1) News for budding entrepreneurs. Each year, roughly 30,000 new consumer products are introduced to the market place, but 95% of them fail. The primary reason for failure is lack of preparation, of not understanding the ‘product life cycle’. The life cycle is the time from inception to obsolescence the product experiences. As a product goes through its life cycle, the sales and profit margins will fluctuate, so you must adjust your marketing mix accordingly. The subject is complex and extensive, and a new entrepreneur should spend time researching and understanding the topic before investing in a new product venture.
2) AT&T and Microsoft announced they have agreed on a cloud deal worth more than $2 billion dollars. AT&T will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud service for its computing needs and Office 365 software for its 268,000 people. Additionally, the two companies will work together on edge computing with Microsoft technology deployed alongside AT&T’s up coming 5G network and applications requiring extremely small delays in passing data back and forth such as real time control systems applications.
3) The debt of America is about to hit a record high, a result of cheap money and soaring debt, which has fueled the decade long economic expansion and bull market. There are raising fears of what could happen if there is a shift in the fragile economic balance. The total American debt, both public and private amounts to nearly $70 trillion dollars, with the economy about $21 trillion dollars in size. Difficulties could arise if America should experience a recession with both government and private sectors having trouble meeting their repayments.
4) Stock market closings for – 17 JUL 19: Disappointing quarterly reports pulled the markets down.
Dow 27,219.85 down 115.78
Nasdaq 8,185.21 down 37.59
S&P 500 2,984.42 down 19.62
10 Year Yield: down at 2.06%
Oil: down at $56.58