May 15, 2012 JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and reta. John Pierpont J. P. Morga…
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Online Jobs Without Investment From Home – Business Ideas With Low Investment http://instantpaydaynetwork.com/jhought4 Searching for a reputable home-based b…
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Court Square Capital Leads Major Equity Investment in Conterra Broadband
The Bank Street Group LLC served as Conterra's exclusive financial advisor in connection with this transaction. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough … Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author. Related; Print; Email; Feedback …
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Momentum Indicators for Health Care Equities — Research on Arena Pharma …
(NASDAQ: CELG). Free technical research on ARNA, HEB, PDLI and CELG can be downloaded upon signing up at: http://www.investor-edge.com/365-register …. This information is not to be construed as personal financial advice. Readers are encouraged to …
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Why I Don't Agree With BMO's Forecast That Fixed Rates Will Now Outperform …
As for where rates may be headed, most borrowers normally base at least part of their fixed versus variable thinking on a subjective view of the future, human nature being what it is. Right or wrong, experienced mortgage planners who research interest …
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Market Research – Consumer Discretionary Stocks — Research on Amazon.com …
Free technical research on AMZN, LINTA, DLIA and ZU can be downloaded upon signing up at: http://www.investor-edge.com/364-register. On Wednesday, shares …. This information is not to be construed as personal financial advice. Readers are encouraged …
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Simon Dixon, founder of Bank to the Future is a financier who had changed the way start-ups and small companies can get investment for their businesses. To s…
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Walter Parker Group is specifically designed to provide value orientated services in the areas of strategic planning, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. We assist our clients in building equity by improving the effectiveness and efficiencies of their organizations.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett, among others, is notorious for telling investors to buy what they know. Basically, Buffett and his enthusiastic followers suggest investing in companies that you really understand or at least know enough about them to be able to explain how they make money – i.e. the company’s business model. Though it’s certainly not without merit, buying what you know is not necessarily an investment strategy that will yield the most investing success. Here we explore some of these limitations and suggest that investors might really be better served by buying what they can learn.
Many new investors will find it difficult to delve into the business models or 10-k statements of publicly traded companies for some obvious reasons, the most important being time and/or lack of knowledge. Not many of us can listen consistently to companies’ earnings calls and even if we could, we might not really appreciate what is being discussed. Truly understanding a company’s balance sheet and overall financial direction requires specialized knowledge that most investors do not immediately possess. There are, however, many online resources that can help shorten the learning curve on gaining knowledge about a company you own or have intentions of buying.
A pitfall in just investing in companies that you are comfortable with is the opportunity cost of not owning companies not as prominent. Most investors know that Exxon Mobil sells gasoline and that Johnson and Johnson make a variety of pharmaceutical and health and beauty products. A valid argument can be made that this companies bring predictability and help mitigate risk in one’s portfolio; however, the fact remains that the biggest gains from stocks typically come from companies in the earlier phases of growth instead of the latter phases.
Typically, big well known companies cannot grow at the pace they did when they first became publicly traded. So then the idea is to learn about these companies before they experience their biggest growth and consequently their most explosive stock price appreciation. Cisco Systems and Microsoft are two of the most recognized technology companies on the planet. Microsoft went public in the ’80s. Back then, not many people really understood “Windows” or “email,” which have become essential and necessary in everyone’s lives. In the early ’90s, who knew what the internet was, much less that it would eventually be used without wires and in conjunction with routers? Cisco systems certainly did, and learning conceptually about this company and pulling the trigger would have earned huge returns on an investment. There are also online sites that help navigate thru some of the most recent companies and potential high growth stocks. No one should go out and invest solely into small, growing companies or recent IPOs, but learning about these companies could make you a more balanced investor.
Another tenet of investing purists is the utmost importance placed on fundamental analysis. Metrics such as forward price-to-earnings ratios, book value, price-to-earnings growth rates and free cash flow are just a few of the many data points used to determine if a stock is worth owning. Most of this analysis is based on assumptions at least one year into the future. Using these metrics, fundamentalists and analysts try to peg a “target” price one year into the future.
Instead of trying to figure out what all this jargon really means, why not look at a picture of what a company has actually done instead of what it is projected to do? A stock’s chart tells you what it is valued at the moment you pull it up. Many stock technicians, those who focus on a stock price intensely, would probably agree with the old adage that a picture is truly worth a thousand words. Investors should consider using technical analysis for companies they do not “know” or really have no time or desire to learn either. Doing some homework and learning basic stock charting trends along with terms such as moving averages, breakout and candlesticks can open new doors to stock analysis. (To learn more, check out our Technical Analysis Tutorial.)
Walter Parker Group Summary
Buying what you know is certainly relevant, practical investing advice. However, only buying what you know introduces risk to your portfolio: Many of the biggest returns will be made from companies you have never heard of and do NOT understand. Investors may be wise to invest in companies that they can learn about instead of sticking only with the tried and true of what they supposedly “know.”
Exploring alternative approaches such as learning basic technical analysis and following recent IPOs will help broaden investors’ horizons. by Stephan Abraham
Walter Parker Group is a specialty merger and acquisitions advisory firm providing unmatched expertise to companies seeking guidance in confidential merger and acquisition transactions, business valuations, financing, asset divestitures, joint ventures and equity investments. Our professionals have extensive operational experience, in a variety of industries, in the execution of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and transaction advisory to private and publicly held companies.
Walter Parker Group is a specialty merger and acquisitions advisory firm providing unmatched expertise to companies seeking guidance in confidential merger and acquisition transactions, business valuations, financing, asset divestitures, joint ventures and equity investments. Our professionals have extensive operational experience, in a variety of industries, in the execution of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and transaction advisory to private and publicly held companies.
India aviation 2014 kicks off: FICCI
The biggest deal in the aviation history of India ever signed was concluded between Indian budget airline, Spice Jet and Boeing Co at the 4th International Exhibition & Conference on Civil Aviation being held from today up to Mar. 16, 2014 at Begumpet …
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OK, Glass: Make Google Eyes
This childhood fantasia didn't happen by accident: some of it is the result of urban-design investments made by Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, and his wife, Anne Wojcicki (pronounced Wo-jit-skee), the most important couple in town—and perhaps …
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Stephen Moore: It is way past time to shovel out tax stables
Worse yet, back in the 1980s, the United States had among the lowest income tax rates on businesses in the world. Today, our small and … Camp would also let companies bring capital stored abroad back into America at a low tax rate of less than 10 …
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WSFS Financial Corporation (WSFS) news: WSFS Financial: A 'GARP' Financial …
But for value-focused strong-stomached investors, that creates buying opportunities, and right now my guru-inspired stock-picking models see a big opportunity in one small financial stock in particular. On Feb. 4, my models triggered a Trade Alert on …
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MIT and Wamda reach out to Abu Dhabi's creative community through twofour54 …
twofour54 provides a range of services including: training across all media sectors; business development and funding support to UAE nationals and other Arabs with great ideas; a creativity lab that allows members to get involved in creative projects …
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Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) news: Digital Realty Trust's CEO Discusses Q4 …
The speakers on today's call will be CEO Mike Foust and CFO and Chief Investment Officer, Bill Stein; Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Matt Miszewski is also here with us and will be available for Q&A. …. Third one penny was due to other …
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Small companies market themselves on Facebook and seal deals via WhatsApp
Experts said the lure of social media for small businesses is due to the low cost of marketing and the high return on investment. A recent study by US based consumer data collection company Datalogix showed that 70 per cent of Facebook campaigns drove …
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Market's Perfect For Agnostics, Non-Believers Will Convert
Discipline is one of the most advertised traits in investing, or trading as I prefer, and is often touted as the holy grail of success. On the flip side, a biased attitude is the … But markets lag in discounting the development of the underlying …
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Domino's Pizza, Inc. (DPZ) news: Domino's Pizza Management Discusses Q4 …
We will continue to have low capital expenditures relative to our earnings, but are increasing our spend as we see continuing opportunities to invest in our industry-leading technology platform, the reimaging of our corporate stores and other …
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SAN JOSE (PRWEB) July 09, 2013
Modria today announced it has closed a $ 5 million dollar Series A investment round led by Foundry Group. As part of Modria’s expansion, J. Scott Carr has joined Modria as president and CEO. The Modria platform is the leading online dispute resolution system in the world, enabling businesses and government agencies of any size to resolve customer problems swiftly and fairly. Its proven, scalable cloud-based technology brings all parties involved in a dispute to the table quickly and efficiently, enabling them to arrive at an equitable solution that reduces cost and increases customer brand loyalty.
Colin Rule, co-founder of Modria, wrote the seminal book on online dispute resolution for business (Online Dispute Resolution for Business, published in 2003). He and the core Modria team built the only resolution system to operate at scale, resolving 60 million eBay and PayPal cases a year. In 2011, Rule spun-out of eBay to start Modria, building the next generation resolution platform to address customer issues for business and governments of all sizes. The creator of online dispute resolution, Ethan Katsh, serves as the Chair of Modria’s Board of Advisors.
“Companies like eBay have long known the importance of converting disputes into fair and swift outcomes as a means of growing their business. Now, businesses in other sectors, from insurance companies to healthcare and government agencies, are climbing on board,” said Colin Rule, COO and Chairman of the Board of Modria. “Foundry’s investment in Modria is further evidence of how important this space is. Bringing Scott Carr, a proven executive with a solid track record growing web companies, on board as our CEO ensures that we will grow the company quickly, responsibly and with extreme customer focus.”
Foundry joins an impressive roster of leading angel investors in supporting Modria’s growth, including Kapor Capital (Mitch Kapor), EDVenture Holdings (Esther Dyson), and Dan Ciporin (former Chairman and CEO of Shopping.com), as well as institutional investors Battery Ventures and Advanced Technology Ventures.
“With the explosion of online activities, people are transacting at a rate never before seen,” said Jason Mendelson, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Foundry Group. “This obviously includes ecommerce, but also includes everyday tasks like paying bills online, reviewing property assessments, filing insurance claims, and other things that used to be non-digital activities. It is inevitable that all of these new transactions will generate an enormous amount of disputes that need to be resolved. We believe Modria’s rare combination of deep dispute resolution expertise and proven technology positions them for both short and long-term success.”
Along with the capital infusion, Modria has added Scott Carr to the executive team as CEO. Carr spent the last 15 years leading businesses where trust and transparency were key ingredients of the product value proposition. Carr was president and CEO of YottaMark, a leader in product traceability and supply chain analytics, and EVP of marketing and business development at Digimarc, a leader in content security and identification technologies.
“Complaints and disputes are a fact of life in the networked economy, from online marketplaces to online banking,” said Scott Carr, president and CEO. “They happen hundreds of millions of times a year. What has been missing is a solution that delivers fair resolutions for all these disputes. The Modria platform solves this problem with a scalable, transparent system that provides appropriate resolution processes for every kind of dispute, leveraging software-only and human-powered processes as needed. It’s the first step toward a future in which companies and customers around the world settle their disputes amicably outside the overburdened court system.”
The Modria platform is based on more than a decade of research in online conflict resolution. It combines deep knowledge of legal processes with a scalable and reliable toolset in the cloud. Modria flags and diagnoses customer issues quickly and drives effective negotiation, mediation and arbitration before complaints can disrupt a business and bubble up in social media. Its underlying methodology has been used to successfully settle more than 400 million customer issues.
The Modria platform can handle any caseload, big or small, anywhere and anytime. It is in use today, supporting government and commercial caseloads in the US, Canada, and Europe. The Modria Diagnosis module collects and organizes all the relevant information about the issue and suggests possible solutions. The Negotiation module distills points of contention and enables the parties to discuss the matter directly and on the record.
If the parties are unable to resolve the issue through negotiation, the Mediation module provides an impartial third party to help clarify issues and brainstorm options. If no mutual agreement can be reached, the Arbitration module lets the parties select a decision maker who examines the facts and renders a decision. Throughout the entire process, users can engage in transparent, secure discussions and submit rich assets such as documents and videos supporting their arguments.
About Modria:
Founded in 2011, Modria’s team of technologists, and legal and dispute resolution experts are building the dispute resolution platform for the Internet, providing businesses and government agencies of any size with a scalable and transparent cloud-based platform to diagnose and resolve disputes of all sizes. Modria’s experts created the technology used by eBay and PayPal that has solved hundreds of millions of cases. The company is privately held and based in San Jose, CA. Find more information at http://www.modria.com or email info(at)modria(dot)com.
CONTACT: Scott Carr, scott(at)modria(dot)com, 408.295.5003
Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Zipreality, Trulia, Google and Amazon
One might wonder why Lexis Nexis was able to stay a profitable business while Google provided a wide ranging index of information. The answer is simple. The specialization of the type and source of information that Lexis Nexis provides allows the …
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Finding The Best Business For 2014 – EmpoweredEzine.com
22, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — EmpoweredEzine.com is an online article directory where new and experienced entrepreneurs can find and share information and tips on how to choose and run the best business, and learn from top rated industry …
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New owner pledges to keep Geelong's Shell refinery site running
THE new owner of Shell's Geelong refinery believes the facility can be profitable and will use it to cash in on growing demand from mining and gas companies. Swiss-based Vitol — one of the world's biggest oil … “We are buying the business to build …
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