Business

How Much S&P 500 Do We Need to Match The Great Recession?

Remember the Great Recession of 2008-09? Along with the evaporation of investment banks and the deeds to homes of thousands of Americans, this unfortunate economic phenomenon also affected the S&P 500. It was a one-two punch for S&P 500 that led to interests falling, and the Federal Reserve buying mortgage-backed securities. The Fed even helped bolster the bond market as well, which caused a constant decline for rates. The only place to go was the equities. Bonds were seen as stocks, and investors gave up on yield. They rather hoped that bonds priced at 110 would hit 120. This was the Great Recession 8 years ago – everything was sky high.

Since 2011, we have been experiencing a raging bull market. For 7 years, the US stock market only had one major correction, which was a 19% drop.

However, once the central banks abandon QE, and the interest rates normalize to the point the equity market steps back to pre-QE levels, you would likely think S&P 500 gets around 1500 points.

Before the Great Recession, the previous bear market happened after the dot-com bubble burst and the planes piloted by terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. Shortly, the S&P 500 dropped 49% from a high ground of about 1510. After 6 years, it fell again to 666 in Intraday trading on March 6, 2009. It has been the lowest S&P 500 hit since 1996.

S&P500 and Great Recession

We could trace the slide that took place on the second week of February to the U.S. non-farm payroll report for January, which showed an increase in average earnings growth to 2.9%.

Wage inflation scared the bond markets. The expected inflation resulted in pricing in a 0.75% rate hike, then came a prospective hike for the fourth time.

“Powell Put” which thought to be less market-friendlier than “Greenspan-Bernanke-Yellen Put,” helped equity levels reach record levels, and inflated the financial asset prices.

ETNs, exchange-traded notes was revealed. These strategies of betting on low equity volatility caused the aggravation of inflation concerns. According to BlackRock’s chief investment strategist Richard Turnill, the retreat was somehow caused by the rapid run-up in government bond yields. However, investors who prefer to remain active just had to focus on the fundamentals of the economy. But the fundamentals are still changing, says Turnill.

On the second week of February, the US congress approved a budget deal that expands the government’s spending for defense by about $300 billion over two years. This approved bill and tax cuts will stretch out the federal deficit further.

“We could see net Treasury coupon issuance more than doubling this year,” he says.

S&P500 and Great Recession

That’s not good for the US Treasury bonds. The equity market is smaller than the bond market.

Turnill says, the combination of the government spending and corporate tax cuts can result in the addition of roughly 1% to GDP this year, in comparison to the 0.8 percentage point in the last report.

A strong economy can easily raise inflation, and allow the Fed to increase interest hikes faster. Along with that, the central banks will loosen up their QE programs that could drive the S&P absolutely lower than it is today. Only if the bears get what they deserve.

April 16, 2018 0 comment

Business

US falls off the Top 10 Most Innovative Countries for the First Time in Six Years

written by ferasantoonreports

South Korea continues to thrive in the technology race, while US drifts away.

For the first time in six years, the US left the top 10 in the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, falling to the 11th place from its previous 9th. On the other hand, South Korean and Sweden remained their No. 1 and No. 2 spots.

The countries acquired index scores using seven criteria, including spendings in research and development, the attention of technology companies.

The US rank dropped, mainly because of falling scores in a couple of categories, including post-secondary or tertiary, and education-efficiency, which covers the contribution of new science and the number of engineering graduates. The sum of highly valuable manufacturing also took a downward steep. Although there’s an improvement in the productivity score, it wasn’t enough to make up for what’s lost.

“I see no evidence to suggest that this trend will not continue,” Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation in Washington, D.C., said.

“Other nations have responded with smart, well-funded innovation policies like better R&D tax incentives, more government funding for research, more funding for technology commercialization initiatives.”

Singapore, on the other hand, successfully landed to a higher, third place rank due to tertiary-efficiency category, leaving European economies behind like Germany, Switzerland and Finland.

According to Yeo Kiat Seng, professor and associate provost at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, when talking about science, technology, engineering and mathematics, “Singapore has always placed strong focus on educating her populace, especially in STEM disciplines.” Furthermore, the country has a “steadfast commitment to funding R&D and innovation,” added Yeo, who has 38 patents.

For five consecutive years, South Korea has been the gold-medalist of global-innovations. Samsung Electronics Co., has acquired more US patents in 2000 than any firms, except for International Business Machines Corp., which made them the most-valued tech company of the country. The ecosystem of Korea’s suppliers and partners consists mostly of semiconductors, digital media and smartphones. A very similar sight with Japan when the nation developed innovations around Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

China continue to move upward, recently to two positions higher, landing the 19th place. The nation’s high amount of new technology, engineering graduates, and increasing patents by innovators like Huawei Technologies Co., all added to its strengths and index score.

“One common trait of the U.S., Korea and China is that people accept failure as part of the process,” according to Prinn Panitchpakdi, country head of CLSA Thailand, an Asian brokerage and investment group. “Innovation lags in countries where the culture emphasizes risk avoidance and where R&D is seen purely an expense, not an investment. That’s the mindset in Thailand.”

Countries in the lead

One of the top Asian countries, Japan, moved one slot upward to no. 6. France jumped from 9th to 11th place, enlisting with other European economies in the top tier. Israel was the only nation that has beaten South Korea in the R&D category, also reached the top 10 list.

Joining back the top 50 list were Iran and South Africa, which the last time they were included was in 2014. One of the biggest winners of this year was Turkey, which leaped four ranks to 33rd due to advancements in categories, tertiary efficiency, productivity, and two other.

On the other hand, the biggest losers, New Zealand and Ukraine fell four places lower because of the changes in productivities (New Zealand), and tertiary-efficiency (Ukraine).

Compared to last year, shifts in the list this year weren’t too dramatic. In 2017, we saw Russia fell 14-spots, while Ukraine received sanctions, and energy prices plunged.

This year’s ranking method began with 200 economies. All economies had 0-10 scale scoring in seven equal categories. Countries that didn’t pass the requirements for at least 6 categories were eliminated, cutting down the list to 80. The top 50 economies with their category scores is released by Bloomberg.

April 9, 2018 0 comment

Business

The Bull Market & Surviving its End: Your Potential Keys

written by ferasantoonreports

This bull market will eventually end; we all know that. So before it does, we can some steps that can prepare us for stock market correction.

We can see it in the US stocks. It has been up and steady for quite a while. Not much has happened since the 1% drop in August that lasted until January. When Amazon.com AMZN, -0.89%, JPMorgan Chase JPM, -0.72% and Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, +0.00% BRK.B, -0.03% mentioned they will be processing their own health insurance claims, Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.08% fell 1.4%.

Investors can easily earn $10,000 in stocks without lifting a finger, in this case. For the first time ever, gaining that much in a short time is a rare luck.

So what’s happening here? Here is not where we will observe about the economy. Rather, we’ll define a particular pattern that has been happening since February 2016: markets have tended to move three steps forward, and two steps back.

The question now is, what should investors do when such patterns occur and exist for a long time? What steps shall investors make when valuations dip toward their historical means? Strategist Sam Stovall at CFRA Research, offers answers. Stovall is a vigilant historian of stock market trends, who answers to the question, should investors keep betting on what has been winning or should they ride the recent losers?

The Bull Market & Surviving its End

Stovall’s response was: do a little bit of both. Apparently, the best approach is to focus on the sub-industries that performed the best and the worst in the run-up before the correction. Choose among the 145 sub-industries from the S&P 500, and pick the top 10 best and top 10 worst industries on CFRA’s rating scale. An investor now has 20 stocks to choose from. This strategy has been used since 1991, which every year is producing 13.6% annualized returns, has beaten the market by 5.5 percentage points, and top S&P 500’s price gain with 70% of the time.

“If history is any guide, for it’s never gospel, investors have done better buying both last year’s 10 best and 10 worst groups,” Stovall said. “Despite the lack of a guarantee that what worked in the past will work again in the future, one could say that the outcome of owning the good and the bad wasn’t so ugly after all.”

Last year, the top 10 sub-industries gained a combined 56.5%, which was led by casinos, home builders, technology stocks and wine/spirits companies. When choosing the industries that fit this market, Stovall said, you might want to choose Amazon.com from Web retailing, Adobe Systems ADBE, -0.69% as the leading application software stock, D.R. Horton DHI, +1.02% as for home builders, and MGM Resorts, MGM, -1.51%, as for the casino play. More of the top picks include Deere DE, +1.58%, Best Buy BBY, -0.19%, Electronic Arts EA, -0.36%, Constellation Brands, STZ, +1.22% and Caterpillar CAT, -2.31%.

Last year, the worst-performing sub-industries include advertising, automotive retailers, motorcycle manufacturers, brewers, oil and gas drillers, and energy equipment/services companies. The last two groups fell 23% and 17%, respectively, in contrast to what one might expect from rising oil prices.

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According to CFRA ratings, the top worst sub-industries include Molson-Coors TAP, -0.33%, Omnicom Group OMC, +1.86%, Helmerich & Payne HP, -0.41%, Baker Hughes BHGE, +1.49% and Harley-Davidson HOG, -1.03%.

This strategy, in some themes make sense. For instance, oil prices are expected to boost energy earnings this year by 53%. On the other hand, the home building’s revival is expected to last due to demographic and economic factors. Typically, construction collapse after the mortgage burst takes place for a long time that the demand backlogs. Caterpillar and Deere can also be good emerging-markets play.

At this point, it’s too early to detect whether a 5% or 10% has begun. Perhaps, and most likely, it hasn’t happened, yet. Although, a few companies are trying to cut off healthcare costs, which can spur health insurance competition, still, it’s hardly the end of profit growth for the economy.

However, financial gravity will still reassert itself if not in a correction or two, but eventually, it will because it always does.

April 6, 2018 0 comment

Business

How Failures Can Help Businesses

written by Feras Antoon

Decision-making in business can be nerve-wracking. Many entrepreneurs may have experienced it, too: heart beats turn wild, the palm gets sweaty before calling a huge decision that can either make or break the business, leading to abysmal failures. We’re about to make that next, risky step that can make us fall flat on our face.

It’s a similar situation for Stephanie Weichert, a Life and Executive Coach, Strategic Interventionist, published author, speaker, strategic director for START Fitness® and business consultant. When Weichert was about to release her motivational book, she said it was a moment of stepping into the unknown, just like a scene in the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In that scene, Indiana Jones had to cross an invisible bridge to find the Holy Grail, which will be the key to his Father’s healing. Taking that perilous path had no certain outcome.

“It’s a leap of faith,” Indiana Jones said. There was no other way. Thus, despite the risk, he took a huge leap forward.

The risk was worth it. Indiana successfully landed on the right steps. But that’s not always the case, especially in business. When the big leap in business results in failure, it usually produces two outcomes. The resilient entrepreneur will learn from his mistake, and try again. The non-resilient will be afraid to try again.

Failures Can Help Business

It’s easy to understand why the non-resilient throws the towel. Failing hurts, and not everyone can take the pain. However, knowing that there’s a good reason to stand up again, and climb the leap of faith once more, fills the fuel.

We have learned from public business failures that staying safe can also take a toll on the business in the long run. Safety cannot help us adapt to change, bearing fruits only for a season. If you remember Blockbuster, its story has a valuable lesson.

The Netflix innovator proposed his idea about streaming movies to Blockbuster, and got rejected. Sometime in 2008, Blockbuster’s CEO Jim Keyes told the online publication, Motley Fool, “Neither Redbox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition.”

Keyes turned down opportunities to explore out-of-the-box ideas. He only focused on the current technology during that time, instead of delving to possible, future innovations. His unwillingness to take a risk, thinking his current success would provide him assured long-term prosperity, led Blockbuster to its downfall – eventually facing bankruptcy.

‘Soloprenuers’ must learn a lesson from Blockbuster’s mistake: staying in the safety zone can also mean closing doors of opportunities where big ideas dwell. Choosing to be safe can also mean avoiding future success.

Most of the time, entrepreneurs know what they like to do, but they choose not to take the leap. For most of them, it’s not arrogance that keeps them rooted to indecision; it’s fear.

We tend to doubt our own business ideas, and think that our creativity will not help us achieve a different level of success. We tend to be fearful of that leap, thinking our credentials, and our business strengths are not enough. For many times, we use our past failures as the basis of what will happen to our future. Our negative beliefs and values about ourselves are preventing us from pursuing our business ideas. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t realize that staying small and safe can cause businesses to die on the vine over time.

Failures Can Help Business

The stories that we tell ourselves have a direct impact to us pursuing our dreams. If we continue to believe that we can’t make it, then we won’t. If we tell ourselves, our ideas are not good enough, then we will not make it happen. If we tell ourselves we’ll most likely fail than succeed, then it will stop us from reaching the top.

To build our momentum, we must remember these three keys:

What we tell ourselves about our failures can either help us make our wings or add a dead weight.
We can use our past failures as lessons to make a different, and more effective move next time.
Trying and failing is always better than not trying at all. Remember the story of Blockbuster.

That next big leap can be daunting. That step is crucial, and different for each of us. However, the only way to take that next step is to convince ourselves that there are good things in store for us; there are opportunities still heading our way. Our resilience dictates our ability to make that next move. We must be willing to be vulnerable and to risk, for us to have the courage to try again. That next step into the unknown can be our huge leap of faith.

Enjoy this video that talks more about how failures can be a positive thing in the grand scheme of things:

April 4, 2018 0 comment

Business

Build a Personal Coaching Brand that Clients Trust Using these Best Tips

written by Feras Antoon

You’ve probably seen tons of personal coaching brands sprouting in every corner of social media sites. There’s a good reason why there are now plenty of aspiring coaches who want to build their own empire, and that’s because most of them deliver results. Coaching brand is a venture built in mutual relationship, where the coach gives what he has (knowledge) and the client takes it (lessons) to help him become better on something that he wants to improve. Both sides benefit from one another. However, for this kind of relationship to pursue, the client must like and trust his coach on a personal level first. Half of the battle when building a coaching brand will revolve there.

How to do it, you ask? According to Quicksprout, one of the most efficient keys in building personal coaching brand is to be your true, authentic self. Pretending to be someone you’re not can be easily seen by clients, which could turn them off.

Thus, to make your clients feel as if they like, trust and know you, here’s what you can do as a coach:

Build a personal connection

Show your human side because coaching must be more of a personal connection than a business meeting. You may want to share some personal highlights of your life on your first session. Share something about your family, and hobbies. This way, rapport is accelerated as well as strong chemistry. As a coach, you should also be a role model who can connect with the clients through storytelling.

Share a real story

You can invite more clients by telling an authentic story, which people can connect and relate to. Those vulnerable stories allow the clients to see their self in you and through your experiences. Remember that your online presence is just the representation of the human you are. You must be able to bring your connection further by offering and communicating your humanity. It will allow you to develop a relationship of trust with your client.

Be an expert without a mask

One of the top branding tips on coaching is to have the ability to let your clients know that you were once them. Being able to wear your client’s shoe will let your clients know who you are, and eventually, them liking and trusting you. However, still you should be able to position yourself as an expert without a mask. Let your clients know that you’re a true person by sharing your story, and standing on it. Your story will let your clients know where you came from, and what you have through. This way you can become instantly relatable.

Be transparent about what you can’t do

Let your clients know about what you love and where you excel the most, but you must also be clear on what you can’t help them with because that isn’t your passion and expertise. That’s when branding becomes easier – when the only the things that really matter remain. Your clients will be able to trust you more when you start discussing about your key areas, rather than trying to cover everything. Focusing on what you do best will allow you to take the challenges with full passion and dedication.

Allow yourself to be vulnerable, and listen

Some of the chief elements of effective coaching are to demonstrate vulnerability, and active listening. These key points will allow trust to naturally build. Active listening, especially, is a critical aspect of coaching that lets you ensure that your feedback is relevant and helpful. Both elements will help your clients become more open, which will lead you to your breakthrough moments.

Maintain consistency

Consistency is an important aspect in building a personal coaching brand that will help you gather more clients. You have to consistently publish content and accomplishments because prospective clients tend to observe the coaches first before they jump into what they’re offering. Through content, people will get to know you better. Also, constant communication through social media posts, newsletters, etc., helps build credibility. It’s where you can showcase your thought leadership, and offer valuable information on a daily basis.

Make your branding about your client

Focus on your clients. The greatest mistake in branding is making the brand all about you. Make it about your client instead: their problems, and your solutions. Offer the answers to your client’s problems, instead of talking about yourself. It can be an effective way to let other people know what coaching is all about – through experience.

Start inspiring conversations

Communicating is an old yet effective way to build rapport. Reach out to them and ask questions like, “Do you want some support with that?” The key to good communication is being genuinely inquisitive about others. Posting conversational content is also another way to talk to the audience. Besides, branding isn’t all about a logo or a tagline. It’s about being a true person who can initiate inspiring conversations.

Make a strategy for better visibility

Expand your brand by creating a visibility strategy that includes social media posts, Facebook Live videos, YouTube channel, speaking and other media (radio, TV, podcasts, etc.). This strategy will not only help you expand your reach, but will also help you generate more revenue. Through it, you can acquire your ideal clients, and let them know about what you can do to help them succeed.

Offer high-value content

To attract clients, offer content that has value, and is highly relevant. This kind of content will also help you retain your audience, and lead to profitable customer action. Post articles, blogs, or write case studies that will help your clients solve their concerns. Provide a truly relevant and useful content, rather than pitch your services, and you will see the results in no time.

Give free samples

Instead of explaining what coaches do, offer free samples to clients, especially those who don’t have a coaching experience yet. You can do it by inviting a prospective client for a talk, where you provide free coaching for at least 30 minutes. At the end of the session, you can answer your client’s questions, and then discuss whether both of you want to take it to the next level or not.

Build the best team

Remember the first-ever #squadgoals consisting Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., who were also known as the Rat Pack? When building a personal coaching brand, you, too, must build your dream team. Then, if possible, associate your brand with the biggest names in the field like the ICF, Forbes, Harvard, and Georgetown. As a recent Forbes article stated, “having positive brand perception is key to being remarkable to the space.”

Gather testimonials

There will always be people who are skeptical about what you offer. We can’t blame them. It can be hard to trust a person who’s a total stranger. No matter how authentic and valuable you try to be, other people may not believe you simply because of your biased position. What you can do is to gather testimonials, which will save you from potential client’s skepticism. This social proof is where trust and credibility will be built. Let your client’s story of success sell what you offer.

Have a look at this video for more insight on business and personal brand coaching :

March 26, 2018 0 comment

Business Tech

The Biggest CEOs Merge to Launch a New Health Care Company

written by Feras Antoon

“A hungry tapeworm on the American economy,” Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett, believes this is what health care costs are today. Thus, with a goal to create a new company that will provide high-quality healthcare at lower costs for US employees, Buffet teams up with CEOs of Amazon and JP Morgan Chase.

The new healthcare company aims to offer services at low costs; it will be “free from profit-making incentives and constraints”. The CEOs plan to boost health care satisfaction for the employees of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase. They unveiled their new venture sometime in January.

“The initial focus of the new company will be on technology solutions that will provide U.S. employees and their families with simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost,” according to the companies.

The humongous enterprises thrive in multiple industries, from retail to banking, like Berkshire holding large companies such as Geico and Fruit of the Loom. Jeff Bezos and Jamie Dimon, on the other hand, are well-renowned leaders who have proven themselves great in what they do, especially solving complex business problems.

The three companies, when taken together, have more than 950,000 employees worldwide. Bezos, Buffet, and Dimon all admitted that they are aware of the challenges they’re facing when handling people.

“The health care system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO said. “Hard as it might be, reducing health care’s burden on the economy while improving outcomes for employees and their families would be worth the effort.”

3 CEO's create Healthcare Company

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn responded to the announcement, and told CNBC “we agree in that philosophy. We think that individual workers should have to pay less for health care.”

When Cohn talked about the executive order last October, he said that the Trump Administration already “created association healthcare plans, which is the exact same thing that those companies did.” The order allows employers to combine options when offering insurance. It also lets groups to acquire coverage across the state lines. NPR’s Scott Horsley explained it’s, “a move that Republicans have long advocated as a way to lower costs.”

“Smaller businesses could pool their employees together to get more purchasing power,” Cohn added, “so they could save money on health care.”

NPR’s Scott Hensley mentioned in the Morning Edition that such events have happened before – non-health care companies set to join the healthcare business, “in fact, it has happened repeatedly.”

“One of the most prominent examples is what is now Kaiser Permanente, a big provider of health care in this country. It started with the Kaiser shipyards and providing, first, workers comp kind of care and, later, more integrated health care for employees,” Scott explains. “So it is possible.”

However, in-depth details about the new healthcare company haven’t yet been released. Important details such as, the name of the company, foundation of operations, and long term leaders were not disclosed in the news released in January.

For now, what’s clear is that the new healthcare company will be led by executives from the titan firms: managing director of JPMorgan Chase, Marvelle Sullivan Berchtold; investment officer of Berkshire Hathaway, Todd Combs; and senior vice president at Amazon, Beth Galetti.

“The three of our companies have extraordinary resources, and our goal is to create solutions that benefit our U.S. employees, their families and, potentially, all Americans,” JPMorgan’s Dimon said.

Enjoy this article and video that discusses the subject further:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/30/amazon-berkshire-hathaway-and-jpmorgan-chase-to-partner-on-us-employee-health-care.html

March 14, 2018 0 comment

Business

Gibson Guitars Faces Bankruptcy After 116 Years

written by Feras Antoon

One of the famed guitar makers of the world faces serious trouble after more than a century in business. Gibson Guitars is on a downward trail, falling near to its doom due to massive debts. Rumors say, the company is now desperate that it led them to sell-offs to compromise a long list of creditors.

The devastating news was laid bare by Nashville Post reporter Geert De Lombaerde, who exposed the humongous debt obligations and the heightening financial crisis of the legendary company. De Lombaerde revealed the company’s recent $16.6 million coupon payment to service $375 million debt, due this year.

Gibson’s financial obligations were no secret to bond holders. However, De Lombaerde knows how massive the iceberg is.

“The situation facing the iconic Nashville-based music instrument maker, which has annual revenues of more than $1 billion, is far from normal,” De Lombaerde said. “CFO Bill Lawrence recently left the company after less than a year on the job and just six months before $375 million of senior secured notes will mature.”

“On top of that, another $145 million in bank loans will come due immediately if those notes, issued in 2013, are not refinanced by July 23rd,” he added.

Gibson Guitars marked its legacy since 1902. Since then, the company has been a part of America’s music history.

Gibson Guitars facing Bankruptcy

Les Paul, Gibson’s first-ever signature guitar series was first released in 1952. The guitar series gained a gleaming reputation across the world, and the rest is history. Now, the company’s current situation has shaken the entire globe, especially the music business.

The company recently sold its ownership of a previous Baldwin Piano warehouse for $6.4 million. The renowned guitar maker is now planning its next move to sell an even bigger Nashville property: The Valley Arts building along Church Street. The company is trying to offload the property for $11 million. These millions of dollars will not last long in Gibson’s hands, as it will be used to pay for rising amounts of debt.

Despite the news, the industry stalwart still pulls revenues around $1 billion. However, many analysts, investors and bondholders believe the numbers are fabricated.

“This year is critical and they are running out of time — rapidly,” according to Kevin Cassidy, a senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service when interviewed by the Post. “And if this ends in bankruptcy, [CEO/owner Henry Juszkiewicz] will give up the entire company.”

Critics are expecting crucial changes that would take place in the future for Gibson including new leaders, or totally new control over the company.

Gibson Guitars facing Bankruptcy

The biggest question is, does the decline in guitar sales has to do with the company’s crisis? For years, notable changes in guitar sales continue to drop, which is linked to the surging interest in EDM and rap. However, substantial cultural changes may also be playing a larger role in the decline of sales. ‘Rock and Roll is dead’ perhaps is finally coming true, and Gibson is one of the largest names that faces the impact.

Last year, Moody also downgraded the mega-retailer, Guitar Center. The massive guitar seller has been linked to $1.6 billion worth of debt.

The Guitar Sales Decline Appear to be Much Clearer

Over the past decade, a serious drop in guitar sales continues to plunge down further. In less than a decade, guitar sales decreased from 1.5 million to roughly 1 million annually. A million difference in sales a year tells us the numbers are heading the wrong way.

Gibson Guitars facing Bankruptcy

Not only the number of sales drop, the prices of top line guitars decline, too. Although, it may appear beneficial for anyone on the guitar market, big names in the industry like Gibson will surely suffer the most.

We also can’t deny the fact that a guitar is just a toy for the younger ones. There had been a time when a guitar is a staple for most Americans who love rock & roll, and other similar uses. However, times have changed, as well as what people would do with their money. Options have grown, and consumers may choose a turntable, a videogame console, or a laptop than a guitar.

Perhaps, the guitar sales drop has also something to do with the slid of guitar icons. Guitar Gods seem to slowly fade, and the younger generation needs someone to look up to.

“I don’t know. Maybe the guitar is over,” said Eric Clapton last year when asked about the declining guitar sales.

“Good question though.”

This video goes into further detail about the guitar company’s ongoing troubles:

March 12, 2018 0 comment

Business World

Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, Donates $33 million to Help Send 1,000 Dreamers to College

written by Feras Antoon

Jeff Bezos, Amazon (AMZN) CEO and his wife, MacKenzie, handed $33 Million to TheDream.US, a scholarship program that helps undocumented immigrant children who were brought to US, and are under the protection from deportation under the DACA program.

Bezos’ donation is so far the largest grant that had been received by the organization. DACA-eligible graduating high school students from all over US will benefit the grant.

Approved students will receive $33,000 each over four years that will help them pay tuition and other school fees. The students will be eligible to choose one from 76 colleges and universities in 15 states of where they will attend. These schools partner with the scholarship fund.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos wealth amounts $108 billion, making him the richest person in the world. In a statement released on TheDream.US, Bezos shared about his father’s background as a 16 year-old who emigrated to US from Cuba.

Jeff Bezos & Dreamers College Fund

“MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help today’s Dreamers by funding these scholarships,” Bezos said.

Mark Zuckerberg also donated $5 million to TheDream.US in 2015 as a help to fund scholarships.

Bezos’ grant was one, and the most recent moves of the top CEOs of United States to protect Dreamers. Last year, sometime in September, President Trump moved to rescind DACA, which would end in March 5.

Bezos is one of the 100 business leaders who signed a petition letter to congress to pass a legislation that can preserve provisions of the program. Ending DACA will cost valuable employees of businesses, and will certainly hurt the economy, the leaders said.

DACA helps 700,00 15- to 36 year-old individuals get their driver’s license, get into college, and legally secure jobs.

Here is a video that offers more on the story :

March 5, 2018 0 comment

Business

10 Ways a Business Coach Can Optimize their Abilities For Your Success

written by Feras Antoon

Although, we frequently hear about how business coaches can help people succeed in their ventures, still, not all entrepreneurs think they need one. However, if you’re a wise businessman who’s a beginner in your market, you know how vital it is to have a coach who will help you elude the possible mistakes that you may face in the future. A business coach is an experienced entrepreneur, a veteran in a particular field, who’s been where you want to go, and has seen what you want to see. A coach can guide you in your entrepreneurial journey by giving you an outside perspective and thoughtful counseling to help you build a successful business, without you needing to undergo the painful process of trial and error.

A business coach is similar to a sports coach who will help you focus, plan, prepare, execute and regroup, for you to achieve the results that you want. Still, many businesses work in isolation without an experienced mentor who can give outside perspective and feedback. Many business owners don’t have someone who challenges their thinking and questions their decisions. Sure, entrepreneurs may have a couple of people working for them, but these individuals would not dare to challenge someone who they depend on for a living, and tell them what they truly need to hear. Unlike normal employees, business coaches are entrepreneurs who have “been there, and done that”, and can be relied on with their business points, which they learned from their past experiences.

Just as the coauthor of SCALE Jeff Hoffman (co-founder Priceline.com) put it, “What I get out of having a business coach is that my coach has run and worked with so many companies that they’ve seen that they’ve seen every situation. So when I don’t even know how to handle a new situation, my coach says, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve seen this pattern a dozen times. Here’s how to best handle it.”

So, if you’re already decided to get a business coach of your own, or if you already have, here are 10 tips for you to get the most of it:

Choose a coach who is truly experienced, and has a wide knowledge-base.

The main point of getting a business coach is for you to avoid potential mistakes, and get passed the trial-and-error stage of your venture. Many business owners still think this risky stage is part of the business building. Although, some mistakes are inevitable for beginners, you will get to avoid a lot of errors when you have someone who can guide you along the way. For new entrepreneurs, crucial steps of business building like managing the team, growing of sales, creating products or services, or controlling your expenses may be unfamiliar fields. Yet, your coach can help you choose the right steps, and give you clarity by drawing on his/her past experiences.

Business Coaching Tips

Choose a coach who speaks your language.

Pick a coach who can easily explain to you, in the simplest way possible the step-by-step procedures that you can integrate and put to immediate and effective use.

Meet regularly with your coach, but not too often.

The best time when scheduling meetings with your coach is every two weeks. Meet with your coach frequently that you can have enough accountability, but not too often that it can prevent you from actually doing things for business execution. Monthly meeting with your coach is not enough; so make sure to see your mentor at least more than once a month.

Let your coach know about your weekly progress.

Spend at least 5-15 minutes to update your coach about your weekly progress. Weekly updates will enhance accountability, and will help your coach catch up with your business’ pace, so he can provide the best input about where you are and where you are going.

Business Coaching Tips

Transparently share numbers.

It can be daunting to share crucial details of your business like your revenue, gross margin, and operating profit figure to a complete candor. However, being open and honest with your mentor will help you get the best, appropriate feedback and an outside perspective. Thus, never sugarcoat things. Your coach will never judge you, since both of you have a mutual goal, and that’s to make your business grow and succeed, which you can only tap if you share accurate data.

Come up with systematic, global solutions.

Solving individual challenges are good for business. However, targeting issues that will develop and enhance the company’s internal system and control is even more valuable. Besides, ad hoc solutions aren’t flexible enough, but building system-driven solutions are easier to scale, a lot more stable, and can possibly grow.

Let your coach hold you accountable.

The right mentor will always be there for you – even in the darkest corner of your business, who, sometimes, will even be the person who calls you on the mat. Yet, your business coach will be by your side, and on your side. He may be the only person in your business life who can do this. Let him do it, because your employees can’t. Allow your coach to hold you accountable, and you will see the beneficial impact that it can bring to your business.

Business Coaching Tips

Don’t rationalize or explain away reality just to win the discussion.

There are times when business owners try to be smart with their coaches, and explain away a situation with a well-rehearsed argument. However, no matter how hard they try to out-smart their coaches, reality will persist, together with the objective facts. There is no use trying to come up with excuses. You don’t need to defend yourself to your coach. You must treat your coaching relationship as the only place where you can be fully transparent with what’s happening in your business. Your business mentor will help you accept the objective facts, and take full responsibility. From there, you and your coach can come up with strategic plans that can effectively harness those facts, and help you reach your goals.

Let go of your ego, and allow your coach to help you.

Ego will do no good, especially for a business. You don’t need to look good in front of your coach, as he has seen everything that you worked on and have dealt with. Allow your coach to help you, so you can save time, energy, money, and emotion by letting you learn from their experiences. This way you will avoid the painful trial-and-error process.

Don’t make excuses.

Let go of your excuses, and fully dive into commitment. Know that you don’t have to do things perfectly, you just have to do something about it. To be able to enjoy the freedom and growth that a business coach can deliver, you just need to let your coach do his job. Of course, in any business, there will be setbacks, but it must not hold you back. Magic can happen over 12-24-36 months of focused, and intelligent action to scaling a company. Thus, embrace the input of your coach, and put it into action. Besides, time is passing either way. Your only option is to choose between what will you say after three years, “If only I had” or “I’m so glad I did”?

Business Coaching Tips

February 22, 2018 0 comment

Business

The Key to Intermarket Relationship: Following the Cycle

written by Feras Antoon

The market can be an overwhelming place for an eager investor. The multiple indexes, stock types and categories can be confusing, and the intermarket relationships of different sectors can be tough to understand. However, learning how the interaction goes between different markets can make the picture a lot clearer. Mastering the relationships between commodities, bond prices, stocks and currencies, can make the investor become the best in trading.

These four markets work together. Some move together, while others work against each other. Most of the time, the cycle moves in a general order. What we need to do is to observe all four markets in able to determine the direction of where the shift is heading. Here we will reveal how this cycle moves, and how you can make it work for you.

The Intermarket push and pull

Let’s begin with the interaction between commodities, bonds, stocks and currencies. The price of goods increase, as the commodity price rises. This action of price growth is inflationary, which comes with the rise of interest rates as its reflection. Due to the inverse relationship of interest rates and bond prices, bond prices fall as interest rates increase.

Generally, bond prices correlate with stocks; vice versa. Meaning, when bond prices fall, stocks come with them, and head down as well. When the amount of borrowing becomes more expensive, building of businesses can be costlier due to inflation, which may lead to companies (stocks) to not do as well. Such events may result in lags between bond prices falling, and the decline of the stock market.

The movement of currency can affect all markets, but the main focus lies on the commodity prices. Commodity prices land an impact to bonds, and eventually stocks. The commodity prices and the US dollars generally trend in the opposite direction. The reaction of the dollar decline in relation to currency can be seen in the commodity prices.

Below is a table showing the basic intermarket relationships. Read the table from left to right, where the starting point can be anywhere in the row. The outcome of that move will be reflected in the market action to the right.

Not everything happens at once, due to lag in responses between each of the markets’ reactions. In between the lag, other factors could come into play.

Perhaps you’re asking: if there are many lags and the markets that should be moving inversely begin moving in the same direction, how can you, as an investor, take advantage?

Intermarket Relationships

Investment Application

Intermarket analysis can be an excellent tool for confirming trends, and can also warn you of potential reversals. However, you must keep in mind that it’s not a method that will give you signals for buying or selling. Because commodity prices rise in inflationary environments, it’s just a matter of time until the dampening effect will be felt in the economy. If commodities start to increase, and the bond prices begin to lower, stocks are still charging higher. The relationships among these factors will eventually overcome bullishness in stocks. It’s only a matter of when for stocks to start pulling back.

When selling stocks, remember that commodities rising and bonds decreasing don’t mean it’s time to trade. This circumstance can only serve as a warning that a probable reversal may happen anytime; perhaps in the coming months or year if the prices of bond continue to fall. During that time, there could be excellent financial gains in the bull market.

The most important aspect to keep track is when the stocks break below a moving average (MA) after bond prices have already started to fall. It’s a confirmation that the intermarket relationships are taking over and stocks are now going the opposite direction.

When does the cycle not work?

Although, we have established the relationships between markets, there are times that they don’t work, and seem to break down. In the middle of the Asian collapse of 1997, the U.S. markets witnessed stocks and bonds decouple, where stocks fell as bonds rose, and stocks rose as bonds fell. Meaning, it violated the intermarket relationship of positive correlation between bond and stock prices. It happened because unlike the typical market relationships that assume an inflationary economic environment, in a deflationary environment particular relationships will shift.

Generally, deflation pulls the stocks lower. In the absence of potential stock market growth, the stocks will less likely rise. On the other hand, bond prices will continue to grow to reflect falling interest rates. Thus, we must be aware of what economy we are in, to identify whether the bonds and stocks correlate each other positively or negatively.

There are also times when none of the markets seem to move. In those circumstances, it doesn’t mean that the other rules don’t apply. For instance, if the commodity prices have become stagnant, but the US dollar starts to fall, bond and stock prices may still appear bearish. There are always numerous factors that come into play in the economy. Therefore, basic relationships still work, despite some pieces of the puzzle are not moving.

Additionally, as the companies expand and become global, it can affect the stock’s movement. Over time, as companies grow, the relationship of the stock market and currencies may become inversely related. For an effective application of the intermarket analysis, we must understand the shifting dynamics of global economies when deviations are seen in asset class relationships.

This video delves deeper into the inner workings of different sectors of the economy and their impacts on one another :

February 14, 2018 0 comment

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