If you’re like me, a young investor with a burning dislike for financial statements, then Seeking Alpha is something you should check out. The website, SeekingAlpha.com is a network of financial blogs. This is especially effective as you can see competing views of analysts, all on one page. In addition to analysts the website also brings together portfolio managers and traders. In doing so, Seeking Alpha is able to cover a range of users all looking for various topics. For me, the section that is especially useful is the Transcript analysis and Short/Long recommendations. The transcript analysis lets me avoid long quarterly financial statements, and investment recommendations give me a great place to start when looking for ideas. All in all, Seeking Alpha is a great place to start when looking for investment information and advice. The active community in addition to the already useful contributions from analysts creates a very wholesome experience. Seeking Alpha: “Read. Decide. Invest.”

Website:

www.seekingalpha.com

Photo can be found at:

http://www.tradestreaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Apple-Inc.-AAPL-Stock-Seeking-Alpha.jpg

Snapchat has gained an immense number of users over the past two years. Trevor Casey comments on Snapchat’s recent success and its message to the public. With a growth in messages from 60 million per day to 350 million per day the potential for Snapchat doesn’t look to be slowing. With that many exchanged photos, the opportunity for advertising revenues is obvious. The way I see it, Snapchat will have to develop a method of advertising that doesn’t interfere with  the user’s experience. This is a difficult problem that many mobile apps have faced; Facebook does not advertise on its mobile app, either. As Trevor notes, Snapchat “is everything investors look for, except public.”. Snapchat is holding off on going public, they also recently declined a 3-billion dollar bid from Facebook. I am interested in seeing what Snapchat has planned, after passing off on a huge deal. If I were CEO of Snapchat, it would be time to begin testing advertising methods for the application. By showing the ACTUAL potential of advertising revenues from the app, the photo-exchange kingpin will be able to attract a big much grater than 3-billion dollars.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/trevorcasey/2013/11/13/snap-what-snapchat/

Photo can be found at:

http://orangejuiceinbishopsgarden.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/snapchat-image.jpg

As mentioned in Scott Marshall’s blog post, Sriracha hot sauce may soon be in short supply. The company is being sued for poor air filtration after residents in the factory’s town have complained of headaches and coughing due to the spicy fumes. Scott highlights the path Huy Fong Foods should take in order to avoid legal troubles and stay in business. In addition to his comments I would like to add my own; Sriracha, who has gained a massive amount of popularity in the last few years, is fully able to afford the proper filtration techniques to solve this issue. The product is known for its low price, we could see this increase slightly if the factory is updated to resolve the problem. A question that quickly popped into my head was, “Is there even a method of filtering the air in this case?”. If there isn’t, and the lawsuit goes through, we could see Sriracha abandoning their current factory for one far enough away from mass amounts of people. However, as mentioned in this video, Huy Fong Foods prides themselves in freshness, their current pepper providers are only 70 miles away, a luxury they will sacrifice if they move!

The articles used in this post can be found at: 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/scottmarshall/2013/10/30/sriracha-shortage/#respond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqsGHASRPCE 

Photo can be found at:

http://tribkcpq.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/sricha.jpg

“A phone worth keeping” is the slogan for PhoneBloks, a social media driven movement to design a phone for the future. The idea is simple, design a phone that is centred around a base, onto which “bloks” will be added. The camera is a blok, the battery is another blok, and the screen is another. These bloks are interchangeable, meaning if you like photography you are able to buy a camera blok of much higher quality which you can add to your existing phone base. Its founder, a Dutch Designer named David Hakken, has recently teamed up with Motorola for Project Ara; project Ara will be the PhoneBloks phone.

I think that this is a fantastic idea but one that has consequences for companies like Apple and Samsung. If this idea were in place, Apple and Samsung would design the bloks for each of the components of their phones. For example, the iPhone screen would become a blok and as would Samsung’s processor. Now users will get the best of both worlds without committing all of their money towards one phone or the other. Revenues would decrease, and if revenues are projected to decrease we can count the two largest players in the industry out, as well as the idea for PhoneBloks.

The articles used in this post can be found at: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/10/29/motorola-partners-with-viral-sensation-phonebloks-to-launch-a-modular-smartphone/

https://phonebloks.com/idea/ 

Photo can be found at:

http://b-i.forbesimg.com/parmyolson/files/2013/10/Screen-Shot-2013-10-29-at-12.34.40-PM.png

Heinz, today, has decided to close its production facility in Leamington, Ontario. This decision puts 740 people out of work, and puts to rest a factory which is over 100 years old. Many employees are seeing this as a failure on the part of Heinz, a decision which has “crushed” many jobless employees. Two other factories were also shut down today but I am focusing on the Canadian plant as it hits closer to home. A question of corporate social responsibility has arisen; is Heinz responsible for the after-effects which will change the Leamington economy? Farmers who grew tomatoes for Heinz will have to switch crops and equipment. The greenhouse workers will also be jobless, as will the employees who drove trucks to and from the ketchup plant. The damage caused as a result of the plant being shut down is drastic. In my eyes this is definitely a CSR issue. Heinz needs to recognize that these are not just numbers on a financial statement, but lives of people. An economy that has relied on Ketchup production for over 100 years will be heavily affected by its disappearance. I think that events like this showcase the lack of responsibility of top management when making such decisions. Companies, prior to making a decision to shut down a plant, should visit the communities that rely on that plant; 100 years of service should not be forgotten so easily.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/heinz-closes-leamington-plant-740-people-out-of-work-1.2426608

Photos can be found at:

http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Heinz-logo.jpg

http://www.cbc.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1884012.1380776243!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/wdr-620-heinz-ap.jpg

To bring you up to speed, Blackberry’s largest shareholder is Fairfax Financial Holdings. Fairfax had plans to takeover Blackberry but abandoned this plan and is now financing the company for a total of 1 Billion Dollars. Along with the financing, Thorsten Heins who was the CEO at the time is asked to step down being succeeded by John Chen, Blackberry’s new interim CEO and Fairfax’s personal choice. Along with new management comes the notion of a new vision or new direction, as talked about in the article I read. In my eyes the constant revamping of Blackberry’s “vision” is just a cover for a company that lacks what it takes to compete in the current smartphone industry. Failing to release its Blackberry 10 platform this year, and the release of its proprietary software, BBM, to other smartphones has triggered red flags for investors like myself; couple this with poor sales for its product line this year and their inability to attract emerging markets and Blackberry is looking worse than ever. I do however recognize that Blackberry does indeed have brand value as it is considered the phone of business for many. That being said, I’ve also read that Blackberry’s most loyal customers, the U.S. Department of Defence may ditch the Canadian smartphone for something “Designed by Apple in California”.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/interim-ceo-chen-takes-the-reins-at-blackberry/article15421758/

Photo can be found at:

http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/rtx13x0q.jpg?w=480&h=320&crop=1

Montreal entrepreneur Daniel Robichaud is no stranger to the game; with five startups under his belt already, the 37-year old is onto his sixth, PasswordBox. PasswordBox is the solution to a big problem for internet users: an increasing amount of passwords for various websites/accounts. PasswordBox will manage the users passwords and be encrypted by a single master password. The app will release on computers as well as Android and Apple devices. PasswordBox is not the only app of its kind, but the silver lining for the app is a proprietary one-click login engine that can automatically log you into over 90% of websites today.

The story of entrepreneur Daniel Robichaud and PasswordBox is a great example of a topic covered in my Comm 101 class earlier this week. Sauder Alumni, Cole Nakatani, spoke to us about the beauty of start-ups and how it all begins when you realize “what’s missing? or what’s bugging you?”. In the case of PasswordBox, it fills a niche role for a problem that grows along with the internet. The idea also begun from an epiphany, that no longer should internet users face the epidemic of forgetting their passwords. This reinstates the core idea that start-ups begin with a problem that needs solving.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-digital/innovation/montreal-entrepreneur-thinks-he-has-solution-to-internet-problem-too-many-passwords/article15410645/

Photo can be found at:

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/977/report-on-business/article15410644.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/passwordbox-web.jpg

Recently, it has been noticed that a number of professional athletes are sponsoring junk food in commercials; LeBron James for McDonald’s, Peyton Manning for Pepsi, and Sidney Crosby for Tim Hortons. The global movement towards better public health has put companies and their marketing strategies under scrutiny. In this case, children who look up to these athletes will face mixed signals as their role models consume “junk food”. These athletes are in a position to boost awareness of health but are instead promoting the very companies responsible for some of the public’s health issues.

Lebron James for McDonalds; Beyoncé for Pepsi-Cola

Looking at this from the company’s point of view, sponsorship from the world’s most popular athletes will be helping their balance sheets. The athletes themselves are also in this for the same reason, but this brings up a question of ethics; why promote something you do not eat yourself and know will not the help the very children that come out to your games? Dr. David Silver had spoken with our class about the disregard for ethics in modern business. The companies are evaluating profit margins and positioning their brand incorrectly at a point in time where living the “healthy life” is trending worldwide.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/athletes-in-junk-food-ads-send-kids-mixed-messages-1.1913330

Photo can be found at:

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/ht_lebron_mcdonalds_beyonce_pepsi_nt_121211_wg.jpg

In an effort to compete with its domestic rival WestJet and an average stock price, Air Canada successfully lowers its costs surging its share price up 12%. CASM, is the Costs Per Available Seat Mile, or to simplify, the costs based on a single seat that could provide revenue. They were able to lower this 3.5%, indicating a significant reduction in costs.

Air Canada soars above WestJet after recent cost reduction.

The hero behind their soaring performance is their Operations Management team. As we learned in class #6 with guest speaker Professor Nagarajan, the operations division of a company is what takes raw materials and gets them to the final product. In the case of Air Canada, their operations team handles the different aspects of their service such as fuel costs, food costs, and maintenance to name a few. In a business notorious for rising costs, their team reduced costs, which reduced the CASM as I mentioned earlier and this in turn has allowed Air Canada to exceed expectations.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/04/air-canada-continues-to-soar/

Photo can be found at:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/cms/binary/8755456.jpg

We all know of Facbeook’s IPO failure, but will Facebook join these ranks as well? Slowing revenue this year as well as a lack of advertising revenue outside the United States are posing problems for the social networking giant. Twitter also has a significant variable cost for its servers. Because of its real-time platform its servers are susceptible to crashes during large-scale news events. It becomes apparent that if revenue is decreasing and costs are increasing, profit itself it decreasing as well.

Financial gurus debunk Twitter’s success and clip its wings.

My opinion, Facebook will soon have another friend, Twitter, because a service that relies on advertising revenue and is failing in a majority of it’s consumer segments is not a company investors will be convinced to invest in. Twitter seemed like a good candidate for investing but a peak into their recent financial statements have brought more concern than joy. Within the United States, Twitter works, but the lack of an international market has financial gurus like Kai Li of UBC shaking their heads.

The article used in this post can be found at: 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-short-message-from-twitters-ipo-slowinggrowth/article14712467/

Photo can be found at:

http://latuffcartoons.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/twitter-is-censored-2.png