Tech Review: 1) Digital Fashion Models, 2) Dating in the Digital Age

Tech Review (TR 2018-08-25)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Digital Fashion Models, 2) Dating in the Digital Age,  3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: Bull Market, Emerging Markets, Turkey, Venezuela, China, EU, US,  4)ICYMI Tech News: Apple, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, Huawei, ZTE, Alibaba, Tencent, Nordstrom.

1) Miquela, Shudu, And The Rise Of Digital Fashion Models 

There are an increasing number of digital fashion models. Some have thousands and even millions of Instagram followers and brands and retailers are starting to show interest. A look at the growing trend. CNBC.com video published Aug 21, 2018

2) Dating in the Digital Age

Over 200 million people worldwide use online dating platforms and about one-third of married couples in the U.S. meet online. In this Economist cover story, an examination of the way online dating has changed and the way people now search for love. Economist.com video above published Aug 17, 2018.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite +1.7% | S&P 500 Index +0.9 | DJIA +0.5%

The Longest Running Bull Market In History and Likely To Go On

"The data still points to U.S. equity markets as being the better asset class. Look around the world. We're the best game in town ... If someone calls telling you to take money out of the U.S. and put it in emerging markets because they are cheap, HANG UP. Dead money for 12 years. Cheap for a reason."--Belpointe Asset Management chief strategist David Nelson.

"The main reason why Stay Home has been outperforming Go Global since the start of the bull market is that the forward earnings (i.e., the time-weighted average of consensus estimates for this year and next year) of the US MSCI stock price index has outpaced the forward earnings of the All Country World ex-US MSCI (in local currencies). The former is up 172% since it bottomed during the 4/30 week of 2009 through the 8/2 week this year, while the latter is up 78% over the same period"--Dr. Ed Yardeni.

Wall Street's Charging Bull

Investing Notes:

Goldman Sachs "cut its bond yield forecasts for all the G-10 countries based on changes in the outlook for monetary policy and inflation in several regions and less recovery in term premium in the U.S." Goldman lowered its end-2018 forecast for the 10-year (US) Treasury yield to 3.10% from 3.25%, and still expects 6 more rate hikes, or one per quarter until the Fed funds rate rises to 3.25%-3.5%--ZeroHedge.com.

Emerging Markets: 

• Turkey's lira still under pressure, Trump resolute--reuters.com 
• Venezuela devalues its currency, the bolívar, by 95% and pegs it to a cryptocurrency--trying to contain "rampant inflation of more than 1 million percent a year."--businessinsider.com.

China: In their IPO filings, Chinese startups are warning investors about Tencent and Alibaba--Startups Struggle to Escape the Shadows of Alibaba and Tencent | Bloomberg.com: "the startups benefit from the cash and customers Alibaba and Tencent provide, [but] the deals can also feel like a trap. They can give Alibaba and Tencent inordinate voting power through board seats and veto rights; come laden with conflicts of interest over hiring, mergers and acquisitions, and other strategic decisions; and deepen the startups’ dependence on traffic from the larger companies to life-and-death proportions."

EU: Denmark targets U.S. and British companies and individuals in its global campaign to recoup billions of crowns allegedly paid out in fraudulent tax refunds between 2012 and 2015--reuters.com.

US: 

• SEC rejects bitcoin ETFs--expressing concern about fraud and manipulation of bitcoin markets--cnbc.com.
• Student loans are now the second-largest category of household debt in America, topping $1.4 trillion, trailing only mortgages at $9 trillion--zerohedge.com.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’--Bloomberg.com: "pushback from devs like Valve, Netflix and regulatory scrutiny."

• Tesla $TSLA: "The Hype is No Longer with Tesla: Suppliers & Creditors Start to Fret"--WolfStreet.com  Aug 20, 2018: "18 of 22 suppliers believe Tesla is now a financial risk to their companies."

• Australia bans Huawei and ZTE from providing 5G wireless network equipment to support the country's new telecom networks, citing risks of foreign interference and hacking--NYTimes.com.

• Alibaba joins Google, others in making custom AI chips--CNBC.com.

• Microsoft's Undervalued Strengths | SeekingAlpha.com: "the image of a fading personal computer company that failed in its attempt to enter the smartphone market undervalues the reality of strong, highly profitable growth."

• Online vs Brick-and-Mortar Retail: Nordstrom  NYSE: JWN shares were up 12% after it reported better-than-expected results, but the results were due to ecommerce online sales, not brick-and-mortar store sales. Sales from Nordstrom.com soared 50% year-over year to $897 million, and including its other e-commerce sites, total online sales jumped 23% to $1.35 billion, or to 34% of its total sales--WolfStreet.com.

• David Versus Goliath:  Minds.com, An Alternative To The Facebook And Twitter Duopoly?

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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AI, NTIA, Crypto, ZTE & CyberSecurity Hearings LIVE June 26-27 (video)

ZTE: A Threat to America’s Small Businesses

ZTE: A Threat to America’s Small Businesses | house.gov - "The Committee on Small Business will meet for a hearing titled, “ZTE: A Threat to America’s Small Businesses.”  The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. EDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 in Room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

"This hearing will examine the imminent threat posed to America’s small businesses by the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. The hearing will provide committee members the opportunity to hear from national security experts and cybersecurity firms on steps the administration can take to protect small businesses and American citizens from the dangers presented by ZTE. The hearing will also investigate ongoing efforts being by both the public and private sectors to reduce the challenges small businesses face in dealing with illicit Chinese backed enterprises."

Hearing Notice (pdf); Witness List (pdf)--witnesses:

• Mr. David Linger, President & CEO, TechSolve, Inc., Cincinnati, OH; 
• Mr. Andy Keiser, Visiting Fellow, National Security Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, Arlington, VA; 
• Mr. Matthew G. Olsen, President, IronNet Cybersecurity, Kensington, MD.

Editor's note: background--

• US government action re: ZTE (pdf)
• ZTE ceased most U.S. operations after the Trump administration imposed a ban in April. After that, the Trump administration reached a deal with ZTE which would allow it to continue doing business, which some in Washington now want Trump to reconsider, but other members of Congress support Trump’s deal with ZTE, noting it is the president’s prerogative to conduct foreign policy. For more read "U.S. senators want Trump to reconsider lifting ban on China's ZTE"--Reuters.com June 26, 2018. 

CyberSecurity: Examining The Trump Administration’s Government-Wide Reorganization Plan, Full House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, Hearing Date: June 27, 2018 10:00 AM EDT. LIVE video and replay at link above.

The reform plan rolled out Thursday by the Office of Management and Budget makes addressing the federal government's cybersecurity workforce shortage among its priorities. It sets forth actions for OPM (Office of Personnel Management), the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon to take to address the issue.

From the report: "The Federal Government struggles to recruit and retain cybersecurity professionals due to a shortage of talent along with growing demand for these employees across the public and private sectors ... The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), working in coordination with all Federal departments and agencies, will establish a unified cyber workforce capability across the civilian enterprise ... This Administration will work towards a standardized approach to Federal cybersecurity personnel, ensuring Government-wide visibility into talent gaps, as well as unified solutions to fill those gaps in a timely and prioritized manner."

The report (pdf) outlining the reform plan is embed below:

AI - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility - Subcommittee on Research and Technology and Subcommittee on Energy Hearing - Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 10:30 am EDT.

Hearing Purpose: The purpose of the hearing is to understand the state of artificial intelligence technology and the difference between narrow and general intelligence. The hearing will also examine the types of research being conducted to advance artificial general intelligence technology and explore its game-changing potential and implications.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Jaime Carbonell, director, Language Technologies Institute, and Allen Newell Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (Dr. Carbonell will not be present at the hearing.)
• Dr. Tim Persons, chief scientist, GAO 

• Mr. Greg Brockman, co-founder and chief technology officer, OpenAI

• Dr. Fei-Fei Li, chairperson of the board and co-founder, AI4ALL 

NTIA - Reauthorization Act of 2018

NTIA: The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at 1:15 p.m. EDT, in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled "DiscussionDraft: National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Reauthorization Act of 2018." [Editor's note: WHOIS & GDPR discussion begins at 1:45:47 in the video above.]

Witnesses:

• The Honorable Michael D. Gallagher, CEO, Entertainment Software Association, Witness Statement (pdf)
• The Honorable John Kneuer, President, JKC Consulting, Witness Statement
• Ms. Joanne S. Hovis, President, CTC Technology and Energy, Witness Statement

Documents: Hearing Notice and Background Memo (pdf)--excerpt:

"Internet Governance: NTIA leads and participates in an interagency effort to develop American internet policy and works directly with stakeholders to develop policies that preserve an open, interconnected global internet, continued innovation, and economic growth. To that point, NTIA has jurisdiction over the Domain Name Service (DNS) and is the U.S. voice in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s Government Advisory Committee, ICANN maintains and enforces contracts with all registrars, requiring them to continue to collect identifying information from registries during the domain registration process. This information is maintained by registrars in a WHOIS database, pursuant to the terms of the registrar’s contract with ICANN. The discussion draft contains a sense of Congress that states NTIA should work to ensure that the multistakeholder model of internet governance maintains the security, stability, and resiliency of the DNS, and that new laws and regulations around the world do not undermine the WHOIS service."

The hearing webcast will also be available at energycommerce.house.gov. The legislative text may be found here. #SubCommTech

Crypto: Protecting Our Elections: Examining Shell Companies and Virtual Currencies [Crypto] as Avenues for Foreign Interference - US Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at  2:30 P.M. EDT, Dirksen Senate Office Building 226. Presiding: Senator Graham. LIVE video and replay at link above.

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Tech Review | Uber Unveils Designs For Flying Taxi Service (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-05-12)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Uber Unveils Designs For Flying Taxi, 2) Mobile Ad Boom Continues, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes, 4)ICYMI Tech News.

1) Uber unveils designs for flying taxi service

Financial Times (ft.com) video above published May 10, 2018: Uber (domain: uber.com) reveals plans for its flying taxi service.  Uber's proposed 'flying car' service is scheduled for launch in 2020 but the proposed autonomous vehicle may raise safety concerns. See also:

• FedEx, Alphabet and Uber Win Drone Sweepstakes Lost by Amazon | Bloomberg.com

• Integration Pilot Program Awardees | faa.gov

2) Mobile Ad Boom Continues
 Source: Statista,com
See also:

• "One-in-five Americans are now ‘smartphone only’ internet users at home."--PewInternet.org.

• Apple iPhone Still Gushes Cash | WSJ.com.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite +2.7% | S&P 500 Index +2.4% | DJIA +2.3%

Wall Street's Charging Bull

Unlike the broader #markets, where Chinese #equities trade at a discount to their US peers, companies like $BIDU, $BABA, & others sport comparable multiples to $GOOG, $MSFT & other US names. Investors everywhere incorporate not just cash flow but also optionality into #valuation.

— DataTrek Research (@DataTrekMB) May 8, 2018

Investing Notes:

a. "The market bulls counter ephemeral political threats with the massive pools of money looking to be invested, the strong earnings season, and the fact yields in the bond markets may be rising, but still look way below normal making stocks look attractive to those who have got comfortable with yield tourism."--Blain's Morning Porridge, May 8th 2018. "Martin Malone tells me to stop listening to the noise, and focus on the big numbers – with zen-like transcendence, Martin reminds me “in numbers there is truth” and they show a clear strategy: Dump bonds, Buy risk."--Blain's Morning Porridge, 10th May 2018.

b. EU & ECB: Running Out Of Ammo And The Dreaded 'QF' | SeekingAlpha.com: "What happens in the next six months across the pond is going to shape the way history remembers QE. Now is the time to talk seriously about the risk of "missing the window" when it comes to ECB normalization. This is the road to "quantitative failure"...."

c. SeekingAlpha.com: "everyone picked up right where they left off on Friday; namely, worrying about emerging markets." Argentina Seeks Credit Line From IMF | WSJ.com: "to help stem the peso’s depreciation and rising discontent over high inflation and reduced government spending." 

4) ICYMI Tech News:

a. Trump vs ZTE:

b. Next Up: Huawei Under Criminal Investigation Over Iran Sanctions | WSJ.com

c. EU considers using algorithms to detect anti-competitive acts | Reuters.com

d. Walmart strikes deal to buy a majority stake in India's Flipkart | cnbc.com: an initial stake of roughly 77 percent in Flipkart. It eventually wants Flipkart to become a publicly-listed subsidiary.

e. Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real World Tasks Over the Phone | googleblog.com. Some of Google’s other most intriguing announcements from I/O18 are here.

f. Chrome OS is getting Linux app support | VentureBeat.com.

g. Google introduced Tour Creator, enabling students, teachers, and anyone with a story to tell, to make a VR tour using imagery from Google Street View or their own 360 photos. The tool is designed to let anyone produce professional-level VR content without a steep learning curve.

h. Apple scraps $1 billion Irish data center over planning delays | Reuters.com: Apple cancels $1B data center in Ireland because of delays in the approval process that have stalled the project for more than three years. 

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Tech Review | What 5G Will Mean for Us and Our Phones (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-04-21)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) What 5G Will Mean for Us and Our Phones, 2) Germany vs. Facebook $FB, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: a. China; b. Tech IPOs, and more,  4)ICYMI Tech News.

1) What 5G Will Mean for Us and Our Phones

Bloomberg.com video published Apr 12, 2018: Tomorrow's wireless networks will be incredibly fast and capable of accommodating many more connected devices. Bloomberg QuickTake explains what 5G is and how it will change your life. Video by Henry Baker and Christian Capestany.

5G networks are expected to launch across the world from 2018 through 2020, alongside existing 3G and 4G technology, and will provide speedier connections for online services and applications. See What is 5G? Everything you need to know | TechRadar.com.

2) Germany vs. Facebook $FB: Facebook's damage limitation drive hits trouble in Germany | Reuters.com 20 Apr 2018: “First we will seek a statement from Facebook and then hearings will begin”--German data privacy regulator said in opening its non-compliance procedure against Facebook in relation to the data leak to Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook shares on Friday--NASDAQ: FB April 20, 2018:

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite |  S&P 500 Index | DJIA -- despite Wall Street jitters,  the S&P 500 made a gain of 0.5 percent for the week to show its second weekly gain in a row.

• Flashing Yellow: Global Economy: Is it just a cold, or something more serious? | Reuters.com

Wall Street's Charging Bull???

Investing Notes:

a.  China Is Nationalizing Its Tech Sector | Bloomberg.com: "China's venture-capital sector is dominated not by traditional tech dealmakers but by the state: There are more than 1,000 government-owned VC firms in China, controlling more than $750 billion." 

"The Chinese internet is in the midst of one of the toughest content purification campaigns in years ... The latest target is Bytedance, a private firm worth more than $30 billion that is best known for its news, video and humor apps ... In response, Zhang’s ritual, abject groveling apology reads like something out of an earlier era"--Axios.com

Germany's (and the world's) 'China problem': German firms are most worried about the role of China's government and communist party in the Chinese economy. “The hope was that closer economic ties would lead to an opening. Today it is clear this was a false hope”--German government official. See also Jim Chanos: No American CEO can make money in China | cnn.com: "It seems that everybody loves the Chinese market," Chanos said. "But nobody ever makes any money there."

b. Tech IPOs: VC investors, bankers, and analysts expect a wave of IPOs from many highly valued and well-known  start-ups over the next 18 to 24 months--nytimes.com

c. US Freight Expenditures Surge 15.6% from Year Ago | WolfStreet.com

d. Construct Your Oil Portfolio: The Trend Following Version | SeekingAlpha.com

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• China Delays Deal Reviews as U.S. Trade Frictions Build | WSJ.com: Amidst tariffs brawl with US, China is delaying reviews of Qualcomm's NXP deal and Bain's acquisition of Toshiba's chip unit, raising fears both deals may fail.
• France builds WhatsApp rival due to surveillance risk | Reuters.com
• U.S. Department of Commerce blocks sales from US firms to ZTE for seven years, after alleged false statements to officials following guilty plea on sanctions violation--Reuters.com

• UK: Cyber security watchdog warns UK telcos against using equipment from Chinese supplier ZTE | ft.com

• Huawei, Failing to Crack U.S. Market, Signals a Change in Tactics | nytimes.com: “Some things cannot change their course according to our wishes,” Eric Xu, Huawei’s deputy chairman, said at the company’s annual meeting with analysts on Tuesday. “With some things, when you let them go, you actually feel more at ease.”
• Amazon launches a ‘lite’ Android web browser app in India | TechCrunch.com

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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ZTE Mobile CEO Sees Growth Opportunities in the U.S.(video)

ZTE Mobile CEO Sees Growth Opportunities in the U.S.

Video above published Jun 27, 2017: Cheng Lixin, ZTE Mobile Devices chief executive officer, discusses the company's growth opportunities with Bloomberg's Rishaad Salamat on "Bloomberg Technology."

Principal Domains: zte.com.cn  and  zteusa.com

ZTE Corporation, commonly shortened to ZTE, is a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. ZTE operates in three business units: carrier networks, terminals and telecommunication.

@ZTEPress and @zteusa:
Tweets by zteusa

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