Cocktail Investing

  Download Episode As we get ready to break for the Thanksgiving holiday and prepare for the 2017 holiday shopping season to hit in full force, we’re also seeing a lot of headlines and stories on autonomous vehicles, which is one aspect of our Disruptive Technologies investing theme. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve seen in just the last few weeks: Uber Strikes Deal With Volvo to Bring Self-Driving Cars to Its Network 7 Lessons From Cadillac's Partial Self-Driving Car Volkswagen to Invest $40B+ on EVs, Autonomy Driverless cars on British roads as Jaguar Land Rover moves ahead in race for autonomy Foxconn Floats the Idea of Autonomous Vehicle-Only Lanes on Wisconsin Interstate Japan hopes to show off self-driving cars at 2020 Olympics Driverless trucks are coming to Canada and the impact will be profound Fully autonomous cars to be on UK roads by 2021 Autonomous cars likely to transport elderly, children in future   Several of those headlines, to our delight, show this Disruptive Technologies me

Download Episode The Economic Impact of the Expanding Global Middle Class This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins walk through the global impacts of the Rise and Fall of the Middle Class, focusing in Part I of this series on the Rise portion of this investing theme. The expanding global middle class will account for nearly half of all consumption in the coming years, but as we discuss the where and why behind this new middle-class is reshaping industries and business models at Amazon (AMZN) and General Motors (GM) to McCormick & Co. (MKC) and many, many more. For over 90% of the past two millennia, China and India dominated the global economy, generating over half of the world’s GDP in terms of real purchasing power. The end of the 17th century saw a seismic change with the start of Europe’s Industrial Revolution, which later spread to the New World. From 1820 to 1950 Asia’s share of GDP plunged from just under 60% to 16 percent and by the middle of the 20th century

Download Episode   This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss numerous current headlines that illustrate the power of some of Tematica’s investing themes. The powerful intersection of Content is King, Connected Society and Disruptive Technology themes has driven a company like Apple to evolve from primarily a hardware and associated OS developer into now producing shows with Hollywood stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Apple is also moving deeper into our Cashless Consumption theme as its latest iOS beta software debuts Apple Pay Cash The combined force of Disruptive Technology, Connected Society and Cashless Consumption is lifting millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty. While the velocity of corporate earnings begins to slow, we’re once again hearing of brick & mortar retail woes as same-store-sales growth continues to fall. Our mixologist also breakdown the current state of the markets and analyze the latest economic data rollin

    Download Episode In This Week's Cocktail Investing Podcast: Tematica Research's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins walk through the profound impacts of the forces responsible for our Connected Society investing theme. As the name implies, our world is becoming ever more interconnected as today we can instantly and near effortlessly interact with people on opposites sides of the earth. The increasing interconnectedness has completely changed the way we buy things, watch movies, listen to music, share memories, make new friends, look for love, sell our homes, research new things we want to buy and even do our homework. Amazon, for example, just added a new augmented reality feature to its iOS app that you can read about here. This interconnectedness also means that moments we wish we could erase from everyone’s memory instead can be relieved over and over again, such as this priceless moment. We live in a world in which nearly all that is known to mankind is available in the palm of

Download Episode   This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins do a deep dive on our Aging of the Population investing theme. The simple fact is both the U.S. and global population are skewing older and this dynamic has a number of ramifications for companies, some of which will ride that tailwind and cater to the emerging demand and pain points of an older population while others see their business hit a profound headwind. Lenore and Chris talk about these as well as discuss the larger headwinds this investment theme for economic growth to be had as the aging population continues to grow over the ensuing decades. Along the way, our mixologists talk about which companies are poised to prosper from the intersection of our Aging of the Population theme with our Connected Society, Cash-strapped Consumer and Disruptive Technology investing themes. And they even share the term “CamperForce,” something that has been of keen use to Amazon and is likely to be for Wal-Mart and other

Download Episode   On this week's podcast, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins breakdown the latest economic and market news and share what it means through Tematica’s thematic investing lens. As we move deeper into 3Q 2017 earnings season, results from IBM (IBM), General Electric (GE), Honeywell (HON) and others suggest we could be in for a rougher ride ahead compared to the Teflon market’s melt up over the last several weeks. Volatility remains depressed with the market at richer than rich valuations, and 3Q 2017 earnings could be the spark that leads the stock market to revert to the mean. That likely means the domestic stock market giving back some of its recent gains off the August lows. We also point out signals for our Connected Society, Cashless Consumption, Fattening of the Population, Food with Integrity and Safety & Security investing themes are paving the way for investable opportunities that are poised to become supercharged in the weeks and months ahead. We a

Download Episode   This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss some recent examples of the investing herd coming around to see what we’ve been talking about for quite some time with respect to companies such as Universal Display and Applied Materials. Last week we discussed the possibility that Amazon and Walmart could be the Coke and Pepsi of future mega-retailing. This week we give more of the rationale behind why retail-mageddon is about more than just the forces behind our Connected Society investing theme as the shrinking middle-class aspect of our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class and Cash Strapped Consumer themes are also having a major impact on malls across America. We also point out other areas in which our investing themes are intersecting, making for investable trends that can become supercharged. We also review what we see happening in the markets and what the latest economic data reveals. The record number of retail stores closing isn’t just about t

  As discussed in the recent episode of the Cocktail Investing Podcast, last week TechCrunch reported:  Amazon has acquired Body Labs, a company with a stated aim of creating true-to-life 3D body models to support various b2b software applications — such as virtually trying on clothes or photorealistic avatars for gaming. Video demos on Body Labs’ website show its tech being used to augment a human with digital content as the person moves around by cladding them in a full-body gaming avatar ‘suit’ or adding boxing gloves and bunny slippers to a dancing man.Body Labs also says its “SOMA Shape API” can be used to “accurately predict and measure the 3D shape of your customers using just a single image”, suggesting this can power “custom apparel” or be used by fashion ecommerce retailers wanting to offer sizing recommendations.The company also suggests additional uses-cases for its ‘fat and all’ 3D body modeling tech in health and fitness tracking, and even equipment design and manufacturing. Full Article: Amazo

Download Episode   This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss the impact of the twin hurricanes on the economic data coming in, with another potentially on the way, and the fallout from the horrific event in Las Vegas. Our Safety and Security investing theme takes front stage as Congress questions the former CEO of Equifax and the nation tries to cope with the pain and devastation caused by both Mother Nature and a single twisted soul in Nevada. As we head into the holiday shopping season, our Connected Society theme presents major headwinds to brick and mortar retailers, while those who “get it” in the online and mobile shopping sphere stand to capture even more market and wallet share. Chris and Lenore also debate Amazon and Walmart, the Pepsi and Coke of the future of retail? We also discuss some fascinating data trends, including why Wal-Mart is once again trotting out its layaway program this holiday shopping season. For those who want to see the charts as wel

Download Episode This week, Chief Investment Officer Chris Versace is joined by Tematica's "Man Behind the Curtain" Chris Broussard in a very special conversation with Brad Stertz, Director of Government Affairs at Audi. Our in-depth conversations with Brad puts some context and understanding around the issues and developments surrounding the self-driving car market as well as the far-reaching impact this revolution will have beyond just the automotive sector. Audi is at the center of Volkswagen's expertise for autonomous cars, an area it's been focused on for more than a decade, and Brad has been there for most of it. This Cocktail Investing podcast episode is another one of those conversations that takes you behind the scenes and puts you in the know on a topic that is filling headlines on a daily basis, with wide implications for a number of industries and investment themes. We discuss the evolution of autonomous vehicles, including several obvious and not so obvious tailwinds behind the evolution of th

Download Episode This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins face-palmed after learning the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has been compromised in a cyber-attack. This ironic breach mere days after Equifax broke the news on its breach… as we discuss, this increasing pain point that spills out of our Connected Society investing theme is fodder for our Safety & Security one.  As our portfolio mixologists touch on that, they dish on the Fed’s latest missive coming out of its September monetary policy meeting and on a variety of data points for our Connected Society, Food with Integrity and Fattening of the Population investing themes. Chris and Lenore also mix in the latest economic data, and share why S&P 500 Global Ratings’ first rating cut to China’s sovereign credit rating in nearly two decades is important for investors. After last week’s not-too-special event, we share our view on why it’s so disappointing there are connectivity issues with the new Apple W

Download Episode In this special excerpt from Episode 33 of the Cocktail Investing Podcast, Lenore Hawkins discusses that while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is likening Bitcoin to the Dutch tulip bulbs bubble in the 1600's, the reality is we are just in the early innings of cryptocurrencies. The question is, can Bitcoin maintain its pole position, or is its fate similar to that of many of the early internet pioneers? Tune into this quick primer on cryptocurrencies (just 6:30 in length) and its impact on our Cashless Consumption investment theme.    

Download Episode This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins start off the podcast talking about one of the lamest presentations they’ve seen in a number of years. Yes, we’re talking about Apple’s September special event held on September 12th. Rather than spoil it for you here, all we’ll say is we knew the event was headed downhill fast when the first thing mentioned about the new iPhone was the pretty colors it would come in. We share our takeaways and insights for that event as well as for the latest economic data and thematic signals that are the backbone of our thematic investing lens. We share why we were nonplussed with Apple’s new iPhones and other product updates as well as its one true surprise to come – wireless charging. Essentially, we see these efforts as just shoring up Apple’s market position rather than breaking new ground. Looking at the Apple ecosystem, however, we see several companies that are poised to benefit from technologies being deployed in the n

Download Episode This week, Tematica's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins start off the podcast copping to the fact that, much to their chagrin, the summer is over, and it’s back to work. As they’ve pointed out to listeners, September is typically one of if not the most tumultuous months for stocks, and between both North Korea and Hurricane Harvey the month is certainly starting off rocking and rolling as CNNMoney’s Fear & Greed Index understandably sits firmly in “fear” territory. As we turn our thematic gaze forward, however, there is much more to be concerned about, as well as a number of confirming data points for Tematica’s 17 investment themes: On the heels of Hurricane Harvey, we now have Hurricane Irma barreling down on the Caribbean with its sights set on Florida. Irma has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane, and is widely believed to be one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever. Moreover, it’s looking to be followed by tropical storm Jose. Odds are this trife

  Our hearts go out to all those affected by the devastation in Texas and Louisiana. The magnitude of this incredible storm is such that in this week's program, Tematica's investing mixologists, Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss the impact of Hurricane Harvey, how it relates to some of our investing Themes, as well as the week's economic data, and relevant political happenings. What we know? Hurricane Harvey is in a class of its own, having delivered the greatest amount of rain ever recorded in the lower 48 states from a single storm. One of the areas hardest hit has been Houston, the 4th largest city in the United States. What does it mean? The magnitude of the storm damage, which is still being tabulated, is looking to be the most expensive the nation has ever experienced. Enki Research, a group that calculates risks and costs of hurricanes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters, says the “middle-of-the-road” estimate for Harvey ranges from $48 to $75 billion, while Accuweather projected it to be ar

Download Episode Amid the 2Q 2017 earnings onslaught, Chris Versace, Tematica’s Chief Investment Officer, and Lenore Hawkins, Tematica’s Chief Macro Strategist, are combing through more than 600 earnings reports this week. With companies ranging from Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOGL), Lam Research (LRCX), PayPal (PYPL), MasterCard (MA) and Caterpillar (CAT) to name several, all reporting, there is no shortage of data points to be had. Rather than skip this week’s podcast, we’re sharing our recent Thematic Summit that we held for our institutional subscribers on June 28, 2017. These conference calls include a deeper look at the economy and markets, but in particular in-depth discussion on a number of things as they relate to the Tematica Select List. The Select List is our recommended list of stocks, ETF’s and mutual funds that have the strongest thematic tailwinds and the most upside potential at current market conditions. It's part of our Tematica Investing product, which you can read more ab

Download Episode   As the 2Q 2017 earnings onslaught continued this week, Chris Versace, Tematica’s Chief Investment Officer, made his way to Singapore to keynote INVESTFair 2017. In this week's episode, Chris catches up with Lenore Hawkins, Tematica’s Chief Macro Strategist, and shares his first-hand findings that Singapore is embracing Tematica’s Cashless Consumption investing theme. The two then talked about other notable developments with regard to Cashless Consumption as Microsoft’s (MSFT) Skype brings the ability to “send money” through its new partnership with PayPal (PYPL), and India’s Paytm targets Facebook (FB) as it morphs its payments platform to include messaging. Could riding the Connected Society and Cashless Consumption tailwinds make Paytm India’s answer to WeChat, which serves nearly one billion users in China? Rounding out our thematic conversation, we hear once again that body cameras aren’t always friendly to police officers… ah, how some forget what always on, always connected means.

Download Episode In this special excerpt from Episode 28 of the Cocktail Investing Podcast, hosts Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss what a unique approach by a panhandler tells us about the state of our Cashless Consumption investment theme and how it reflects the explosion of Mobile Payments across emerging markets.

In this week's program, Tematica's investing mixologists, Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss the week's economic data, relevant political happenings and share where they have spotted a few of the latest Thematic Signals.                                                                                                        The Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has fallen flat, which calls into question the ability to pass the substantive tax reforms upon which market valuations have been based. The timing of tax reform legislation is looking like it will go head to head with not only when the Congressional Budget Office expects the federal government to hit the debt ceiling, but also during the height of 2017 election campaigning. We continue to see more data pointing to a slowing domestic economy even as the stock market continues to melt higher as we enter 2Q 2017 earnings season. Lenore explains why greater growth opportunities outside the US might offer more attractive

In this week's program, Tematica's investing mixologists, Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins discuss the week's economic data, relevant political happenings and share where they have spotted a few of the latest Thematic Signals.                                                                                                        As of the close on Thursday, July 13, 2017, the Nasdaq 100 index had 5 consecutive days of gains. The last time we saw this was over 5 months ago. If this rally continues it will be a bullish sign for equities in at least the short-term. The Nasdaq powered higher, led by our Connected Society investing theme, as “FANG” stocks moved now above their 50-day moving averages – another bullish indicator. However, while the financial headlines keep touting the strength of U.S. equities, the S&P 500 has actually been one of the weaker indices year-to-date on a broader international basis: the French ETF (EWQ) up over 18 percent, Germany’s (EWG) up over 16 percent, Spain’s (EWP), and Ital