Large Consumer Goods with a Side of VC
Autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, … consumer goods? One of the latest trends in venture capital funding has been the growing proportion of funds directed toward startups aiming to disrupt the consumer staples market. Recent shifts have removed many of the barriers to entry that for decades cemented the same brands’ spots on retail […]
Colliding Federal Debt and the Rate Hike Cycle
Following the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s recent decision to raise short term interest rates by 25bps (to 1.75-2.00%) and indicate 2 more are on the way this year, we thought it was an opportune time to revisit one of ourfavorite asymmetries when looking at businesses from the short side, namely debt and leverage. Generally speaking, if a […]
What Lies Beneath the Increasingly Unstable European Union / Euro Currency
With the recent violent market reaction across equities, bonds, FX, etc. in response to fears of Italy leaving the European Union / Euro Currency, we thought we’d take a closer look at what is happening in Europe and across the world. Populist movements are on the rise globally, from the U.K., U.S., Australia, Italy, etc. […]
The emergence of a new economic idea
What if it were true that government debt did not matter? That governments could borrow as much as they liked to fund social programs to keep their citizens educated, employed and healthy? Socialist utopian nonsense is probably the first thought that jumps to most readers’ minds. And while your author is far from convinced that […]
What to make of China’s Social Credit System?
In recent weeks, a very well-researched paper on China’s rapidly evolving Social Credit System (SCS) was published by the University of Leiden’s Rogier Creemers. We believe analysis of China’s SCS provides insight into the philosophies of China’s leadership as well as their evolving and innovative methods of effecting control. China’s SCS will ultimately affect just about […]
TV or not TV, that is the question
It is well known that television viewership habits have been evolving. And now, at least in the US, it appears ad dollars are finally abandoning the traditional television network platform. According to a Bloomberg article titled: Advertisers Tuning Out TV in Sign of Trouble for Media Companies, 2017 marked the steepest drop in US television-advertising […]
The GDPR is coming
In less than a month, new EU regulations will come into effect that go by the name of General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR). These regulations are designed to give internet users substantially more control over how their information is shared and used; and creates significant penalties for noncompliance. At first glance, this might sound […]
The economics of aging
We have previously highlighted the significant change in demographics that is currently taking place in many regions of the world. In short, the world is aging. Whether in the United States, Australia, Western Europe, China or Japan: populations are getting older at an accelerating rate. The chart below has long been a favourite of ours […]
Nine’s profitable entertainment
While Seven West Media was covering gold being won at the Olympic Games in PyeongChang in recent weeks, it was rival Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) that won gold during the Australian earnings season.
Highlights from San Francisco
Throughout the year, members of the Montaka team will travel to visit companies and talk to people on the ground. This scuttlebutt approach has in the past paid dividends, whether it’s gaining insights about the companies in the Montaka portfolio, or generating prospective investment ideas. In a recent trip to San Francisco earlier this month, […]
