2016-10-31

MacroView: World Markets, Global Economy, Central Banks, Trick or Treat?

MacroView | © DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of  macro economic and investing news:

MacroView Feature •  Just in time for Halloween: World Markets, Global Economy, Central Banks, Trick or Treat?

Halloween in the global economy:

The FT.com's Katie Martin and Anthony Doyle of M&G (domain: mandg.com) discuss current fears in the fixed income market, including negative yields, inflation growth and emerging markets debt. Published October 28, 2016

•  China Gets Desperate About Debt"China doesn’t need a new debt-for-equity swap program. It needs to cut credit growth."--Bloomberg.com

Why China is worried about its lending:

There is growing concern in Beijing about China’s development lending in risky countries. FT.com's James Kynge explains. Published October 26, 2016. See also Xi Jinping Is China’s ‘Core’ Leader: Here’s What It Means | NYTimes.com.

•  China’s Crown Probe Seen as Warning Shot to Foreign Firms: "... some business consultants in general ... [are] advising foreign executives to steer clear of mainland China for now."--WSJ.com

•  A $1 Trillion Industry Is Finally Going Digital"The $1 trillion global business of shipping goods and raw materials by rail, ship, or plane has lagged most of the modern economy in both transparency and speed, largely skipping the digital overhaul most other industries have undergone. Now a growing group of well-funded startups is pushing to change that."--technologyreview.com

•  Why the Jobs Aren’t Coming Back: A plant in Michigan had been around for years. It had employed 600 people on two shifts. Then, the Chinese began to undercut the pricing, and the plant was no longer profitable and closed. Two years later, it reopened as a fully automated plant and regained the business because it could now manufacture cheaper than the Chinese--"This new plant is fully automated and runs 24/7/365 with just 14 people."--WolfStreet.com

•  Things I Don't Care About And You Shouldn't Either: "One of the biggest challenges for investors is filtering out bad, useless or even costly 'information.'"--SeekingAlpha.com

•  Faulty Wall Street Assumptions"Complex markets require complex solutions." To me, this is one of the most damaging myths out there for most investors. The simpler, the better ... There are no extra points for degree of difficulty.--aWealthOfCommonSense.com

•  The New Corporate Power Brokers: Passive Investors"Index-fund managers such as Vanguard often cast deciding shareholder votes on issues such as mergers and leadership changes."--WSJ.com

•   Bubble Mentality Collapses in San Francisco Office Market"This is how office markets turn. Activity plunges as demand suddenly fizzles, while new supply floods the market. Exuberance evaporates. Suddenly companies and landlords go into a standoff, and not much happens until rents come down. But once rents start coming down, companies are holding out for even more concessions and lower rents. Rather than bidding wars, tough negotiations set in, now that vacancies are rising for everyone to see. And the whole bubble mentality collapses into something resembling rational and focused business decision making."--WolfStreet.com

•  Financial Ideas vs Marketing Ideas“There’s one good financial idea every decade or so, and 5 to 10 marketing ideas a week.”--Eugene Fama as quoted in The Art of Doing Nothing--aWealthOfCommonSense.com [Clue: ICANN's new gTLDs are just a "marketing idea"--no real innovation nor financial ideas are involved.]

•  Gundlach Says ‘Look Out’ for Exploding U.S. Deficits | Bloomberg.com Oct 25, 2016: "Bond yields bottomed and prices peaked in July, Jeffrey Gundlach said. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen wants a “high pressure economy” with inflation above 2 percent and the unemployment rate below 5 percent, he said."  Gundlach still believes Donald Trump will win:“Trump would -- and will when he wins -- ramp up the deficit,” Gundlach said." See also Gundlach: Why the “Rates Will Never Rise” Argument Doesn’t Hold Up | WealthManagement.com: “In July, people came on TV and I actually heard the phrase, ‘rates can never rise,’” he said. “One thing I’ve learned is that in the investment business when you hear the word ‘never,’ it’s about to happen.”

•  Gundlach's view on Trump may be vindicated on November 8. There are two indicators that Trump may be doing better than polls suggest in some states, reports the New York Times--If They Google You, Do You Win? | NYTimes.com--1) The main insight from Google searches this year is that African-American turnout may be down in 2016; 2) nationwide, there are more searches that include “Trump” before “Clinton” (where a search includes the names of both candidates, the name appearing first is a known preference indicator in favor of that candidate). Even the latest re-emergence of the Clinton email scandal now favors Trump: more than 3 in 10 voters say the news made them less likely to support Clinton according to a Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll.

Q3 2016 financial results coverage this coming week on DomainMondo.com:
  • Alibaba Group $BABA Nov 2 at 7:30 am ET
  • Facebook $FB Nov 2 at 5:00 pm ET
  • GoDaddy $GDDY Nov 2 at 5:00 pm ET

•  A Look Back to August 31, 1999Whatever Happened to Globalization? | Fast Company | Business + Innovation | fastcompany.com"Overcapacity plagues every industry — from automobiles to computer chips to beer. Quite simply, we are producing more stuff than people can consume. So it's harder to differentiate yourself. It's harder to charge premium prices. And it's harder to innovate — because product improvements get copied at light speed. Channel issues pose an even bigger problem. History teaches us that no old channel of distribution ever adapts quickly enough to the emergence of a new channel. And with the rise of the Web, new channels of distribution — along with entirely new business models — are being created faster than ever before. Traditional assumptions about strategy, pricing, and selling are under fierce attack. The Web threatens to turn every industry upside down and inside out."--Martin Sorrell

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-10-30

News Review: Post-transition ICANN Yells For Help From U.S. Government

News Review | © DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of internet domain news [pdf]:

"I think if we get rid of that [IANA] contract we [ICANN] will be free of the pressures."--Fadi Chehadé, ICANN President and CEO February 10, 2015.

Feature •  Less than thirty days after the IANA stewardship transition was complete effective October 1, 2016, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a California corporation otherwise known as ICANN, found itself threatened by an African Telecommunications Union (ATU) proposal on behalf of several countries to the ITU's World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-16) regarding the use of geographic terms for top level domains. The ATU proposal (copy embedded below) to amend World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly Resolution 47 (pdf) cites the pending new gTLD .AFRICA litigation:
"These challenges to delegating a regional geographic Top Level Domain raises important principle concerns for the Africa region and others over the issue of jurisdiction, who should control the delegation of critical regional geographic names like dot Africa, the role of governments and intergovernmental organizations in the ICANN multi-stakeholder model and the effectiveness and reliability of government protection mechanisms for ccTLDs and geographic names related to their distinct regions. As the court case in the United States of America continues to deliberate, African stakeholders who have not been consulted, despite being materially affected and prejudiced, are powerless to enforce their needs to implement this critical initiative as judges in California courts continue to delay the process."--ATU proposal, infra. p. 5 (emphasis added)
ATU proposal (pdf) embedded below (or download directly from ITU.int here):


In reaction to the above, the ICANN cross-community working group on internet governance (CCWG-IG) has been in a tizzy this week on its public mailing list with reports from Nigel Hickson, ICANN Vice-President of IGO (International Governmental Organizations) Engagement, who noted "ICANN, itself, cannot speak (we have no locus as are not a sector member); but clearly we are hopeful that several governments will. There is indeed hardly any room for compromise, as you rightly point out," and later reporting on Thursday, the U.S. government had come to the rescue:
"Just to report to colleagues that the proposal referenced was discussed (initially) in Committee 4 (WG) this afternoon.  After a thorough discussion it was decided that further discussion was required on both the African Group proposal and the US proposal to suppress RES 47.  As such an informal meeting will be held tomorrow. As such the usefulness of a statement* is not diminished.  It is likely that discussions on this issue will go into early next week." (emphasis added).--ICANN VP Nigel Hickson, supra.
The *statement Hickson referred to above is a response  (pdf) to the African proposal prepared by the CCWG-IG.

Complicating matters is a pending (ICANN57) motion before ICANN's main policy-making body, the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), to withdraw as one of the three Chartering Organizations (GNSO, ALAC and ccNSO) of the CCWG-IG, which provoked this lengthy response from a long-time ICANN participant and CCWG-IG member:
"I don't understand the GNSO resolution, as it was not circulated to the CCWG-IG first, to ask for input or information. That is quite disappointing, and I will accept some of the responsibility that I missed it, as a BC rep to the CCWG-IG. I was away for both family and then other business and missed some of the work of the GNSO policy council. I think this is quite strange that the GNSO policy Council did not first invite a discussion with the CCWG-IG and I have recently asked the two BC councilors to raise that as a possibility, before there is a vote. Frankly, I am also surprised. Who is opposed to the work of the CCWG-IG? Is it the contracted parties [registry operators and registrars], and if so, is that because we did not do a good job of informing them about the risks to ICANN from the challenges to IG overall? Is it because we let everyone think that IANA transition was the only threat to ICANN? Was it because we were talking to ourselves [maybe] about IG and ICANN, and we forgot to do "internal awareness". Was it because some of the last CEO's endeavors and funded projects that even some of us objected to, caused concerns and that colored what we are really here to do?  And that that "color" led to an assumption that there is no need for, or support for ICANN engagement in IG Ecosystem, or that the views of the community are not needed? I am at many of the IG events. I see business, technical community, GAC countries and CS/NGOs. I do not see the contracted parties with 3 exceptions. I do see ccTLDs. Perhaps the new players in the contracted party house are not aware that if we miss this opportunity to continue to support ICANN's role, they can follow the path of the ISPs and others who have to be licensed, or approved for operation on a country by country basis. That would wake them up, and they would then begin to value the benefit of ICANN's continued engagement so that they can continue to operate with permission, rather than national regulation, which affects the ccTLDs in many countries. So, really, I do not understand this resolution and I cannot find it a useful approach. I hope that you and others will suggest that it be postponed, and that an informed discussion with the CCWG-IG be a first priority." (emphasis added)
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-16) is meeting at Hammamet, Tunisia, 25 October - 3 November 2016. The ICANN57 meeting in Hyderabad, India, starts Thursday, November 3, and runs through Wednesday, November 9. For more information see: ICANN57 | DomainMondo.com and ICANN57, Hyderabad, India, Meeting Preview.

UPDATE 31 Oct 2016 from ICANN VP for UN Engagement, Veni Markovski: "Resolution 47 was not changed, because there was no consensus on the two proposals - by the African Union to change it to include gTLD, and by the USA to suppress it. That means it will remain for gathering experience from member states on ccTLD policies."

Other internet domain news:

•  Internet Governance: Is the Internet Really Free of US Control? | Economic and Political Weekly | epw.in"... dominant global political (US government) and business (transnational corporations) interests ... use contrivances like exaggerated claims about how the current transition of root signing powers from the US to ICANN means that the internet is finally free of US control to cover their designs and exercise of illegitimate powers. It is important that governments, intellectuals, and the public of developing countries do not fall prey to such misleading claims and take steps to ensure that the global internet is governed in an equitable and just manner. It is for developing countries’ leaders like India to come up with alternative governance forms and proposals, and build global support for them."  See also News Review: Post-Transition ICANN & The Global Public Interest (2 Oct 2016)

 New gTLDs .INC, .LLC and .LLP correspondence from dot Registry counsel to ICANN: 21 October 2016 Letter from Arif H. Ali to ICANN Board (pdf) published by ICANN 27 October 2016, which states in part:
"... In particular, since the Dot Registry Declaration: 
  • Dot Registry has written repeatedly to the ICANN Board and the only letter that has been published on ICANN’s website is the one dated August 6, 2016. ICANN has failed to respond to Dot Registry’s letters. (we enclose Dot Registry’s prior correspondence as Appendix A to this letter);
  • Dot Registry has filed two DIDP Requests to which ICANN has not responded yet and which have not been published to date on ICANN’s DIDP website. (See Appendix A); 
  • On August 8, 2016, the Honorable Jeffrey W. Bullock, Delaware Secretary of State, wrote to ICANN about the Dot Registry Declaration and has not received a response to date. (See Appendix A); 
  •  The BGC met on October 18, 2016 in relation to Dot Registry and nothing has been published about the outcome of that meeting; 
"It is for this reason that accountability and transparency violations continue to arise of ICANN’s failures to acknowledge, respond, or publish documents as required under Articles 3 and 4 of the new Bylaws ..." (emphasis added)
 ICANN is now also failing to timely publish litigation documents on its website. In the new gTLD .WEB case Ruby Glen, LLC v. ICANN, Case 2:16-cv-05505-PA-AS, United States District Court for the Central District of California at Los Angeles, ICANN has not published documents filed by both Plaintiff Ruby Glen and Defendant ICANN on October 26th: 1) Plaintiff's Motion for Discovery; and 2) Defendant ICANN's Motion to Dismiss. ICANN's Motion to Dismiss has been noticed for a hearing on November 28, 2016, 1:30 p.m. (PT), 312 N. Spring Street, Courtroom 15, Los Angeles, California 90012​.

•  ICANN Board of Directors has failed to timely respond to Helsinki [ICANN56] GAC advice (pdf) published 30 June 2016. On October 28, 2016, ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker wrote (pdf) to Thomas Schneider, GAC Chair, and advised him the ICANN Board of Directors "has yet to finalize consideration of the Helsinki GAC Advice. We intend to discuss the advice in Hyderabad [ICANN57] and hope to provide a response shortly after the conclusion of the meeting."

•  Brands unleash scathing review of one of ICANN's new gTLDs (new generic top-level domain), .FEEDBACK, seek investigation against registry: "A collective of brands filed a public interest commitment dispute resolution procedure [PICDRP] complaint [pdf] with ICANN"--Blog | WorldTrademarkReview.com.

•  Cuba.com domain name for sale for $4.5 million--MiamiHerald.com

•  More new gTLD .GAY correspondence12 Oct 2016 Letter to the ICANN Board (pdf) [published by ICANN on 18 October 2016] new gTLD application for .GAY:
"...The application process for .gay has now gone from the extreme to the ridiculous. Despite losing three objections, two complete community priority evaluations (CPE), and failed attempts to overturn two BGC recommendations to reject dotGay’s Reconsideration Requests, dotGay’s tactics have reached new heights with its recent letter to the ICANN Board and accompanying 62 page “expert report” from a law school professor. We urge the ICANN Board to summarily reject this latest unsolicited letter and the report as irrelevant and outside the application and appeal processes as set forth in the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) ..."--United TLD Holdco Ltd, (trading as Rightside Registry), Top Level Domain Holdings, Ltd., Top Level Design, LLC (applicants for .GAY)

•  Bad gTLD Domain Name Servers? Research Revealed on Authoritative Servers at the Second Level | ICANN.org"The research starts with going through all of the zone files for all the generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs); the result is 186 million domain names and 3.5 million name servers serving those names. One of the first things we found is that one tenth of the "glue records" in the zone files are possibly bad because they are not associated with names in the zone file itself."

•  Root Stability Study Draft Report Available for Public Comment | ICANN.org: "The study’s authors advise that the rate of new gTLD delegations remain gradual." See also: Did ICANN Just Break the Internet? No, But It Could Have, and May Yet | DomainMondo.com.

•  Human Rights Push in ICANN "off the rails" says InternetGovernance.org"... Domain name policies can subject domain name registrants to surveillance, rob people of the right to use generic words as domains, restrict the use of domains as forms of expression, and make domains more expensive than they need to be. That is what we need to be focusing on ..."

•  ICANN Public Comment Periods Closing in November:
  1. Latin American and Caribbean DNS Marketplace Study: Close Date 1 Nov 2016 23:59 UTC
  2. Middle East and Adjoining Countries 2016-2019 Strategy: Close Date 17 Nov 2016 23:59 UTC
  3. Proposed Amendment to .XXX Registry Agreement to Transition to New Fee Structure and to Adopt Additional Safeguards | ICANN.org: Close Date 24 Nov 2016 23:59 UTC.

•  Q3 2016 Results: Registry services providers Neustar (NYSE: NSR) and Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) each reported their Q3 2016 results this past week, more information: Q3 2016 Results, LIVE Webcasts Oct 27 $GOOG $NSR $VRSN $AMZN. Market reaction to the reports can be seen in this week's charts for both stocks:

During the Thursday Q3 earnings' webcast, Neustar confirmed it was still on track to separate into two publicly traded companies, and Verisign in its 10-Q stated as of September 30, 2016, it has paid $145.0 million for the future assignment to Verisign of contractual rights to new gTLD .WEB pending approval from ICANN. Upon assignment of the contractual rights, Verisign said it would record the total investment as an indefinite-lived intangible asset. In addition, Verisign said at the end of September (Q3) the domain name base in .com and .net was 144.1 million consisting of 128.4 million .com registrations and 15.8 million .net registrations, an increase of 6.6% year-over-year and a net increase of 0.9 million domain name registrations from the end of the second quarter. In addition, Verisign reaffirmed its previous guidance on Q4 registrations:
" Also, as discussed the last three quarters, we still expect the fourth quarter of 2016 to be somewhat unique ... as the volume of domain name registrations up for renewal in the quarter will have a larger-than-normal percentage of first-time renewing registrations as a result of the strong performance during Q3 and Q4 of 2015. While it is difficult to assess what the renewal characteristics of these registrations will be, due to the large upcoming Q4 2016 expiring base we still expect fourth-quarter deletions to be elevated with many of these deletions occurring towards the end of the fourth quarter. Based on these and other factors, we expect the full-year 2016 domain name base growth range of between 1% and 2% despite a net decrease to the domain name base of between 1.5 million and 2.8 million registrations in the fourth quarter."--James Bidzos, Verisign President & CEO
Note that the first month of the fourth quarter (October) is now nearly over, and Verisign is still experiencing net growth in both .COM and .NET registrations.

•   Q3 2016 financial results coverage this coming week on DomainMondo.com:
  • Alibaba Group $BABA Nov 2 at 7:30 am ET
  • Facebook $FB Nov 2 at 5:00 pm ET
  • GoDaddy $GDDY Nov 2 at 5:00 pm ET

•  Most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com:

•  A Look Back: Sep 21.2011: Are the new Top Level Domains really any use to travel brands? | Tnooz.com : "Domain names just aren’t as important as they were. When we do use them is www.travel.globalgateway.ba actually any more intuitive than www.ba.com/travel/globalgateway? … except BA won’t even be allowed to have a .ba domain as two-letter .brands are not allowed … Wouldn’t ICANN be better off putting their weight behind clearing up cybersquatting than pushing on with making the domain space even more expensive and complex?" (emphasis added)


-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-10-29

TechReview | Q3 2016 Results A Reality Check for Tech Stocks

TechReview | © DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of technology news: 

Feature • Amazon $AMZN, Apple $AAPL, AT&T $T, Google $GOOG $GOOGL, Twitter $TWTR, all reported their Q3 2016 financial results this week. So how did they do? Just check this week's charts:

Out of the 5 stocks above, this week's biggest (and only) net gainer for the week? Twitter $TWTR.

For more, see on Domain Mondo:
Q3 2016 financial results coverage this coming week on DomainMondo.com:
  • Alibaba Group $BABA Nov 2 at 7:30 am ET
  • Facebook $FB Nov 2 at 5:00 pm ET
  • GoDaddy $GDDY Nov 2 at 5:00 pm ET

Other Tech News:

•  More Apple BlingApple Unveils Groundbreaking New MacBook Pro | apple.com: New 13" Macbook Pro with Touch Bar, dual-core i5 starts at $1.8K; 15" model with Touch Bar, quad-core i7, Radeon Pro 450 starts at $2.4K; both ship in 2-3 weeks. But don't forget the donglesApple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need | TechCrunch.comSee also Apple says AirPod shipments to be delayed | Reuters.com.

•  Qualcomm to buy NXP Semiconductors, the largest maker of semiconductors used in cars, in $47 billion deal--Bloomberg.com.

•   Nobody wants an exploding phone? Samsung operating profit plunges 30% in wake of Note 7 fiasco--BBC.com.

•   Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race | ProPublica.org: Facebook lets advertisers exclude black, Hispanic, and other “ethnic affinities” from seeing ads; Facebook says “ethnic affinity” isn't the same as race.

•  "Twitter, the highest-circulation short-form “newspaper” on earth"--Professor Randall Stross in the New York TimesSee also Important News about Vine | Medium.com"we are sharing the news that in the coming months we’ll be discontinuing the mobile app."

•   Uber surge: Got an urge to splurge? Surge pricing is coming to UberEats in select cities | TheVerge.com: "$30 for a grain bowl anyone?" and Uber Freight Will Bring Surge Pricing to the Trucking Business | technologyreview.com. But see Uber loses employment tribunal in the UK | TechCrunch.com"The tribunal’s ruling means Uber drivers in the UK will be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the National Minimum Wage. Although Uber has said it will appeal."

•   WTF Apple! Apple's new TV app, designed to track favorite shows across apps, does not include Netflix or Amazon, and most streaming services require cable log-in.--Wired.com

•  CenturyLink.com nears deal to merge with Level3.com reports Reuters.com.

•  The U.S. Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing on the AT&T-Time-Warner deal is December 7. Testifying will be AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes.--Variety.com

•  How to opt out of Google's new tracking system--wired.co.uk: go to Activity controls in your account page and untick “Include Chrome browsing history and activity from websites and apps that use Google services." To find out which services are collecting information on your browsing habits-- and stop them--you can visit YourOnlineChoices.com (pan-European website).

•  The Paradox of Digital Learning Innovation | Technology and Learning | insidehighered.com"we see postsecondary digital learning innovation everywhere but the statistics on costs, access, and quality."


feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-10-28

Scott Bradner: A Look Back at the History of IANA & ICANN (video)

NANOG 68 Keynote IANA Transition:

Video above published Oct 18, 2016:

Keynote: IANA Transition
Meeting: NANOG 68, 2016-10-17 10:30am - 11:30am
Presenter / Speaker: Scott Bradner, Harvard University, retired

Abstract"Scott Bradner will discuss the history of Internet Governance leading up to the transition of oversight of the IANA function from NTIA to the internet's multistakeholder community."

Topics discussed include Jon Postel, competition in the TLDs (top-level domains) space, ICANN's expansion of new gTLDs and what Jon Postel would think about what ICANN has done, and become, since Jon's vision for the organization in 1998 when it was formed. (Hint: .COM, .NET, and .ORG domains will become more valuable.)

Scott Bradner was involved in the design, operation and use of data networks at Harvard University since the early days of the ARPANET. He was involved in the design of the original Harvard data networks, the Longwood Medical Area network (LMAnet) and New England Academic and Research Network (NEARnet). He was founding chair of the technical committees of LMAnet, NEARnet and the Corporation for Research and Enterprise Network (CoREN). Bradner retired from Harvard University in 2016 after 50 years working there in the areas of computer programming, system management, networking, IT security and identity management. He still does some patent related consulting. 
"... Scott Bradner is of the view that ICANN is seen as process bound, and I find it hard to disagree. He noted that the original ByLaws of the organisation had 9,000 words, and over time this has expanded to 36,000 words. Scott appears to hold the view that ICANN blew any goodwill Jon [Postel] had personally gathered from the start, and has maintained a largely secretive and capricious perception. Again, I cannot disagree with this opinion .... we are now in a new phase and one that has its elements of continued change and potential instability. The degree of public sector commitment is variable, and the pressures on ICANN are completely and totally unpredictable. It's likely that at best, all we can say is that this will probably not stay the same as it is today ..."--Geoff Huston, Author & Chief Scientist at APNIC, circleid.com (emphasis added)
Note: NANOG 68 | North American Network Operators Group | nanog.org: NANOG 68 took place on October 17-19, 2016, at Dallas, TX.

Presentation slides (pdf) embedded below:

Transcript (pdf) auto-generated by YouTube.com (unedited) embedded below:



feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-10-27

Q3 2016 Results, LIVE Webcasts Oct 27 $GOOG $NSR $VRSN $AMZN

Note: Domain Mondo Twitter $TWTR results coverage here.

The Numbers Don't Lie: Alphabet Earnings Preview: Bloomberg's Scarlet Fu previews Alphabet's third-quarter earnings report.--Bloomberg.com

1-year charts of $GOOG, $NSR, $VRSN, $AMZN (click image to enlarge)
Note: this post will be updated after earnings are released.
___________
Alphabet Inc. (f/k/a Google Inc.)
Alphabet Inc. is a U.S.-based multinational conglomerate founded on October 2, 2015, via reorganization of Google Inc., with headquarters in Mountain View, CA.
Stock exchange: symbol | NASDAQ: GOOG | NASDAQ: GOOGL
Principal domains: abc.xyz (investor relations) | google.com

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) will hold its quarterly conference call and webcast to discuss third quarter 2016 financial results on Thursday, October 27th at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

LIVE webcast here. A replay of the webcast will be available through the same link following the conference call. Go to the Investor Relations website on October 27, 2016 to view the earnings release prior to the conference call.

Earnings Press release “We had a great third quarter, with 20% revenue growth year on year, and 23% on a constant currency basis. Mobile search and video are powering our core advertising business and we’re excited about the progress of newer businesses in Google and Other Bets,” said Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet.
Webcast replay

Alphabet (GOOG) Q3 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com"In video, YouTube continues to shine. More than 1 billion monthly users are watching hundreds of millions of hours every single day. YouTube has become the platform of choice for major brands, with a highly engaged audience, the best formats, and industry-leading measurement tools. Recent research found that nearly half of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 54 say that at least once a month, YouTube helps them in making a decision about buying something. One format that's been working really well for ad prices are bumper ads, which are snackable, 6-second videos that help brands drive incremental reach and frequency. Brands like Universal Pictures have been pairing these shorter videos with their standard length ads on YouTube, and they're seeing great results, especially on mobile."--Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google, Inc.

Earnings results beat estimates. Segments: Google (revenue $22.254B vs $18.534B Y/Y, operating income $6.778B vs $5.807B Y/Y), Other Bets (revenue $197M vs $141M Y/Y, operating loss $865M vs $980M Y/Y). Stock repurchase of up to $7B of Class C capital stock authorized.
See also previous posts on Domain Mondo about Alphabet and ABC.xyz Party Over? Alphabet $GOOG $GOOGL Cracks Down on Costs, Layoffs Ensue, Division CEOs Quit"The other big entity in “Other Bets” is Nest Labs, which makes internet-connected thermostats and the like. In a brilliant move, Google had acquired it in 2014 for a breath-taking $3.2 billion. But by now, this move has become very unbrilliant."--WolfStreet.com and
Google Curbs Expansion of Fiber Optic Network, Cutting Jobs | NYTimes.com Oct 25, 2016: "The company does not disclose financial results for Access. But its other-bets businesses reported revenue of $185 million in the second quarter of this year and an operating loss of $859 million. The Fiber business accounted for the bulk of $280 million in quarterly capital expenditures — money spent on things like equipment, the company said."
___________
Neustar, Inc.
Neustar, Inc. is a U.S.-based domain name registry and technology services company, with headquarters in Sterling, VA.
Stock exchange: symbol | NYSE: NSR
Principal domain: neustar.biz
Investor Relations: http://www.neustar.biz/about-us/investor-relations

Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR) will report its third quarter 2016 results on Thursday, October 27, 2016 after the close of regular trading. This release will be followed by a teleconference and webcast beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

LIVE webcast (and replay) here.

Those wishing to participate in the teleconference should call 800-406-5356 (international callers should dial 913-312-0844) and enter PIN 5676166 a few minutes prior in order to register. A replay of the call will be available through 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Thursday, November 3, 2016 by dialing 844-512-2921 (international callers should dial 412-317-6671) and entering PIN 5676166.

Q3 2016 Neustar Earnings:  Q3 EPS of $2.18 beat consensus estimate by $0.84. Revenues of $300.08M (+14.7% Y/Y) missed consensus estimate by $9.86M.

Results for Third Quarter 2016 Compared to Third Quarter 2015
  • Revenue increased 15% to $300.1 million
  • Marketing Services revenue increased 54% to $63.3 million
  • Security Services revenue increased 18% to $51.0 million
  • Net income increased 5% to $53.0 million or $0.96 per share. Net income for the third quarter of 2016 included a $23.1 million discrete income tax benefit associated with the liquidation for tax purposes of one of the company’s domestic subsidiaries
Neustar's (NSR) CEO Lisa Hook on Q3 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com"... our overall results for the third quarter came in below our expectations. The shortfall was due to a specific issue, new logo acquisition at market share. We are acting with focus and urgency to strengthen our sales and marketing execution and to get these logo acquisitions back on track .... On August 31, the Transition Oversight Manager or TOM provided an NPAC transition update. The new timeframe called for transition to take place in May of 2018, nearly a year later than the previously published estimate ... Now, let me provide a brief update on our plan to separate Neustar into two publicly traded companies. We have hired third party advisors to assist with the separation and with organization design. We’ve refinanced and continue to pay-down debt to position both entities for financial success. As we mentioned before, we expect to provide financial details for the two entities during the first quarter of 2017. And we will continue to provide updates as the process unfolds .... "

Webcast - Live & Replay
New Release
Third Quarter 2016 Supplemental Materials (pdf)
10-Q

See also: Previous DomainMondo.com posts on Neustar.
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Verisign Inc. 
Verisign, Inc. is a U.S.-based domain name registry services, internet security and infrastructure company, with headquarters in Reston, Virginia. Verisign operates 2 of the Internet's 13 root name servers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and the .cc and .tv country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs), and the back-end systems for the .jobs, .gov, and .edu top-level domains. Verisign also offers security services, including managed DNS, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack mitigation and cyber-threat reporting.
Stock exchange: symbol | NASDAQ: VRSN
Principal domain: verisign.com

VeriSign, Inc. Investor Relations: earnings call for the third quarter 2016 will take place on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. EDT. The earnings news release will be distributed prior to the call at approximately 4:05 p.m. EDT that day and will also be available directly from the company's website at https://investor.verisign.com.

Oct. 27, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. EDT earnings call and webcast:
  • Listen-only LIVE webcast at investor.verisign.com/events.cfm (and audio archive of the call). 
  • Live teleconference call accessible by direct dial at (888) 676-VRSN (U.S.) or (913) 312-1475 (international), conference ID: Verisign. 
Q3 2016 Verisign Earnings--Third Quarter GAAP Financial Results--VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $288 million for the third quarter of 2016, up 8.2 percent from the same quarter in 2015. Verisign reported net income of $114 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $0.90 for the third quarter of 2016, compared to net income of $92 million and diluted EPS of $0.70 for the same quarter in 2015. The operating margin was 60.8 percent for the third quarter of 2016 compared to 58.1 percent for the same quarter in 2015.

Q3 EPS of $0.93 beat consensus estimate by $0.06. Revenues of $287.55M (+8.2% Y/Y) beat consensus estimate by $0.47M.

VeriSign Q3 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com: "... we are really waiting to take a look at those names as they come up for renewal in the middle of November and early December we will get a better look at that, and once we have a better look at that it will give us a little more clarity into Q1. But we have always said, the Q4 is a relatively unique event. There’s over 4 million [domain] names that are really coming up for renewal as a result of the demand that happened last year. And so we are really waiting to take a look at that before we provide guidance to Q1."--George Kilguss, Verisign EVP and Chief Financial Officer

Business Highlights 
• On Oct. 20, 2016, Verisign announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce approved the extension amendment to the .com Registry Agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, pursuant to which Verisign will remain the sole registry operator for the .com registry through November 30, 2024. 
• Verisign ended the third quarter with 144.1 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 6.6 percent increase from the end of the third quarter of 2015, and a net increase of 0.90 million during the third quarter of 2016. 
• In the third quarter, Verisign processed 8.3 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 9.2 million for the same quarter in 2015. 
• The final .com and .net renewal rate for the second quarter of 2016 was 73.8 percent compared with 72.7 percent for the same quarter in 2015. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.
See Domain Mondo's previous posts on Verisign.
_______________
Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc., often referred to as simply Amazon, is a U.S.-based e-commerce and cloud computing company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington.
Stock exchange: symbol | NASDAQ: AMZN
Principal domain: amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) will hold a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2016 financial results on October 27, 2016, at 5:30 p.m. ET.

LIVE webcast: www.amazon.com/ir. Audio and associated slides will be available for at least three months thereafter.
Webcast Q3 2016 Amazon.com Inc Earnings Conference Call (Live and replay) 10/27/16 at 2:30 p.m. PT

Revenues $32.7B (+28.9% Y/Y), consisent with estimates, EPS $0.52 ($0.26 less than consensus estimate), operating cash flow for trailing twelve months $14.6B (+49% Y/Y), free cash flow for trailing twelve months $8.6B ($5.4B Y/Y), net sales $32.7B (+29% Y/Y), operating income $575M (vs $406M Y/Y), net income $252M (vs $79M Y/Y)

Segment revenues: North America $18.874B (+26% Y/Y), international $10.609B (+28% Y/Y), AWS $3.231B (+55% Y/Y), Consolidated $32.714B (+29% Y/Y).

Q4 projections: Net sales of $42B-$45.5B (17%-27% Y/Y growth), operating income between $0-$1.25B (vs $1.1B Y/Y).

Amazon.com (AMZN) Q3 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com"... So first on your video comment. We're in four countries right now, the U.S., UK, Germany and Japan. And we have stated that we will be in India soon. So the content that we are creating, especially through Amazon Studios, we are generally holding the worldwide rights to and can use that in other countries as well. And the cost of that then gets amortized to those countries. It becomes part of the International segment results. So yes, and we consider that to be very valuable as opposed to, versus licensing many times by country, the third-party rights to content that we don't create ourselves."--Brian T. Olsavsky, ‎SVP, Chief Financial Officer, Amazon.com, Inc.

See also previous posts about Amazon on DomainMondo.com.
______
Recap: Q3 2016 earnings and LIVE webcasts, October 27, 2016:
  • Twitter TWTR Oct 27 8:00am
  • Alphabet GOOG GOOGL Oct 27 4:30pm
  • Neustar NSR Oct 27 4:30pm
  • Verisign VRSN Oct 27 4:30pm
  • Amazon AMZN Oct 27 5:30pm

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


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Twitter $TWTR Q3 2016 Results, LIVE Webcast Oct 27 8am EDT

1-year chart of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR)
Twitter Inc.
Twitter is a U.S.-based online social networking service that enables users to send and read short messages called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them. Twitter's headquarters is in San Francisco, CA.  CEO is co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Stock exchange: symbol | NYSE: TWTR
Principal domain: twitter.com
Investor Relations: investor.twitterinc.com
Twitter, Inc. will release financial results for the third quarter of 2016 at approximately 7:00 a.m. EDT, on Thursday, October 27, 2016, before market open. On the same day, Twitter will host a conference call to discuss these financial results at 8:00 a.m. EDT. To have your questions considered during Q&A, Tweet your question to @TwitterIR using #TWTR.

LIVE audio webcast--Oct 27, 2016, 5:00 AM PT / 8:00 AM ET--Listen to webcast replay.

Twitter has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website and the Twitter accounts of @jack, @twitter and @TwitterIR as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Q3 2016 Earnings: Q3 revenue totaled $616 million, an increase of 8% year-over-year, and. Q3 GAAP diluted EPS of ($0.15) and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.13, beat analysts consensus estimates. Stock was up in pre-market trading. A 9% (approximately) global workforce reduction was announced, which includes a regrouping of sales, partnership and marketing initiatives. The strategy announced by CEO Jack Dorsey is consistent with a company forging an independent path to profitability, with acquisition hopes now off the table:
 "Our strategy is directly driving growth in audience and engagement, with an acceleration in year-over-year growth for daily active usage, Tweet impressions, and time spent for the second consecutive quarter. We see a significant opportunity to increase growth as we continue to improve the core service. We have a clear plan, and we're making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth. The key drivers of future revenue growth are trending positive, and we remain confident in Twitter's future."--CEO Jack Dorsey

2016-10-26

Growing Brands: Healthy Lifestyle, Digital Ecosystems, Social Platforms

Digital IQ Index® - Food 2016:

2016 has been a bad year for sugary foods—packaged food sales in the US have registered slow growth as healthier alternatives usurp share.

The fastest growing Index brands are snacks positioned around a healthy lifestyle.

As these health-oriented upstarts gain share, legacy brands look to mergers and acquisitions to grow earnings in a static market.

Meanwhile, digital efforts can differentiate brands looking for growth, online or in-store.

While only two percent of the $675 billion in U.S. grocery sales occurred online in 2015, e-commerce is enjoying rapid growth across grocery categories—thanks in part to visibility on retailer sites.

99 percent of brands are present on at least one of the sixteen major grocers profiled in this year’s study, and 12 percent of brands have signed up for the Amazon Dash button since introduction last spring.

Brands have increasingly invested in digital ecosystems with rich recipe content shared across social platforms, increasing brand awareness and easing the path to purchase.

Lastly, adoption of mobile tools and emerging platforms are reaching scale—94% of brands have mobile optimized sites, up from 82% in 2015, and 82% of brands are now present on Instagram, up from 61% in 2015.

Kraft (domains: kraft.com / kraftheinzcompany.com / kraftrecipes.com) rises to the number one spot in this year's Digital IQ Index: Food, boasting a recipe site with shopping list functionality and local offers on subsidiary brands' products, strong visibility across brand and category searches, and aggressive advertising on mobile, desktop and video platforms.


The study attempts to quantify the digital competence of 126 Food brands operating in US market. Members can download the full report at L2inc.com. Video above published September 19, 2016.


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2016-10-25

Apple $AAPL, Q3 2016 Earnings Results, LIVE Webcast Oct 25, 5pm ET

Apple's First Annual Sales Decline in 15 Years: Infographic: Apple's First Annual Sales Decline in 15 Years | Statista
Source: Statista

Galloway: Apple Could Screw Up AT&T-Time Warner:

Video above: NYU Professor Scott Galloway and Tony Dwyer, chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity Group, discuss AT&T's $85.4 billion agreement to acquire Time Warner and how Apple or another Silicon Valley giant could disrupt this deal and question whether or not an Apple-Disney deal could happen. They speak on "Bloomberg Surveillance" on October 24, 2016.


AAPL 5-year chart
Q3 2016 / FY 16 Fiscal Fourth Quarter Results: Webcast and conference call Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. EDT (US).

Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is a U.S.-based multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.
Stock exchange: symbol | NASDAQ: AAPL
Principal domain: apple.com

UPDATE: Apple quarterly revenue $46.9 (-8.9% Y/Y), EPS $1.67 ($0.02 better than estimates), net income $9B (vs. $11.1B Y/Y), gross margin 38% (vs. 39.9% Y/Y).
Press release: apple.com/newsroom/2016/10/apple-reports-fourth-quarter-results.html

See also: Apple -2.5% after hours; EPS above consensus, revenue in-line [updated] - Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) | SeekingAlpha.com.

Investor Relations - Apple: Listen to the Oct 25 *LIVE audio webcast REPLAY

See also: Apple (AAPL) Q4 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com

Infographic: Apple Claims Title of Most Valuable Brand | Statista
source: Statista
Infographic: The Smartphone Platform War Is Over | Statista
source: Statista



*Apple Live streaming uses Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology. HLS requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with Safari on iOS 7.0 or later, a Mac with Safari 6.0.5 or later on OS X v10.8.5 or later, or a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-10-24

Q3 2016 Results Monday, LIVE Webcasts, AT&T $T, T-Mobile $TMUS

Monday, Oct 24: AT&T 8:30am EDT;  T-Mobile 10:00am EDT:
Above: 1-month chart of  AT&T $T shares
AT&T Inc.
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate, headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. AT&T is the largest telecommunications company in the world by revenue. As of 2016, it is also the 17th-largest mobile telecom operator in the world, with 130.4 million mobile customers. AT&T was ranked at #6 on the 2015 rankings of the world's most valuable brands published by Millward Brown Optimor.--Wikipedia.org
Stock Exchange: Symbol | NYSE: T
Principal domain: att.com
AT&T Investor Relations
Monday, October 24, 2016 8:30 a.m. ET
AT&T Acquisiton of Time Warner and 3Q16 Results: Click here for webcast 
Time Warner and Q3 2016 slides (pdf)

AT&T and Time Warner [timewarner.com | NYSE: TWX | @twxcorp] will discuss the transaction and AT&T’s 3Q earnings. Links to the webcast and accompanying documents will be available on both AT&T’s and Time Warner’s Investor Relations websites. AT&T has cancelled its previously scheduled call to discuss earnings, which had been set for Tuesday, October 25.

Q3 2016 Results:
AT&T (NYSE:T): Q3 EPS of $0.74 in-line. Revenue of $40.89B (+4.6% Y/Y) misses by $260M.

Increases Quarterly Dividend by 2.1%, 33rd Consecutive Annual Increase
Consolidated revenues of $40.9 billion, up 4.6% with DIRECTV acquisition
Operating income up 8.2%; Net income attributable to AT&T up 11.2%
Cash from operations of $11.0 billion; Free cash flow of $5.2 billion
Diluted EPS of $0.54 as reported and $0.74 as adjusted, compared to $0.50 and $0.74 in the year-ago quarter
-2.3 million wireless net adds driven by connected devices, Mexico and Cricket
-U.S. wireless postpaid churn of 1.05%, down 11 basis points year over year
-Strong U.S. wireless operating margin of 29.6%; best-ever U.S. wireless service EBITDA margin of 50.1%
-700,000 branded smartphones added to U.S. subscriber base
-323,000 U.S. DIRECTV net adds with TV subscriber base stable
-171,000 IP broadband net adds
-Full-year guidance on track to meet or exceed expectations

Third-Quarter Earnings Package:
News Release
Investor Briefing PDF
Form 8-K
Slide Presentation
Financial and Operational Results:
Adobe PDF
MS Excel
Supplemental Files:
Financial and Operational Information
Non-GAAP Discussions

Top: $TMUS 2013-16 chart; Bottom: $TMUS 1-day chart Friday, Oct 21, 2016
T-Mobile Q3 2016 Earnings Call: Behind-the-Scenes Livestream:

10am EDT Monday, Oct 24, 2016: Watch the live behind-the-scenes of @JohnLegere and the @TMobile senior leadership team as they deliver Q3 2016 results. Tweet your questions to @TMobileIR using $TMUS.

T-Mobile US, Inc.
T-Mobile US, Inc. is one of the four major wireless network operators in the United States (others are At&T, Verizon, and Sprint). The German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom (DT) is its majority shareholder, through DT's holding company T-Mobile International AG. T-Mobile is the third largest wireless carrier in the United States with 67.4 million customers as of Q2 2016.  Its headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington.
Stock Exchange: Symbol | NASDAQ: TMUS
Principal domain: t-mobile.com
Investor Relations: investor.t-mobile.com

Q3 2016 Earnings Conference Call Webcast 10:00 am EDT Monday, Oct 24, 2016. Similar to past quarters, prepared remarks will be kept to a minimum in order to provide more time for free-flowing dialogue with analysts, investors, media and consumers.

Participants will have multiple ways to submit questions including via phone, Twitter (tweet @TMobileIR or @JohnLegere using $TMUS) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/JohnJLegere via post comment). T-Mobile will also take questions via text and respond to some of them on the call (send a text message to 313131, enter the keyword TMUS followed by a space). The call will be live-streamed via the Company's Investor Relations website at http://investor.t-mobile.com.

T-Mobile US - Q3 2016: Q3 EPS of $0.27 beat by $0.04. Revenues of $9.2B (+17.2% Y/Y) miss by $220M. 969K new postpaid customers, net income up to $366M from $138M a year earlier.
Tweets about $TMUS OR $T


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Domain Mondo archive