measures into play for the Tematica Select List, which should preserve some of our year-to-date gains should the market get a case of indigestion.

We’d file this under the “good idea if you can find someone dumb enough to do it” . . . Department store operators Kohl’s Corp (KSS.N) and rival Macy’s Inc (M.N) are betting on a potential money-spinner – carving out prime space within their sprawling stores and leasing them to other retailers.The move underscores the […]

For those of us men that have not fallen in line with the current beard trend, we’ve been bemoaning what have been the escalating price of razor blades for some time. We suspect many women feel our pain as well. As we point out in Cocktail Investing, where there’s a pain point there tends to […]

In this week’s episode of Cocktail Investing, Tematica’s cocktail mixologists, Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins sit down to discuss some of the week’s economic data, relevant political events and share where they have spotted a few of the latest Thematic Signals

  Trump is the first president to speak at CPAC since ReaganFeb. 24, 2017 – 8:17 – Tematica Research Chief Macro Strategist Lenore Hawkins, The King’s College Manhattan Finance Chair Brian Brenberg and Daily Caller News Foundation Editor-in-Chief Chris Bedford discuss President Trump’s speech at CPAC. CLICK HERE TO WATCH: Trump is the first president […]

We are once again boosting our price target on this Disruptive Technology company that is benefitting from the adoption of organic light emitting display technology across a growing number of consumer electronic and automotive applications.

Reuter’s is reporting social media giant Facebook is in talks to stream Major League Baseball games this season. Should a deal emerge between the two….

This morning we are adding this “missing link” Connected Society stock to the Tematica Select List with a Buy rating given 17 percent upside to our price target.

The last week has been a barn burner for a number of our positions on the Tematica Select List and this week we added a new Disruptive Technology position, while another reports its quarterly earnings this week.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Money transfer company TransferWise has launched a new service that allows users to send money internationally through Facebook’s chat application, as competition in the digital payments landscape intensifies.The London-based startup said on Tuesday that it had developed a Facebook Messenger “chatbot”, or an automated program that can help users communicate with […]

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the TV ad touting cotton as the fabric of our lives. Over the last few years, as we’ve been migrating more and more into the digital society, we’ve thought the new fabric of our lives is chips. As we know from our devices, be it a laptop, smartphone, tablet, we are facing the need for more computing power, greater connectivity speeds and more connections into more things (cars, homes, and that Internet of Things thing).

In a shortened week, here’s what we’re watching on the earnings and economic data front as it relates to the overall economy and the Tematica Select List.

As our Disruptive Technology play on the Tematica Select List holds a series of non-deal roadshow with meetings in San Francisco courtesy of Deutsche Bank (DB), a couple of key pieces of thematic datapoints emerge.

An update on this Aging of the Population theme company with its business extremely well positioned to benefit from the healthcare worker shortage that we continue to see in the monthly JOLTS report.

Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are considering a new use for their popular home speakers: becoming the home phone.Amazon’s Echo or the Google Home could be used to make or receive calls, people familiar with the matter said, a functionality that would give them further control over consumers’ digital lives at home.The tech giants […]

Shares of this Disruptive Technology play are once again climbing higher, likely due to bullish comments shared by compound semiconductor capital equipment company Applied Materials (AMAT) on the organic light emitting diode market on its earnings call last night.

Donning our thematic hats and looking at the January report, we find continued support for the accelerating shift toward digital commerce in the January Retail Sales Report.

Earlier today the Census Bureau published its report on January Retail Sales, which topped expectations with a print of +0.4 percent vs. the expected 0.1 percent. Stripping out January Auto sales and food services, Retail sales +0.2 percent month over month. To us, the more telling figure was the 5.1 percent year over year increase […]

As we noted yesterday, Time Warner (TWX) shareholders met yesterday to decide on the $86 billion merger with AT&T (T). As expected Time Warner shareholder approved the proposed merger and coming out of that meeting, Time Warner anticipates the transaction closing before the end of 2017.

Today, shares of Disruptive Technology company and Tematica Select List resident Universal Display popped due to several catalysts including chatter over Apple (AAPL) moving its next iteration of the iPhone to organic light emitting diode display technology, and …

Since our last issue, the stock market continued to move higher on the news that President Trump will soon be sharing his tax overhaul plan and Fed Chairwoman’s Yellen’s congressional testimony yesterday.

Amazon is looking to transform just about every industry. Now, the Seattle tech juggernaut wants to reinvent how you conduct meetings and conference calls.Amazon Web Services today unveiled Chime, a new service that it says takes the “frustration out of meetings” by delivering video, voice, chat, and screen sharing. Instead of forcing participants to call […]

Amazon over the past couple of years has become the prime player (sorry for the pun) in our Connected Society investment theme given it’s dominance in the eCommerce and cloud computing space. That same dominance and push into eCommerce also places it at the heart of the The third theme Amazon dances around is Content […]

Not much to say here other than Payless is feeling the same heat that is forcing many brick & mortar retailers to reduce their footprint to stem the red ink on their income statements. Given the rise of services like Zappos and other digital shoe commerce platforms, including booming Direct To Consumer sales at Nike […]

We’ve heard quite a bit over the last year when it comes to one burgeoning aspect of our Disruptive Technology investing theme – virtual reality (VR). There are a few flavors of VR, including Augmented Reality, which took the globe by storm with Pokemon Go. With Pokémon Go recently breaking a financial milestone – reaching one […]

Amazon is taking a step into the scariest dressing room on the planet, the place where most of us women dread to go, particularly in the cooler months when we can’t hope for a tan to help us be more comfortable with our least favorite bits. Competitors argue that women won’t want to purchase intimate […]

As we shift more of our digital lives into the smartphone, security becomes increasingly important and that is giving rise to new technologies. Apple brought its TouchID into them mainstream with the iPhone, but Osram is scaling up its infrared iris-scanning technology for Samsung. We’re thinking these disruptive technologies are likely to move past smartphones […]

Facebook once again delivered knockout metrics in its December quarter earnings report, but what caught the team Tematica eye was how the social media giant is leveraging the rising middle class that is a part of our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class investing theme. Several years ago Facebook launched a lite version of […]

The revelation that smartphone usage has skyrocketed is less than surprising to anyone that has lifted their eyes up from their own smartphone when dining out. If you haven’t done that, odds are you would see less conversation (especially among teens) and more mobile data consumption. That’s the addictive nature of our Connected Society, but […]

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would make almost any list of the world’s most powerful people. In retail, he’s clearly on top, and in tech, he’s close to it. In book publishing, he would be the undisputed No. 1 for 10 years running. In addition to a $65 billion stake in Amazon, Bezos owns the Blue Origin rocket […]

With cyber hacking back in the news on several fronts, we make a move to add a Safety & Security thematic holding.

2016 saw a dramatic rise in the number of online adverts containing malware, according to digital threat management company, RiskIQ. In total, there was a 132.6% rise in ‘malvertising’ compared with 2015. Delivered through ad networks such as Google and Facebook, threat actors use malvertising to propagate malware, ransomware, and scams (disingenuous advertising), as well […]

Hollywood, these days, seems remarkably poised for a similar disruption. Its audiences increasingly prefer on-demand content, its labor is costly, and margins are shrinking. Yet when I ask people in Hollywood if they fear such a fate, their response is generally one of defiance. Film executives are smart and nimble, but many also assert that […]

The number of victims increased 18% from 2015 and constitutes the highest number since Javelin started keeping track of such fraud in 2003. It’s worth noting, however, the amount stolen from those victims was at its lowest point in the past six years.How is this happening? Blame your online shopping habit, for one: most of […]

Until Apple can bring to market a new product, or reenergize an existing one that can jumpstart growth, the company will be tied to the iPhone upgrade cycle.

Amid the earnings deluge, we’ve gotten a number of confirming thematic data points, and yes, we’re going to share them with you as well as take some defensive measures to protect our current gains.

Each month it seems we get more data points that confirm the accelerating shift toward digital shopping. As we noted in a recent post,  non-store sales accounted for 19 percent of holiday shopping in 2016 vs. 17% in 2015, but the shift is moving way past holiday shopping. Amazon is moving into fashion, groceries and […]

After back-to-back earnings disappointments, the market stops out one of our positions in the Tematica Select List

This morning the US Bureau of Economic Analysis published its take on Personal Income & Spending for December. We’re rather fond of this monthly report given the data contained within and the implications for several of our investment themes, including Cash-strapped Consumers as well as Affordable Luxury and the Rise & Fall of the Middle […]

After his business was robbed for the fifth time in just over three months, the owner of Park Cafe & Coffee Bar in Baltimore decided to do something that would have seemed radical for a neighborhood business just a few years ago: He stopped taking cash. It was a desperation move, but what happened next […]

Starbucks is facing a crisis, and the CEO refuses to offer any specifics on how he’s going to solve it.The coffee chain’s stores are being inundated with mobile orders, and that’s drastically slowing down service and alienating customers. Transactions, a measure of customer traffic, dropped 2% in the most recent quarter, according to the company. […]

Amazon is pursuing an open-systems approach that allows quick development of many features, while Apple is taking a slower route, asserting more control over the technology in order to assure security and ease-of-use.The strategic importance of the “connected home” niche looms large: Amazon wants a way to own its customer interactions -mainly shopping online – […]

Despite the relentless march of credit cards, debit cards and mobile payments, Americans wrote 17.3 billion checks in 2015, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve last month. That compares with the 41.9 billion checks written in 2000 when the Fed started conducting the survey, which it does every three years.While check payments […]

As quarterly earnings season moves into full swing we begin to digest all the backward-looking results and put the puzzle pieces of the forward corporate commentary together to assess its impact on our Tematica Select List positions.

Earlier this month we had CES 2017 in Las Vegas, a techie’s mecca of new whiz-bang products set to hit the market, in some cases later this year, but in others in 2018 and beyond. A person tracking the CES trade shows over the years likely remembers the changes in inputs from clunky keyboards and […]

Aspects of our Connected Society continue to ripple through and transform more aspects of American lives. One of the latest is consignment shops. Once viewed as “second-hand clothes” the Connected Society has enabled Cash-strapped Consumers to obtain Affordable Luxury items that may have been worn less than a few times or never at all. These […]

Once again we see yet another aspect to our Connected Society investing theme. While many are used to video conferencing for work via Webex and Zoom or increasingly video conversation through Apple’s Facetime, Microsoft’s Skype, Google’s Hangouts and Facebook, the application has found a new home in corporate annual meetings. It used to be that […]

With a 20+ day range-bound market, the presidential inauguration, the velocity of earnings reports picking up, and Eurzozone drama, we’ve opted to see how things unfold over the next several days before making any new moves.

There is little question that streaming content is altering the playing the field, not just how people consume audio and video content, but increasingly where certain content can be found. First, it was movies, then TV shows, but as back catalogs were seemingly pervasive, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have looked to differentiate […]

Exercise and movement tracking as well as messaging have been cited as some of the top reason people buy wearable devices like the Apple Watch, Fitbit Flex or Charge, or others from Samsung, Huawei, Sony and even Tag Heuer. As we’ve seen with the smartphone, there are far more applications than originally thought and this […]

Apple TV has been one of the key devices to spur chord cutting, but it’s become an even more powerful platform with tvOS. Cue apps like shopping and ordering food for example via Amazon and Papa Johns (Did you miss the new Amazon shopping app for Apple TV?). As nice as that has been those […]

When confronted with a structural change, like the one posed by the combination of self-driving auto technology and the psychographic shift toward fewer people owning cars instead opting for  Uber, Lyft,  Zipcar and the like most tend to contemplate the first derivative. Often times though the ripple effect to be had is far larger and […]

The NFL had a panic-filled season this year, with regards to viewership. In the the first chunk of the season, the NFL saw primetime viewership dive by double digits relative to last year. The league officially blamed the presidential election, but also said it could work on improving things like how much advertising was being served […]

JetBlue has become the first airline to provide free, high-speed Wi-Fi on all flights.The airline announced Wednesday that it will offer its “Fly-Fi” aboard every aircraft—from the departure gate to the arrival gate—so that customers can stay connected without having to wait for the aircraft to ascend beyond 10,000 feet. With Fly-Fi, passengers can watch […]

Apple and the iPhone have been at the forefront of our Connected Society investment theme and Apple Pay lands the company in our Cashless Consumption theme as well. For a long time, Apple has held off creating original content preferring instead to be a platform via iTunes and its app ecosystem for others to distribute […]

Among the sea of announcements at CES 2017, there were a number that focused on one aspect of our Disruptive Technology investing theme prompting us to make a new addition to the Tematica Select Investment List this week.

Ten years ago today, Apple introduced a product that was designed to serve as not only a music player, but a phone that could go on the internet — the iPhone. In the decade since, the company has surfed some huge news waves, sometimes riding high, and other times, totally wiping out.We thought it would […]

The Consumer Electronics Show is the home turf of tech marketers such as Intel, Nvidia, LG, Samsung, Twitter and Toshiba. So what’s Carnival doing giving a keynote this year? And why did American Greetings enlist actor Nick Offerman to help pitch greeting cards there? There’s a reason that attendees are encountering unexpected brands. Source: VIDEO: […]

Looking back 2016 was quite the year with Greek debt relief, the EU’s tax crackdown, the sale of Yahoo ([stock_quote symbol=”YHOO”]) and rumored takeover of Twitter ([stock_quote symbol=”TWTR”]), the unexpected Brexit vote and the ensuing British Pound Sterling’s plunge to multi-decade lows, the Italian referendum followed by Prime Minister Renzi’s resignation, the troubled Monte dei […]

Macy’s, the country’s largest department store chain, said sales at its stores had fallen 2.1 percent in November and December compared with the same period in 2015. Terry J. Lundgren, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that while the trend was “consistent with the lower end of our guidance, we had […]

The retail industry is on the cusp of a fundamental transformation driven by digital technologies. And as retailers adapt to the digital age, the line between physical and digital commerce is becoming increasingly blurred. Source: Retail & E-Commerce – Omnichannel, Market Size, Product Categories – Business Insider   With the dot.com boom of the 90’s and […]

As we begin 2017, several positions on our Tematica Select Investment List have been named “best picks for 2017”, but our favorite stock wasn’t mentioned.

Echo’s sales signal expanding consumer interest in devices featuring virtual assistants and suggest there’s plenty of room for growth. Indeed, this year’s sales volume could be just the tip of the iceberg. In August 2016, Strategy Analytics estimated that 1.8 million digital voice-activated devices (most of them Amazon Echo) would be sold in the US […]

Through the wonders of Bluetooth connectivity, we’ve been taking conference calls (not to mention personal calls) through the car for some time now, but it seems Volvo and Microsoft are looking to shake things up. Given Microsoft’s assets that include Skype and Cortana, and its eye on the Connected Car market it makes sense to […]

Mr. Outwater is among the 17% of U.S. primary household shoppers who say they never shop on Amazon, according to data from Kantar Retail ShopperScape. While the percentage has steadily declined over the past five years, roughly 22 million American households didn’t purchase anything through the retailer this year.Those Amazon holdouts tend to be older […]

The only thing we like more than talking about one thematic tailwind is doing so when two or more come together for an even more powerful tailwind. In this case, it’s Food with Integrity meets Connected Society and Cashless Consumption as food that is good for you meets smart vending machines. As we enter 2017 […]

2016 was a year of marked investment in content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Alphabet. But there are more companies entering the fray including Facebook and even Apple. Given the global thirst for content, which both Amazon and Netflix are aiming to cater to, it comes as little surprise that Alibaba is looking […]

Since Alexa and other digital assistants listen for “wake up words,” police are hoping that someone involved in the situation either intentionally or accidentally activated the device, creating an audio record of that moment.Amazon reportedly declined to release voice recordings for Bates’ Echo device. The company did provide information on Bates’ account and purchases, and police […]

Amazon recruited more shoppers to its Prime program than it has during any other holiday season, helping it achieve a new sales record during the Christmas period, the company said Tuesday.Although a spokeswoman declined to detail how many people tested its subscription service, the online retailer said last season that more than 3 million people […]

Talk about kismet! We just wrote about how when you examine the hours of actual use with one’s vehicle (car or truck) vs. the total cost of ownership, it’s really rather impractical. Now Mercedes unveils a potential answer to such low utilization levels that is another step in the direction of our Asset Lite investing theme […]

It was only a matter of time before we saw a retailer finally immerse themselves in our Cashless Society investing theme. Of course, Amazon may be ahead of Sweetgreen, but then again Sweetgreen took cash something we haven’t seen anyone pay with at Amazon. Granted it’s a baby step when we consider that less than […]

We keep hearing that thematic investing is gaining significant popularity in investing circles, especially when it comes to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). For more than a decade, we’ve viewed the markets and economy through a thematic lens and have developed more than a dozen of our own investing themes that focus on several evolving landscapes. […]

We’re starting to hear more and more about drones, and the fact that 7-11 beat Alphabet and Amazon to the punch with a delivery service is pretty big news to us. We suspect we are in very early innings with this aspect of our Disruptive Technology theme, but we’re certainly open to having burritos, burgers, […]

Looking through our thematic lens we see a number of investing themes performed extremely well for 2016

  We’ve said it more than few times… the only thing we love more than one thematic tailwind is the intersection of two or more. In the case of the Robo Barmaid, a pay-and-go beer dispenser, we’ve got three — Disruptive Technologies (robotics), Cashless Consumption (contactless payment cards) and Guilty Pleasure (the beer of course!). […]

One of the bigger downfalls in our increasingly Connected Society when it comes to mobile connectivity is battery life as in making sure you have enough to keep the device powered and running. No juice in the battery means you have a brick in your hand that won’t communicate, message, shop, transact or take photos. […]

With smartphones nearly ubiquitous in more mature economies, we are only starting to scratch the surface of what their impact will be. Over the coming years, faster mobile networks, Connected Cars, Connected Homes, the Internet of Things and odds are several million to a few billion sensors will further transform how we go about our […]

We’ve long suspected Facebook would eventually move past short video advertising into longer format programming to capture an even greater portion of the video advertising dollars that are fleeing traditional broadcast TV. It’s got the user base and aims to improve that monetization. Video content, especially outside the US, is a solid strategy to do […]

Facebook’s media headaches don’t start or end with fake news: With 1.8 billion monthly visitors, Facebook is a media-sharing powerhouse. But unlike the search giant Google or other big networks such as Twitter, Facebook exerts more control over what you see. Those News Feed algorithms are really, really good at getting you to click your […]

With all of the indices firmly in overbought territory, how likely are we to see the Santa Claus rally that traditionally comes at the end of December?

As you would expect, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson thinks that letting his company snap up Time Warner will be great for everyone, especially AT&T. In his prepared testimony [PDF], Stephenson said that together, the two companies “will disrupt the entrenched pay-TV models,” give consumers more options, increase competition for cable TV providers, and, somehow, speed […]

As the market continues to melt higher we continue to see favorable thematic drivers that keep a Buy rating intact on many of our positions. Also we take a look at the potential of adding a new investment theme to the mix.

  Just yesterday we posted details from a BBC story about the “invisible credit card” — the ability to grab and go from stores and charge them to your card. Amazon is making that dream a reality — currently testing its own Amazon Go stores in Seattle. Currently available to employees only, the concept store […]

The customized 1-to-1 mass advertising depicted in the movie Minority Report has moved closer and closer to reality. The ability to walk down the street and have billboards and store window displays literally change for the individual that looks at them doesn’t seem all that far-fetched anymore. So then why do we have to even […]

Toronto Sun: Lenore Hawkins and Chris Versace guest columnists for the Toronto Sun cover the many worldwide implications for the Italian referendum on December 4, 2016

  Fitbit reportedly is close to acquiring smart watch maker Pebble, a sign of a contracting wearables market where multiple players are struggling to keep afloat. The deal was first reported by tech news site The Information.Fitbit is purchasing the company for $34 to $40 million, according to Engadget, and it doesn’t look like the […]

While financial, industrial and small cap stocks in the US have been partying like it’s 1979 since Trump’s election victory, investors would be wise to take more than a passing look across the Atlantic at Europe’s next biggest threat, the Italian constitutional referendum.

Dollar General’s earnings miss was largely focused on falling grocery prices; however, it is beneath the headlines that details on the issue of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — otherwise known as Food Stamps — reveals how the regulatory component of our thematic investing approach can impact our strategies. Discount retailers have also been […]

  Even at its peak, AOL only reached 26.2 million subscribers. At 40 million premium subscribers, Spotify stands as the heavyweight in the music streaming industry. Of course, as it is privately held, the validity of that 40 million number could be called into question — much how the AOL 26.2 million also included those […]

Digital shopping blazed the consumer spending path over the last several days, firmly cementing the shift that is driving several of our Connected Society positions. This week we add another position to fully round out our Connected Society portfolio.

After the 2016 election cycle,  and the on going “threat” of Fake News, will people return to trusted sources for thier news? And do those “trusted” sources deserve their trust? Fact-checking largely didn’t begin until the stories were published. The @solikearose account has since turned private, and there don’t seem to be any reports of porn […]

Much like music, TV and movies, gaming has finally felt the pinch of the shifting preference by consumers (gamers in this case) for digital downloads over the physical cartridges of yesteryear and DVDs. We suspect mobile gaming on smartphones and the ability to download a game as well as play it where/when one wants it […]

RT BOOM BUST: Tematica CIO Chris Versace examines Fed Chair Yellen’s remarks to congress, in which she made the case for a likely December rate hike.

Lenore Hawkins, Tematica Chief Macro Strategist

RT Boom Bust: Tematica Research Chief Macro Strategist Lenore Hawkins on what to expect from markets as president-elect Trump prepares to take office

The shifting consumer preference toward food that is good for you (protein, natural, organic and others) has resulted in some interesting corporate moves including Hershey’s purchase of Krave and subsequent  dried meat bars. Some companies, like PepsiCo prefer to be more forward thinking and therefore monitor potential new snacks and ingredients. While crickets based protein […]

We’re coming to you a tad earlier than usual this week, given the Thanksgiving holiday that historically has led to reduced trading volumes as Wall Street essentially takes a four day weekend before the final sprint to the end of the year.

We’ve all been waiting for the Connected Home market to hit the tipping point. With the news Samsung will acquire Harman International it looked like the Connected Car market would be the next one to take off, but KB Home’s Apple-centric HomeKit community looks to catapult the Connected Home into the limelight. Apple announced last month that […]

    Let’s face it, to become a professional athlete, you have to win the genetic lottery first and foremost. No amount of practice, training, and game experience is going to put you in the NBA is you’re 5’10” with a negative verticle leap — trust us, we tried. But with eSports, you can be […]

As the Trump Trade propels the market higher, some indices have become overbought, we are adding an ETF to the Select List.

November will showcase virtual reality technology, the next potentially disruptive technology to how people consume content. With VR headsets available from Google, Facebook, Samsung and HTC among others at a growing number of retail locations ranging from Target to Macy’s and Amazon, the showcase is likely to stoke interest this holiday shopping season. The secret […]

Kenneth Cole is packing it in and taking its shoes online . . . for the most part: Kenneth Cole Productions, a fashion house and shoe company founded more than three decades ago, is closing almost all its stores, effectively ending its run as a U.S. brick-and-mortar chain.The New York-based retailer will shutter its 63 […]

Markets are in tumult today because the degree of confidence in estimating the difference between candidate Trump and President Trump is larger than for any other presidential candidate in modern history.

The social media landscape continues to evolve and shift as competitors upgrade product capabilities. It’s to be expected, but it tends to result in ping-ponging like we used to see in the video game console industry to the latest and “hottest” product. With SnapChat or as it’s now called Snap taking share from Twitter and […]

While today’s teens and Millennials have enjoyed rich graphics and plotlines in their gaming experience, those of us that grew up with Missile Command, Asteroids, Centipede, Defender and many other classics fondly recall our Atari gaming system. Was it simple by today’s standards, absolutely, but we still spent hours saving the world or defending the […]

The race to replace broadcast TV with streaming services has become even more competitive with Hulu tossing it’s hat in the ring alongside the soon to be launched DirecTV Now from AT&T that is likely to benefit from the announced Time Warner acquisition. To drive viewers, it’s all about the content and increasingly proprietary content […]

We’ve continued to watch gaming become a growing force in our Content is King theme as it has spawned movies like Assasin’s Creed as well as live events that attract viewers worldwide. It was only a matter of time until Facebook focused on gaming, now we want to see how it brings its growing emphasis […]

While we continue to see thematic tailwinds blowing, several market headwinds are likely to restrain much of any progress in the coming days — a recipe that calls for staying on the sidelines for the time being.

The UK’s sharp increase in cyber security spending serves as a reminder that such security is a global problem and requires near- constant updating as the “bad guys” mount newer and different attacks. The key call is the increasing importance of deterrence, which speaks to proactive vs. reactive security.   The U.K. government will spend £1.9 […]

No one wants a self-combusting smartphone let alone one that could result in a larger explosion. With airlines banning the Note 7, and more questions around Samsung’s exploding washing machines the brand image could use some help… in the meantime, it looks like Apple and Whirlpool Corp. could benefit from consumer switching. IDC surveyed 1,082 […]

We are using the weakness in Amazon’s (AMZN) shares resulting from disappointing earnings in the short-term to build our position for the long-term.

The market has over-reacted to yesterday’s blog post by Alphabet (GOOGL) that it would pause the expansion of its Google Fiber, leading to the fall in Dycom shares by more than 14%. We smell opportunity.

The more data points and surveys we read, the more we find pointing to the accelerating shift toward digital commerce this holiday season. There will clearly be obvious winners, like Amazon, but we’re also seeing traditional retailers from Macy’s to Under Armour emphasize digital commerce. Like any good baseball pitcher or football quarterback knows the key […]

This week we make a move on this global creator and manufacturer of flavors and fragrances used in everything from foods and beverages to perfumes and household products.

AT&T has been all over the news the last several days, and the news flow continues today when fresh from yesterday’s conference call to discuss the merger with Time Warner,  CEO Randall Stephenson shared its soon to launch DirecTV Now video streaming service will cost $35 per month. Details were rather sparse and we expect […]

After disappointing earnings reports from Sherwin Williams (SHW), Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) and Under Armour (UA) we are issuing this special alert rather than waiting until tomorrow for the next regular issue of Tematica Investing.

As Facebook continues to flex and expand the offering on its platforms — Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp – and video becoming a driver of advertising revenue, we would not be surprised to find that yes, Instagram is indeed offering live video capabilities. Facebook already has it as does Twitter with Periscope, and it would be […]

The payments landscape continues to evolve with partnerships being inked that bring payment capabilities to platforms that consumers are favoring be it for entertainment (smartphones) or communication (like Facebook’s Messenger). With Apple expanding its iMessage capabilities, we suspect it is only  a matter of time before its filling the Apple Pay love. PayPal is deepening […]

We’re old enough to remember sitting in front of an IBM PC 5150 at one point — well before Van Halen made those 4 digits relevant to the pop culture. That was at a time where the old slogan “no one ever got fired for buying IBM” was the general approach to technology. But when was […]

This week we make a move on this global creator and manufacturer of flavors and fragrances used in everything from foods and beverages to perfumes and household products.

  Earlier this year, online sales overtook bricks and mortar, and internet retailers have absolutely no interest in relinquishing the reigns anytime soon. Amazon.com and other retailers The Seattle retailer plans to add 120,000 seasonal positions, up from 100,000 last year. By comparison, Target Corp. is looking to hire 70,000 additional workers in its stores, […]

While a current Presidential candidate might take a disparaging tone when she refers to these “basement dwellers” the world of esports (professional gamers” is starting to rack up some series dollars these days —  $250 million in esports venture investments in August alone. At Tematica, we’re of course intrigued by the eSports phenomenon when viewed through our […]

A tough week of negative earnings pre-announcements for the stock market so far, we dig into which companies are finally coming to grips with reality and what it means for our investment themes and holdings

With more retailers from Amazon to Wal-mart focusing on not just groceries, but online ordering of groceries and in some cases delivery as well, why should Christmas be the only year-end holiday consumers shop online for? To us, this begs the question if we will soon no longer need to wobble in order to gobble […]

We continue to be prudent with the Tematica Investing Select List: maximizing returns while minimizing risk as we shore up the portfolio ahead of Q3 the earnings storm.

  This morning, Hulu quietly changed the starting rate for its ad-supported tier of service to $5.99/month (down from $7.99/month). The deal only applies to new subscribers, and increases to $7.99/month after 12 months. Source: Hulu Drops Price To $5.99, But Only For New Users & Only For 12 Months – Consumerist

It seems like Amazon is reaching the tipping point of world domination. After overhauling the book publishing and distribution world long ago, it’s Amazon Prime service has reshaped the way the world shops online. Now it appears, they are going after your kids — finally integrating Twitch Interactive into its Amazon Prime video service. What […]

#ConnectedSociety, #FatteningofPopulation, #AffordableLuxury Howard Schultz wrote in his book Pour it On about how what Starbucks was really selling was the coffee house experience. The experience of treating yourself to a unique coffee beverage, sitting with a friend or reading the paper, in an environment that was comfortable and warm. We guess those days are long […]

The backbone of our Connected Society thematic, and to some extent our Content is King thematic, is the speed at which individuals around the world can connect to the internet. It impacts everything from the security and speed to browsing and processing online transactions, to the ability to stream movies and other digital content. For […]

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), domestic shipments of wearables by Chinese manufacturers rose to 9.54 million in Q2 2016, up 13.2% from the previous quarter and an increase of more than 81.4% from Q2 2015. Source: China’s Wearables Market Continues to Grow – eMarketer

In this week’s issue of Tematica Investing, we take another run at Costco (COST) as part of our Cash-strapped Consumer investing theme.

We’ve heard of a number of health & wellness programs being embraced by Corporate America as a way to mitigate rising healthcare costs. Some of these programs have included fitness trackers and other wearables, usually from Fitbit (FIT), but Aetna’s (AET) new program with the much higher priced Apple Watch is likely bringing a smile to […]

Over half of US smartphone users reported having visited a retailer’s website or app before making an in-store purchase as of May 2016, according to a report from Google and shopper insights firm Purchased. Over 50% of those surveyed also said they used a search engine and visited a store or other location prior to […]

  The dot-com boom of the late 90’s can be summed up with the famous quote from the movie Field of Dreams — If  you build it, they will come. Yes, if you could build the website, then the traffic would come, and with that traffic came millions of dollars in venture funding and digital advertising […]

In today’s issue of Tematica Investing, we review confirming data points for several of our thematic positions as we, and the rest of the world, wait for Janet Yellen to tell us what we already know.

We’ve touched on this aspect of our Content is King investing theme before, but nothing like data from PricewaterhouseCoopers to confirm it and the theme itself! Box-office markets over the next few years are expected to grow more quickly abroad than in North America, where receipts have been relatively flat and are forecast to expand […]

When we grab our thematic lens, the only thing better than a clear thematic tailwind driving the business model of a stock — and in turn the stock price — is two themes pushing the business to higher levels. This Pulse story on LinkedIn focuses on the realities of Plus-size clothing for women and the lack […]

Yesterday, the CEO of NBC Universal revealed that even though the numbers were down, the Olympics still brought in a hefty haul for the Peacock.  Why? The Olympics bring out the endangered species — a live audience. And by “live”, we mean living breathing people sitting and watching a TV without fast-forwarding through commercials. And […]

The stock market is moving a little faster and more volatile over the last few days, far different than what we saw through most of the summer. Inside this issue we recap the drivers for the flip-flopping — it’s a technical term, trust us 😉 — of the market and what’s likely to be on investor radars next.

Watching these UK-based analysts on CNBC struggle with how to describe and categorize the UK-based online grocer Ocado is amusing to us — they are trying to push a Disruptive Business model thematic company into a sector-based view. And then in a last-ditch effort, one of the analysts calls it a “story-stock.”  That’s cute. Looking […]

200+ cable channels, DVR’s, streaming content, chord-cutting . . . the list goes on and on as the reasons for declining audience levels. The one hold-out is the NFL gridiron, which seems to have been able to resist the trendline and drive large, live audiences. While the first Clinton-Trump debate of 2016 could bring in […]

  When faced with the choice of where to test its first fleet of self-driving cars, Uber went with the obvious choice — Pittsburgh? Not San Francisco or San Jose. Not Austin, TX or Brooklyn, NY. Nope, they went with Pittsburgh, and this article listed below from the New York Times reveals how and why […]

Tematica Pro Weekly Alert

We made an error in Tematica Pro yesterday, so we’re making up for it today in this special alert.

Tematica Pro Weekly Alert

September is one of the worst performing months for the market, and when combined with the still aggressive earnings expectations for the December quarter, we are keeping the defensive ETFs on the Tematica Select List

While 4K TV sales are dominating the shelves these days, there isn’t much 4K content on those TV’s . . . Sony is looking to change that in advance of the holiday season . . . On stage, Cerny showed off actual 4K game footage from games like Spider-Man and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, not […]

  A Harvard is making the case that the number of $100 bills in circulation is tied to the amount of crime, not only in the country but the world. Hmmm. Of course, in our thematic investing world, we have developed the Cashless Consumption thematic ( up 10.31% for the year ), which looks at the tailwinds […]

Tomorrow, September 7th is the anticipated launch of the iPhone 7. We have to say anticipated because Apple hasn’t officially said its planned event is for the launch of its latest iThingy. Of course, everyone knows it’s going to be the launch of the 7, so this dance is starting to get a little old, to say […]

Commercials. No Commercials. That’s the headline of this article. It’s what’s below the headline that caught our attention, where it refers to CBS coming out with original series programming, including what appears to be a brand new Star Trek. Taking a page out of the Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) playbook,  CBS is embracing a […]

Another step in the appification of TV that also offers the ability to watch multiple games at the same time. Paired with the new Papa John’s ordering app also on Apple TV, it’s another reason not to get off the couch once NFL season kicks into gear. With FOX Sports GO, Apple TV users who […]

The pizza industry has been one of the early adopters of digital and mobile technology compared to the rest of the restaurant industry with  Papa John’s (PZZA) at the forefront. This new order app on Apple’s tvOS powered Apple TV  confirms the sea change that is upon when it comes to TV into a consumption […]

It’s pretty clear that Amazon (AMZN), and in particular its Amazon Prime free shipping program, has been a boon to the likes of UPS and FedEx. With an estimated 7.2 billion items being sold this year, those packages have to get from the warehouse to the customer somehow. To date, Amazon appears to have been […]

In today’s issue of Tematica Investing, we adding a new position as we dig into falling food prices (which is a good thing for this company) and the consumer’s move towards Food with Integrity.

Almost half (49%) of respondents said they felt strongly that they would not use a mobile wallet application within the next six months. Men (43%) were less likely to be strongly against using mobile wallets than women women (54%). Source: US Internet Users Still Mixed on Using Mobile Wallets – eMarketer

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It used to be you were concerned with losing your check-book, then it was either losing your credit card or having someone lift the account number, expiration date and 3-digit code. Through the wonders of technology and the adoption of Cashless Consumption,  thieves are now targeting smartphones. This dark side of our Cashless Consumption investing […]

Several years ago Corporate America flirted with Second Life, but the combination of 3D-scanning technology and Virtual Reality (VR) could lead to a more robust shopping experience. Adoption by both businesses and consumers could accelerate the transformation of the mall from shopping hub to one more focused on dining and entertainment as consumers browse from […]

The Connected Car market lurched forward as Hyundai now offers the ability to use Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa voice interface to control the car. Voice controls inside the car have been around for some time in products from the Honda Motor Company (HMC) and others, but the voice technology has made even Apple’s (AAPL) Siri look […]

Growing up on Long Island in the 80’s in a small town out on the North Fork called Mattituck there was a furniture store along a fairly busy street (busy for Mattituck standards). One day the owner decided to sell some used bikes out front. They sold quickly. Then he sold another bike, and another, and another, […]

In many ways it was inevitable. With consumers stepping up their shopping through online and mobile means, it was only a matter of time until brick & mortar retailers once again claimed foul on the tax disparity.  While this is new online sales tax legislation draft continues the dialog of the past decade, the larger […]

In an age of mobile and contactless payments, it’s the smartphone that is the new target for identity thieves looking for access to your cash in order to go on a shopping spree.  These new Trojans attach themselves to apps tied to banking and credit card payments . . . Cyberthieves have a new way […]

We’ve discussed the dismal Olympic viewership numbers before; however, seeing Bob Costas in a picture with people noticeably shorter than him got us to click on this story and revisit the issue again. (darn click-bait!) The devil, as they say, is in the details. Earlier this week, once NBC starting touting its online viewership numbers, […]

Artificial intelligence. Drones. Autonomous vehicles. Voice technology. How many Domino’s (DPZ) pizzas have been consumed during late-night coding and strategy sessions across the tech-hubs throughout the world? Well, maybe the pizza delivery man has been taking notes while delivering, because don’t look now, but Domino’s is no longer just feeding the tech world, they are part […]

No doubt there are millennials who regard themselves more as global Smartphonians than as Brazilians or Belgians or Indonesians. Nonetheless, when we sift through data on the digital activity of young adults around the world, differences from place to place are abundant. Source: Smartphone Usage Among Millennials Varies Globally – eMarketer

We are issuing a buy on this stock as part of our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class theme, which stands to benefit from robust repair & remodel spending over the next few years.

NBC is obviously scrambling to someone justify the 30% drop in viewership of this year’s games versus the London games just 4 years ago. 3.4 billion minutes of streaming is certainly impressive — and expected, to say the least considering the elements of the Connected Society thematic — but how much revenue did those minutes […]

While politicians in Washington, DC will argue the US economy is “fine,” despite the disaster that was the initial 2Q 2016 GDP print of 1.2 percent, consumers are still wary of the US economy. Even though they feel more secure in their jobs, they remain hesitant to return to their “spend with abandonment” attitude that was so rampant a decade ago.

As expectations are reset, it can mean opportunity — opportunity for taking positions in companies we see as well-positioned from a thematic perspective, but at better prices than just a few weeks ago. We saw that last week with CalAmp Corp (CAMP), and we see it again this week with this nursing staffing company

  Change is never easy, no matter what it is and how it takes shape. In this case, as the adoption rate of Replacement / Demand player Airbnb and other peer-to-peer platforms approaches the mainstream, the economic shifts occurring in local cities is dramatic. The obvious is the shift in dollars from hotels into the hands of […]

What do you get when you mash together aspects of our Connected Society  and Content is King investing themes? One answer is gaming. Add in our “Death of the Mall as You Know It” view and we are not surprised by the return of video arcades. These 21st-century arcades are filled with high-end 3D games […]

Another data point that the input interface is moving past hardware (keyboard, mouse, trackpad and screen) to voice. If you’ve been cooking and your hands are coated in raw chicken meat, you know the power of the voice interface associated with Amazon’s Echo and Apple’s Siri. We see far more potential as the Connected Home […]

Even the Olympics can’t overcome the shifting media consumption habits . . . So far, NBC isn’t delivering the audience it promised advertisers who spent more than $1.2 billion for commercials during the 17-day event. Of particular concern is a roughly 30% drop among viewers age 18-34, a demographic advertisers pay a premium to reach. […]

The thesis this article raises about the connection between the appeal in Donald Trump with some Americans, our desire to return to a time when things were simpler and happier (the Reagan Years) and the success of the new series “Stranger Things” from Netflix is certainly an interesting, if not entertaining read. But what caught out […]

Yesterday, we added calls to the Tematica Pro Select List soon after the market open on a Back to School angle. Just an hour after the market opened, the calls started to climb higher and at the close of trading yesterday, the calls reached 1.00, up more than 65 percent.

In last week’s Tematica Pro we added two call option plays for the Back to School shopping season, both of which closed last night essentially unchanged from where we added them last week. As you may recall, clothing and accessories, as well as footwear are expected to be in high demand this Back to School season, and those positions offer us ample exposure.

In this week’s issue of Tematica Investing we add to the Tematica Select List with a Connected Society player, as well as include updates other key holdings, including out thoughts “The Mouse”.

For any of us who have traveled with teenagers overseas or to remote areas with limited cellular data, we laugh about how the WiFi signal can be like an oasis in the desert.   For refugees in Northern France, the WiFi signal that comes to them everyday is probably as valuable to them as water […]

Streaming video continues to grow as does consumer spending on streaming video services. That trend has led Hulu to drop its free streaming service in favor of a subscription business model. Increasingly Hulu is looking more and more like Content is King company Netflix. How long until there is so much proprietary content that we’ll be thinking once […]

The more capabilities incorporated into smartphones and other devices means increasingly complex software under the hood to enable them. Much like Microsoft’s Windows that by necessity needed to be open to so many devices (mice, keyboards, monitors, game controllers, printers, scanners and the like), Android’s fragmented ecosystem with nearly every smartphone manufacturer customizing the OS […]

Finally after more than few years of mounting cyber attacks with increasingly devastating results to individuals, businesses and other institutions, President Obama finally opts to get into gear with our Safety & Security investment theme. This also confirms what many of us have already thought – the increasing role of cyber attacks in modern warfare. […]

Beginning all the way back in 1994 with its original investment in The Golf Channel, followed by taking a controlling stake in QVC the following year (which it eventually sold to Liberty Media for a cool $7.4 billion profit), Comcast (CSMCSA) has a history of using its muscle and foresight to secure the fuel that keeps consumers […]

On Apple’s June quarter earnings call CEO Tim Cook shared expectations for the company’s Services revenue “to be the size of a Fortune 100 company next year.” We like the move into subscription services that generate recurring revenue and predictable cash flow, but we tend to doubt Apple Energy will share in those favorable characteristics. […]

LinkedIn, which is the process of being acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) appears to be the source of many recent hacks as a result of a security failure back in 2012.   Nearly two billion old passwords can be viewed for as little as $2 apiece at a database called LeakedSource, run by anonymous operators. Investigators […]

  Amazon sits right in the cross-hairs of several of our themes: Connected Society (online shopping), Cashstrapped Consumer (cheap online shopping + Prime free shipping) and even Content is King with the Amazon original series. Nothing represents the impact Amazon Prime is having than this story detailing the expansion of the online giants’ fleet of […]

  While we may not be enthused with the longer check out times associated with the move to chip cards, data from MasterCard shows a few more minutes is making all the difference when it comes to credit card fraud. Credit card fraud is down by more than 60% at Mastercard’s top five EMV-enabled merchants […]

It’s being reported that Wal-mart (WMT) is eyeing online shopping portal Jet.com in a bid to better compete against online and mobile shopping juggernaut Amazon (AMZN). We can’t argue with Wal-mart’s initiative as we head into the seasonally strong second half of the year shopping season, but simply acquiring a company to improve its digital […]

Despite the move higher in the domestic stock markets yesterday ( which we watched as Tematica CIO Chris Versace recovered from meniscal tear surgery and learned he’s got some arthritis in his right knee as well ) over the last five days two of the three of the major stock indices — the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average — moved lower between 0.5 percent and 1.18 percent, respectively.

Closing the books on July, the Tematica Select List had a number of positions that handily outperformed the S&P 500, which rose 3.6% for the month.

RT BOOM BUST: Boom Bust host Edward Harrison talks to Tematica’s Chris Versace about stocks, with details about Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook and how to invest thematically if you want better returns.

The next super-hero release is typically a must-see event for the staff here at Tematica, and it’s been that way probably since Richard Donner’s Superman hit the screen in 1978. Sure, there were dark periods — most of the 90’s to be specific — and there have been times where they all start to become formulaic. For the most […]

So, the question in our minds after this morning’s disappointing GDP numbers is, who is right?  The consumer expanding their spend rate, or companies contracting their investments? The reality is that we see the consumer chasing the “always on sale” deals — just look at last night’s Amazon (AMZN) results — but doing so in […]

As temperatures persist in the mid to upper 90’s across much of the country, it coincides with this move we are making to add another name to the Tematica Select List.

“Everyone’s trying to find a way to maintain market share and also extend themselves in a different way that’s maybe not traditional to retail,” said David LaPierre, a vice chairman with the Global Retail Services Team at CBRE. Source: What the changing tenant list in Times Square says about retail   A 40,000 square foot NFL […]

  The Content is King thematic — one of the better performers in our Thematic Index — focuses on how the in today’s over-stimulating world, it’s the content providers that are breaking through the noise and building lasting interactions and engagement with users. Yahoo! (YHOO) would be what we call a negative confirmation of the theme […]

5x revenue buyout? Is this the Internet Bubble again? In this case, Unilever’s $1 billion (yes, that’s billion with a “B”!) buyout of the Dollar Shave Club has less to do with its e-commerce chops than what it was able to accomplish with its content — develop a loyal following of men purchasing what basically […]

Wearable devices have become a mainstay for athletes around the world — tracking activity, sleep, heart rates, eating habits — everything except for when it counts, on the playing field. The PGA, just like all professional sports leagues (we think) restricts the use of the wearable devices on the course. So Under Armour, embedded it in […]

Even as the market continues it melt-up, we still maintain our cautionary approach. We’ve been asked if we feel a little bit like Chicken Little screaming that the sky is falling. The answer to that is an emphatic no.

Tematica Research Unveils The Thematic Index – An Alternative to Outdated Sector Investment Strategies
Handily outpacing the S&P 500 in the first half of 2016, the Thematic Index offers a holistic view of influences that can drive or stifle portfolio growth

FORBES: After months and months of mud raking and bravado in the financial press and no shortage of fear inducing presentations from the likes of Square Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman

FOX BUSINESS: Tematica Research CIO Chris Versace on the stock market and why Netflix (NFLX) shares plunged after hours.

On a recent trip to Italy, while wandering through the streets of Venice — and I use the word “streets” loosely — I contemplated how difficult it would be to order a package on Amazon and have it shipped there. This is the kind of thing we do at Tematica — we count shopping bags in […]

Mobile payments stories seem to be hitting left and right the last few days. Just yesterday we shared the new Gallop pole showing the continued shift in consumer payment preferences towards mobile payments, as well as MasterCard’s expansion of its Masterpass service. Now today, we get the story from the Wall Street Journal’s Robin Sidel about the brewing war […]

The battle for the new wallet — the one in your smartphone — is going to be epic by all accounts. With Apple and Android stepping on its toes with its own payment platforms, MasterCard is hitting back with the extension of its Masterpass app onto Smartphones. Of course the beauty of the Apple ecosystem […]

Findings from a new Gallup poll confirm the continued shift in consumer payment preferences that sit at the core of our Cashless Consumption investing theme, particularly among younger respondents. No surprise as the “younger” generation tends to adapt far more readily to new technologies like those fueling mobile payments.  Gallup’s poll found that fewer Americans […]

  In yet another example of “Revenge of the Nerds”, the gamers of the world are starting to see a payoff for the thousands of hours spent playing video games. While still rare, the world of eSports is gaining enough momentum that the so-called “real sports” teams are seeing how they can get involved by […]

Even as the market continues it melt-up, we still maintain our cautionary approach. We’ve been asked if we feel a little bit like Chicken Little screaming that the sky is falling. The answer to that is an emphatic no.

This article in the Wall Street Journal talks about the new mall, one driven by our need and desire for an experience, even when shopping. It’s no longer about price or selection when you head the mall, it’s about the experience when you’re there. In our thematic world, this is an extension of the Content is […]

Renewed Brexit fallout uncertainty and Italian banking concerns have tipped the market mood back to cautiousness. Recent earnings have been disappointing and likely set the stage for what is to be a challenging June quarter earnings season. We remain very comfortable with the Tematica Select List holdings given the mix of defensive business models and thematic tailwinds.

  We all want more and more of the comforts of home when we’re in the skies, including the ability to connect with work and friends, or continue to consume content at blistering paces — drivers of our Content is King and Connected Society thematics . Unfortunately, those connections in today’s world can also be […]

Behind all those selfies, social media posts, likes, snaps, and shares, the Millennials are starting to impact real business models like banking, insurance and investing . . . Millennials like to handle their finance themselves, and they primarily do so online. And their savvy extends beyond balancing their check books. Older Millennials are 28 percent […]

With online shopping now accounting for more sales than in-person bricks and mortar sales, UPS might have just come up with the win-win situation with the rollout of its Access Point program.  This new programs allows you to select a secure location to have your purchases delivered — not that’s not your office where you […]

We’ve dabbled in the podcast arena ourselves over the years and have plans on bringing back the format later in 2016 or 2017. In this story, it seems that even the Obama administration  is discovering the power of bringing content directly to the end-user. We have been long-time listeners of podcasts, including Marc Maron’s podcast mentioned in […]

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock over the past few days, you’ve heard that the biggest macro risk for 2016 has come to pass, as voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union last Thursday. Voter turnout was 72%, with a solid margin of 52% to 48%. The next step in the process is for the UK to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, but Prime Minister David Cameron has announced he will step down in October and has already made it clear that he will understandably leave this to his successor. 

Brexit polls have moved back and forth favoring “Stay” then “Leave” then “Stay” again, ping-ponging the degree of uncertainty. As we know, the stock market abhors uncertainty and has responded in kind based on the latest Brexit poll.

  The realities of the Connected Society and Content is King thematics are that consumers are ignoring the ads that are essentially funding the content they are consuming on their phones, tablets, laptops and TV’s around the world.  As made famous in the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, when you really want to know what’s […]

At over 6,000 words, this piece by Joe Nocera of the New York Times isn’t a quick read . . . but it’s worth taking the time!  The Content is King thematic we use at Tematica focuses on the epic battle being fought from all angles — from Disney (DIS) to Netflix (NFLX) to Amazon Prime (AMZN) and dozens […]

Rising disposable incomes in the emerging economies and especially in China have led to a trade up in diets, a thirst for the branded products and now travel and entertainment. This is already starting to influence content decision at the major movie studios and airline destinations,  and this will only accelerate as the influence grows. […]

Banks are increasingly adapting their business to the growing Connected Society. As comfort levels among consumers rise with Cashless Consumption, banks are able drive productivity higher and costs lower. Fewer people mean fewer salaries and lower benefit costs at a time when healthcare costs continue to climb no thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Without […]

Banks are increasingly adapting their business to the growing Connected Society. As comfort levels among consumers rise with Cashless Consumption, banks are able drive productivity higher and costs lower. Fewer people mean fewer salaries and lower benefit costs at a time when healthcare costs continue to climb no thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Without […]

Over the last week, we’ve seen quite a shift in investor sentiment — fear and worry has come to the forefront, eclipsing greed. We dug into this data earlier this week in the Monday Morning Kickoff, but the needle has only moved further toward fear in the last few days.

We’ve written a lot about how the Content is King and Connected Society thematics are creating the drive towards an experience-driven economy. Consumers are moving away from the American shopping mall to entertainment centers, while buying the stuff they need online through the Amazon’s of the world and the like. This article from the Wall […]

Many of the nation’s banks are on the outside looking in when it comes to holding customer’s cash these days, and they have Starbucks to blame . . . The Wall Street Journal recently reviewed data from S&P Global Market Intelligence to determine where people are stashing their money these days, including banks, entities like PayPal […]

Apps are starting to blur the lines between smartphones and smartTVs, like AppleTV. From shopping to gaming, we are starting to see a more profound change beyond streaming and placeshifting for how consumers will use their TVs.  Buoyed by its $2.45 billion IPO two years ago, Europe’s answer to GrubHub is alive and kicking in 15 […]

While some may chalk it up to trying to lure consumer electronic consumers from Best Buy,  hhgregg and Apple Stores, Target’s Connected Home initiative points to these connected devices nearing the main stream tipping point. We’d still prefer to order these devices from Amazon and skip the Target experience all together, but that’s just us […]

The brick & mortar business of retailers is already feeling the pain of consumers shifting the how and where they shop to digital (Internet and mobile) commerce. We’ve already seen the share shifts in monthly same-store-sales metrics reported by ChannelAdvisor.  Amazon’s pending move into apparel as either a distribution partner, with its own branded apparel […]

Given the data junkies that we are, we are always looking for confirming data points and this one while a bit self serving certainly confirms the accelerated shift toward digital commerce. We define digital commerce to include both online and mobile shopping. Given the growing install base of connected devices, collapsing time to customer from Amazon and others, and […]

When a cyber attack makes the headlines it serves as a reminder of the growing threat we face as part of our increasingly Connected Society. Even without flashy headlines, ongoing increases in the number of cyber attacks confirm its place as a growth industry.   Akamai Technologies released its Q1 2016 State of the Internet […]

Whether its characters from Disney’s Marvel, Star Wars or Pixar stable, or even DC’s own Batman and Superman, people will flock to the movies to quench their content thirst. Increasingly the international box office is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in movie decisions. Some film, like Expendables 3, are being made solely because of […]

Being able to monetize patent portfolio is a key strategy in our Asset-Lite business model, but that can take many forms. From an outright sale to a highly profitable licensing business model like we’ve seen at Qualcomm, Dolby and Rambus, patents can drive significant cash flow. Of course this hinges on the competitive position and time to patent expiration. Ever since […]

We always love it when organizations catch up to our way of thinking. In this case it’s a reminder that the vector of the global economy is down and its velocity slow . . . a beat we’ve been drumming for weeks here at Tematica Research.

Online shopping has officially moved into the majority . . . the photo above certainly reflects the players that are in riding the thematic tailwinds of the Connected Society, or more likely they are the ones creating the tailwinds . . . For the first time, consumers say they bought more of their purchases on the […]

Poised to be the largest population by 2020, Cashless Consumption is poised to get a big boost as global payment processing firms tap the China market. Analyzing how this impacts consumption and debt levels will factor into our Rise & Fall of the Middle class thinking. China will allow foreign payment card companies to operate […]

Following Amazon’s Prime Fresh and Walmart’s teaming with Uber and Lyft for grocery delivery, the intersection of Content is King and the Connected Society is driving a shift in where and how people buy groceries and ingredients. Much like other industry shaking events associated with the Connected Society, this will have a profound impact on […]

No slowdown expected in mobile data consumption as more smartphones are sold and carriers deploy faster mobile networks globally. A rather compelling view for our Connected Society and its going global. Implication for smartphone vendors, RF chip companies, mobile infrastructure equipment and many more as newer mobile technologies are deployed. According to the recently published Ericsson […]

As we wade deeper into the Connected Society, the largest US grocer better known as Wal-Mart teams with Asset-Lite companies Uber and Lyft to combat Amazon’s Prime Fresh grocery delivery. How long until Kroger, Whole Foods and the like get into the game? Perhaps its more than the mall that might be dead? Wal-Mart Stores […]

Cashless Consumer, Connected Society, Safety & Security and Aging of the Population — four of our investment thematics all converging into one trend . . . mobile payments. As popular and convenient as paying through the smart phone has become, there are still holdouts, and thus room for growth. Generational demographics could be keeping smartphone payment technologies from gaining real […]

A step in the right direction for Cashless Consumption, and we have to wonder if KFC is a test bed for other Yum Brands (YUM) chains such as Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.  One more step toward the Cashless Consumption tipping point that is being spurred on by our Fattening of the Population investing theme. […]

Several years ago former defense secretary Leon Panetta warned about the growing threat of cyber attacks. As we wade deeper and deeper into the increasingly Connected Society in which the Internet is a backbone of commerce and transactions as well as communications and streamed entertainment, the dark side is we are increasingly at risk. Some […]

Year to date return, we’re looking at a whopping 2.58 percent for the S&P 500. Pulling the lens cap back even further, we’d see that over the last year, the S&P 500 is actually down 0.5 percent for the 12 months ending May 2016. Net net however, with the market rallying 2.3 percent last week, it was the best week for the S&P 500 over the last twelve. And so, in this week’s edition of Tematica Investing, we are making two important moves.

Mobility, computing power and sensors becoming woven into the very fabric of our lives offers another aspect to our Connected Society investing theme. It also makes life look that much more like something from Minority Report and Back to the Future. The metal-based conductive fibers are fully washable and sewed into the denim, and a button-sized piece of removable hardware […]

When a brand as trusted (and as yummy) as Oreo moves shifts gears to online and mobile as well as apps because traditional advertising isn’t getting it done…. kinda tells you something. To us its more Content is King and Connected Society at work.  Massive disruption in the ad industry prompted Mondelez to switch gears […]

With smartphone growth slowing, carriers are turning to cars for growth. Another sign the Connected Society is moving past smartphones.   With the U.S. smartphone market saturated, most of the growth in the cellular industry is actually coming from other kinds of devices including tablets, machine-to-machine connections and lots and lots of cars.In the first quarter, […]

This story on Abercrombie & Fitch Co. provides yet another confirming datapoint in our Connected Society thematic and the transformation of the American-style mall, which is helping to drive our Content is King thematic as well. Here are just a couple of excerpts . . . Executive Chairman Arthur Martinez attributed the decline to “traffic headwinds, particularly in […]

Normally, we’d be tempted to add call options for companies that we consider to have strong upside in the share price over the coming months. For example, as consumers increasingly shift their purchasing online, we’d like to capture any and all key spending events, like Back to School, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, that are likely to help spur that spending shift.

The market move has turned more bearish of late, and we are not surprised Wall Street has adopted the more cautious stance we’ve had these last several weeks. A headline freak out on the April CPI report shows us just how nervous the stock market is these days. We’ll continue to be disciplined when contemplating adding each new position to the Tematica Select List.

The accessibility of music driven by the digital revolution has enabled music to pervade consumers lives more than ever. With services from Pandora , iHeartMedia , Sirius XM Radio SIRI -0.37%, Apple AAPL +0.24% and Spotify, people enjoy music in places and ways never imagined just a few short years ago. For artists, the revolution has brought new platforms to reach hundreds of millions […]

The market move has turned more bearish of late, and we are not surprised Wall Street has adopted the more cautious stance we’ve had these last several weeks. A headline freak out on the April CPI report shows us just how nervous the stock market is these days. We’ll continue to be disciplined when contemplating adding each new position to the Tematica Select List.

After an upward move over the last few months, the market is once again seesawing following a growing number of uncertainties and concerns, particularly as even more concern has bubbled up over the Retail sector. On the heels of Gap’s (GPS) gloomy outlook, Macy’s (M) citing slow mall traffic as it slashed full year earnings to $3.15 – $3.40 per share, down from an earlier projection of $3.80 to $3.90 per share.

Currently, we are dealing with a market that is seesawing around as it attempts to come to grips with slowing growth expectations, even though oil prices have continued to inch higher. But even more uncertainty is on the horizon.

As we’ve shared with you thus far, overall earnings expectations for the S&P 500 group of companies has continued to trend lower since the end of 3Q 2015. The expected volatility has us on the sidelines from jumping on new positions . . . for now. But that doesn’t mean we’re not busy sharpening our pencils and getting ready for the right opportunity.

“The Big Short” won all kinds of accolades for its vivid depiction of the 2008 financial crisis, which managed to turn complicated financial instruments into a riveting morality tale.

It’s earnings season, and with anywhere from a few hundred to more than a 1,000 companies reporting their results, this certainly makes for a volatile time with investors shooting first as results hit the tape and asking questions over the quality of those earnings later. As we navigate the maze of earnings reports to be had in the coming days, we’ll continue to refine our thematic shopping list and look to pounce on opportunities that offer a compelling risk to reward trade off.

Earnings season kicks into high gear this week. Despite the headline print of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has climbed just over 1 percent over the last week given the moves in the 30 stocks that comprise the index, we’re seeing choppy waters emerge following March quarter results

We are seeing a new era of content given the entrance of companies like Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN) and Hulu as well as the growing influence of gaming, which has already spawned several cross platform properties. New technologies bring challenges, but at the end of the day no matter where consumers are with whatever device they have in their hands, content is what they will be consuming in one form or another. It’s at this inflection point where we focus our investment strategy on one of the oldest content producers in the business.

Over the last few days, we’ve seen volatility creep back into the markets as more investors focus on its stretched valuation and weakening economic fundamentals. We have discussed this in recent editions of our Monday Morning Kick Off and spotlighted the disparity in this week’s edition. With the investment community realizing there is a high probability of the Fed will now only boost interest rates maybe twice in 2016 if at all, fundamentals are starting to once again take center stage.

Expectations for GDP in the current quarter fell even further this week, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen pushes out potential rate hike timing, dividend stocks come back into vogue as Yellen’s comments reverse hawkish comments last week and that’s good news for several of our holdings, examining Nike (NKE) and Under Armour (UA) shares, but only one gets on the Tematica Contender List, ,more thematic confirmation ripped from the headlines…

As we just mentioned new subscribers are joining us today and therefore we thought it made sense to include a recap of the current Tematica Select List. Given all that has gone on we have some new stop losses to put in place, and it seemed like a good time to share an update with existing subscribers as well.

During the last few weeks, the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, has undergone a powerful rally. As of last night, that market had climbed 8.6% from its Feb. 11 close. While we are enjoying the market’s move higher, the economic data has continued to point to a slower domestic and global economy. Examples include the following:

In addition to the slowing top-line figures, across the board February orders declined — implying conditions are not poised to improve much, if at all, in March. These data points help explain why China cut its reserve requirements by 50 basis points yesterday. European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi has commented that he will do what is necessary to help come the next ECB meeting in March.

It’s been another up and down week for the stock market, once again shaped by the the moves in oil prices. These movements can cause short-term disruptions in stock prices as evidenced by the gyrations of the last few weeks, but our thematic tailwinds continue to be a guiding light in the market storm.

From a market perspective, this holiday-shortened trading week certainly started off on a high note, reflecting what appeared to be progress in stabilizing oil prices in an OPEC and non-OPEC production deal. As more details became clear, however, it appeared there were cracks already in the works as oil production levels were to be frozen […]

It has been a busy week with several hundred earnings reports and a plethora of economic data that continues to point to a slowing in the domestic services economy as the domestic manufacturing economy flirts with a recession. The market continues to grapple with matching the economic reality with slower growth prospects for companies.

As the Northeast dug out from #Blizzard2016 earlier this past week, you could say the slowdown from the storm was a harbinger of what was to come this week in the form of more data pointing toward a slowing domestic and global economy. From my perspective, the Fed’s commentary following their monetary policy meeting this […]

Amid the volatility that has led all the major markets lower on a year-to-date basis, yesterday we saw a bit of a reprieve following comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi suggesting perhaps another round of stimulative monetary policy could be in the cards. Perhaps he had a preview of this morning’s Eurozone Flash […]

We are throwing in the towel on both Apple ([stock_quote symbol=”AAPL”]) and Skyworks Solutions ([stock_quote symbol=”SWKS”]), given respective supplier and competitor warnings that point to a very rocky road ahead in the first half of 2016. Following Thursday’s market close, both Cirrus Logic ([stock_quote symbol=”CRUS”]) and Qorvo ([stock_quote symbol=”QRVO”]) pre-announced weaker-than-expected December-quarter results, which they attribute to “customer demand.” I […]

It seems that at least once or twice per week we are asked, in some form or another, one of the following questions: • What sectors do you rate as a buy right now? • Do you like Financials? What about Technology? • What is going to be the next big sector? • What sectors […]

While the “bad news is good news” move in the market over the last few days is decidedly more enjoyable than those gut-wrenching market falls of late, it’s like a party that goes on for too long; at some point someone has to turn off the music, close up the bar and call it a […]

3Q15 was a blow to consumer confidence, and fanned the flames of uncertainty – one thing the stock market does not like. Earlier this week we closed the books on September, and we all know the market ended the month on a weak note. Taking a step back, the September quarter was mired with issues […]

The calendar has officially turned to Fall here in the United States. Of course, on the East Coast, where Tematica is based, we’ve had days that haven’t felt much different than the dog days of summer. But the level of pumpkin-spice “everything” in the stores is what we call a “confirming data-point” for the changing […]

I have written extensively about the efforts of the recording industry to squeeze blood from the streaming music industry stone by attempting to get allies in Congress and the White House to increase the royalty rate paid by streaming companies like Pandora , Apple ([stock_quote symbol=”AAPL”]), Amazon.com ([stock_quote symbol=”AMZN”]), Spotify, Google ([stock_quote symbol=”GOOGL”]) Play Music, […]

There has been a push by many politicians of both parties in Washington to beat up on Wall Street generally and hedge funds in particular. One need to look no further than Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who claims hedge fund managers are not paying enough taxes. In a tirade that received accolades from liberals […]

The odds are pretty high that your home or office has at least one Apple device if not more. A new report from the digital media analytics company comScore suggests that Apple’s iPhone has continued to grow its lead in the U.S. smartphone market, with just over 44 percent share of all American smartphone users […]

As you digest all of the economic data we dumped on your today, you’re likely getting the correct view that we tend to look at things from several different angles, with the Employment Report being one such item. In addition to all of the third party metrics and the below the headline data we look […]

We recently closed the books on the month of August, and in short, it was one of the worst August months we have seen in some time. In our view, yet to emerge forecasted earnings revisions and second half economic expectations as well as the Fed’s upcoming FOMC meeting on September 16-17 will keep the […]

As we get through the current storm of uncertainty and into calmer waters, we’ll continue to build out our Tematica Select Investments List. We recognize the current choppiness will likely be with us until we move past the Fed FOMC meeting in a few weeks time, but we also know volatile times like this can […]

What very few are talking about is what happened just after China’s devaluation of its currency on Aug. 11 and how it could affect the U.S. going forward. When China loosened its grip, its currency fell more than China wanted. To stop the slide, the People’s Bank of China was forced to liquidate more than […]

As hard as it may be to believe, Microsoft MSFT -4.88% remains in a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over an audit from ten years ago. The extensive audit by the IRS stems over how tax is calculated for income made by Microsoft overseas. Granted Microsoft is large international company with revenues of nearly $94 billion […]

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Over the last few weeks, there has been a steady uptick in skepticism and uncertainty against a backdrop of slowing global growth and earnings. All the major indexes were down in single digits last week and U.S. markets opened today down sharply, following the lead of Asian and European markets.  

There is little debate that patent law is a complicated subject, yet the idea of protecting intellectual and private property is a centerpiece of American free market capitalism. Congress is once again contemplating changes to patent law to help consumers by cracking down on costly and abusive patent lawsuits. Seeing an opportunity, lobbyists for big […]

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — It’s only a matter of time before Alphabet investors separate the wheat from the chaff. Let me explain. Last night the company now formerly known as Google(GOOG – Get Report)(GOOGL – Get Report) and now known as Alphabet announced a new operating structure that in some ways looks to shine the light of transparency on the Internet search giant […]

More red flags of an IPO bubble? Code Rebel CEO Arben Kryeziu joins the Making Money panel debate growing concerns of an IPO bubble. Watch Now >>

What a difference an IPO’s business can make! Some can be fantastic performers, while every now and again we get one that flops out of the gate. Nothing captures that better than the recent IPO of online goods seller Etsy  ([stock_quote symbol=”ETSY”]), which has seen the company’s shares fall more than 40% since the offering, and Shopify  ([stock_quote symbol=”SHOP”]), […]

Over the next 18 months Americans will be picking a President.  Last week Senator Ted Cruz announced that he is going to run for the Republican Party nomination in the 2016 US Presidential election.  I’ve been asked many times what I think of him, or of the other anticipated candidates. While I typically like to […]

My regular readers are already familiar with what I like to call BUC Lately I’ve been mulling over a new one, which applies quite well to the discussions around Greece, but I think is universally applicable – L4 I was speaking with a friend of mine who lives in the States and she was asking […]

Are there too many average investors in the markets? FBN’s Charles Payne, Penn Financial President Matt McCall, Heritage Capital LLC President Paul Schatz, Fairfax Global CEO & CIO Paul Dietrich, Fabian Wealth Strategies Thematic Growth Portfolio Manager Chris Versace and Scottie Hughes TPNN.com News Director on whether the markets are flooded with too many average investors […]

FBN’s Charles Payne, Penn Financial President Matt McCall, Heritage Capital LLC President Paul Schatz, Fairfax Global CEO & CIO Paul Dietrich, Tematica Research Chief Investment Officer Chris Versace and Scottie Hughes TPNN.com News Director on teaching kids to invest. Watch Now >>

If we’re rooting for America to be #1, why are we investing elsewhere?  FBN’s Charles Payne, Growth & Dividend Report Editor Chris Versace, Plimsoll Mark Capital Managing Director Jim Awad, Navellier & Associates CEO Louis Navellier, Tea Party News Network News Director Scottie Nell Hughes and Penn Financial Group founder Matt McCall on Americans investing […]

The human mind is incredibly adaptable, which has been a key component of our success as a species, but that adaptability has a downside in that after a time, we can get accustomed to most anything, be it heaven or hell.  I am incredibly blessed to live in two of the most gorgeous places on […]

Another day suffering through work and life on the Italian Riviera and somehow managed to endure another epic sunset.  I think nature did its very best when creating this part of the world.  Nearly every morning I awake to a sunrise that takes my breath away.  Alright, alright… that is when I manage to get […]

After a chilly day of frost and snow in which I managed to walk into entirely too many door jams, (I swear they moved), tripped over nearly every rug in my home, (did they get fluffier over the weekend?) and for some reason decided the refrigerator was the best place to leave my iPhone… By […]

Greece was all over the headlines again last week as the deadline for debt talks neared. The Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union, is starting to sound an awful like the Eagles “Hotel California,” with many in Greece left rethinking, “This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.” The treaty provided a lengthy […]

Tuesday night I was lucky enough to see Queen performing in Milan with Adam Lambert.    Queen, well what’s left of Queen, still has it and Adam Lambert brought along insane vocal and performance skills, along with something even more rare in the music industry.  He’s a very classy guy.  After Kanye West’s ridiculous behavior over […]

Landed back in Milan to find the city covered in a beautiful soft layer of snow, then somehow stayed awake for the 2 hour drive back to Genova, (thank God for SUVs and snow tires).  A long hot shower and a glass of wine later, I started to feel human again.  What is it about airplanes […]

While shoppers were watching their pennies this holiday season, I was grinching over the relationship between the Fed and the big banks as reminiscent of the abusive relationship between Ike and Tina Turner – bail them out then beat them up with an onslaught of massive fines.  According to a global banking study by the Boston Consulting […]

Last night’s decision over Eric Garner in New York after what happened in Ferguson has left the United States in more turmoil than the nation has experienced in years, maybe even decades. I tossed and turned much of the night, unable to sleep, angry and sad.  Liberty, what I hold most dear, weeps.   Much […]

Iraq has again descended into anarchic terror as the government  and tenuous order left in place by the US crumbles without the power of the US military behind it.  Now the US finds itself once again forced to engage in a situation that will cost dearly both in terms of actual dollars and in lives […]

  There’s been quite a bit of chatter on Facebook and in the investment community concerning Walgreens’ (WAG) announcement that it does not intend to take advantage of the tax breaks its potential acquisition of Alliance Boots in the UK would allow under the tax code, a strategy which could save it and thus its […]

I spoke at FreedomFest in Las Vegas… in July… yes, know my pain.  On my way out from my talk my dear friend Richard Rahn, (the infamous one-eyed economist) grabbed me and introduced me to the lovely Emerald Robinson so that we could talk about the recently enacted Foreign Account Compliance Tax Act aka FATCA and […]

I recently was in studio in New York, speaking with Neil Cavuto on the latest scandal facing President Obama’s Administration over the treatment of Veterans by the VA , involving alleged deception about the waiting time for treatment at veterans hospitals.   While it would be easy to say that this is the fault of an incompetent administration, […]

Earlier this week I appeared on the Rick Amato Show with my writing partner, Chris Versace.   We discussed the FCC’s recent statements  concerning regulating conservative media, somehow justifying regulating freedom of speech.  We also discussed the IRS Scandal concerning Lois Lerner’s refusal to testify and claims that her emails have been lost. In the second […]

I think most people are clear that in a robust, healthy economy entrepreneurs are able to quickly turn their ideas into reality, in the process creating jobs and occasionally having an enormous impact on the way we live, as in the case of Apple, Amazon, and for the ladies out there, Spanx.  My two homes, […]

Yesterday the NBA barred Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for the racist remarks he made in a recorded private conversation. Naturally Facebook immediately became a hotbed for inflammatory debate, much of it not worth one’s time to read as all too often in today’s society thoughtful discussion and reasoned, rational debate is replaced by […]

Earlier this week I spoke with Graham Ledger on the recent Toyota and GM recalls.  So far this year, automakers have recalled about 9 million vehicles in the U.S. If that pace continues, the nation would break the record of 30.8 million recalled vehicles set in 2004. Toyota’s recalls come as rival GM recalls 2.6 […]

Ever had one of those days when you realize that the Universe is having a bit of fun at your expense and taking the opportunity to make sure you don’t get overly confident? That was my Friday. I’d recently returned to Genova, Italy, where I spend a good deal of my time and was working […]

The United States suffers from a significant mismatch between expectations and reality, which has up until recently been address by bureaucratic denial and protestations/assurances that if only more money/power are handed over, the dream can yet be realized. This mismatch is possibly the greatest in the area of foreign policy. Most Americans are aware that […]

This may come as a shock to my regular readers, but I have a confession. Michael Jordan is better at basketball than I. The gap between his ability and mine needs to be addressed.

As anyone who has managed employees, raised a child or just dated once in a while knows, people (just like dogs) respond to incentives. Private sector incentives push towards producing more with less. Government incentives push towards accomplishing less and less with more and more. Awareness of human nature naturally leads one towards the ideal of smaller government.

On February 18th, I spoke with Charles Payne and Julie Roginsky on Fox Business’ Cavuto show about the headlines claiming that Obamacare aka the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will harm jobs. We had a lively debate, which was surprising given that the three Sports Illustrated models gracing this year’s cover were waiting in the green room, […]

The headlines this week have been touting how “Prison life has never been so good,” here and here. While I understand why taxpayers would be none too pleased at the idea that prisoners enjoy more daily life perks than those out earning a living every day, it isn’t the perks that are the problem. It […]

On February 13th, at I must add the ungodly hour of 6:30am PST, I spoke with Stuart Varney on Fox Business concerning the dismal state of income levels in the United States. According to the US Census bureau, median household income is just over $51k, which is about where it was 20 years ago! We […]

Obama already pushed back the employer mandate to 2015 from 2014, conveniently after the mid-term elections. Now his administration is pushing back the mandate for businesses with 50-99 employees to 2016. For companies with over 99 employees, they must cover 70% of employees by 2015 vs. 95%.   This is now the 18th executive branch […]

On February 10th I spoke with Neil Cavuto on how NSA surveillance affects international communications. Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com I work internationally, dividing my time between San Diego, California and Italy. I sometimes advise on deals that have involving high-profile, publicly traded companies and the actions my clients take are significant enough to […]

Perhaps the reason so few are saving is because the job situation isn’t exactly rosy, nor are income levels. According to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistic, the unemployment rate has dropped to 6.7% which looks on the surface to be good news. However, if you look a bit deeper, the […]

There was a time when no one, outside perhaps the most esoteric economic geek circles, could name the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Those days are now long gone as the Fed has taken a much more active role in the economy and the various Fed Presidents and Chairman have evolved into media cult […]

By completely restructuring how health care works in the US, those responsible for implementing the Affordable Care Act are restructuring and controlling what today amounts to about 15% of the U.S. economy. With that in mind, after having 4 years to prepare for this, they still are not ready to implement a major portion of […]

The NSA works for us.  The power to govern lies with We the People and flows from us to the government, not the other way around.  The NSA does not dictate to us what the appropriate constraints on its activities ought to be.  It may suggest, but We the People decide what controls we want […]

On May 22nd, I spoke with Graham Ledger on Wealth TV about the horrific show the Senate put on in an attempt to shame Apple for not voluntarily paying more in taxes than it required by the tax code by implying inappropriate corporate behavior. The Daily Ledger Chewing Up Apple from One America News Network […]

The Federal Reserve has been under considerable pressure to provide details for just how it will control all the excess liquidity that it has created through quantitative easing. The Fed’s balance sheet, which can roughly be thought of as a proxy for the potential money supply, is almost 2.4 times the size it was in […]

Unemployment continues to be a drain on the economy and the ranks of those even searching for a job declines. With such slow economic growth, it isn’t possible to get the unemployment situation to improve significantly, despite the attempts at upbeat headlines.  On April 5th we learned that March experienced the biggest monthly increase in […]

None of the four major components of the business cycle, (real income, sales, production and employment) have managed to get back to their 2007 highs, even now as we enter the fifth year of the recovery. This is truly a record, if an unfortunate one. The chart above shows the continual stop and go pattern […]

It took the federal government around 200 years to accumulate a trillion dollars in debt. Within the following decade it tripled that number, then doubled it again in just twelve years, and doubled it again in another 8 years. Overall the national debt has increased sixteen-fold in just 30 years. Incidentally, this period coincides with […]

On February 26th Lenore Hawkins joined Neil Cavuto to discuss the apoplectic fits of politicians and the media all over the country concerning the sequester, which represents a rather small decrease in the increase of government spending.  Yes you read that correctly, if the sequester actually occurs, government spending will still be higher in 2013 than […]

On January 25th, Lenore Hawkins joined the Freedom Fighters to talk about Americans giving up their citizenship due to the onerous tax code. The current tax code is outrageous.  In 1913 the Federal Tax code was 400 pages.  It is now over 72,000 pages! Americans spend over 7.6 billion hours a year preparing their taxes […]

I’m fairly certain that when the G20 convened, many of the attendees believed that as a result of their high-minded meetings, some brilliant announcement would be given to the markets and once again the world would be deemed safe, at least for a little while.  Instead, the Cannes meeting ended with no solutions and not […]

On September 27th, Freedom Fighters Chris Cotter, Nancy Skinner, and Lenore Hawkins discussed the Fed’s plans to monitor the Internet, and why Coca-Cola is choosing China. Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

On July 28th, Lenore Hawkins joined the Freedom Fighters (Liz Claman and Ellis Henican) to discuss the government report that Obamacare is going to increase healthcare expenditures and the impact of the debt ceiling debacle on states.

Only July 21st, Lenore Hawkins joined the Freedom Fighters, (Charles Payne, Ellis Henican and Kmele Foster) and on Freedom Watch to discuss the economics of electric cars, Florida selling info on citizens obtained by the DMV, the federal government’s restriction of potatoes in school lunches and the impending FAA shut down.

My friend Dan Mitchell, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, had a frightening blog post today.  According to the Ways and Means Committee, 51% of households paid no income tax in 2009.  Click here for his piece. This is a dangerous tipping point as with over half of households paying no taxes, the incentives to […]

The Debt Ceiling is a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the federal government can legally borrow. The cap applies to debt owed to the public, (meaning anyone who buys U.S. bonds) plus debt owed to federal government trust funds such as those for Social Security and Medicare.  The limit was first […]

The Debt Ceiling is a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the federal government can legally borrow. The cap applies to debt owed to the public, (meaning anyone who buys U.S. bonds) plus debt owed to federal government trust funds such as those for Social Security and Medicare.  The limit was first […]

When a nation has more debt than it can manage, it has two options (1) inflate its way out by printing more money or (2) restructure the debt. Typically the most politically feasible solution is to inflate.  Generally wages tend to keep up to some degree with inflation, so the employed feel as if they […]

I’m starting to feel a bit like the grim reaper this week as the downward trends continue. This morning the ADP report showed that private sector jobs rose by only 38,000 last month, much less than the downwardly revised 183,000 gain that was expected. Economic Analysis And Charting By HiddenLevers Large businesses with 500 employees […]

After the disappointing growth in the first quarter of 2011, many economists believed that the economy would pick up in the second quarter.   At Meritas we looked at the trends in housing (still dropping), employment (fewer employed today than in 2000), income (declining real wages) the credit markets (little expansion), and government spending (fiscal stimulus […]

Thank you to all those who have served and the families and friends who have loved them.  Thank you for our liberty and security.  May we always seek to deserve your sacrifice.

Today saw the dollar continue to drop, slipping to below 74 before closing at 74.27, getting closer and closer to the March 2008 low. In turn, commodities are making new highs with gold closing above $1,500 and silver above $46. The cyclically sensitive currencies like the Aussie dollar and the Canadian loonie are strengthening as […]

The following segment was on CBS’s 60 minutes last night and discusses the likelihood of a state and local funding crisis, which Meredith Whitney predicts will begin in the next 12 months. The municipal bond market is one of the most opaque in the investing world and is subject to strong political machinations. Ms. Whitney […]

This is a hilarious video on you tube talking about Quantitative Easing, Inflation, Deflation and the Financial Crisis.  Enjoy!

I hear politicians and pundits talking about the massive federal debt and assume that the only way to deal with the problem is to raise tax rates.   Raising rates in tough economic times can be very damaging to the economy and may in fact, result in lower tax receipts as tax payers can shift their […]

Roughly a million Americans have dropped out of the job market altogether over the past two months. That is the only reason why the headline unemployment rate is not exploding to a post-war high.  The share of the US working-age population with jobs in June actually fell from 58.7% to 58.5%. This is the real […]

Both extremes of anarchy and large government harm the economic success of a nation.

A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans are finally worried about the magnitude of the federal debt. We can only hope that this awareness translates into political pressure to curb spending and address both the current mountain of debt and the tsunami of unfunded liabilities racing towards us.

When you hear monetary policy think Federal Reserve. When you hear fiscal policy, think IRS and federal spending.

As many of you who follow this blog can probably surmise, I am not a big fan of the the current capital gains tax and now the administration is looking to increase the tax 33%, from from 15% to 20%.  A friend of mine over at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, (he’s also a senior fellow […]

Last night I watched the CEO of General Motors lie to the American people in a commercial that absolutely typifies the culture in Washington DC.  He stated that GM has repaid the TARP loan, “in full, with interest, five years ahead of schedule.”  Well now that sounds wonderful and aren’t we all just pleased as […]

After the horror of yesterday’s tax filing and the corresponding drop in my net worth, I decided to do a little research.  In 1913 the federal tax code was about 400 pages long.  Today it is around 70,000.  Americans spend 7.6 billion hours a year preparing taxes, which equates to about 3.8 million skilled workers, making […]

We are living in a time in which civility and mutual respect appear to be discarded relics from the past.  This morning I read through a speech my father gave to a group of lawyers, newly admitted to the bar, in Judge McKibben’s courtroom in Nevada on November 18th, 2004 and it reminded me of […]

There’s been a lot of talk about the situation with Greece and the European Union.  Greece is chided for its fiscal irresponsibility as the rest of the EU demands “austerity” measures before entering into any talk of a bailout.  The likelihood of a bailout is still anyone’s guess, but at the moment, neither Germany nor […]

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What is Thematic Investing

Thematic investing looks to identify pain points by looking at the intersection of shifting economics, demographics, psychographics and technologies, mixed in with regulatory mandates and other forces. Such pain points result in a pronounced secular market shift that shapes and impacts behavior, forcing companies to make fundamental changes to their businesses to succeed.  Read More >>

What We Do at Tematica

Tematica Research provides equity research, economic insights, and investment ideas based upon its proprietary thematic perspective of the world and financial markets. The thematic discipline utilized by Tematica across its research and economic commentary, as well as its index and portfolio construction efforts, is the culmination of the more than 20 years Chief Investment Office Chris Versace spent analyzing industries and companies.  Read More >>