The Bitcoin craze has more than taken over the Financial world during the last year but today it entered unchartered territory. A spokesperson for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA released a statement detailing that the organization would start accepting bitcoin beginning on March 1st. The announcement marks a breakthrough for the digital currency, the Kings will be the first major sports team to accept the virtual money. Online retailer Overstock.com and social gaming network Zynga.com already accept bitcoin as payment. Last January, 1 bitcoin was worth roughly around $12, today it sits at nearly $1,000. “We are maniacally focused on creating the most seamless experience for our fans in all facets,” said Kings owner and tech guru Vivek Ranadive. Ranadive is fully aware of the risks and rewards of this move, the CEO and founder of TIBCO, a technology firm that develops business intelligence software is trying to spark some excitement and interest within the league and its fans. Currently Sacramento ranks 21st out of 30 teams when it comes to home attendance. Consumers will have the option of using their bitcoins to buy either merchandise from the online team shop or tickets, .26 bitcoin will seat you courtside ($257). Bitcoin allows consumers to anonymously make purchases without reaching into their wallets, all transactions will be processed by Bitpay. Bitpay CEO Tony Gallippi mentioned that the Kings were very adamant in getting things going ASAP, “They wanted to move really fast,” says Gallippi. Gallippi was also quick to point out that many other teams have shown interest in getting involved with bitcoin but out of respect for those organizations has kept the team names private. Based on expert estimates the 2014-2015 NBA season should see more than half the league become Bitcoin friendly, with other major sporting franchises not far behind. Bitcoin and digital currencies are evolving daily and may become the safest form of payment in the future.
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Is Huntington undervalued or overvalued
Huntington Bancshares Inc tapped into a sector they hadn’t explored since 1999, credit cards. In September CEO Stephen D. Steinour announced that the Columbus, Ohio based financial service will offer a credit card, “Voice”, in partnership with MasterCard. “Voice”, will add 250 jobs over 4 years says Mary Navarro, Huntington’s director of retail and business banking. The previous month, Reuters.com reported Huntington acquired Camco Financial Corp for $97 million. The Cambridge, Ohio based Camco controlled 22 offices throughout southern and eastern Ohio. Investors responded to the moves, $HBAN shares jumped 9% over the last few months to finish up a strong 3rd Q, bringing in 682 million in revenue. According to Analystratings.net, $HBAN is a buy or hold depending on your stake, Goldman Sachs targets Huntington at $10 for 2014. A very friendly P/E ratio of 12.93 and market cap of 7.7 billion may boost Huntington from their present spot of 32nd in banks with the most assets (56.11) B. $HBAN trades on the Nasdaq with a 52 week high of $9.49, low $6.11.
The American Airlines Group Merger
Doug Parker has completed his second merger, the new CEO of American Airlines Group said this week “the real work begins” according to Philly.com. In 2005 Parker and his team put together a deal that partnered American West Holdings and US Airways. This time around he connected US Airways and American Airlines, creating American Airlines Group, making them the largest Airline company in the sky. Based out of Fort Worth, TX, the new American will fly out of 300 cities and maintain an employee count of over 100,000. $AAL will trade on the Nasdaq, effective as of Monday. American Airlines is wasting no time, planning to cut operating cost with their recent orders to Embraer SA and Bombardier Inc worth about $4 billion. The Airliner purchased 60 E175 jets from Embraer and 30 Next Gen CRJ900 jets from Bombardier, the deal also has options for an additional 130 planes between the two jet manufacturers, which would bring the total deal to $9 billion. Systems are still be integrated, for now passengers may book on either US Airways or American Airlines. Getting everything on the same page will take a year or so but investors should jump now. Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money calls $AAL a Buy Now at its price of $25.65 (Dec 12).
Apple’s recent deal with China Mobile
China Mobile is the worlds largest wireless network with 759 million subscribers at the end of October. Last week Apple struck a deal with the wireless giant, permitting an Iphone launch around Dec. 18th. Verizon Wireless $VZ began 2012 with nearly 88 million subscribers, selling 4.5 million Iphones during launch. This agreement has many shareholders psyched, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray predicts China Mobile to eclipse the 17 million mark before September 2014. This week $APPL crept back around the 52 week high of $575, its 5% year-to-date return doesn’t jump out at you but its closer to the $700 all time high. Many hedge funds value the stock at between $700-$750 for 2014. The deal will add roughly 45 million to Apple’s value, says SeekingAlpha.com. $APPL could use the boost, the consensus estimate is a 5% rise in revenue for the December quarter. The Chinese are less materialistic than Americans, bringing doubt and fear of less expensive but still very efficient smartphones. The Iphone still reigns king in the UnitedStates but how long until we are behind China, even in that category.
Novavax may be a sleeper in 2014
Novavax, inc is warranting the respect of Investors, with 120% yield from year to date. The Rockville, Maryland based bio pharmaceutical company specializing in creating vaccines to treat a broad range of infectious disease around the world. Novavax also has ties in India, they hold a joint venture with Cadila Pharmaceutical. The state-of-the-art vaccine facility in Dholka, India that has the capability of producing potentially 60 million doses of novel vaccines every year. Many money managers target $NVAX, which trades on the NASDAQ at between $5-$6 in fiscal 2014. Stability lies with an advanced seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine development 5 year contract worth over 179 million with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority better known as BARDA. Novavax has a very meaningful goal in a rejuvenated market that investors should jump on, “be able to rapidly deliver a customized vaccine in the midst of a declared pandemic”. The 52 week high and low is $4.34 and $1.68, with an average volume a bit above 3 million. The Vaccine market is growing, you should expect $NVAX to as well.
Barnes & Noble chairman takes $40 million hit
Barnes and Noble has struggled to keep up in a digital world, taking a loss each year since 2006. Founder Leonardo Riggio, the companies number one share holder has cut back and now owns just 26.3%, down from his 30% stake earlier this year. Mr. Riggio started the company back in 1974 when he acquired a single store, building the company to their IPO in 1993. $BKS has took a significant dive since 2006, stocks are down 70%. The last time Riggio sold stock within his company was 2001, this time around the market wasn’t friendly. The 2 million shares sold were bought between $30-$35 back in 2008 and sold Tuesday for $13.81 a piece, resulting in a $40 million loss. Riggio still owns 15.7 million shares and plans to hold those as he becomes more involved in daily operations. The stock has stayed pretty consistent over 52 weeks with a high of $14.51 and low of $13.40. Riggio says the decision was strictly tax related but with the recent departure of Chief Executice William Lynch, you can never be too sure. Watch for $BKS to make a push in becoming more E-book friendly in hopes of sparking some fire with investors.
Top 4 Long Term Tech Companies
Quarter results are out and some major hedge funds have made some very loud noise. Apple $AAPL was the hedge funds’ number one pick during 2011 and 2012. Although, during the second quarter of this year was replaced by tech mammoth and rival Google $GOOG. Google failed to hang on at the top and was replaced in the 3rd quarter by General Motors $GM. Although Google is still the most popular among tech stocks. According to Marketwatch.com 139 hedge funds that they monitor held long stakes in Google at the end of the third quarter. However, in that same quarter 20 funds sold their long term stakes. Their largest holder at the end of Q2, Stephen Mandels Lone Pine Capital, clipped its holdings by about 57%, says InsiderMonkey.com. Locking down the number 2 spot among tech companies is Apple. In light of their recent deal with China Mobile, it made a strong run, up 7% this period with Hedge funds after a bumpy Q2. David Einhorn’s Green Capital strengthened their position, now holding 1 billion in stock. Microsoft Corporation $MSFT comes in 3rd on this list with 104 hedge funds revealing a long position at the end of Q3. Jeffrey Ubben ‘s ValueAct Capital, added 9 million shares this period running their total to 66,865,530 shares. Facebook $FB the worlds favorite social media website, rounds out the top 4. Out of all the companies MarketWatch follows, $FB had the largest amount of new players. 48 hedge funds bought into Facebook during Q2, bringing their total to 96, exactly doubled. Coatue Management now has its fourth-largest position in Facebook, buying a total of 9.24 million shares according to NASDAQ.com.
Getting Started With Investing
If you plan on owning a home, sending your kids off to great colleges or just wanting to create wealth for the different chapters in your life (retirement for example) this blog should be read with great attention! This is step one for a new and brighter future.
The best way to build wealth (other than working or having a huge inheritance) is to invest money at every opportunity. If you’re new to the whole idea of investing and making your money work, things aren’t too clear for the rest of the world either, you have arrived at the right place! In this blog every day we will tackle investment basics, strategies and placement of money.
The percentages of Americans who invest in the stock market come from the Gallup polling organization. In the spring of 2012 they conducted a study and the number came back as 53%, lowest since the poll was conducted in June 2002. Not everyone is cut out for investing but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least dip your nose in. If you are like every other human being then saving and making money are top priorities. Investing can be scary but with the proper research and resources anyone can make a profit! I will try and keep this guide for investing simple and straight forward. No matter income, wealth or debt, investing can improve financial freedom down the road for the latter years of life.
The very first step to investing is acknowledging that saving money and cutting back on expenses is essential. The mindset that the world’s best money managers have is that nothing happens overnight. No one should rush into investing!! In most cases investing is a 3-5 year process or longer depending on the financial goals that you set. Make sure the money being put away doesn’t interfere with everyday expenses. The penalties of removing money that’s invested early can put any investor back at square one (or even worse further from obtaining their financial goals).
Investing, unless a company goes public (offered shares of ownership) or some catastrophic amount of money is poured into the business, your money will take time to grow. The time it takes for an investment to fully blossom (the amount that you eventually want to obtain) can be a zig zag road, going left, right, up and down. Don’t let this winding road scare you away! This path can be a great indicator of what the future has in store for those investments.
There are many ways to make money grow through investments, government issued bonds, and company issued bonds, ownership stock, real estate and small business. These are just to name a few but from experience; money (and a lot of it) is here for the making and taking! In later posts we will break down each investment so that you are fully aware and know which will be beneficiary or detrimental to your own goals.
Cleveland Invest 