(AMZN) Archives

The Big Play in Cisco

You can’t steal the mojo from the company that sells network software and infrastructure equipment.

Cisco (CSCO) is effectively an indirect bet on people using the internet because companies need the network infrastructure to offer all the cool and useful services that tech provides.

Technology and the services that result from it continues to be at the heart of customer strategy and now more than ever, Cisco’s market-leading portfolio and differentiated innovation are resonating with them as they transform their IT infrastructure.

Cisco is also a fabulous bet on 5G as the most recent technologies like cloud, AI, IoT, and WiFi 6 among others are developing together to revolutionize the way business operates and delivers new experiences for customers and teams.

Cisco is fundamentally changing the way customers approach their technology infrastructure to address the rising complexity in their IT environments.

They have constructed the only integrated multi-domain intent-based architecture with security at the foundation.

This is designed to allow customers to securely connect their users and devices over any network to any application.

Enterprise networks today must be optimized for agility and heightened security, leveraging cloud and wireless capabilities with the ability to extract insights from the data and security integrated throughout.

Cisco is in pole position to deliver this to customers.

Last quarter saw the launch of new platforms expanding the enterprise networking assets with the launch of subscription-based WiFi 6 access points and Catalyst 9600 campus core switches purpose-built for cloud-scale networking.

By combining automation and analytics software with a broad portfolio of switches, access points, and controllers, Cisco is creating a seamless end-to-end wireless first architecture.

With the newest Catalyst 9000 additions, Cisco has completed the most comprehensive enterprise networking portfolio upgrade in their history.

Cisco rebuilt their entire access portfolio with intent-based networking across wired and wireless.

Cisco also now have one unified operating system and policy management platform to drive simplicity and consistency across networks all enabled by a software subscription model.

In the data center, their strategy is to deliver multi-cloud architectures that bring policy and operational consistency no matter where applications or data resides by extending Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and offering HyperFlex to the cloud.

According to Cisco’s official website, its HyperFlex product is “a converged infrastructure system that integrates computing, networking and storage resources to increase efficiency and enable centralized management.”

Cisco’s partnerships with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are great examples of how they continue to work with web-scale providers to deliver new innovation.

Some new additions are Cisco’s cloud ACI for AWS, a service that allows customers to manage and secure applications running in a private data center or in Amazon Web Services cloud environments.

They also expanded agreements with Alphabet (GOOGL) by announcing support for their multi-cloud platform Anthos to help customers build secure applications everywhere from private data centers to public clouds with greater simplicity.

Going forward, Cisco will integrate this platform with its broad data center portfolio, including HyperFlex, ACI, SD-WAN, and Stealthwatch cloud to deliver the best multi-cloud experience.

Organic growth has surpassed 4% for five straight quarters and expanded margins and positive guidance for the current quarter will reaccelerate PE multiples, increasing as more investors buy into the strong narrative.

CEO of Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins boasted on the call that “we see very minimal impact at this point based on all the great work the teams have done, and it is absolutely baked into our guide going forward” when referring to the headwinds of the global trade war.

It’s been quite the new normal for chip firms to guide down for the rest of 2019, and Intel’s (INTC) worries are emblematic of the growing challenges facing the tech industry.

Cisco bucked the trend by issuing strong forward guidance of 4.5% to 6.5% revenue growth in its fiscal fourth quarter, and earnings of 80 cents to 82 cents per share.

In an in-house survey, Cisco found that 11% of respondents have upgraded networking infrastructure and 16% expect to do so in the next 12 months.

The “minimal impact” of the trade war indicates to investors that even with negative tech sentiment brooding around the world, Cisco’s best in class tech infrastructure still cannot be sacrificed and the migration of companies to digital directly benefits Cisco who provides the building blocks for software and hardware tech companies to develop around.

Cisco even felt bold enough to hike prices giving consternation to current customers.

Both Juniper (JNPR) and Arista (ANET), lower quality network infrastructure companies, have indicated their enterprise businesses are growing faster than the overall market and Cisco’s price hike was probably a bad time to up margins in the current frosty climate.

Even more worrying is data that suggests a general Enterprise pause in spending at a minimum and could entrap the broader tech market as many capital expenditures could be put on hold in the late economic cycle.

Keep in mind that Cisco’s Catalyst 9000 line had an abnormally strong last fourth quarter due to brisk adoption accelerating meaning comps will be hard to beat in the next earnings report.

However, these are minor bumps on the road at a time when the major narrative is running smoothly and shows no signs of stopping.

Cisco shares will continue to rise if they continue to upgrade their products and back it up with their best of breed reputation that could spur more price hikes.

Investors should wait for dips to buy in this name until there are any signs of product quality erosion which I believe will not happen in 2019.

May 14, 2019

Diary, Newsletter, Summary

Global Market Comments
May 14, 2019
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:

(FIVE STOCKS TO BUY AT THE BOTTOM),
(AAPL), (AMZN), (SQ), (ROKU), (MSFT)

May 3, 2019

Diary, Newsletter, Summary

Global Market Comments
May 3, 2019
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:
(LAST CHANCE TO ATTEND THE LAS VEGAS MAY 9 GLOBAL STRATEGY LUNCHEON)
(APRIL 3 BIWEEKLY STRATEGY WEBINAR Q&A),
(SPY), (LYFT), (TSLA), (TLT), (XLV), (UBER),
(AAPL), (AMZN), (MSFT), (EDIT), (SGMO), (CLLS)

May 1 Biweekly Strategy Webinar Q&A

Diary, Newsletter, Research

Below please find subscribers’ Q&A for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader May 1 Global Strategy Webinar with my guest and co-host Bill Davis of the Mad Day Trader. Keep those questions coming!

Q: Your old target for the (SPY) was $292.80; we’re clearly above that now. What’s your new target and how long will it take to get there?

A: My new target on the S&P 500 (SPY) is $296.80. You’re looking at $295 on the (SPY), so we’re almost there. However, we’re grinding up too slowly so I can’t give you an exact date.

Q: Will Fed governor Jay Powell give in to pressure from Trump who wants him to drop rates? Does he have any sway over the process?

A: Officially he has no sway, but every day Trump is tweeting: “I want QE back, I want a 1% rate cut.” And if that happened, the economy would completely blow up—an interest rate cut with the market at an all-time high and 3.25% GDP growth rate would be unprecedented, would deliver a short term gain and long term disaster.

Q: What do you think about the Uber (UBER) IPO?

A: I wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole—they’ve been cutting valuations almost every day. At one point they were going to value the company at $120 billion dollars, now they’re at $90 billion and they may even lower it from there. The last car sharing IPO (LYFT) dropped 33% from its high. I would stay away from all of the IPOs once they’re listed. The rule is: only buy these things when they’re down 50%. Warren Buffet never buys IPOs, nor do I.

Q: What do you think about buying or selling Lyft?

A: I would wait a couple of months for Lyft to find its true price. Then you’ll have something to trade against.

Q: Do you think the bad news is over on Tesla (TSLA)? Is it time to buy? Or is it going bankrupt?

A: The whole world knew that the electric car subsidy would be cut in January, so what customers did was accelerate their orders in the 4th quarter, which took us all the way up to $380 in the shares, and then created a vacuum in the Q1 of this year. It reported the first quarter last week—they were disastrous orders, and the company is cutting back overhead as fast as possible as if it’s going into a recession, which it kind of is. The question is whether or not sales will bounce back in Q2 with the smaller subsidy. I happen to think they will. But we may not see 2018 Q4 sales levels again until 2019 Q4.

Q: Why has healthcare (XLV) been so awful this year?

A: There’s an election next year and both parties promise to beat up on the healthcare industry with drug control pricing and other forms of regulation. Of course, the current president promised free competition in drug prices; but then he moved to Washington DC and found the drug industry lobby, and nothing was ever heard again on that front. It’s a very high political risk sector, but there is some great value at these levels in the healthcare industry in the long term. I’m about to start the Mad Hedge Biotech and Health Care newsletter imminently.

Q: Should I buy the (TLT) $120-$123 call spread now?

A: That's a very aggressive trade, I would wait and go with strikes for in the money, and then only on a big dip. Don’t reach for a trade when the market is at an all-time high.

Q: Should I be shorting Tesla down here?

A: Absolutely not, your short trade was at $380, $350, $330 and $300. Down here, you run the risk of a surprise tweet from Elon Musk causing the stock to go $50 against you. Buy the way, he’s already announced that he’s buying $10 million worth of shares in his next capital raise.

Q: What do you think about CRISPR stocks long term, like Editas Medicine (EDIT), Sangamo Life Sciences (SGMO), and Cellectis (CLLS)?

A: These are probably the best bunch of 10 baggers long term. Short term they are afflicted with the same problems impacting all of healthcare—promises of regulation and price control on all of their products ahead of an election. So, hold for the long term; short term I’d only be buying the really big dips. Did I mention that I’m about to start the Mad Hedge Biotech and Health Care newsletter imminently?

Q: Is your May 10th market top forecast still good?

A: Well we’re getting kind of close to May 10th. I made this prediction based on an inverting yield curve two years ago. However, that target did not anticipate interest rates topping out for the 10-year US Treasury bond at 3.25%. Nor did it consider the Fed canceling all interest rate hikes for the year. Without the artificial stimulus, the market would certainly have already rolled over and died. That said, I still have a week to go.

Q: Should I be selling my long term holds in the FANGS, like Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT)?

A: For the long term, no. However, we know from December that these things can get hit with a 40% drawdown at any time. As long as you can handle that, they always bounce back.

Q: What will happen to Venezuela? Any trades?

A: The only related trades would be in the oil market (USO). If we get a coup d’ etat which installs a new pro-American president, which could be at any time, that could lead to a selloff in oil for a couple of days as 1 Million barrels of crude per day come back on the market, but probably no more than that.

Q: With current national debt and budget deficits, when will interest in gold kick in?

A: Very simple: when the stock market goes down, you want to buy gold. It’s the hedge that everyone will chase after, and inflation is just around the corner.

Q: Do you need me to place any Kentucky Derby bets?

A: Me being the cautious guy I am, I pick the horse with the best odds and then I bet him to show. That almost always works.

Q: What about pot stocks?

A: I’ve never liked them very much; after all, how hard is it to grow a weed? The barriers to entry are zero. All of these pot companies coming up now are not really pot stocks as much as they are marketing companies, so you’re buying their distribution capability primarily. That said, I’m having breakfast with the CEO of a major pot company next week, so I’ll be writing about that once I get the inside scoop.

Q: Will the Fed be the non-event?

A: Yes, as stated in the Mad Hedge Hot Tips this morning, it will be a non-event and the news is due out in about an hour.

April 30, 2019

Tech Letter

Mad Hedge Technology Letter
April 30, 2019
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:

(AMAZON’S NEW GAME CHANGER)
(AMZN), (WMT), (TGT), (UPS), (FDX)

Amazon's New Game Changer

Tech Letter

Amazon’s free 2-day shipping for Prime Customers is on the verge of becoming free 1-day shipping after the company recently announced this new wrinkle to their business model.

Amazon’s competitors should be shivering in their wake.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the other e-commerce giants, hardly so, the gap up in the fierce competition will do what General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules in Europe did to competition – enclose the existing players off from the smaller fish.

In examining who will be the last man standing, I have come to the conclusion that it will not just be one or two grinding it out in a vacuum, but more like several winners that will all benefit to certain degrees.

The outsized denominating factor in the e-commerce wars is logistics and who can best put this segment together.

E-commerce companies are being bullied into leaner models because of the premium on heavy scaling that will pile on added costs to make 1-day free shipping a reality.

This isn’t selling lemonade on your driveway, getting 1-day shipping to work will be a tough nut to crack.

The result will be the imminent deterioration of FedEx (FDX) and United Parcel Service (UPS) on the expectation that Amazon will crowd them out.

It could be the case that Amazon improves its logistical capabilities to the point that FedEx and UPS will have to sell itself off or risk death by a thousand cuts.

There looks like no navigational path ahead for these two legacy logistic companies because of the nature of being lower down on the value chain.

The only other choice is if FedEx or UPS is able to jump into the e-commerce business themselves by buying a Kroger to maneuver into the integration process through the other side.

Either way, acquiring a supermarket is no guarantee of future success considering the stakes are about to become higher and higher.

I believe that Walmart will respond to Amazon by rolling out free 1-day shipping with no membership fee, boosting its customer experience while attracting and retaining customers.

Walmart is in this fight until the bitter end and they have invested heavily in improving the technological aspects of the company.

Where does this end?

Logistics will perpetually improve as companies drain more money into logistics, and customers will eventually receive their e-commerce packages in a drone less than 1-hour after payment.

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told investors that Amazon is plunking down $800 million over the quarter in its fulfillment network and that number should rise every year as Amazon has targeted logistics as a huge competitive advantage that they must capitalize on and thrive in.

Amazon already has the option for 1-day free shipping in the European Union and Japan where the delivery distances are truncated.

America poses geographical challenges that will cost more to solve and will rely on the deregulation of future drone flights and cooperation with Amazon sellers to deliver this big step up in customer experience.

The constant iteration upgrades in logistics for the past 20 years have made this possible, and I believe Amazon would be well served to bite the bullet and splurge for UPS or FedEx to make it easier on themselves.

It is not shocking there is a scarcity value of logistic carriers and e-commerce giants will need more logistical capacity to execute free 1-day shipping and eventually free 1-hour shopping.

Amazon hasn’t figured out how to transport physical goods through a computer yet, but I am certain, if there was the technology, they would spend unlimited amounts to get it to that point.

The most ironic aspect of the e-commerce wars is that supermarkets, being a part of e-commerce and the logistics behind it, is the most innovative part of technology at this moment.

Tech companies have identified that customers need to eat three times per day as paramount and are sizzling through cash to build this unfathomable logistics system - effectively working miracles and becoming whirling dervishes to seize this part of the economy.

I would probably label automobiles and the self-driving autonomous technology behind logistics as the second most innovative part of technology at this moment.

As for Amazon’s earnings report, it was a mixed bag, but the good in the bag was astounding.

Profitability boosts through the scaling and efficiency savings inflated the bottom line with EPS in Q1 at $7.09 compared to expectations of $4.72.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is still commanding enormous growth rates which is miraculous for a division its size, the cloud unit grew 41% YOY which is down from 49% last year.

On the negative side, the advertising business experienced a sharp slow down growing only 34% YOY to $2.7 billion.

Remember that ad sales were expanding over 100% YOY in prior quarters.

Total Revenue only grew 16.9% which shows how difficult it is to grow at Amazon’s size and brings down the digital ad growth rate almost on par with Facebook.

Walmart and Target will be forced to compete with free 1-day shipping, and this will make their services better as well.

The question is how much pain can investors handle in terms of capital investments?

I believe substantially more.

Walmart and Target shares are poised to move higher on the news because the improvements in their logistical services will widen the gap between the haves and have nots.

These companies are in the midst of persuading investors they should be revalued as tech companies and duly receive growth multiples.

They are doing a great job and imagine how badly this news feels for medium-tier grocers with a minimal digital footprint.

Investors will come to grips that Amazon, Walmart, and Target will pull away from the pack and trade blows with each other.

This time it's Amazon, but it's not the last laugh.

Where does this all lead?

The end game is voice-triggering smart speakers where Amazon and its Echo speaker have a distinctive lead and a market share of around 70%.

Graphic interfaces will exist in only voice-activated form and content will be bundled into voice technology where even managing a Walmart order will require Amazon Echo to register sales.

That type of future is still a way off, but these are the next baby steps in that direction.

In short, revelations of free 1-day shipping to Amazon prime customers is convincingly bullish for Amazon, quite bullish for Walmart, Target, and a death knell for smaller e-commerce platforms and logistic dinosaurs.

April 23, 2019

Diary, Newsletter, Summary

Global Market Comments
April 23, 2019
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:
(LAS VEGAS MAY 9 GLOBAL STRAGEGY LUNCHEON)
(APRIL 17 BIWEEKLY STRATEGY WEBINAR Q&A),
(FXI), (RWM), (IWM), (VXXB), (VIX), (QCOM), (AAPL), (GM), (TSLA), (FCX), (COPX), (GLD), (NFLX), (AMZN), (DIS)

April 17 Biweekly Strategy Webinar Q&A

Diary, Newsletter

Below please find subscribers’ Q&A for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader April 17 Global Strategy Webinar with my guest and co-host Bill Davis of the Mad Day Trader. Keep those questions coming!

Q: What will the market do after the Muller report is out?

A: Absolutely nothing—this has been a total nonmarket event from the very beginning. Even if Trump gets impeached, Pence will continue with the same kinds of policies.

Q: If we are so close to the peak, when do we go short?

A: It’s simple: markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain liquid. Those shorts are expensive. As long as global excess liquidity continues pouring into the U.S., you’ll not want to short anything. I think what we’ll see is a market that slowly grinds upward until it’s extremely overbought.

Q: China (FXI) is showing some economic strength. Will this last?

A: Probably, yes. China was first to stimulate their economy and to stimulate it the most. The delayed effect is kicking in now. If we do get a resolution of the trade war, you want to buy China, not the U.S.

Q: Are commodities expected to be strong?

A: Yes, China stimulating their economy and they are the world’s largest consumer commodities.

Q: When is the ProShares Short Russell 2000 ETF (RWM) actionable?

A: Probably very soon. You really do see the double top forming in the Russell 2000 (IWM), and if we don’t get any movement in the next day or two, it will also start to roll over. The Russell 2000 is the canary in the coal mine for the main market. Even if the main market continues to grind up on small volume the (IWM) will go nowhere.

Q: Why do you recommend buying the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXXB) instead of the Volatility Index (VIX)?

A: The VIX doesn’t have an actual ETF behind it, so you have to buy either options on the futures or a derivative ETF. The (VXXB), which has recently been renamed, is an actual ETF which does have a huge amount of time decay built into it, so it’s easier for people to trade. You don’t need an option for futures qualification on your brokerage account to buy the (VXXB) which most people don’t have—it’s just a straight ETF.

Q: So much of the market cap is based on revenues outside the U.S., or GDP making things look more expensive than they actually are. What are your thoughts on this?

A: That is true; the U.S. GDP is somewhat out of date and we as stock traders don’t buy the GDP, we buy individual stocks. Mad Hedge Fund Trader in particular only focuses on the 5% or so—stocks that are absolutely leading the market—and the rest of the 95% is absolutely irrelevant. That 95% is what makes up most of the GDP. A lot of people have actually been caught in the GDP trap this year, expecting a terrible GDP number in Q1 and staying out of the market because of that when, in fact, their individual stocks have been going up 50%. So, that’s something to be careful of.

Q: Is it time to jump into Qualcomm (QCOM)?

A: Probably, yes, on the dip. It’s already had a nice 46% pop so it’s a little late now. The battle with Apple (AAPL) was overhanging that stock for years.

Q: Will Trump next slap tariffs on German autos and what will that do to American shares? Should I buy General Motors (GM)?

A: Absolutely not; if we do slap tariffs on German autos, Europe will retaliate against every U.S. carmaker and that would be disastrous for us. We already know that trade wars are bad news for stocks. Industry-specific trade wars are pure poison. So, you don't want to buy the U.S. car industry on a European trade war. In fact, you don’t want to buy anything. The European trade war might be the cause of the summer correction. Destroying the economies of your largest customers is always bad for business.

Q: How much debt can the global economy keep taking on before a crash?

A: Apparently, it’s a lot more with interest rates at these ridiculously low levels. We’re in uncharted territory now. We really don't know how much more it can take, but we know it’s more because interest rates are so low. With every new borrowing, the global economy is making itself increasingly sensitive to any interest rate increases. This is a policy you should enact only at bear market bottoms, not bull market tops. It is borrowing economic growth from futures year which we may not have.

Q: Is the worst over for Tesla (TSLA) or do you think car sales will get worse?

A: I think car sales will get better, but it may take several months to see the actual production numbers. In the meantime, the burden of proof is on Tesla. Any other surprises on that stock could see us break to a new 2 year low—that's why I don’t want to touch it. They’ve lately been adopting policies that one normally associates with imminent recessions, like closing most of their store and getting rid of customer support staff.

Q: Is 2019 a “sell in May and go away” type year?

A: It’s really looking like a great “Sell in May” is setting up. What’s helping is that we’ve gone up in a straight line practically every day this year. Also, in the first 4 months of the year, your allocations for equities are done. We have about 6 months of dead territory to cover from May onward— narrow trading ranges or severe drops. That, by the way, is also the perfect environment for deep-in-the-money put spreads, which we plan to be setting up soon.

Q: Is it time to buy Freeport McMoRan (FCX) in to play both oil and copper?

A: Yes. They’re both being driven by the same thing: China demand. China is the world’s largest new buyer of both of these resources. But you’re late in the cycle, so use dips and choose your entry points cautiously. (FCX) is not an oil play. It is only a copper (COPX) and gold (GLD) play.

Q: Are you still against Bitcoin?

A: There are simply too many better trading and investment options to focus on than Bitcoin. Bitcoin is like buying a lottery ticket—you’re 10 times more likely to get struck by lightning than you are to win.

Q: Are there any LEAPS put to buy right now?

A: You never buy a Long-Term Equity Appreciation Securities (LEAPS) at market tops. You only buy these long-term bull option plays at really severe market selloffs like we had in November/December. Otherwise, you’ll get your head handed to you.

Q: What is your outlook on U.S. dollar and gold?

A: U.S. dollar should be decreasing on its lower interest rates but everyone else is lowering their rates faster than us, so that's why it’s staying high. Eventually, I expect it to go down but not yet. Gold will be weak as long as we’re on a global “RISK ON” environment, which could last another month.

Q: Is Netflix (NFLX) a buy here, after the earnings report?

A: Yes, but don't buy on the pop, buy on the dip. They have a huge head start over rivals Amazon (AMZN) and Walt Disney (DIS) and the overall market is growing fast enough to accommodate everyone.

Q: Will wages keep going up in 2019?

A: Yes, but technology is destroying jobs faster than inflation can raise wages so they won’t increase much—pennies rather than dollars.

Q: How about buying a big pullback?

A: If we get one, it would be in the spring or summer. I would buy a big pullback as long as the U.S. is hyper-stimulating its economy and flooding the world with excess liquidity. You wouldn't want to bet against that. We may not see the beginning of the true bear market for another year. Any pullbacks before that will just be corrections in a broader bull market.

Good Luck and Good Trading
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader

April 17, 2019

Tech Letter

Mad Hedge Technology Letter
April 17, 2019
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:

(ALPHABET DOMINATES WITH GOOGLE MAPS)
(GOOGL), (AMZN), (YELP), (UBER)

Alphabet Dominates with Google Maps

Tech Letter

Remember Google Maps?

Google will start monetizing it, let me tell you about it.

The web mapping service developed by Google gifting access to satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets has been around since the beginning of this generation of big tech and is what I would consider legacy technology.

Legacy technology is often associated with failure as the out of date nature isn’t applicable to the tech scene and the commercialization of it today.

In a candid letter, Jeff Bezos wrote to shareholders that Amazon will “occasionally have multibillion-dollar failures.”

Silicon Valley tech will have its share of implosions stemming from ill-fated industry decisions correlating to heavy losses.

Google Maps won’t be one of these slip-ups.

However, a whole catalog of instances can be chronicled from Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s handset division to Google’s social media foray in Google Plus.

It hasn’t gone all pear-shaped for Alphabet in 2019. I strongly believe they are one of the companies of the year harnessing YouTube in ways consumers never imagined.

Adding color to the story, any remnant of apprehension to any bearish feelings about Alphabet should vanish once investors understand how lucrative Google Maps will become.

Google has spent decades and billions of capital honing the application and in terms of market share they have cultivated a monopoly.

Uber’s S-1 filing shined some light on Google Maps characterizing it as a must-have input into their business saying, “We do not believe that an alternative mapping solution exists that can provide the global functionality that we require to offer our platform in all of the markets in which we operate.”

Uber sunk $58 million integrating Google Maps into its services from 2016-2018 along with continuous payments to its Google Cloud arm to host Uber’s data.

The strong relationship with Uber shows how Alphabet is adept at milking 3^rd party apps for what they are worth.

Alphabet’s stake in Uber is projected to be $5 billion from the $250 million investment in Uber in 2013.

The party doesn’t stop there with Uber paying Alphabet $631 million from 2016-2018 in digital marketing services and another $70 million for technology infrastructure.

To say that Google firmly has its tribal marks tattooed into Uber’s skin is an understatement.

Almost 80% of smartphone users regularly use navigation apps.

Google Maps is the most popular navigation app by a country mile with 67% of market share.

One billion people consistently use Google Maps.

It is the go-to navigation app for nearly 6x more people compared to the runner up app Waze with 12% market share.

The superior performance of the app has allowed it to branch off into a Yelp-like hybrid app accumulating reviews of businesses and institutions that are conveniently dotted around its map.

Multi-functional terrain was integrated to make the maps more 3D and route navigation from point A to B routes has steadily improved since its inception.

The increasing detail showing even roofs of sheds and the Google street view offering a point of view vantage point boosting the reliability of the app.

The result of making the app better is that navigators can easily discern locations and follow routes clearly.

Most would concede that they use the app to look up specific street routes.

By implementing digital ads into the experience, product and service offers will possibly populate in real time as the user glances at the app’s directions.

A vast amount of services such from food to personal grooming to even cannabis club ads could be applicable and ad companies will pay top dollar to post on Google Maps.

Google could also offer personalized recommendations to users and collect an affiliate fee if the user clicks on an attached link transferring the customer to a 3^rd party landing page.

They already benefit from this strategy on Google Flights.

Google might even be tempted to implement a Groupon model with group discounts on services positioned on Google Maps.

Google Maps is hands down the most underappreciated app and most under monetized tech asset in the world.

Another possible revenue generation avenue would be the advent of Google Maps voice ads en route to a destination that would promote a 5 or 10 second voice commercial of a businesses that the user is physically passing by.

The unintended effects of Google’s audacious transformation of their proprietary Map service spells doom for Yelp’s business model.

Google’s move into digital ads of maps effectively means that Yelp will be relegated to an inferior version of Google Maps without the map technology.

Google has accumulated enough personal data to draw up any type of profile for particularly Android users voraciously consuming data on Gmail, Google Maps, Google Search and Google Chrome.

These four data generators will allow Google to formulate a shadow profile based on individual tastes with daily use of these four Google properties.

Alphabet has a time-honored model of building assets that become utilities and once they monopolize the utility, they sprinkle the digital ad pixie-dust effectively monetizing the asset that was once free of charge.

They have followed the same road map for Gmail, Google Search, YouTube, and if Waymo can become a utility, prepare from Google digital ads inside the screens of Waymo autonomous cars.

When many sulked that this could be one of those billion-dollar failures that Bezos whined about, Google has decided to supercharge Google Maps by cross-pollinating the power of Google maps with its digital advertising knowhow.

This powerful cocktail of forces working in tandem will accelerate its revenue growth along with the resurgence of its YouTube digital ad revenue.

I believe this new lever of revenue growth isn’t priced into Alphabet shares yet, and withstanding any random black swan shocks to the broader economy, Alphabet is poised to outperform the rest of the trading year.

Short Yelp on any and every rally - Google has made their business model redundant.

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