Displaying items by tag: Amazon

(New York)

Go back a few years and the big fear of the wealth management market was robo advisors, especially upstarts like Betterment and Wealthfront. Fast forward to 2018 and fears of robos have largely receded as they seem to have found their niche in the industry alongside human advisors. Now the big worry is about large tech companies pushing into wealth and asset management. The anxiety most commonly manifests in worrying that Amazon might launch a digital wealth management platform of its own. However, Charles Schwab’s CEO just sent out a warning to the FANGS, saying that “If you’re a FAANG-type company and you decide you want to come into our space in a manner consistent with the way we operate, you will invite the Federal Reserve into every single thing you do”.

FINSUM: It is true that if the FANGS were to become full-fledged financial service providers they would suddenly be subject to much stricter regulations. It could be an obstacle that holds them off, at least for a while.

(Seattle)

Amazon is starting a new service. For the last year, the company has been trying to convince consumers that letting the company’s delivery people in their homes via a special service was a good idea. Now Amazon is taking that one step further with the launch of a program to deliver packages to customers’ cars. Like the home deliveries, and broadly under the same program, named Amazon Key, Amazon’s delivery people will deliver packages to cars parked in publicly available areas. The car will be unlocked by an OnStar (or similar) service and relocked after the delivery is completed.

FINSUM: We think this could be a very convenient feature for many people and may be an enticement to get more consumers to sign up.

(New York)

The retail sector has been in tumult for years, but the struggles have intensified over the last few years as ecommerce has accelerated and physical stores are under pressure. The big winner so far has been Amazon, but lately, Walmart has been pushing back with a greatly improved and expanded ecommerce offering. Now, Walmart may be able to grab more market share in the US retail market by undercutting other retailers on price. Walmart has been lowering prices and is now 3-5% below other retailers like Dollar General, Kroger, and Big Lots for the same items. Many of the items are so-called “traffic-driving”.

FINSUM: We can comment on this from personal experience. It is remarkable, especially in rural America, how much minor price differences can entice consumers to drive 10+ extra miles to the store which is perceived as cheaper. We think these price differences will be material.

(Washington)

The Wall Street Journal says that the source of Donald Trump’s push to regulate Amazon has nothing to do with tech industry issues or the Post Office. They say it is personal. In particular, the WSJ contends that Trump’s anger is personally directed toward Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, a publication with which there is mutual ire with Trump. The president dislikes the Post’s coverage of him, so he attacking Amazon as a proxy, says the WSJ.

FINSUM: If you are in investor in Amazon, then this is likely good news, as Trump’s ire might just be hot air that doesn’t materialize into any new rules.

(Washington)

Amazon has been in President Trump’s crosshairs since the election, but the president has recently upped his rhetoric about bringing regulation to the company and the tech industry. The push has spooked stock markets. However, news is out that Amazon is making a push of its own. The retailer is building a huge army of lobbyists in Washington to combat the rising risk of regulation. Since Trump’s election, the company has doubled its staff of in-house lobbyists to 28, giving it more than double Google’s manpower.

FINSUM: The rumors coming out of the White House—that this is all just rhetoric—seems encouraging (if you are an investor). However, Amazon seems to be taking the risk seriously, which it should.