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Stock Trading: Oracle Shares Surges to New Highs

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Stock Trading: Oracle Shares Surges to New Highs

Stock markets continue to post major bull rallies but one sector that has been largely missed by investors is the technology space.  This can be seen in professional indices trading trends, which have recently shown that assets tied to the NASDAQ have underperformed those tied to the value of the S&P 500.

But we are starting to see some of these trends change, as tech stocks have been able to post better rallies in recent weeks.  One of the best examples here can be seen in Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) which is now trading at long-term highs.

Stock Price Chart: Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL)

Stock prices in ORCL have surged above prior resistance levels en route to new highs above $45 per share.  “Information driven,” Oracle is one of the most prominent names in tech development and marketing of business software products, database technology software and cloud engineered systems.  Based in the USA and established in 1977, the company is a public multinational entity having more than 136,000 employees currently with head office in California’s Silicon Valley.  

Key products among others related to Oracle are storage, servers, oracle applications and oracle enterprise manager. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and customer relationship management soft wares are also specialized names which are associated with Oracle. It reported annual revenue of $37.04 US billion Dollars (2016) and net income worth 8.90 US billion Dollars (2016).

Tech Manufacturing Companies

In addition to manufacturing and marketing of business software products Oracle also offers other services which comprise consultancy, training and financing which is also a unique element in relation to Oracle. Since its inception Oracle has gone through a comprehensive process of acquisition of entities both corporate and individuals.  In 1995, IRI software was acquired by it under consideration of $100 million US Dollars.  

Other notable acquisitions include:

  • PeopleSoft in 2005 $10.3 billion US Dollars
  • Seibel Systems in 2006 for $5.85 billion US Dollars
  • Hyperion Corporation in 2007 for $3.3 billion US Dollars
  • Sun Microsystems in 2010 for $7.4 billion US dollars
  • Micros Systems in 2014 for $5.3 billion US Dollars
  • NetSuite in 2016 for $9.3 billion US Dollars
  • Apiary in 2017  for which the valuation of purchase consideration is yet to be agreed

According to reports in 2015 Oracle after Microsoft was second-largest software maker revenue wise which is indeed an impressive and substantial outlook internationally. Since the beginning company has introduced multiple technological dimensions like UNIX-based Oracle applications in 1987, PL/SQL in 1988, 64 bit RDBMS in 1995.  

This was followed by its free database to qualify industry standard security evaluations in 2002, smart scans that enhance software query response in HP Oracle Database machine in 2008 and in particular initiative in the shape of Oracle 12c which can facilitate cloud services along with Oracle Database in 2015.  Conclusively, despite facing multiple challenges since the beginning, Oracle has proved itself among preferred and highly recommended global tech entities.

Long Ideas

Gilead Sciences: Sluggish After Healthcare Reform Debate

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Gilead Sciences: Sluggish After Healthcare Reform Debate

Gilead Sciences is an American biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercially sells a range of therapeutics including antiviral drugs for the treatment of Hepatitis, HIV, and influenza.

The company was founded in 1987 by Michael Riordan, a medical doctor. He served as CEO till 1996. A venture capital firm Menlo Ventures made the first investment of $2 million dollars in Gilead. In 1996, it entered a collaborative research agreement with Glaxo for the development of genetic code blockers or antisense. This was terminated in 1998 and its antisense intellectual property portfolio was sold to Isis Pharmaceuticals.

Gilead IPO

Its Initial Public Offering raised $86.25 million. It launched Vistide for the treatment of CMV in patients with AIDS. It collaborated with Pharmacia & Upjohn to reach more markets outside the United States. In 2010, it acquired CGI Pharmaceuticals for $120 million which expanded its research into kinase biology and chemistry. It also acquired Arresto Biosciences for $225 million and their research for treating fibrotic diseases and cancer. It acquired Pharmasset Inc. for $10.4 billion dollars.

Drug Pipelines

This gave it control over the HCV treatment market by holding Sofosbuvir (medicine for Hepatitis C). It was the first firm to manufacture a pill which is known to reduce the risk of HIV infection. It had a market capitalization of US $113 billion and its stock doubled its value after the acquisition. It was ranked the 4th best drug company by Forbes. It attributed its success to FDA approval and potentially revolutionary drug Sovaldi.

The drug has faced its fair share of criticism for its high price. The committee of finance of the United States Senate investigated wherein it sent letters to the CEO of the company as to how it derived its price. It has recently also acquired Phenex Pharmaceuticals, EpiTherapeutics and Nimbus Apollo. This has given access to treat liver diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, inhibitors of histone demethylases which regulates gene transcription in cancer and potentially treating hepatocellular carcinoma and an anti-inflammatory drug filgotinib which may be used to treat arthritis and Crohn’s disease. It’s current president and chief executive officer is John F. Milligan.

Long Ideas, S&P 500

GE: Trump’s Infrastructure Policies Favor Blue-Chips

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General Electric is an American multinational conglomerate incorporated in New York. It offers a range of services from power and oil, gas and aviation to financial services and even software development. It is one of the original 12 companies listed on the Dow jones index and while it may have not been listed on the index continuously it currently features in the index. It was one of the earliest companies incidentally funded Thomas Edison’s electricity projects.

General Electric was one of the earliest companies incidentally funded Thomas Edison’s electricity projects. The Radio Corporation of America was founded through GE in 1919. It was also used as the retail arm for radio sales until their separation in 1930. GE has been involved in power generation and its history working with turbines, it introduced the first superchargers. These were incorporated into flights during World War I. It reacquired RCA in 1986 and by that NBC.

Changing Company Focus

In the 1960s, GE was considered one of the major computer companies. It had a line of both general and special purpose computers such as GE200, GE400 etc. IN 1970, GE sold most of its computer division to Honeywell, though it did retain its timesharing options for a while after. GE’s current business divisions include GE Power, GE Oil & Gas, GE Renewable Energy, GE Energy Connections, GE Aviation, GE Healthcare, GE Transportation, GE Capital and GE digital.

Through these GE participates in various markets ranging from generation and distribution of electricity, medical imaging equipment, automation, motors and aviation. It also offers financial services through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance etc. GE has a history of large scale water and air pollution. IT heavily contaminated the Hudson river with PCBs between 1947 and 1977. It also polluted the Housatonic River with PCB discharges from 1932 till 1977. Recently GE has shifted its efforts towards using clean renewabl

Recently GE has shifted its efforts towards using clean renewable energy. It unveiled its EV solar Carport which has solar panels on its roof with electric vehicle charging stations under its cover. It has a renewable energy programme ‘Ecomagination’ which has resulted in over 70 green products such as halogen lamps, biogas engines being introduced into the market. It invested nearly $25 billion dollars into the project due to popular market response.

Long Ideas, S&P 500

Goldman Sachs: Financials Ride Trump Train Higher

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Goldman Sachs: Financials Ride Trump Train Higher

The Goldman Sachs Group is an American multinational financial company that provides financial services such as investment management, securities and is involved in investment banking. Investment banking accounts for about 21% of the group’s revenue. It gained a reputation as a white knight against hostile takeovers. It is one of the leading M&A forms and frequently tops the Thomson Financial league tables in size of transactions.

Goldman’s Business

It performs various activities such as financial advisory, underwriting etcetera. Investing and lending activities included 16% of its revenue while Institutional client services such as currency and commodities, equities trading accounts for 45% of its total revenue. It is a primary dealer in U.S Treasury securities market. It was founded in 1869 and is headquartered at New York City.

In August 2012, Goldman Sachs created the first social impact bond to support therapy for 16-18 year olds incarcerated on Rikers Island. It has implemented internal policies to address global warming and climate change. It has given around $119 million in grants since 1999 to promote youth education. It was ranked as one of the best places to work for by Fortune magazine and it supports employee philanthropic efforts. As a result the employees are highly loyal to the organisation.

Mortgage Market Criticism

As a result, the employees are highly loyal to the organization. Goldman Sachs has also been criticised as being responsible for the collapse of the mortgage market. It faced investigations from the Congress, the Justice Department and the SEC which it had to settle. It was alleged to have misled investors. Goldman Sachs has denied the allegations and stated that its customers were aware of the bets. It has been accused of various other ethical violations including insider trader based on information obtained from the U.S government and working to

Goldman Sachs has denied the allegations and stated that its customers were aware of the bets. It has been accused of various other ethical violations including insider trader based on information obtained from the U.S government and working together with dictatorial regimes and increasing prices of commodities through futures speculation. It was accused of helping Greece hide its debt by creating a special credit default swap to cover the high risk of Greece’s national debt. 

Goldman Sachs has donated money to both major American political parties during election cycles as well as the candidates and the super PACs of both parties. In 2016, Goldman employees donated $371,245 to the Republican National Committee and $301,119 to the Hilary Clinton presidential campaign but top employees were forbidden from donating to Donald Trump.

Dividend Stocks, FANG, Tech Stocks

Stocks Traders: What’s Next for Apple Stock?

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Stocks Traders: What’s Next for Apple Stock?

Apple, Inc. is an American technology company that is based in California, USA. It is renowned for designing, developing and distributing consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. It was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne to make and sell personal computers (PC’s).

It is known for its flagship products, which include the revolutionary iPhone, iPod, iPad and the Mac personal computer. The Mac also links the computer’s operating system to Apple’s online products and its own web browser, Safari. To this,the company hasadded features such as iTunes, iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites. Its online services include the App store, Apple music, iCloud and the iTunes store.

Increasing Stores

Apple nearly 500 stores across 17 nations, further it has online stores in 40 countries. These are customized to cater to their location. Their store in Reagent street in London is the most profitable shop in London. Apple has nearly 50,000 employees in the U.S alone with 30,000 working at Apple stores.

It is the largest IT company in the world by revenue and it is the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer. It is also the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization. It was also the first U.S corporation to be valued at over $750 billion.

Apple’s Corporate Culture

Apple is best known for its corporate culture and image in the public eye. The company’s stock trades as part of the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite, which can be accessed when trading indices in the financial markets.

It was one of the earliest firms to embrace the individuality of its employees and propagated an informal culture. It is said the Steve Jobs used to walk barefoot in the office even after Apple became a Fortune 500 company.

This broke the perception of a traditional corporate culture. Apple also has fellowship programs to reward employees who make extraordinary technical or leadership contributions to the company. Apple has an efficient division of labor where all employees are technical experts in their field and they are not involved in functions outside their area of specialty. Apple has also turned towards green practices.

In 2008, apple became the first electronics corporation to fully eliminate PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and BFRs (brominated flame retardants) in its products. In 2007, they manufactured mercury-free LED-backlit and LCD displays and arsenic free glass. It issued a $1.5 billion-dollar climate bond to the government in 2016. It has also removed its heavy reliance on coal to alternative and renewable sources of energy. Apple stated that as of 2016, 100% of its U.S operations run on renewable energy.

Market News, S&P 500

Will S&P 500 Hit New Record Highs?

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Will S&P 500 Hit New Record Highs?

The S&P 500 is arguably the most important benchmark in the financial markets.  Over the last few months, we have seen some amazing trends that have confirmed a bullish end to 2016.  But now that a lot of the initial optimism in stock markets has fully run its course, investors will be looking for new ways of profiting on a dynamic market that has been defined by bullish sentiment and low interest rates.

For the S&P 500, this has meant new record highs at a fairly regular clip, as investors start to price in the possibility of renewed economic optimism under the administration of President Donald Trump.  When trading this type of event in the market, traders can use the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY), which can be traded using the MT4 platform that is made available by easyMarkets.

Stock Market Trends

When looking to make the best investments in the S&P 500, it is essential to understand the cyclical nature of the ways that stock market trends unfold.  If, for example, we were to look at the Elliott Wave Theory, then many would suggest that the markets unfold in a series of wave structures that can be forecasted in advance.  

On the other hand, practitioners of fundamental analysis will need to look at factors like price-to-earnings ratios and industry competition in order to determine which stock investment strategy is best.  So there does not necessarily need to be a one-size-fits-all strategy when looking to gain stock investment exposure in assets that are tied to the S&P 500.  

The world-famous stock benchmark is currently trading at record highs and when we think about the fact that the Federal Reserve has left the economy at relatively low-interest rate levels there is still clear scope that we could see stock market rallies in the S&P 500 index.

S&P 500 Trading Systems

When we are looking at the potential trading systems that can be used to trade the S&P 500, it is important to consider possibilities like options and contrarian strategies that are able to take advantage of stalling momentum or even complete reversals in major benchmarks like the S&P 500.  This is not always something that is considered by traditional stock market investors, but this is an investment strategy that can be used to profit from investments in the other direction when stock markets are trading near their all-time highs.  

Stock Price Chart: GOOG

In other cases, it makes sense to look at other stock market benchmarks like the Dow Jones Industrials and the NASDAQ.  These instruments have their own characteristics when we are looking at the ways stock market investors can implement a stance on the economic outlook.  But now that we have seen some more evidence with respect to the ways the Federal Reserve will probably proceed with interest rate policy over the next two quarters, there are ways for investors to capitalize on these trends as they unfold.