Tech Review | Why Communist China Has So Many Tech Billionaires

Tech Review (TR 2019-01-19)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news: Features • 1) Why Communist China Has So Many Tech Billionaires, 2)Ecommerce: Online Spending Putting Traditional Retailers Under Pressure, 3) Investing: The Week; Notes: Why You Can't Trust Most "Financial News" and more,  4)ICYMI Tech News: Amazon AWS, Facebook, Tencent, Robotics, 5G, Apple, IBM, Vodafone, and more. 

1) Why Communist China Has So Many Tech Billionaires

By one estimate, China mints a new billionaire every two days, far exceeding the rate of countries like the United States. But how did China remain a nominally Communist state while becoming a hotbed for billionaires-in-the-making? Bloomberg QuickTake explains how capitalist compromises and moves begun decades ago have made China the not-quite-Communist country it is today. Featured: Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba Group (alibabagroup.com) $BABA. Bloomberg (bloomberg.com) video above published Jan 9, 2019.

2) Online Spending Putting Traditional Retailers Under Pressure

Richard Lim, CEO of Retail Economics (retaileconomics.co.uk), discusses the U.K. retail sector after M&S and John Lewis suffered their worst Christmas sales since the financial crisis. CNBC International TV video above published Jan 10, 2019. #retail #ecommerce #bricknmortar

Ecommerce & Truckers: since consumers now buy online appliances, treadmills, outdoor grills, etc., national trucking companies are buying up local delivery operators.--bloomberg.com.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite +2.7% | S&P 500 Index +2.9% | DJIA +3.0%

Notes: Why You Can't Trust Most "Financial News"

Article out today with my name in the headline. No interview. No fact check. Reporter sent an email saying “hope this is accurate”. Sheesh.

— Jeffrey Gundlach (@TruthGundlach) January 13, 2019

To be clear: “Hope this is accurate” email was sent with a link to the article, but only after the article was already run in global media.

— Jeffrey Gundlach (@TruthGundlach) January 13, 2019

Editor's note: "Hope is not a strategy."

Other Notes:

• China signals more stimulus as economic slowdown deepens--reuters.com.
• Eurozone: risks besieging European Bonds spill over into 2019--bloomberg.com.
• Germany: German GDP grew 1.5% in 2018, compared with 2.2% in 2017, the weakest growth rate in five years--Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) (flash data).
• Why digital strategies fail: for most companies, the pace of disruption is uneven, and they can’t just walk away from existing businesses. They need to digitize their current businesses and innovate new models--mckinsey.com.
• WeWork a/k/a WeCompany: "You can’t put lipstick on a property gamble and call it a Tech paradigm shift"--morningporridge.com: "Softbank founder Masayoshi Son was the perfect mark"--Editor's note: We Work was expecting a $16 bln capital injection from Softbank’s Visionfund.
• Index funds are dominated by only three asset management firms--Vanguard (Jack Bogle RIP), BlackRock, and State Street Global--marketwatch.com. 
• Brexit: UK Government's next steps will be tabled on Monday 21 January. It will be debated Tuesday 29 January.  Most likely now: renegotiate withdrawal agreement or leave with "no deal" March 29, 2019. More on Brexit here.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Amazon Web Services announced Jan 16, 2019, AWS Backup, its fully-managed, centralized service for customers to back up their data from across AWS services and on-premises--press.aboutamazon.com. 
• German antitrust order in the works re Facebook and user data--reuters.com. FTC (US) commissioners met to discuss imposing a record-setting fine against Facebook for failing to safeguard user privacy, violating 2011 consent decree--TheHill.com.  
• UK engineers have finished building Quantum, the first fully software-defined communications satellite that can be reprogrammed in orbit, launching this year--bbc.com.
• Tencent's Xiaowei, AI voice assistant for WeChat, integrates with Tencent's own services and apps by third-parties such as Meituan or Didi.
• 10 robotics companies to watch in 2019--therobotreport.com.
• 5G network and deployment, investment implications--seekingalpha.com. Qualcomm says every Android phone maker will beat Apple to 5G.
• IBM links up with Vodafone for $550m cloud computing contract--cityam.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review | 5G Roll Out: What's Coming In 2019 (video)

Tech Review (TR 2019-01-05)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) 5G Roll Out: What's Coming In 2019, 2) Office 3.0 - As Robots Take Over, 3) Investing: The Week, Notes,  4)ICYMI Tech News: Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Tencent, YouTube.

1) 5G Roll Out: What's Coming In 2019

5G Will Be Ultrafast, but the Roll Out May Not Be. WSJ.com video above first published Nov 14, 2018. See also:

• The Truth About 5G: What's Coming (and What's Not) in 2019 | tomsguide.com: Qualcomm says 20 operators around the world will roll out 5G in 2019, including all 4 major US carriers.

• Verizon 5G; 

• AT&T 5G; 

• T-Mobile 5G nationwide (US) in 2020; T-Mobile & Sprint merger plans.

• Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi EasyMesh certification aims to standardize mesh networks | PCWorld.com May 14, 2018.

2) Office 3.0 -- As Robots Take Over

As robots take over mechanical tasks, is going in to the office simply a way to interact with others? This is the belief that has shaped Office 3.0, an office design philosophy which runs through the headquarters of The Agnelli Foundation in Turin. FT.com Content Solutions video above first published Jun 6, 2018.

3) Investing

The Week (Friday close to Friday close) ending January 4, 2019: 

NASDAQ Composite +2.36% | S&P 500 Index +1.76% | DJIA +1.53%

NASDAQ Composite

S&P 500

DJIA

Sign of the times: DrudgeReport.com headlines, Jan 4, 2019:
JOBS UP BIG! +312,000 RECORD NUMBER WORKING -- MANUFACTURING BEST IN 20 YEARS -- HISPANIC UNEMPLOYMENT LOWEST EVER -- DOW +750

"One fact that no one is talking about, the S&P is up 60+% in the last 30 months. Markets don’t go up forever, they do have corrections."--seekingalpha.com

Long View:

Investing Notes:

• The Best And Worst Performing Hedge Funds Of 2018--zerohedge.com.

• Better Days Ahead For Tech--the downturn has created an opportunity for investors with a long-term view--seekingalpha.com.

• US equities are still very tech-centric, subjecting the S&P 500 to both valuation contraction and regulatory uncertainty. Just five tech companies--Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet/Google, Amazon, and Facebook--represent 14.6% of the S&P 500, more than all Financials (13.2%) and close to all Health Care (15.4%).--datatrekresearch.com.

• Is Apple $AAPL A Buy?--seekingalpha.com. Apple lost $11 billion buying back its own stock in 2018--zerohedge.com. Apple has lost $452 billion in market capitalization since Oct. 3. 

• China’s Startup Bubble Runs Aground: Bike-share companies, among the hottest startups, are wiping out investors--WolfStreet.com.

• Euroone: at 20, euro is currency giant on fragile footing--France24.com.

• 2019: The year after peak global growth--dw.com.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

source: statista.com

• Apple failed to warn about China and market saturation, the underlying conditions for its guidance downgrade, which were obvious to those paying attention--bloomberg.com. See also the January 2, 2019 Letter from Tim Cook to Apple investors.

• India: New Regulations a Massive Blow For Amazon--Amazon will be disadvantaged versus Flipkart-(Walmart)--seekingalpha.com. But Amazon is opening tiny stores, adding local language descriptors, and accepting cash payments to target the 800M people living outside India's big cities--wsj.com.

• Amazon is planning to build and expand Whole Foods stores across the U.S. to put more customers within range of its Prime Now two-hour delivery service--wsj.com.

• Tesla names Oracle's Larry Ellison to the Board of Directors. Ellison owns nearly $1 billion of $TSLA stock.--reuters.com.

• Tencent Can Leverage WeChat In Auto Sector--seekingalpha.com.

• "Everything Is Fake"--Ex-Reddit CEO Confirms Internet Traffic Metrics Are Bullshit--zerohedge.com.

• YouTube says over 200M people view gaming content each day globally, and 50B+ hours of gaming videos were viewed in the past year--venturebeat.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review | Semiconductor Chip Wars: China vs U.S. (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-12-15)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news: Features • 1) Semiconductor Chip Wars: China vs U.S., 2) Why Netflix $NFLX Is Struggling In India, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: The Macroview, 4) ICYMI Tech News: Apple $AAPL, ParkJockey, Qualcomm $QCOM, Amazon AWS Robomaker, $TME IPO, Huawei CFO.

1) Semiconductor Chip Wars: China vs U.S. 

The Economist.com video above published Dec 11, 2018: The trade war between China and the U.S. is not just about traditional products like steel and cars. A battle for dominance is under way in semiconductor chips, as the two superpowers fight to control this vital industry.

2) Why Netflix $NFLX Is Struggling In India

Netflix has 137 million subscribers and a majority of them are international. But the streaming giant is still struggling to break into India, the world's second-largest internet market. CNBC's Alex Sherman explains why.

Netflix is currently valued much higher than other media companies. Despite a share pullback in recent months from more than $400 to about $285, Netflix has a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of more than 100 and an enterprise value-to-EBITDA ratio of about 70. For comparison, Disney has a P/E ratio of about 14 and an EV-to-EBITDA ratio of about 11. Viacom's valuation ratios are both around 7.

This gaudy valuation is largely predicated on its international growth forecast. Breaking into India is critical for the company to double or triple its subscribers over the next 10 to 15 years, as many analysts have estimated. But Netflix hasn't had an easy time spreading through India since it launched there in 2016. Faced with competition from local players and Amazon Prime Video, Netflix is facing an uncertain future in a country with more than 1.3 billion people. CNBC.com video above published Dec 11, 2018.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite -0.8 | S&P 500 Index -1.3 | DJIA -1.2.

Slowing growth in China, growing disarray concerning UK, Brexit, & the EU.

Investing Notes: The Macroview

“It is quite possible there will be a global recession”--Jeffrey Gundlach, Dec 11, 2018.  The U.S. is stronger than the rest of the world, according to Gundlach, with real growth at 3.0%. U.S. leading economic indicators (LEIs) remain strong, and are not close to turning negative, which would signal a recession. But global LEIs are much weaker, Gundlach said, and approaching zero. As central banks tightened their monetary policies, equity returns have been hit. 75% to 80% of global markets are in a “death cross” pattern, where 50-day moving average has fallen below the 200-day moving average. Europe is “absolutely horrible” in terms of economic growth, according to Gundlach. More here.

Top 10 Risks For 2019 include Eurozone crisis 2.0.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Apple $AAPL plans to build a new $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, adding thousands of jobs, and also setting up new large offices in Seattle, San Diego and the Los Angeles area.--Axios.com.

• SoftBank Group reportedly has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Miami parking tech startup ParkJockey (parkjockey.com) making it Miami's most valuable startup with a valuation now above $1 billion.

• Qualcomm's $QCOM Challenges May Only Get Worse--SeekingAlpha.com.

• Robots rising: 5 trends driving the robotics sector in 2019--zdnet.com. For robot-based automation, check out Amazon's AWS RoboMaker. 

• China-based music streaming Tencent Music Entertainment Group raised close to $1.1 billion in its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) after pricing its $TME shares at the bottom of its targeted range.

• Canada frees China's Huawei CFO on bail.

• Russiagate Hyperbole: Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed this week that the “full extent” of so-called Russian meddling activity that took place on the platform during all of 2016 was $4,700 spent on some digital advertisements.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review | Priyanka Chopra: Technology Gives Us Freedom (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-11-17)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Priyanka Chopra: Technology Gives Us Freedom, 2) Fintech: The Business Case For Financial Inclusion, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes, 4) ICYMI Tech News: Facebook, Nvidia, IBM, SAP, Alibaba, FCC, SpaceX, Cloudflare.

1) Priyanka Chopra: Technology Gives Us Freedom

Priyanka Chopra may be known for acting, but now she's investing in tech companies. In an interview with CNN, Chopra tells Laurie Segall why she's investing in Bumble (bumble.com). CNN.com businesss video above published Nov 5, 2018.

2) Fintech: The Business Case For Financial Inclusion

1.7 billion adults across the globe do not have a bank account. The data revolution and innovations in digital finance have the potential to provide access to financial services for everyone and offer huge growth opportunities.Video above published Nov 2, 2018, by FT.com.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite -2.15% | S&P 500 Index -1.61% | DJIA -2.22%

S&P chart pattern points to breakout ahead, technician says--cnbc.com

Wall Street's Charging Bull

Investing Notes:

Why Tech Investors Love the SaaS Model
(See full infographic: https://t.co/DMBqUs5AQ6) pic.twitter.com/J0qXnqF5ie

— Visual Capitalist (@VisualCap) November 16, 2018

iShares Automation & Robot ETF is now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This #ETF tracks our iSTOXX FactSet Automation & Robotics index, which is composed of companies related to automation and robotics around the globe. https://t.co/2EqrzzWOPG #investing

— FactSet (@FactSet) November 15, 2018

4) ICYMI Tech News:

$FB

• Meltdown at Facebook $FB? More than 50 interviews conducted by the New York Times reveal Facebook's failures in dealing with multiple crises, which Zuckerberg and Sandberg initially tried to obscure. "Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis"--NYTimes.com. Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg replied. See also Facebook Board and this on "Facebook Fights Dirty."

• Nvidia $NVDA: Supply glut mars Turing effect for Nvidia shares--reuters.com.

• IBM $IBM: Why There Will Never Be Another Red Hat: The Economics of Open Source--a16z.com.

• SAP $SAP acquiring Qualtrics (qualtrics.com) for $8B before IPO--bizjournals.com. Did SAP pay too much? SAP says no.

• Alibaba $BABA sets new Singles’ Day record with $31B in sales, but growth is slowing--techcrunch.com.

• FCC approves expansion of satellite-based internet services: Telesat, Kepler Communications Inc and LeoSat MA, Inc. approved for high-speed internet service and connectivity for sensors and other intelligence devices a/k/a IoT (Internet of Things). SpaceX approved for access to additional frequency and to operate some satellites at low-Earth altitudes--FCC Boosts Satellite Broadband Connectivity And Competition In The United States | fcc.gov (pdf). 

• Personal tech: Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver app--cloudflare.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review 1) Crypto & Crime, Innovation, Regulation, 2) $Esports (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-10-06)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Crypto & Crime, Innovation, Regulation, 2) $Esports, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: US Economy, DC Noise, Eurozone & Financial Crisis, 4) ICYMI Tech News. 

1) Crypto & Crime, Innovation, Regulation
Kathryn Haun's Journey From Crime Fighter to Crypto

Kathryn Haun left the Justice Department to pursue a career in cryptocurrency. Here's her story. Haun is a general partner with Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z.com). Fortune.com video above published Sep 28, 2018.

I traveled to Mexico City to bring you my latest feature: a profile of @katie_haun for @FortuneMagazine’s Most Powerful Women issue.

She is..
- a badass ex-federal prosecutor
- an unconventional “crypto” VC
- 1st female general partner @a16z, & much morehttps://t.co/clw5koMJSP

— Robert Hackett (@rhhackett) September 28, 2018

2) $Esports: the lucrative world of professional video gaming

Big broadcasters such as Sky and ESPN and mainstream brands such as Audi and Betway.com are getting into esports in a bid to target a young demographic that increasingly rejects linear TV and traditional forms of advertising. The FT.com's Daniel Garrahan reports. Financial Times (ft.com) video above published Sep 28, 2018.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite -3.2% | S&P 500 Index -1.0% | DJIA -0-

7 of 11 $SPX sectors are expected to report double-digit earnings growth in Q3, led by Energy. https://t.co/BI8tBZrGUu pic.twitter.com/Zb8i1h1kY0

— FactSet (@FactSet) September 29, 2018

Investing Notes:
a. US economy metric: Americans' credit scores are hitting new record highs 

U.S. National Average FICO® Score

It's not just U.S. stock prices and FICO scores that are hitting new record highs. In the first quarter of 2018, 403 stocks in the S&P 500 delivered earnings higher than Wall Street analysts had forecast, a new record high that was promptly broken in the second quarter, when 407 stocks achieved that feat--axios.com.

Yale University, Harvard, and other major endowments have recently reported investment performance for their fiscal years ending in June, and none have topped the S&P 500 Index, which returned 14.4% including dividends. Yale returned 12.3%; Harvard University, 10.0%; the University of Pennsylvania, 12.9%; and Dartmouth College, 12.2%--Barrons.com.

2019: "The S&P 500 hasn’t declined in the year after midterm elections since the 1946 cycle—and has climbed 15% on average—regardless of which party won or lost control of Congress"--WSJ.com.

Ignore The Noise Coming From Washington--"Let me be clear on this: I do not think the tariffs on China are going to cause a recession. But if we have a recession, that is precisely what the Democrats will say. Democrats will not run against the Fed, investor sentiment, markets, Italy, or anything else that actually causes the next recession. They will be running against Trump and everything will be his fault. It will be the Trump Trade War Recession. Whether or not it is true is immaterial."--John Mauldin, Mauldin Economics, Sep 28, 2018.

The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 4.2 percent last quarter, far higher than most thought possible a few years ago. American businesses have added more than 4 million new jobs since President Trump was elected in November 2016. Unemployment is near record lows.--Wilbur Ross, CNBC.com. 

What Has the Eurozone Learned from the Financial Crisis?--HBR.org:

"Ten years after the crisis, observers of the U.S. economy are asking whether we learned enough from the 2008 crisis about how to manage risk in the financial system. The Euro area is asking a very different question: whether we have learned enough about monetary and fiscal policy to better manage the next crisis. I am afraid the answer is no."--Antonio Fatás

See also Mario Draghi Is Preaching In the Desert | Bloomberg.com: "For all the ECB chief’s efforts, Europe’s full monetary union is as remote as ever."

Brexit: a senior EU diplomat reportedly said this week the EU would soon propose a “zero tariffs and zero quotas” post-Brexit trade deal for the UK with better terms than the EU's current trade deal with Canada. [Editor's note: until they actually "put it in writing" it's "just talk." The UK would be wise to prepare now for a "hard Brexit"--the UK is a net importer from the EU, so the EU has "more to lose" particularly Germany--and start negotiating "trade deals" now with the U.S. and others to become effective March 29, 2019, 23:00 UTC]. 

EU: Tariff deal with U.S. not yet even in 'pre-work' stage says EU trade chief--reuters.com [Editor's note: those who wait to negotiate late with the Trump administration are making a serious mistake. Trump now has trade deals with key trading partners South Korea, Mexico, and Canada, with Japan likely to follow, and each deal will only harden U.S. positions going forward. China  and Germany have the most to lose, so both should be 'elbowing' to the front of the line to get a 'sweeter' deal now, versus waiting.]

China: JPMorgan lowered its rating for Chinese stocks to neutral from overweight as "a full-blown trade war becomes new base case scenario for 2019" and "higher tariffs are squeezing Chinese manufacturing's profit margin, reducing the investment incentive and hiring, which would then drag on consumption via reduced income"--CNBC.com

Jan. 26, 2018, "will go down in history as the peak for the global stock market for this cycle."--Jeff Gundlach, CNBC.com.

8 Major Forces Shaping the Future of the Global Economy--visualcapitalist.com.

A 'Work of Art': One bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926, a rare Macallan scotch whisky, sold for a record $1.06 million (£814,081) at Bohhams auction in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK--buyer reportedly was an unnamed private collector in Asia participating by phone--usatoday.com and thewhiskyexchange.com.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Apple $AAPL wants to be Disney $DIS?--SeekingAlpha.com.

• Facebook $FB security breach exposed 50 million accounts to full takeover--reuters.com. See also Irish data watchdog opens investigation into Facebook breach--TheHill.com.

• Apple, Amazon deny Bloomberg report on Chinese hardware attack--reuters.com.

• Tencent (online gaming and WeChat) announces a restructuring as challenges rise--reuters.com.

• Personal Tech: Microsoft $MSFT this week released its latest Windows 10 update but some users report serious issues including having their documents, photos, even entire user profiles, "wiped out." Some say this may be a temporary fix for the issue?  Editor's note: just get a chromebook.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review: 1) Apple $AAPL 9/12 Event; 2) Facebook $FB HQ Expansion

Tech Review (TR 2018-09-08)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Apple $AAPL 9/12 Event,  2)Facebook $FB HQ Expansion, 3) Investing: The Week & Notes, 4)ICYMI Tech News: SpaceX, Tencent, Amazon, China, Starbucks. Nike.

UPDATE LIVE Apple Event September 12 REPLAY -- new iPhones & Watch Series 4

1) New Products Apple Is Expected to Announce September 12

New Products Apple $AAPL Is Expected to Announce on Wednesday Sept 12, 2018, 1:00pm EDT.

$AAPL

2) Inside Facebook's Epic HQ Expansion

In an effort to attract top tech talent, Facebook $FB is spending $1 billion to expand its Menlo Park headquarters. It just opened a new building, called MPK 21, that was designed by architect Frank Gehry and cost about $300 million. The 525,000 square-foot building will house about 3,000 employees and includes a 3.6-acre rooftop garden, a redwood forest in a courtyard and a tiered outdoor amphitheater akin to a botanical garden. CNBC.com video above published Sep 4, 2018.

$FB

See also:

•  Pew study: 44 percent of young adults deleted Facebook app in past year | TheHill.com.

• Facebook to invest $1 billion in first Asian data center in Singapore | reuters.com.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite -2.6% | S&P 500 Index -1.0% | DJIA -0.2%

What drove the markets this week following August's strong close? "Near-term likelihood of U.S.-China trade pact seen dimming--relaxing of tensions with Mexico, Canada and the EU has made it easier to forge a united front against China"--marketwatch.com Sep 7, 2018.

Wall Street's Charging Bull--where's he headed next?

Investing Notes:

US: Jobless claims fall to 203,000. They haven’t been this low since Dec. 6, 1969 | marketwatch.com Sep 6, 2018.

US economy: US wages grow at fastest pace in nine years--Data keeps Federal Reserve on track to raise rates this month--FT.com Sep 7, 2018.

DC Drama: Why Trump‘s potential constitutional crisis isn’t rattling stock-market investors | marketwatch.com Sep 6, 2018. See also Trump Saboteur Op-Ed Backfires: LA Times Calls "A Coward"; Greenwald: "Unelected Cabal"--zerohedge.com.

Europe: European Stocks Are At A Critical Technical Support Level | zerohedge.com.

Europe will be "the big loser" in the trade war between the U.S. and China, said economist Mathilde Lemoine at the MEDEF Summer University in Paris, adding that a lack of structural reform in European countries such as Italy and France would continue to fuel weakness across the euro zone--CNBC.com.

Emerging Markets: Emerging-market stocks edged near bear territory Thursday (September 6), as fear of contagion spread throughout the developing world--"I don’t think the rout is over yet ... With more tariffs on China possible and further Fed tightening, it’s hard to see it ending soon. About the only outlet for some countries in this case is a cheaper currency, especially China."--Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab in New York, as reported in Bloomberg.com.

Nike Inc.’s (NYSE:NKE) market capitalization (as of Sep 6, 2018) is down $3.4 billion since the company released its latest ad campaign featuring controversial quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick:

$NKE

In addition, Nike's favorability rating has dropped from 69 percent net favorability to 35 percent net favorability among American adults after the ad featuring Kaepernick was released, according to MorningConsult.com: 

"Purchasing Consideration Also Down: Before the announcement, 49 percent of Americans said they were absolutely certain or very likely to buy Nike products. That figure is down to 39 percent now."

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• SpaceX: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the Telstar 18 VANTAGE communications satellite from Cape Canaveral on September 8th during a 4 hour launch window from 11:28 p.m. EDT Sep 8 until 3:28 a.m. EDT Sep 9 (03:28 – 07:23 UTC). The Telstar 18 VANTAGE satellite will provide broadcast, enterprise and government communications services over parts of India, China, Mongolia and Southeast Asia.
• China: Tencent and Chinese Gaming Rivals Shudder as Government Tightens Grip | WSJ.com: Chinese regulators have not approved a single new game since March, number of games to be released per year will be limited, authorities trying to reduce playtime.
• Antitrust: The Monopoly-Busting Case Against Google, Amazon, Uber, And Facebook | theverge.com: what tech companies have to fear from antitrust law.
• Amazon India unveils Hindi website, app in battle with Walmart's Flipkart--reuters.com.
• China lures chip talent from Taiwan with fat salaries, perks--reuters.com.
• After Starbucks opens in a town, housing prices tend to rise says Harvard study--CNBC.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review | Reinventing Air Conditioning & Cooling (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-07-07)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Reinventing Air Conditioning & Cooling, 2) Fintech: Finn by Chase, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: Focus on  China, 4) ICYMI Tech News.

1) Reinventing Air Conditioning & Cooling (video)

Bloomberg.com video above published Jun 26, 2018: The starry night sky seems remarkably distant from the topic of air conditioning, but it’s revolutionizing the field in quite an unexpected way. In this episode of Bloomberg's "The Spark," watch how scientists from across the globe are harnessing natural phenomena to drastically redesign this century-old technology.

2) Fintech: Finn by Chase ℠ - Your New All Mobile Bank ℠

Introducing Finn by Chase℠ -- "a new all mobile bank that helps you stay in control of your money. It gives you all of the classic bank stuff, plus some new features that let you see your spending differently, so you can use your money better." More info: https://www.chase.com/personal/finnbank
(finnbank.com).

With an all mobile-banking service like Finn, it's like having a bank in your pocket, but lighter! Feel free to reach out to let us know what's #Weighing you down! ^OP

— Finn Support (@FinnSupport) June 29, 2018

See also: "JPMorgan Chase takes smartphone account 'Finn' nationwide"--Reuters.com.Jun 28, 2018.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite +2.4% | S&P 500 Index +1.5% | DJIA +0.8%

"Strong U.S. jobs growth helps Wall Street overlook trade worries"--Reuters.com 6 Jul 2018.

NASDAQ Composite

• The U.S. labor market continues to power forward, adding another 200,000 jobs in June according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS also revised upwards April’s new jobs from 159,000 to 175,000 and May’s from 223,000 to 244,000, a total of 37,000 more than originally stated.
• A small increase in the unemployment rate to 4%, up from 3.8%, came as a result of a rise in the labor participation rate, which increased 0.2 percentage points to 62.9 percent as 601,000 people came off the sidelines and re-entered the labor force. Average hourly earnings increased 2.7% year over year. 
• According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the May 2018 trade deficit – the difference between what the U.S. exports to, and imports from, foreign markets – fell 6.6 percent to $43.1 billion, the smallest deficit since October 2016. U.S. exports increased 1.9% to a record $215.3 billion. Imports increased only 0.4% to $258.4 billion.

Wall Street's Charging Bull:

Investing Notes: Focus on China

Shanghai Composite

a. Global central banks are not enthusiastic about China's renminbi, and they are not dumping US-dollar-denominated assets from their foreign exchange reserves, nor euro-denominated assets either. US-dollar-denominated assets in foreign exchange reserves were $6.5 trillion, or 62.5% of “allocated” reserves in Q1 2018--WolfStreet.com. [Editor's note: The renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China. The yuan is the basic unit of the renminbi, and also used to refer to the Chinese currency generally--official website: pbc.gov.cn; Symbol: ¥.]

b. China: Jim Chanos & James Grant video | vimeo.com--"China is the most extraordinary living laboratory of credit formation and credit abuse the world has ever seen ... China has been creating credit at twice the growth (or greater) of its economic growth ... Bank credit compared to GDP is far greater than anywhere else in the world, if there are no consequences, the world has truly been remade ... Non-chinese investors have no recourse in the Chinese legal system. Alipay was removed from Alibaba (BABA) without compensation and put into the private holding company of its Chinese owners." 

c. Alibaba $BABA: "Almost all of Alibaba's competitive advantages have some linkage back to the license to operate provided to them by the Chinese (PRC) government"--Not So Hidden Risks With Chinese-Based Companies--SeekingAlpha.com.

d. China now set to become the epicenter of the next Emerging Market turmoil--zerohedge.com.

e. Goldman: "We Met With Chinese Investors And The Tone Remains Very Negative"--zerohedge.com 6 Jul 2018: "Investors continue to have a long list of worries. Similar to the feedback from our recent trip to Beijing, most investors are worried about the trade war, defaults, and credit crunch, with particular concerns about liquidity in the LGFV and property sectors. After the sizeable RMB depreciation in recent days, we noted increased worries about policymakers' stance towards the RMB, and concern that further RMB depreciation would trigger capital outflows. Overall, investor sentiment remains very cautious, and are meaningfully more bearish than offshore investors." (emphasis and links added)

f. Who China Has Trade Disputes With:

source: Statista.com

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Amazon AWS: Google, Microsoft, Oracle et al Gang Up on Amazon for $10Bn Pentagon Prize--WolfStreet.com
• Uber: Con artists are fleecing Uber drivers--cnet.com
• IBM wins AU$1B (US$740 million) contract to be central technology partner to Australia's government for the next five years, including automation and blockchain services--Bloomberg.com.
• Amazon's logistics network expands via small businesses operating 20 to 40 vans each--zdnet.com.
• Reddit — one of the world's most popular websites — is trying to cash in through advertising--CNBC.com.
• Lyft buys Motivate (motivateco.com) the largest provider of bike-sharing services in the United States--NYTimes.com.
• Tech’s ‘Dirty Secret’: The App Developers Sifting Through Your Gmail--wsj.com.
• Kroger, largest supermarket chain in the U.S., is launching a fully driverless delivery service by teaming up with Nuro (nuro.ai) a startup founded by two veterans of Google’s self-driving team--TheVerge.com.
• Cyber Command moves closer to a major new weapon--FifthDomain.com.
• ‘Hot’ money is flowing into Netflix, Facebook and Amazon again--Marketwatch.com.
• Amazon Vs. Alibaba: Which Is Riskier?--SeekingAlpha.com.

Viewsroom: Is Silicon Valley getting nervous yet?

The tech hub is getting squeezed by new policy restrictions amid a looming trade war between the U.S. and China. How is the Valley holding up? Plus: India's state lenders are losing CEOs. Is running these banks into the ground part of the plan? Release date: 3 July 2018.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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