amazon.com Inc.
NASDAQ symbol AMZN, is the leading bookseller on the Internet, as well as a leading video and music seller. It also has numerous other store categories, including electronics, computer games, toys and tools. Through Amazon Services, the company also offers programs that let sellers market on its web sites.
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $106.09 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks representing the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange by market cap.
The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial firms. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. It yields 1.0%.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast and Facebook.
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The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial firms. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. It yields 1.0%.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast and Facebook.
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IBM $163.16 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 984.7 million; Market cap: $162.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.2%; www.ibm.com) has formed an alliance with Box Inc. (New York symbol BOX), which sells cloud-storage services to businesses.
Under the deal, IBM will develop programs that combine its analytics software with Box’s cloud-based data. It will also integrate some of Box’s programs with its business email and online collaboration services, while Box’s clients will gain access to IBM’s consultants and online security technologies.
Teaming up with Box should help IBM compete with cloud-computing providers like Amazon.com and Oracle.
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Under the deal, IBM will develop programs that combine its analytics software with Box’s cloud-based data. It will also integrate some of Box’s programs with its business email and online collaboration services, while Box’s clients will gain access to IBM’s consultants and online security technologies.
Teaming up with Box should help IBM compete with cloud-computing providers like Amazon.com and Oracle.
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CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, $661.95, symbol CMG on New York, offers higher-quality food and better decor and service than many fast-food chains, and charges slightly higher prices. Under its Food with Integrity initiative, it uses naturally raised meat wherever possible. The company’s all-natural meat comes from animals that are raised humanely, never given antibiotics or hormones and fed a vegetarian diet. In January 2015, the company halted sales of pork items at one-third of its nearly 1,800 U.S. restaurants after learning that a key supplier had failed to meet its pig-housing standards. Under Chipotle’s requirements, pigs must be housed in humane conditions with access to the outdoors, rather than in pens....
CAMECO CORP., $17.00, symbol CCO on Toronto, has suspended uranium shipments by truck from its Rabbit Lake and Key Lake mines in northern Saskatchewan. The company made the decision in response to forest fires in the region. Cameco is the world’s largest uranium producer. It has large, high-grade reserves, low-cost operations, significant market share and a number of mines. The company halted shipments after travel restrictions were imposed on some northern roads because of low visibility....
EBAY INC. $29 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $34.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) launched its online auction site in September 1995 and now has 157 million users worldwide. Sellers pay fees to list and sell their goods through eBay’s websites.
In addition to used goods, the company continues to sell more merchandise from retailers, which is helping it compete with Amazon.com. Right now, over 60% of eBay’s total transactions are sales of new items at fixed prices.
The company also operates several other popular websites, including StubHub (ticket sales for live events), Shopping. com (comparison shopping) and Rent.com (apartment and house rentals). These services are in addition to its local websites, which sell classified ads in over 1,000 cities.
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In addition to used goods, the company continues to sell more merchandise from retailers, which is helping it compete with Amazon.com. Right now, over 60% of eBay’s total transactions are sales of new items at fixed prices.
The company also operates several other popular websites, including StubHub (ticket sales for live events), Shopping. com (comparison shopping) and Rent.com (apartment and house rentals). These services are in addition to its local websites, which sell classified ads in over 1,000 cities.
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IBM $163.16 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 984.7 million; Market cap: $162.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.2%; www.ibm.com) has formed an alliance with Box Inc. (New York symbol BOX), which sells cloud-storage services to businesses. Under the deal, IBM will develop programs that combine its analytics software with Box’s cloud-based data. It will also integrate some of Box’s programs with its business email and online collaboration services, while Box’s clients will gain access to IBM’s consultants and online security technologies. Teaming up with Box should help IBM compete with cloud-computing providers like Amazon.com and Oracle....
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....
AMAZON.COM INC., $437.71, symbol AMZN on Nasdaq, plans to set up cloud data centres in India by next year. Amazon Web Services already has what it says are “tens of thousands” of customers in India using its cloud services at one of its 11 data centres worldwide. However, Indian customers are looking for lower latency—delays between computer input and output unnoticeable by humans but key for real-time processing in Internet services such as online trading, gaming and voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology....
AMAZON.COM $488.27 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 465.7 million; Market cap: $227.3 billion; No dividends paid) continues to excel in a range of businesses; its shares are now at all-time highs.
The company is a major online retailer that’s growing quickly in new areas. For example, Amazon Web Services offers cloud services through 11 data centres worldwide. It accounts for just 7% of Amazon’s sales, but that’s growing at over 50% a year. However, when Amazon enters a new line of business, it’s happy to make little profit, or even lose money.
This is an appropriate growth strategy. Eventually, competitors will catch up with its technology and business practices. In the meantime, it focuses on building a large and loyal clientele.
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The company is a major online retailer that’s growing quickly in new areas. For example, Amazon Web Services offers cloud services through 11 data centres worldwide. It accounts for just 7% of Amazon’s sales, but that’s growing at over 50% a year. However, when Amazon enters a new line of business, it’s happy to make little profit, or even lose money.
This is an appropriate growth strategy. Eventually, competitors will catch up with its technology and business practices. In the meantime, it focuses on building a large and loyal clientele.
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Rackspace Hosting Inc., $37.19, symbol RAX on New York (Shares outstanding: 142.8 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; www.rackspace.com), provides cloud computing and information technology services for a range of businesses. Its offerings include web hosting and tools clients use to manage their data centres, networks and devices. The company gets about two-thirds of its revenue from managed cloud-hosting services, which combine cloud space with specialized client support. This approach appeals to businesses that want to outsource their computing needs so they can focus on their main operations. The remaining third comes from unmanaged (or public) cloud services. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Rackspace’s revenue rose 14.1%, to $480.2 million from $421.0 million a year earlier. The rise came from an influx of new customers and higher sales to existing ones. The company gets about 30% of its revenue from outside of the U.S., and the higher U.S. dollar cut its sales by $11 million in the latest quarter....