“Respectfully, he should stop talking about Bolivia” — Bolivian Development Minister Cesar Cocarico to Reuters journalists. Cocarico was responding to (and rejecting) Bill Gates’ donation of hens, offered to the world’s poorest countries, including Bolivia.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Big Picture
- U.S. stocks finally snapped their five-day losing streak, as markets calmed after the U.K. suspended all campaigning regarding Brexit following the tragic death of Parliament Member Jo Cox
Alternatives to Watch
- The aforementioned news hit currency markets hard: while initially falling, the British Pound rebounded sharply against the dollar to finish the day strong, with many speculating that Cox’s death would push citizens to vote to stay in the EU
CORPORATE PRIMER
Up In the Clouds
The cloud is big, it’s real and there’s plenty of money to go around—just ask Oracle. The business software giant released earnings yesterday, posting especially solid growth in its cloud computing sector. Oracle has been notoriously late to the game of web-based computing on demand—until now, that is. Oracle’s been going all out to get up to speed, and the investment is paying off big time. After playing catch-up, cloud revenues rose 40% to 735 million, although total revenues still slipped 3% due to a strong dollar.
Shanghai: Where Dreams Do Come True
Disney enthusiasts, pack your bags…and book your flight to Shanghai. The hype is real for Disney’s new theme park in China, as thousands flocked to the front entrance for yesterday’s grand opening. At a price tag of $5.5 billion, investors are curious to see how the new attraction does, especially since it’s aimed at a struggling Chinese middle class. It’s also a stressful time for Disney, which is dealing with this week’s deadly alligator incident at a Disney hotel amidst larger uncertaintyover ESPN’s uncertain future (which Disney owns). Long story short: the timing of the Shanghai park’s opening couldn’t come at a better time.
Redstone Removal Inc.
Sumner Redstone is up to his old tricks again. This time around (yesterday to be exact), the 93-year-old ex-chairman of Viacom and CBS booted out CEO Philippe Dauman and four other Viacom executives. If you recall, he kicked out some members from his trust, including Dauman (yes, the same guy), last month. Viacom hasn’t been doing too hot (Exhibit A: a nearly 40% stock price decline), and Mr. Redstone decided enough was enough. We’ll see the final decision play out in the courtroom in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned.
WORLD MACRO
Brexit Takes Center Stage
With the Fed now out of the picture after holding U.S. interest rates steady on Wednesday, all eyes are now on Great Britain…and specifically, the hotly-anticipated vote next week over whether the country should leave the European Union. The decision has huge ramifications for the EU’s economy, politics, the fate of mankind, you name it, and the Bank of England is on high alert. Minutes from its Wednesday meeting were released yesterday, and the Bank is quite worried about the negative consequences of a Brexit. It should come as no surprise, then, that the BoE followed in the Fed’s footsteps by holding its benchmark interest rate steady. Uncertainty reigns supreme over which direction the vote will go…the clock is ticking.
OTHER STORIES
- Microsoft is working on software for the legal marijuana industry
- M&M’s might disappear from McFlurrys, Blizzards and sundaes
- IBM’s Watson makes a move into self-driving cars with Olli
- Volkswagen to launch more electric cars after diesel scandal
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
- Monday: N/A
- Tuesday: Retail Sales (+); Import/Export Prices (+); Business Inventories (+)
- Wednesday: Fed Meeting Announcement; Producer Price Index (+/-);Industrial Production (-)
- Thursday: Oracle (+/-), Kroger (+), Rite Aid (-), Smith & Wesson Earnings (+);Consumer Price Index; Weekly Jobless Claims (-); Housing Market Index (+)
- Friday: Housing Starts
THE GREEN BEHIND THE GREEN
And the 116th U.S. Open has teed off! With an estimated $10 million going to the winner of the second major of the year, we just have to wonder where all the money is coming from—or rather, who it’s going to. Let’s take a closer look:
- According to Golf Digest, less than 30% of the total income of each of the top 50 golfers in 2015 was earned from playing the sport itself. Of these 50 players, 33 of them earned more money off the golf course than on it.
- Take, for instance, the one and only Tiger Woods (sure, not the best these days, but still worth around $700 million): in 2015, Woods earned a mere $550,000 playing the sport, in comparison to the $48 million he attracted from endorsements. And Woods isn’t even at the top when it comes to total earners.
- Who beats Tiger? Yes it’s 22-year-old Jordan Spieth, winner of the 2015 U.S. Open, who collected $23 million in prize money last year on top of an even more impressive $30 million in endorsements. Yes, a 22-year-old made $53 mil last year doing what he loves…what have you been up to?
INTERVIEW QUESTION OF THE DAY
Why would investors want to purchase bonds with negative yield curves as seen with current Swiss bonds? (Answer)
BUSINESS TERM OF THE DAY
Bond Yield — Simply put, it’s the amount of return an investor will realize on a bond. The yield will run inverse to the bond’s price: as bond prices increase, bond yields fall. It’s important to note that an investor will still receive the same amount of interest since the interest is based on the bond’s par value, but would have a higher yield because the bond price fell.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
How would you like to pay up to 30% more for that large Coke? Even with a decline in U.S. soda consumption, Philadelphia became the first large U.S. city to approve aspecial tax on nonalcoholic beverages with added sweeteners.
CORRECTION
Thanks to all you eagle-eyed Brewers who caught that Kate Upton actually starred in ads for Game of War, not Clash of Clans, as we reported in yesterday’s Brew. Clearly the commercials left a lasting impression on many of you—as for us, we unfortunately got our uber-popular mobile games mixed up, and we apologize for the error.