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Who Or What Is Google Alphabet Inc.?

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September 10th saw Google make the big announcement that they are changing their parent company name to Alphabet Inc. Considering that Google has become much more than a search engine over the last few years, it seems appropriate that the parent company should change it’s name to encompass all of their ventures.

At the same time, the change in identity has also brought in a new corporate structure. The two Google founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – will become Alphabet’s chief executive and president. What this will mean in terms of the overall performance of the company remains to be seen.

In the past, predicting how Google would perform on the market was quite difficult. This was mainly because of how secretive they could be about their general performance. For example, it is still unclear as to whether YouTube has been profitable for Google or if it is actually running at a loss. The change to Alphabet could lead to things becoming a little clearer.

For the moment at least, it looks like people who have put money into Google will be enjoying a few benefits. It’s though that YouTube could have created $5 billion of revenue last year and the search advertising aspect of the business is running at around 60% profit. In 2014, Google had $66 billion in overall revenue. That will mean a great deal to potential investors.



Of course there are always some risks. In the long run, Alphabet could run into a few problems. One of the first thing Alphabet will have to deal with is European regulators. They have been charged with placing their own companies higher in search engine results even when other companies have paid to have their company ranked higher. They will have until September 17th to respond to the charge, which could well have a damaging effect on their stock.

The other problem Alphabet will have is the Google advertisements. When companies were paying for advertisements on desktop computers, they were proving to be quite lucrative. On mobile devices however, they do not make even close to the same amount of money. Considering that 89% of the $66 billion revenue in 2014 came from this aspect of the business, there could be a little trouble in the future. Google will have to find a way to make their paid-advertisements business more suitable for mobile devices if they are to keep these levels of revenue in 2015.



For now at least, investors in Google will be very happy indeed. It is the future that could pose a few problems. Alphabet will probably face a lot of pressure to streamline even further than they already have, which could prove to be very difficult. If they want to continue the solid streams of revenue they have been enjoying, changing to Alphabet will have to be just the first step in their attempts to streamline.

INCO 10% Average Return For The Next 10 Years (India Consumer ETF)

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The burgeoning middle class in India will drive global investments for the next 10 to 20 years and experts in emerging markets believe INCO is a solid pick to take advantage of this massive growth. An investor would be wise to divert a part of their portfolio to INCO over the next decade. The middle class in India stands around 50 million people, or 5% of the population and by 2022, India’s population will draw even with that of China, at 1.4 billion people, and then exceed it (by 2030 India is expected to be home to 1.5 billion people).

INCO seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Indxx India Consumer Index



  • Net Expense Ratio: 89%
  • 34.68 as of close of the markets on 8/12/15
  • Top holdings include Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (5.7%) – Bajaj Auto Ltd (5.4%) – Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd (5.4%)
  • 52 week range: 28.26-37.75

Time To Stock Up On Commodities As Trading Hits 13 Year Low?

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Even though many people have been talking about the losses on the Greek and Chinese stock markets, the real losses have been coming from somewhere else. The commodities market has suffered the most over the last year or so. Oil prices have dropped by 10 percent while coffee prices have also dropped by a staggering 30 percent. Even though the Greek market has only dropped 5 percent up until now, they still seem to be getting more attention than the commodities complex.

But why have commodities fallen to their lowest trading value in 13 years? Here are some of the reasons why shares in commodities are being sold so cheaply.

Global Growth Slowing Down

When the economic activity of a country – or indeed the world – starts to deteriorate, commodities are one of the notable industries that tend to follow suit. Commodities such as energy and metals used in industrial work tend to take the biggest hits. This is because when there is limited growth, the demand for these particular products goes down.

Fed Hike Expected Imminently

With fall fast approaching, many people are expecting the Federal Reserve to announce a hike. While growth has been below expectations, the drop has not been sharp enough to stop this from happening. When the expected hike does take place, it will raise the dollar up even higher that its current 8 percent rise this year. This will happen because other central banks are easing rather than hiking. When this happens, real estate also rises. This will have a direct impact on commodities, especially on things like precious metals.

Excessive Supplies

This has been one of the biggest factors that have been affecting areas like energy prices. More specifically, crude oil has been taking the biggest hit due to excess supply. The supply of crude oil from the Middle East has been increasing, to such an extent that the US alone saw an increase of 500k barrels of crude oil since the start of 2015. This problem does not look like it will slow down anytime soon either. A deal with Iran is in the works and countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq are increasing their supplies as well.

Adding It All Up

When you put all of these factors together, it becomes clear that commodities are going to be under some pressure for the foreseeable future. For that reason, investors are not investing in specific commodities. Instead, they are focusing on the companies that produce said commodities. And if you’re looking for cheaper stocks, then now could be the best time to be buying. The US energy industry is currently selling stocks at a 40 percent discount. Stocks in the metal industry are said to be even lower than that. On the commodities market at least, there are plenty of bargains to choose from.

Should Investors Be Buying Commodities?

For now, it’s best to wait. Because the prices of commodities are falling and the economy is slowing down, it’s best to wait and see how things pan out over the coming months.

3 Cybersecurity Stock Plays Going Into 2016

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Cybersecurity is on its way to a $150 billion plus industry by the year 2019 according to Forbes and many experts in the industry don’t disagree.

The Economist just published a piece in regards to cybercriminals hacking everything under the sun from crucial medical devices to cars to barbie dolls (“Their own devices” Jul 18th 2015). This is a unique opportunity for investors to get in on a industry that is just starting to heat up. Here are 5 solid cybersecurity stock picks (plus one EFT) heading into 2016.

  1. PANW – Palo Alto Networks, Inc – Current Analyst Opinion 1.8* – Based at 4401 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, CA 95054 | 408-753-4000 – Currently trades at 175.52 –  PANW shares are up 43.20% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Friday with 30 brokers predicting a mean target of 193.20… whats not to like here?
  2. FTNT – Fortinet Inc. –  Current Analyst Opinion 2.0 – Based at 899 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 | 408-235-7700 – Currently trades at 46.90 – Recently raised its revenue forecast from $935–$940 million to $1.0–$1.1 billion… FTNT shares are up 52.97% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Friday
  3. HACK – PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF – A SOLID EFT play for those who do not want to put all their eggs in one cybersecurity basket… HACK top holdings include: Fortinet Inc (see above), PTPT, PANW (see above), SAIC and IMPV

*Analyst Opinion is based on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being a STRONG BUY and 5 being a STRONG SELL