Technology

Hadas: Bitcoin at $10,000 is even more dangerous

29 Nov 2017

The crypto-currency is on the verge of turning respectable, but a futures market cannot cure its faults. It is economic nonsense, socially irresponsible and an incoherent vote for cultural nihilism. Then there is the unadulterated greed. Disaster can't come soon enough.

Uber’s year of efficiency backfires

29 Nov 2017

The ride-hailing app’s 2017 goal was to grow while minimizing subsidies and cash burn. Instead, quarterly losses accelerated to nearly $1.5 bln. Uber faces a slew of problems, but has yet to answer a basic existential question: can it develop a sustainable business model?

China credit move a plus for twitchy web lenders

29 Nov 2017

The web finance watchdog will create a credit rating platform with private companies including Tencent, says China Daily: a healthy development in a messy industry. But forcing big players to share too much proprietary data could dilute competitiveness and discourage innovation.

WeWork labors to keep itself looking different

28 Nov 2017

The shared-office provider’s latest purchase is Meetup. The social network’s get-togethers might fill WeWork’s space at slow times. But like investing in a wave-pool firm, starting a school and opening a gym, the consistent theme is desperation to not be a real-estate firm.

Uber backers face head-on collision with greed

28 Nov 2017

SoftBank is offering to buy shares in the ride-hailing firm at a $48 bln valuation. Even with a 30 pct markdown to the last fundraising, investors could cash out and make many multiples of their money. The prospect of a $500 bln colossus, however risky, will cloud the thinking.

BlackRock ETF bot makes turkeys of human managers

27 Nov 2017

Larry Fink’s $6 trln asset manager is turning to computers to run a new batch of exchange-traded funds tracking shifting industry sectors. Machine learning and big data should do it well and at low cost. It adds more worries for flesh-and-blood stock pickers.

Emerson’s $29 bln bid for Rockwell has a big flaw

22 Nov 2017

That’s the fact that much of the takeover approach, while reasonably priced, is in Emerson stock. Rockwell’s board is using that to justifiably question the bidder’s long-term plan, and questionable synergy estimates. It’s hard to see how anything other than cash can win the day.

Uber cover-up makes new boss’s job even harder

22 Nov 2017

The ride-hailing app paid off hackers but didn’t tell regulators, or 57 mln people whose data might have been exposed. It’s an ugly coda to ex-CEO Travis Kalanick’s irresponsible reign. With Uber’s London future, for one, in the balance, Dara Khosrowshahi has his work cut out.

Chinese micro-lender has big problems

22 Nov 2017

Beijing is clamping down on online outfits that issue small-ticket loans to Chinese consumers. The regulatory uncertainty has spooked investors in the rapidly growing industry. It is another reason why New York listing hopeful LexinFintech may have a tough ride.

China’s Skype crackdown invites messaging wars

22 Nov 2017

Apple removed Microsoft's internet phone service from the local store, as foreign call and chat apps get squeezed out of the market. Suppression also supports overseas expansion of homegrown tools Beijing monitors, like Tencent's WeChat. Chinese tech should gird for retaliation.

Silicon Valley gets lesson in Chinese corruption

22 Nov 2017

Lu Wei, the former head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, whom Mark Zuckerberg and Reid Hoffman courted, just got snagged in a corruption probe. It's a reminder that party trumps personnel. And that Lu's former agency is more than a censor. It now determines policy.

Meg Whitman’s good management of bad business ends

21 Nov 2017

She took over Hewlett-Packard when Silicon Valley's original success story was in unprecedented turmoil with three predecessors fired, a dysfunctional board and a welter of failed deals. By breaking it up, she brought stability. It's a track record that might work in politics.

Half-a-trillion-dollar Tencent is market headache

21 Nov 2017

The Chinese tech giant’s market value briefly hit $535 bln, making it bigger than Facebook. While Tencent has helped push Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index to near-record highs, the gains flatter a weaker wider market. Any correction would hit a multitude of investors.

Buffett-backed BYD could use a battery ram

21 Nov 2017

The carmaker’s stock almost doubled this year on China’s plans to rev up the electric-vehicle market. Founder Wang Chuanfu is targeting 1 trln yuan in sales by 2025. Yet earnings are flagging. To outpace nimble upstarts and powerful rivals such as CATL, BYD must scale up fast.

Uber-Volvo deal scrapes self-driving surface

20 Nov 2017

Providing 24,000 vehicles for the ride-hailing service’s autonomous fleet could pump $1 bln into the Swedish carmaker’s tank. While a decent chunk, the car industry of the future ought to generate multiples of that from running robo-taxis and selling a plethora of other services.

Marvell suits up well for growing chipmaker wars

20 Nov 2017

The value of cost cuts easily covers the premium in its $6 bln offer to buy rival Cavium. The deal also welds together two sets of mostly complementary business, strengthening the combined company’s portfolio. That should set it up well for further M&A in a consolidating market.

Toshiba’s fresh funds provide for hard reboot

20 Nov 2017

The ailing Japanese group is raising $5.3 bln, or nearly half its market value again, by selling new stock. That ensures it avoids delisting. Buyers must see value in Toshiba’s residual interest in memory chips, plus the potential for turnaround elsewhere.

Alibaba deal guides grocers to checkout

20 Nov 2017

The e-commerce goliath is buying over a third of Chinese supermarket owner Sun Art for $2.9 bln. It underscores how food marks a pivotal retail battleground. And for Alibaba to secure the stake at a 24 pct discount suggests its brick-and-mortar rivals see the writing on the wall.

Tesla takes crowdfunding to 250 mph

17 Nov 2017

Elon Musk’s money-losing $53 bln electric-car maker unveiled a surprise new Roadster model while showing off a battery-powered truck. Pre-orders for the first-edition supercar, available in 2020, may raise $250 mln up front. It’s a reminder of Tesla’s constant thirst for capital.

Cox: Amazon to become biggest impact investor ever

16 Nov 2017

Jeff Bezos' $550 billion creation has become a Shiva-like force, threatening whole swaths of the retail industry and its jobs, while paying a relative pittance in taxes. By choosing a second HQ in 2018 where it's needed most the company can forestall a social and state backlash.