In a close landmark decision, the Supreme Court just ruled in favor, 5-4, of allowing states to collect sales tax from online retailers regardless if they have a physical presence in the state. The decision arose from a 2016 lawsuit filed by the State of South Dakota, against online retailers Wayfair (NYSE:W), Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), and Newegg.
There is a new competitor in the thematic ETF space, which seeks to provide exposure to the accelerating global demand for advanced battery technology. The Amplify Advanced Battery Metals and Materials ETF (BATT) launched on the NYSE 6/6/18.
The concept of brand is nothing new. In fact, as demonstrated in the graphic below, brand has been around since ancient times. But the financial relevance of Brand in the digital age has grown, along with other intangible sources of value such as intellectual property, ideas, and data.
Innovative ways companies are harnessing the power of global blockchain.
The pharma and biotech sectors have had their ups and downs over the last year as a more favorable regulatory environment has been offset by drug pricing pressures. But this has also been a year of medical breakthroughs, landmark approvals, and M&A activity in the cancer immunotherapy segment.
Investors and companies are just starting to understand the transformational potential of blockchain technology to enhance the business processes of many industries and even permanently disrupt them.
Two new ETFs launched on Wednesday, January 17th, the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK) and Reality Shares NASDAQ Nextgen Economy ETF (BLCN). If those names seem less than intuitive to you, the SEC would not let any of the blockchain filings use the word blockchain in their names. But both of these ETFs share the mandate of providing exposure to companies involved in the blockchain ecosystem.
Advisors and investors are in a continual search for assets that are not correlated with the other assets in their portfolio. The EQM-Emerita Blockchain BLOK 50 Global Index appears to provide significant diversification on a correlation basis.
2017 was a year of technological advancement, but also product transition for wearable technology. Many of the companies in wearables such as Fitbit (FIT), GoPro (GPRO), and Apple (AAPL) did not launch new products until late in the year, targeting the holiday shopping season.
Just to be clear on the definition of a wearable, it is any electronic device that can be worn on the body either as an accessory or a part of clothing for application categories such as: Sports and Fitness, Industrial/Military, Infotainment/Lifestyle, and/or Healthcare and Medical.
