Last Thursday (April 17) Weibo (WB), a premier Chinese social media company, began trading on the NASDAQ. Weibo’s social media app is widely considered to be the “Chinese” version of Twitter (TWTR). Most interest in Weibo’s IPO stems from investor concern over future Chinese listings on American exchanges. For many prospective investors, Weibo is considered a case study meant to reflect the success of Alibaba’s future IPO.
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Practice Safe Text
Mark Cuban continues to expand his already impressive portfolio by entering the social media market with a new iOS messaging app, Cyber Dust. The billionaire has invested heavily in the development and promotion of Cyber Dust, describing the app as a combination of Snapchat and WhatsApp. However, unlike Snapchat, Cyber Dust focuses on providing users a secure mobile messaging experience.
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The Rotting Apple
What I am about to write will be wildly unpopular amongst Apple’s cult following, but remains relevant nonetheless. It will be controversial and, to some fan boys, unbearable. However, this is the opinion of an investor, not a consumer (although I do own two MacBooks, five iPods, two Apple TVs, two iPads, and an iPhone). Knowing this, please keep in mind that if I were to hypothetically favor a company, my bias would be in favor of Apple (AAPL).
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Investors Hungry For IPOs
In the midst of an abysmal past two weeks on Wall Street, a mobile food ordering app, GrubHub (GRUB), went public. Last Friday (April 11) CEO Matt Maloney overlooked the NYSE trading floor to witness the results of his company’s IPO. Initial investor demand was so high that the company raised its initial offering target price from $20-22 to $23-25, and saw its stock shoot up 50% to $39 before eventually ending the day around $34.
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Grey Skies Form Close Ties
Alternative energy is an emerging powerhouse industry within the United States. Although there are many variants of renewable energy, like wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and oceanic, the leader is clearly solar. Solar power is attractive because it harnesses energy from an abundant, and natural source, the sun. Since the sun isn’t going anywhere for quite some time, solar energy offers promising prospects.
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3D-Farmville... & Drones?
Facebook (FB) continued its massive spending spree a few weeks back, purchasing Oculus VR, a technology company that specializes in virtual reality, for $2 Billion. This acquisition occurred a mere few months after Facebook purchased messaging service WhatsApp, for $19 Billion.
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Is The Game Stopping?
According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), “no other sector [in the United States Economy] has experienced the same explosive growth as the computer and video game industry.” In their demographic study of the video game industry, the ESA reports 58% of Americans play video games and 51% of American households own a game console (many of which own more than one).
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