Archive
Activists have been severely hampered in the current environment... Last week, The Economist published a thoughtful article about the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on activist investors. The crisis has significantly damaged their strategies... Activists are hard-pressed to insist companies merge when other investors might prefer prioritizing raising debt for operations instead of mergers and […]
- FB
- GOOGL
- MYL
It's earnings season... and everyone wants to know the implications for the market. After the impressive rally over the past several weeks, you might not be aware that we're no longer in a bear market. The benchmark S&P 500 Index is down roughly 15% from its all-time high on February 19. And now, we're entering […]
- ETSY
We've said it time and time again here in Altimetry Daily Authority... Access to credit (or lack thereof) will be a key driver of whether we recover rapidly from this economic slowdown or not. Just last week, platform company Airbnb raised $1 billion in debt from investors. This is on top of the other $1 […]
- PFE
The entire auto industry is worried about a potential drop in prices for used cars... As Bloomberg reports, a surge of used-car inventory is building up, and it could dramatically depress prices for used cars. This may initially sound like a positive for consumers. It means cheaper cars, which means more cash for consumers to […]
- AMZN
- FB
- GOOGL
- MSCI
- SPOT
- TWTR
- VRSK
A key part of American society that's mandated in the Constitution has come under pressure with the coronavirus pandemic... In the midst of the crisis, the U.S. Postal Service ("USPS") has come into focus as a key tool to help people get what they need and stay connected. And now, according to Bloomberg, the agency […]
- COP
In the midst of the market collapse in March, misguided 'experts' discussed banning a popular investment strategy... As often happens in a rout, short sellers became a popular target to blame for the decline. European regulators scrambled to stop the practice last month as part of efforts to provide a floor for the market. On […]
- GRUB
- MTCH
- UBER
Asset-management firm Blackstone's (BX) $150 billion in 'dry powder' sounds like a big deal, but how this can be used is another story... Last week, CEO Steve Schwarzman discussed in an interview with Bloomberg how Blackstone has $150 billion in cash to look for potential private-equity ("PE") and real estate targets in this dislocated market. […]
- BX
- HCA
- KKR
- TDG
McDonald's (MCD) offers a window into how bad things actually are... The fast-food giant released March same-store sales last week. When the numbers came out, I took a quick straw poll of the office on Google Hangouts to see if anyone could guess how much they fell compared to March 2019. The average guess was […]
- MCD
Joel's note: Both the market and Altimetry are closed tomorrow for Good Friday, so look for the next Altimetry Daily Authority on Monday, April 13. I hope everyone has a safe weekend! The job losses from the coronavirus pandemic are starting to trickle through the rest of the economy... As April 1 rolled around last […]
- CLNY
- RBC
The wave of virtual offerings is creating new risks... It has been impressive to see the conversion of large parts of the U.S. economy to a work-from-home world. However, one of the big areas of concern has been issues with hacking and security in virtual-meeting services like Zoom Video Communications (ZM). But working remotely hasn't […]
- AIV
- FB
- TDOC
- ZM