PowerTalk

Fellow investors, Thanks for joining me this week on PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits.   If your a new listener to PowerTalk, this is the place where I bring you my 1-1 conversations with CEOs of public and private companies as well as other key people in business, politics and wherever else might be impacting the stock market and our investing decisions.  If you’ve been here before, welcome back! As you know my goal with PowerTalk is to let you listen in on some of the conversations I’m having each and every week and to take you behind the scenes and in the know. It’s no secret that job growth has been a disappoint during the current economy recovery. No matter how you look at it and irrespective of the metric you choose, it’s been consistently and persistently weak recovery compared to others.  With wages under pressure, millions of American out of work and thousands continuing to drop out of the work force each month, it can be a depressing pic

Fellow investor, Thanks for joining on this edition of PowerTalk, where I, Chris Versace - editor of the PowerTrend Profits investing newsletter, dish with good friend Keith Bliss of Cuttone & Co. from the floor of the NYSE. Each week we’ll be breaking down the latest goings on in the market and talking about what’s moving it. We also share what data and events we’ll be keeping our eyes on next week.  This past week was an interesting one to say the least. From the start of the sequester and the would be snowquester on the east coast to the latest economic data that points to a firmer domestic economy. Despite a better than expected February Employment Report, there are reasons to be think that this could be an outlier rather than the real thing. Not only did the Challenger Grey Job Cuts report point to a 37% increase in job cuts during February, but sifting through this week’s Fed Beige Book reveals restrained hiring given the implications of the Affordable Care Act. Factor in the expected impact of th

Thanks for joining me again this week on PowerTalk. If your new to the show, this is the place where I bring you my 1-1 conversations with CEOs of public and private companies as well as other key people in business, politics and wherever else might be impacting the stock market and our investing decisions.  I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits.  My goal with PowerTalk is to let you listen in on some of the conversations I’m having each and every week and to take you behind the scenes and in the know. There’s been a lot of bluster over the recently enacted sequester spending cuts, which are really cuts in the rate of spending growth than true reductions in dollars spent. While there will be sectors of the economy that feel the impact more than others -- defense and government contractors like Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC) and others -- the underlying economy is in far better shape given the rebound in the housing and manufacturing economies.  O

Fellow investors, Thanks for joining on this edition of PowerTalk, where I, Chris Versace - editor of the PowerTrend Profits investing newsletter, dish with good friend Keith Bliss of Cuttone & Co. from the floor of the NYSE. Each week we’ll be breaking down the latest goings on in the market and talking about what’s moving it. We also share what data and events we’ll be keeping our eyes on next week.  This past week was an interesting one to say the least. From the Italian elections and sequester to the essentially flat 4Q 2012 GDP revision, it paints a picture of increasing risk. Yet, the major indices continued to move higher and in some cases closing in on all time highs. As we saw with today’s Personal Income and Spending data, however, we are only beginning to see the impact of the payroll tax exemption expiration and higher gas prices. With gas prices continuing to climb, it’s a pretty good bet that the consumer and retailers like J.C. Penny (JCP) and casual dining restaurants like Red Robing Gou

Fellow Investors, Thanks for joining me again this week at PowerTalk. If you’re new to the show, this is the place where I have one-on-one conversations with CEOs of public and private companies as well as other key people in business, politics and any sector that could impact our investing decisions.  I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits and my goal with PowerTalk is to take you behind the scenes and in the know. Can we count on the CEO?   I always get a bunch of questions from subscribers to PowerTrend Profits or at my public speaking engagements. But the one question that tends to crop up rather frequently is what do I think of this CEO or that CEO? Are they doing a good job running the company? Can we count on them? My answer is that over my 20+ years of dissecting industries and companies, I’ve found that there are some great CEOs out there, but there are also some that should be gone. Take it from me,-- someone who sat across the table from a number of C

 Fellow Investor, We've been busy here at PowerTalk, sharing my conversations with key players at public and private companies as well as other institutions of influence. I started PowerTalk to share with you the kinds of conversations that mutual fund and hedge fund players are having with the same  kinds of people. In other words, I wanted to bring you behind the scenes and in the know on some of the key topics of the day that investors and traders are facing. It's been so successful that listeners have been asking for more. And that's what we're about to do. Starting today, I'm adding a second weekly installment to PowerTalk that will share my conversations about the latest happenings over the last several days that are driving the stock market. Be it economic data, politics, or specific company news that is driving the stock market higher or pushing it lower, I'll be talking about it each week with Keith Bliss, Senior Vice President of Cuttone & Company, right from the floor of the New York Stock Exch

Fellow Investor,   In the PowerTalk series, I speak with a number of prominent figures from the CEO of Smith & Wesson (SWHC) to key players at General Motors (GM) and the Consumer Electronics Association and others. The goal is to bring you behind the scenes and in the know when it comes to some of the key issues on investors minds.  I’m at it again this week when I talk about currency and the much discussed currency war that we may or may not be in at the moment. Joining me to talk about this and more is Bernard Lietaer, who was named “the world’s top currency trader” in 1992 by BusinessWeek. Bernard has also been central banker, a fund manager, and a university professor. He has recently added author and has a new book out -- “Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity Into Prosperity.”  The interview stems from how over the last few months, finance ministers from Russia, Thailand, Turkey, South Korea and other countries have been pointing their collective fingers at what they call a “currency

Fellow investor, Over the last year or so, you've probably heard a lot about “the cloud” but ask anyone what it is and you get a half baked description. The reality is there’s a lot to consider when you put our digital content in the cloud and choose a cloud provider be it for music, movies, personal documents or ones for work. Whether its Apple (AAPL) and iCloud, Microsoft (MSFT) and Skydrive, Google (GOOG) and its Drive solution or DropBox, there are shortcomings with each of them. Because the cloud is a key aspect of my Always On, Always Connected PowerTrend I wanted to do a deep dive on the subject with a mover and shaker in the space.   Joining me this week on PowerTalk as I discuss all things cloud with Yorgen Edholm, CEO of Accellion, a leading enterprise cloud file sharing company. We particularly focus on security concerns and how mobile technology will transform the cloud. Because Accellion serves more than 11 million customers across 1,700 of the world’s leading companies like Proctor & Gamble

Fellow Investor, This week’s PowerTalk  is with Tom Stemberg, the founder and former CEO of Staples and the Managing General Partner of the $300 million Highland Consumer Fund.  He’s also a member of the Job Creators Alliance. It’s no secret that job creation has been challenging - 155,000 per month on average over the last 25 months - frustratingly slow.  As we learned recently, the January unemployment rate ticked back up to 7.9% With gas and good prices climbing, plus the expiration of the payroll tax holiday - it doesn’t paint a favorable picture for consumers, particularly those that have been part of the long-term unemployed. Now we’re hearing that tax revenues are back on the table when it comes to solving the country’s debt problem. As it stands today, there’s more than $52,000 in debt per citizen and more than $146,000 debt per taxpayer.  All of this plays right into the Rise and Fall of the Middle Class PowerTrend that subscribers to my PowerTrend Profits newsletter hear me talk about so much. In th

Fellow Investor, Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk, where we bring you insightful conversations with key business people and other subject matter experts that take you behind the scenes and in the know. As always the goal is to arm you with an informed perspective and data points that lead to better investing decisions.   I’m your host Chris Versace, Editor of the investing newsletter PowerTrend Profits - be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on that and be sure to sign up for my free weekly e-letter while your there. Joining me this week is NY Times best-selling author Daniel Pink. You’ve probably read his best selling books Drive or A Whole New Mind or caught him on CNBC, CNN or another network. Today we’re going to talk about his new book - To Sell is Human.  Not only is it a great read, but Dan brings together an astonishing amount of data and presents it in a clear and crisp fashion. Whether its talking about how we are all salespeople in one form or another or how technology -- smartph

Fellow Investor, This week’s PowerTalk interview is with Patrick Sweeney, President and CEO of dwinQ, a social media product placement company.  He’s also the author of RFID for Dummies and a frequent speaker on technology’s impact on business and life. Be it Facebook (FB), Instagram, LinkedIn (LNKD), Google+ (GOOG), Twitter, Pinterest or any other one you can name, social media is changing how we communicate and interact with family, friends, co-workers, products and brands. It’s making for some big business.  Research firm BIA/Kelsey forecasts U.S. social media ad revenues to reach $9.2 billion in 2016, up from $4.6 billion in 2012 - that’s a compound annual growth rate of 19.2%. Impressive but again that’s just in the U.S and social media is part of a global shift in behavior that is  a cornerstone of my Always On, Always Connected PowerTrend. Patrick explains how dwinQ is showing companies like Disney, Cadbury, Vail Resorts, and Heineken how to leverage social media to build their brands and enhance their

Fellow Investor, This week’s PowerTalk interview is with Keith Bliss, Senior Vice President at Cuttone and Company, one of the largest floor brokers on the NYSE.   Keith is an old friend of mine, and he shares what he sees from the trading floor these days.  He starts the conversation off by saying 2013 is shaping up to deliver a lot more of the same for investors as 2012 – mixed economic signals, political battles and all. We also cover why the U.S. equity markets are still the best place to put your money, how to put ETFs to work for you, the risks investors face in 2013, the looming debt ceiling crisis and how you could be affected if Washington doesn’t get a deal in place, taxes, unemployment and more! Finally, we take a look at the potential threats that Keith believes could derail the markets and the economy in 2013, including energy costs, politics and currency wars.    Sincerely, Chris Versace

Fellow Investor, This week I’m talking with Greg Martin from General Motors. Greg’s an Executive Director of Communications Strategy and News Operations as well as an easy person to talk to. He reminds us that while the auto industry may appear simple, there are many layers to it from manufacturing the cars, competing with Ford, Chrysler and others to dealing with car dealerships and the end consumer.  Over the next while, we talk about those things as well as the rebound in auto demand, the auto bailout and issues that caused the company to be called Government Motors; how the company has remade itself over the last few years and what lies ahead given a significant portfolio overhaul and several new technologies.  In some ways, it’s a nice follow up to my talk with Gary Shapiro of the Cosumer Electronics Associatin because Greg confirmed that auto and consumer electronics will be a big deal at the upcoming consumer electronics show. He even mentioned that GM is working with Apple (AAPL) and its Siri voice

Fellow Investor, This week’s PowerTalk interview is with Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group boasts more than 2,000 members – from startup entrepreneurs to Google.  Gary is also the author of two books – The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream and the upcoming Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses, due out on January 8th. These days consumer electronics make up what I call “the new fabric of our lives”, with the average American family having 25 consumer electronic products.  In fact, data shows that 3 out of 4 holiday gift givers plan to buy an electronic product this year.  Gary takes us through some of the big products of the season. We’ll also talk about what to expect at the widely anticipated Consumer Electronics Show coming up in January.  It’s the world’s largest annual trade show with 3,000 exhibitors and over 160,000 people from various parts of the electronics industry i

Welcome to PowerTalk, where we talk with CEOs, COOs and other key business people at public and private companies as well as other subject matter experts. This week we’re talking with Smith & Wesson President and CEO James Debney, who is leading the company to impressive new growth. Smith & Wesson is in the perfect position to profit from my Safety and Security PowerTrend. In the interview we cover: how Smith & Wesson is profiting from strong firearm sales and shifting gun ownership demographics the growing demand for firearms, as evidenced by the chart below their strategy for continuing to improve margins and grow earnings Plus how they plan to increase market share It’s a great conversation with James so lets lock and load and get right to it!In case you missed it, click here to listen to last week’s PowerTalk interview with Mobile Payment expert Matt Jacobson. For more on Chris Versace and PowerTrends, click here. Or visit www.ChrisVersace.com Press Contact: Alberto Rojas arojas@eaglepu

Welcome to PowerTalk, where we talk with CEOs, COOs and other key business people at public and private companies as well as other subject matter experts. This week we’re talking with someone I’ve known for some time -  Matt Jacobson, Venture Partner at Acta Wireless. Matt’s expertise is in mobile. mobile payments and mobile commerce.  In the interview we cover: how people are paying with their mobile devices – be it with PayPal, Square, their Starbucks mobile app, Google Wallet and a host of others. the Cashless Consumption PowerTrend shift including the companies offering payment apps as well as companies like Verifone and Ingenico that make the point of sale equipment. Plus integrated mobile commerce like couponing and Apple’s Passbook offering. As you’ll hear, Matt thinks we’re in the early innings of mobile commerce and a lot is going to happen…. Click here to play the interview For more on Chris Versace and PowerTrends, click here. Or visitwww.ChrisVersace.com Press Contact: Alberto Rojas arojas@

Fellow investors, I recently spoke with Bahram Yusefzadeh, Chairman and CEO of Red Lambda, and William Ronca, EVP - Global Sales, Marketing and Business Development at Red Lambda, about the use of Big Data and Cyber Security. In information technology lingo, big data is a loosely-defined term used to describe data sets so large and complex that they become awkward to work with using on-hand database management tools. Difficulties include capture, storage, search, sharing, analysis, and visualization Yet Red Lambda has harnessed the power of big data to move Cyber Security from being reactive to being proactive. As I say, you react with a good defense, but to be secure you have to be proactive and Red Lambda is using that to differentiate its solutions from others including Sourcefire (FIRE), Symantec (SYMC),  Fortinet (FTNT) and others. With cyber attacks hitting institutions of all sizes - from Google (GOOG) to Northrop Grumman (NOC) the stakes are high as we increasingly move into the digital world and mig

Hey everyone, I recently spoke with Stephen Candelmo, the CEO and one of the founders of Klaggle. Your probably wondering  much the way I did when I first heard that word a- what's a klaggle? Well Stephen sets us straight on that as well as tells us not only what the company is doing but how it's solutions will change the way we shop and find content online. In short, Klaggle could one day be a verb much the way we use "Google" as a word - "I'll just google it" could one day be "I better klaggle that." Big implications for movies, music, books, and other online shopping experiences so watch out Amazon, Best Buy and HH Gregg, but it doesn't stop there and as you'll see, it has implications for news, magazines and more. Give it a listen. Press Contact: Alberto Rojas arojas@eaglepub.com

Hey Everyone, This is our latest 2020Talk with James Nolan, EVP of InterDigital's (IDCC) R&D Team. InterDigital is a key patent holder in both 3G WCDMA and 4G LTE Technologies. Jim does a great job of explaining what each of the mobile technologies really is and what the transition means to mobile carriers, device manufacturers not to mention potential pain points along the way. Good stuff all the way around and very insightful for companies, investors and more. Give it a listen. Chris