Founded in 2021, Big Betty Partners has already achieved heights in the affiliate marketing industry. With a fresh approach combining innovative technology and strategy, the platform has redefined what success looks like in digital marketing. As an industry leader, it continually enhances its affiliates’ capabilities by offering competitive commissions, reliable support, and tools designed to maximize earnings. Intrigued? Let’s find out the benefits and opportunities that they offer to its global network of partners…
Program Overview
Big Betty Partners is a premium affiliate program renowned for its exceptional benefits tailored to its partners. They are committed to consistent payouts and meticulous, individualized support for each affiliate.
Despite being a newer player in the market, they have rapidly established a commendable reputation, with a presence across over 20 regions worldwide, particularly strong in Europe. Their extensive network of dedicated partners is a testament to their commitment to success and trust in the brand.
Want to know more? Visit their website to find out more information.
About the Brand
Their program is proud to feature two exceptional brands. Each offers an extensive array of over 5,000 licensed slots that cater to every taste, including cash games and live dealers.
What sets these brands apart are not only their comprehensive offerings from top providers like Play’n GO, Pragmatic Play, and Quickspin but also exclusive games available solely through their platforms. Moreover, the big brands boast some of the best payout rates provided by these industry leaders.
All this is complemented by a license from the regulator Curacao, thanks to which players can not worry about the security of transactions or the integrity of games. Each site includes a detailed FAQ section to assist players.
Players can enjoy more than just games:
1. Retention features
- Loyalty Programs: Comprehensive programs that reward players for their continued engagement.
- Generous Cashback: Players can receive up to 20% cashback, mitigating losses and encouraging longer play.
2. Gamification & bonus features
- Level-up bonuses: Progress through different tiers, unlocking rewards and bonuses at each step.
- Rakeback: The percentages depend on the stakes.
- Regular events: Daily mini-games, tournaments, missions, and other activities to enhance the gaming experience.
3. Betting features
For sports betting enthusiasts, they offer a wide range of sports with competitive odds. However, the most appealing feature there is the Comboboost bonus. How does it work?
This bonus provides additional odds, increasing the potential winnings for bettors who make multiple single bets and combine them into one parlay. This makes ComboBoost an advantageous sports betting bonus, amplifying winnings if the bet succeeds while limiting losses to just the stake if it does not.
Program Features
Big Betty Partners distinguishes itself in the affiliate marketing world through its versatile partnership models. They offer enticing commission structures, ranging from 25% to 45% on monthly revenue shares, with the added benefit of no negative carryover. For those interested in CPA options, customizable plans are readily available, including Revenue Share (RS), Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), and Hybrid models. Affiliates can enjoy up to 45% in RS, negotiate personalized CPA deals up to $500 based on geographic location and traffic type, or choose a hybrid model for optimal benefits.
Another standout feature is their meticulous account evaluation process. Every affiliate undergoes a comprehensive review to ensure all standards are met before any earnings are distributed, providing assurance of your compensation’s accuracy and fairness.
Regarding payouts, they offer a variety of convenient withdrawal methods. Affiliates can access their funds through Bank transfer or Crypto, with a minimal payout requirement of €100. Moreover, payments are consistently dispatched in the first week of each month, so you won’t wait too long for a payout.
Beyond Rebates: Additional Benefits for Partners
Rebates are a fundamental aspect of the program, but it enhances this with several additional benefits to bolster its partners’ success. Let’s see what else has been prepared:
- Dedicated Affiliate Managers: Each partner is assigned an experienced affiliate manager who offers continuous support and tailored advice to maximize their campaign’s effectiveness.
- Robust Marketing Toolkit: Partners provided with an extensive selection of marketing tools, such as banners, landing pages, and educational content, designed to promote offerings proficiently.
- Exclusive Bonuses and Offers: Partners benefit from exclusive promotional opportunities, including custom landing pages and banners tailored to boost engagement.
- Real-time Tracking and Reporting: Straightforward and user-friendly dashboard that enables partners to monitor their referrals’ activities and earnings through detailed, real-time reporting.
Top traffic sources
Partners welcome traffic from numerous sources, particularly those adept in search engine optimization (SEO) that target high-stake players. By strategically focusing on regions and platforms where betting and gaming activities are prominent, significant gains can be achieved. They also highly endorse the use of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and partnerships with influencers to enhance traffic.
The foundation of Partners’ strategy is a deep commitment to robust partnerships and thorough support, providing all the necessary resources for partners to prosper in affiliate marketing. They continuously seek to diversify the traffic sources and are always open to adopting innovative approaches and new techniques.
How to transform your traffic into treasure?
First off, swing by the official affiliate program website. You’ll just need to drop in some simple info: your name or nickname, email address, traffic source, and your preferred cooperation model (be it CPA or RevShare).
Once you’ve provided this information, a dedicated Personal Manager will reach out within 24 hours to complete your registration. After this quick setup, you can start generating traffic immediately! This efficient procedure allows both newcomers and experienced affiliates to commence earning without delay.
After you’re signed up, you’ll have access to your own comprehensive affiliate account, packed with all the tools you need:
- Dashboard: Monitor your performance with real-time updates on clicks, registrations, deposits, and earnings, neatly filterable by source, location, and link for clear insights.
- FAQs: Got questions? No worries! Dive into the FAQs for a slew of answers, and for anything trickier, especially about payouts, their team is just a message away via Telegram, Skype, or email during business hours.
- Payout Information: Enjoy monthly payments, tailored to your schedule. Plus, with flexible withdrawal options like cryptocurrencies and bank transfers, getting your earnings is easy.
Meet Big Betty Partners team
Take your chance to connect with Big Betty Partners at the IGB Amsterdam event! They’ll be at booth 11-D12, ready to dive into all the details of their exciting partnership opportunities. And if you’re eager to start earning right away, why wait? Reach out to them now, and let’s kickstart your journey to success. Contact them today, and let’s explore how you can begin profiting immediately!
Contacts:
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: This promoted content is produced by an advertiser of Affiverse. This is paid-for advertorial content supplied by the Advertiser. Affiverse allows affiliates, operators, agencies and SaaS providers to share their news, opinion and insights with Affiverse’s audience both online and via our newsletters. To advertise with us, contact: [email protected]
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Some of America’s biggest companies, including Tesla, T-Mobile, and Netflix, were front and center in a new report that reveals how much companies paid in federal income taxes — compared to how much they made in profit, and what they paid their top executives.
The Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness released a report Wednesday that highlighted “a significant number” of major U.S. companies, 35 in total, that paid its top five executives more than they paid in federal income taxes between 2018 and 2022.
Elon Musk’s Tesla was No. 1 on the list. The company paid its top five executives $2.5 billion over five years while bringing in $4.4 billion in U.S. profit.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk speaks to the media next to its Model S during a press conference in Hong Kong. 25JAN16 SCMP/ Nora Tam (Photo by Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
Musk has a net worth of around $184 billion, with about $69.7 billion of that total based on the value of his Tesla stock, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk is one of the top three richest people in the world.
The report points out that despite Tesla’s record profits, the company “has never paid a nickel in federal income taxes.” A potential cause of this trend, according to the report, could be Tesla carrying losses forward from before it became profitable.
“These loss carryforwards smooth out the often boom-bust nature of corporate finances,” the report reads.
Related: ‘Next Tesla’ Electric Car Startups Hit Speed Bump: ‘Investors Want To See Demand’
T-Mobile was second on the list, with a profit of $17.9 billion in the U.S. over five years and zero net federal income taxes. The top five executives there were paid $675 million from 2018-2022, according to the report, with CEO and president Mike Sievert receiving $158 million of that total.
There are a number of tax avoidance, or tax minimizing, strategies mentioned in the report, including shifting American profits to offshore tax havens or using stock option tax deductions.
The report does not take state, local, or payroll taxes into account.
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Peter Kennedy is the President and Founder of Tagger Media.
Social media is one of the largest sources of data in the world. Every minute, users post 1.7 million pieces of content on Facebook, upload 500 hours of video on YouTube and share 66,000 photos on Instagram. Every like, share, follow, view and click for this content is captured, creating a real-time database of digital behavior.
Through big data analytics, marketers have turned this mountain of social data into a goldmine of insights, leveraging it to create data-driven strategies and make informed decisions. So, how are top brands leveraging data to inform their influencer marketing strategy and achieve precise content delivery to the right audience at the right time?
Leveraging Data To Inform Strategy
The vast amount of content and wide range of topics covered by influencers on social media creates an invaluable data source, empowering marketers to construct effective strategies and gain insights into nearly any industry. To do this, it’s essential to understand the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where” and “why” (the five W’s) of your product category, industry and target audience. By leveraging data insights, you can better understand your audience’s interests, behaviors and preferences, which can inform your influencer selection, creative execution, timing, delivery and messaging.
Building Influencer Strategies Based On The Five W’s
The five W’s provide marketers with a simple framework to analyze complex and multifaceted business problems, allowing them to ask the right questions, identify key issues and develop effective solutions that align with their marketing objectives. Depending on the marketing channel, the five W’s will change and adapt based on the available data and actionable insights.
Those who have adopted the five W’s approach often have a competitive advantage over their counterparts who simply look at an influencer’s profile and audience demographics. A broad-stroke approach to a complex space prevents you from seeing the white space. The five W’s framework helps provide a comprehensive understanding of the target audience, helping brands resonate with their audience and driving greater influencer marketing campaign success.
1. The Who
The “who” identifies your target audience, their demographic characteristics, geolocation, interests and affinities. Getting the “who” right is essential to ensure your messaging will reach the right audience with the greatest propensity to engage with your brand.
The “who” is the influencer you should hire based on audience fit and proven past performance within your industry. Proven past success doesn’t simply mean they have a high average engagement rate, but rather it means out of thousands of influencers who have mentioned your topic or product category, they outperformed everyone. The metrics determining performance will change based on the industry, company, campaign and marketer’s objectives, but some common metrics used to measure the effectiveness of influencer marketing include reach, engagement, cost per impression (CPM), cost per video view (CPV), cost per engagement (CPE) and return on investment (ROI).
2. The What
Understanding what types of content most resonate with your audience is critical to your campaign strategy, as not all viewers will respond the same way. A strong sense of who you want to reach is foundational to your overall strategy. For example, a short 30-second makeup tutorial video on TikTok may see a significant engagement rate for women under 25, but a 15-minute video on YouTube may be the sweet spot to reach women over 30.
3. The When
Social platforms have become some of the most competitive real estate in the digital space, so knowing when the best or most relevant time is to connect with your community is critical to your campaign’s success. So, once you know who you want to connect with and what content you want them to engage with, the next thing to consider is when these social conversations are happening. Is there predictable seasonality throughout the year when your brand or product is most relevant? Are there tentpole moments that naturally fit with the context of your brand or product? Planning for the best time to activate your campaigns can help boost engagement and cost-effectiveness by ensuring your brand’s peak awareness is at the most advantageous times.
4. The Where
Considerations for where you activate your campaigns can be just as important as the contents of the campaign. Perhaps your brand’s community is most active on Instagram, and you notice the content regularly receives three times the engagement of other social media platforms. It’s probably important to ensure your brand is included in this share of voice. You might also see a significant volume of posts, in which case the competition may be significantly higher than another platform. White space may be a strategic advantage.
5. The Why
Lastly, you want to ensure you’re clear on why you’re running your campaign, as there are many ways influencer marketing strategies can support your digital marketing strategy. Analyzing the volume of mentions your competitors receive through influencer activation can help determine why you need to hire influencers. Additionally, analyzing the volume of posts about specific benefits of a brand’s products can provide valuable insights into your target audience’s needs or preferences. This exercise will enable you to develop more effective campaign messaging, highlighting your product’s most important features and benefits and, ultimately, driving higher engagement, conversions and ROI.
Advancing The Tools Available
For marketers to ask and answer these questions, the tech industry has developed tools that have and use more data. However, many tools in the market focus heavily on influencer profiles and audiences. This is a broad strokes approach to a very complex space that prevents users from seeing the finer details.
A one-size-fits-all formula doesn’t work for influencer marketing. Each campaign is different, and each audience is diverse. This calls for tools that measure hundreds of variables instead of a handful, help drive strategy and get to the who, what, where, when and why with the stroke of a key. With these, brands can tailor their messaging, targeting and creative approaches to resonate more effectively with their audience, driving greater influencer marketing campaign success.
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The sales funnel—a linear journey termed AIDA, beginning from the wide mouth of the funnel (Awareness), moving to the mid-section (Interest and Decision), and finally reaching the narrow bottom (Action)—has been a cornerstone of marketing strategy for decades.
In the rapidly evolving digital business world, traditional sales and marketing methods might not be … [+]
But in today’s fast-paced digital business environment, it may no longer suffice. “The sales funnel is well past its sell-by date,” reported Raconteur, concluding that the customer journey is no longer a straightforward, one-directional process: it now involves multiple touchpoints across multiple channels.
So, what could replace the sales funnel?
According to Raconteur, an alternative is the software-as-a-service (SaaS) bow tie model. Research published by Harvard Business Review agrees, concluding that traditional sales models, with their emphasis on customer acquisition and funnel metrics, prove inadequate for recurring revenue businesses like subscription models—as the customer life cycle resembles a bow tie rather than a funnel, wherein the majority of revenue occurs beyond the confines of the marketing funnel because customers churn, upgrade, downsize and renew.
“By jettisoning the traditional sales funnel model in favor of a more dynamic bow tie-shaped lifestyle, firms can better anticipate customer needs by understanding how customers interact with them,” said Jack Tillotson in an interview. The tenure-track assistant professor of marketing at Finland’s University of Vaasa added, “With a bow tie, you can analyze customers’ post-purchase behavior and better anticipate their future needs. That allows firms to build relationships with customers, providing on-time, relevant services.”
Enter artificial intelligence (AI).
By combining AI, big data, and predictive analytics, firms are now capable of understanding customer interactions at every level. This deep understanding is vital for ‘narrowcasting’ personalized communication and promotions that meet specific customer needs. It symbolizes a significant evolution in customer relationship management, shifting the focus from merely gaining new customers to encompassing the complete customer experience.
And this is likely why a study of 9,000 global customers noted a recent 1310% surge in companies using SaaS Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, explaining: “The number of companies using SaaS LLM APIs has grown 1310% between the end of November 2022 and the beginning of May 2023.” This “data-driven transformation,” as some have dubbed it, is fueled by the lack of expertise within organizations to effectively develop and train a robust AI solution, leading to the need for substantial time and scarce technical resources to build in-house systems, along with the formidable task of acquiring suitable data science talent and a lengthy timeline exceeding two years for implementing the initial solution, thereby creating challenges for most companies to leverage the benefits of AI.
According to Shaun Clark, co-founder and CEO of HighLevel—a white-label SaaS platform used by more than 40,000 marketing agencies —companies are increasingly leveraging AI to understand their customers better, create individualized experiences, and quickly scale customer relationships. “The best SaaS AI platforms are continually improving and growing. They use advanced predictive analytics and machine learning to analyze interactions across all touchpoints in real-time, allowing companies to deliver personalized experiences and improve customer service,” said Clark, by way of a representative, adding, “The most innovative organizations adopt generative AI platforms that can be brought seamlessly into their various workflows: customer service, sales, marketing, and beyond.”
He may be right.
Data concludes that 67% of B2B organizations already utilize AI in their marketing efforts, and over 70% plan to increase their use of AI in ways that increase automation and personalization. You may, for example, have already seen the viral LinkedIn post of July 16 showing Air—a conversational AI—capable of handling complete phone calls ranging from 5 to 40 minutes, emulating human-like conversations for sales and customer support purposes. Evidently, AI-driven automation can (and will increasingly) help firms anticipate customer demand, increase operational efficiency, optimize pricing strategies, streamline production processes, customize products according to customer needs, and better analyze customer data for insights into their preferences. The implications on leadership of such developments are threefold:
1. Understanding AI: The New Leadership Imperative and the Drive for Continuous Learnings
As the AI revolution continues to unfold, it falls to leaders of all stripes—from executives at the top of the corporate ladder to middle managers, team leaders, and individual contributors—to use their intuition to anticipate AI’s possible implications on the future of work. Evidently, the most innovative organizations adopt generative AI platforms that integrate seamlessly with their existing operations.
They then use these tools to automate mundane and repetitive tasks, freeing up their employees’ time for more strategic work. But it’s not just a matter of understanding the technology: To truly take advantage of AI, leaders must equip themselves with the skills necessary to navigate it, including a basic understanding of its algorithms and architectures.
2. Balancing the Scale: Ethical Considerations in AI Adoption for Leaders
Of course, with the great power of AI comes a great responsibility for its ethical and responsible use. Leaders must take it upon themselves to lead by example, demonstrating that their organizations understand the implications of AI and are committed to using it responsibly. Gartner’s research predicts that by 2027, 80% of enterprise marketers will establish functions to combat misinformation due to the rise in AI and user-generated content. These functions will likely be focused on automated data insights, brand monitoring, and sentiment analysis tools that can flag content to be assessed by humans.
“Consumers are beginning to recognize and appreciate content that reflects human qualities such as empathy, humor, and emotion and that demonstrates credibility of information sources,” Clark said. “Leaders who guide their organization’s marketing campaigns with this in mind will be among those who execute the most successful long-term strategies.” So, it is not just a matter of understanding the technology and its possibilities but also a responsibility to ensure that AI use cases are ethical in practice.
3. Preparing for the AI-Augmented Future: Redefining Roles and Upskilling in B2B Operations
With AI becoming more prevalent, leaders must be prepared to restructure their roles and enhance their teams’ skills for the AI-enhanced future, discerning areas where human value can still be added and creating a system that benefits from AI’s potential, yet retains space for human creativity, initiative, and engagement. This is why, according to Nicholas Read, author of two bestselling McGraw Hill books on sales and marketing leadership (Selling to the C-Suite and Target Opportunity Selling), “By upskilling their teams, leaders can ensure that they are prepared to make the most of AI in a way that is ethical and beneficial: finding opportunities for AI to replace human effort, creating space and time for humans to focus on higher-level tasks that require creativity and judgement.”
And so, the traditional sales funnel, once a trusted model, is rapidly giving way to more flexible, data-driven models in this digital age. It’s clear that we’re experiencing a paradigm shift in our approach to marketing strategy. Leaders should take notice and capitalize on the opportunities available to them by embracing this revolution. After all, the best way to predict the future is to create it.
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Tests await teams every season. It didn’t take long for the Sky to be hit with their first: a pair of injuries.
Center Li Yueru arrived in Chicago with an undisclosed lower-extremity injury and was put on a full-season contract suspension on May 18. Newly arrived forward Isabelle Harrison, a projected starter, was ruled out indefinitely this week after surgery to repair her left meniscus.
Heading into the season opener against the Lynx last Friday, there was uncertainty about how the Sky would face their next trial: competition. But they earned road victories against the Lynx and Mercury with players who took the “next player up” mentality to heart. And now they’ll face their third and arguably most telling test: a matchup against former Sky centerpiece Elena Delle Donne and the Mystics in the home opener Friday night at Wintrust Arena.
“A team’s record doesn’t indicate anything about who they are,” coach and general manager James Wade said. “We know every team we play, we have to respect the game. If we look at the Mystics differently than the Lynx or the Aces as being better than whoever, it’d be a disrespect to the teams in the league.”
Yet there’s no arguing the Mystics are a different level of competition.
Delle Donne, traded to Washington in 2017 for guard/forward Kahleah Copper and forward/center Stefanie Dolson, said before the season that she’s back at 100% after multiple back surgeries. She sat out the 2020 pandemic “bubble” season and played just three games in 2021 because of extended rehab. Last season, she played in 25 games, sitting out the rest as part of a scheduled absence routine to help her ramp back up to her full capabilities.
Chalk it up to other teams’ big moves in free agency or the earlier uncertainty surrounding Delle Donne’s health, but the Mystics largely have been left out of the contender conversation this year. That’s a mistake.
“They know their roles and stick to them,” Sky guard Dana Evans said. “They’re a good defensive team, so we just have to be ready. We have to continue to do what we’ve been doing.”
The Sky have been controlling games on defense, and Evans has been a critical part of that effort. Granted, it’s a small sample size, but two games in, the Sky’s 85.4 defensive rating is second in the WNBA behind the Aces. They’re fourth in steals per game and third in blocks.
In the first two games, Evans has picked up opponents full-court, setting a tone with plays that aren’t necessarily reflected in the box score.
“It’s something we talked about in the offseason and last year in the exit meetings,” Wade said. “We wanted her to take the next step, and for her to do that, it would be defensively.”
Evans shared a vulnerable moment with reporters after the win over the Mercury on Sunday. She’d spent a day away from the team Saturday to attend the funeral of her cousin, Jerrett Mitchell.
She’s dedicating her season to him.
“I know my cousin would want me to go out there and be the best Dana I could be,” she said. “I remembered and thought about him [Sunday] in that aspect, and that made me play so much harder.”
The Sky, while feeling natural connected, are still developing their on-court chemistry. Friday is an opportunity to take another step. A win would show how competitive they can be in the first season of a rebuild. A loss would be a first chance to navigate failure together.
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A better way to play for a probabilistic pullback in MSFT with cheap puts.
Microsoft (MSFT) is one of two U.S companies sporting a market cap over $2 trillion. MSFT stock has rallied over 30% in the past few months after making a recent low near $220 on January 6.
The recent red-hot rally is finally starting to slow though. Sell in May and go away applies to Microsoft as monthly stock returns have been negative on average over the past 5 years.
Besides the recent rip higher receding, here are three more very valid reasons to be somewhat skeptical of continued sustained strength in MSFT stock over the coming weeks-along with a better way to play.
Technicals
Microsoft is starting to weaken after failing to break out to new recent highs above $294. Shares reached overbought readings on both 9-day RSI and Bollinger Percent B before softening. MSFT is trading at a big premium to the 20-day moving average which has led to pullbacks to the average in the past. MACD just generated a sell signal.
MSFT stock is also looking a little overdone on a comparative basis. Microsoft is now showing a slight gain in the past 12 months while the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) is still down over 7% in that time frame. Normally MSFT and QQQ tend to move more in tandem, which makes sense given that Microsoft is the largest weighting in the NASDAQ 100 ETF at 12.68%.
The performance spread differential between MSFT and QQQ has once again reached an extreme.
Look for Microsoft to revert and be a big underperformer over the coming weeks like it has done in the past.
Valuation
The Current Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio is back over 30x and at the loftiest multiple in the past year. The last time it hit 30x back in August marked a significant top in Microsoft stock.
It is also well above the average P/E multiple of 27.72 in that time frame. Other traditional valuation metrics, such as Price/Sales and Price/Free Cash Flow, have seen a similar rise.
Important to remember that interest rates have risen dramatically over the past 12 months. Normally, this would have a noticeably contractive effect on stock valuation multiples. This makes the recent expansion in MSFT multiples even more pronounced.
Plus, a $2 trillion company carrying these types of multiples makes future growth rates difficult to justify these rich multiples simply due to the law of large numbers.
Implied Volatility
Implied volatility (IV) has dropped sharply in the past month in MSFT options. It is now at the lowest level since February and nearing the yearly lows of last August.
Notice how the lows in IV align nearly precisely with the recent tops in the price of Microsoft stock. Implied volatility can be a valuable market timing tool.
Implied volatility is just another way to say the price of the options. A comparative from roughly a year ago will help shed some light.
Below are the option montages for the June options from last Friday, April 14 and a year ago April 20, 2022. We are using the at-the-money June $285 puts for our example.
Comparing the two:
- The stock price was almost identical -$286.14 on Friday and $286.36 a year ago April 20. So slightly lower stock price on Friday.
- Days to expiration(DTE) were similar- 63 days from Friday and 58 days from 12 months ago. So 5 days longer until expiration on Friday.
Everything being equal, the June $285 puts from Friday should be slightly more expensive than the June $285 puts from a year back since the stock price is lower and there is more time to expiration.
But everything is not equal-IV is much lower now (26.80) than it was a year ago (33.07). This much lower IV makes the current June $285 puts over $2.00 cheaper than the year-ago $285 puts.
The table below puts it all together.
The % column simply takes the option price divided by the stock price to create another useful comparative. The June $285 puts now are less than 4% of the stock price while the same puts back then would cost over 4.5%.
Microsoft is overbought on a technical basis and overvalued on a fundamental basis. Low levels of implied volatility (IV) are another reason to be bearish. Low levels of IV also mean option prices are cheaper.
Investors looking to hedge or traders looking to speculate can certainly short MSFT stock. But that can be expensive and risky.
Given the current situation, it may be better to consider a defined risk put purchase in Microsoft. It hasn’t been cheaper in a while and loss is limited to the cost of the option-which we just saw is less than 4% the cost of the stock.
POWR Options
What To Do Next?
If you’re looking for the best options trades for today’s market, you should check out our latest presentation How to Trade Options with the POWR Ratings. Here we show you how to consistently find the top options trades, while minimizing risk.
If that appeals to you, and you want to learn more about this powerful new options strategy, then click below to get access to this timely investment presentation now:
How to Trade Options with the POWR Ratings
All the Best!
Tim Biggam
Editor, POWR Options Newsletter
MSFT shares closed at $286.14 on Friday, down $-3.70 (-1.28%). Year-to-date, MSFT has gained 19.61%, versus a 8.26% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
About the Author: Tim Biggam
Tim spent 13 years as Chief Options Strategist at Man Securities in Chicago, 4 years as Lead Options Strategist at ThinkorSwim and 3 years as a Market Maker for First Options in Chicago. He makes regular appearances on Bloomberg TV and is a weekly contributor to the TD Ameritrade Network “Morning Trade Live”. His overriding passion is to make the complex world of options more understandable and therefore more useful to the everyday trader. Tim is the editor of the POWR Options newsletter. Learn more about Tim’s background, along with links to his most recent articles.
The post Three Big Reasons Why Microsoft May Be Poised For A Pounding appeared first on StockNews.com
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For most of the Information Age, companies that wanted to scale invested in server farms and hired teams to keep them running.
At one of my first startup jobs, I walked in one day to find two sleeping co-workers who’d spent the night configuring servers at a co-locating facility 60 miles away. Soon after, when I worked at a publicly traded company, our on-prem data center was resilient enough to operate through a moderate earthquake.
The relatively recent shift to cloud computing promised to lower costs and boost productivity, but “cloud-first strategies may be hitting the limits of their efficacy, and in many cases, ROIs are diminishing,” writes Thomas Robinson, COO of Domino Data Lab.
Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members.
Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription.
I started wearing sweaters at home after I got my last utility bill, but with enormous workloads from “ML, AI and deep learning programs that require dozens or even hundreds of GPUs and terabytes or even petabytes,” companies at scale can’t simply dial back their data usage.
Because “the great repatriation” now taking place among public companies also has direct implications for startup DevOps teams, Robinson shares suggestions for “a few things that can be done to ensure future flexibility for where workloads are created.”
Thanks for reading TC+ this week,
Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist
When it comes to early-stage growth marketing, it’s often better to imitate than innovate
Image Credits: Jorg Greuel (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
I’m pleased to announce that self-described “growth marketing nerd” Jonathan Martinez has come aboard as a recurring TC+ contributor!
Martinez, who worked on growth teams at Uber, Postmates and Coinbase, is also the founder of SalesKiwi.
In his latest article, he explains why copying your rivals’ most successful marketing strategies can be one of the fastest ways to get traction with new customers.
“There’s no need to constantly reinvent the wheel,” he advises. “Conserve your resources to innovate for high-probability tests that you’re excited to try at various stages of your startup’s life.”
SaaS is still open for business, but it’s going to take longer to buy and sell
Image Credits: Ruslan Malysh/EyeEm (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
More than 225,000 tech workers have been laid off in the last year, which is having a direct effect on SaaS renewal and purchase cycles.
SaaS customers that reduced headcount are buying fewer seat licenses and sales cycles are taking a little longer than they used to, says Ryan Neu, CEO and co-founder of SaaS-buying platform Vendr.
“Over the last three years, our data has shown a steady decline in multiyear deals,” he writes in TC+. “Yet we have also seen a significant increase in [average contract value] from purchase to renewal in mission-critical and sticky software categories, like CRM or email.”
How to pitch CVCs
Image Credits: Getty Images
As individual VC firms pulled back and began amassing dry powder in 2022, corporate venture capital (CVC) funds stepped up.
PitchBook found that CVCs played a part in 56.2% of all venture deals that took place last year, “up only a hair over 2021’s 25.6%,” reports Rebecca Szkutak, who spoke to a few experts to find out how startups in fundraising mode can get on their radar.
“If there isn’t a product integration angle, and we don’t see or can’t find evidence that a customer of ours or theirs would want to work together, it would be hard for us to work together,” said Andrew Ferguson, VP of corporate development and ventures at Databricks.
10 tips for de-risking hardware products
Image Credits: Frisco / Getty Images
With the right team, a software startup might only need weeks to go from the idea stage to billing their first customers.
Conversely, all hardware startups grapple with high capital expenditures and need time to ramp up production, which is why testing and evaluating demand are so important, says Narek Vardanyan, founder of Prelaunch.com, which recently closed a pre-seed round.
“You need to make decisions based on people’s actual behavior,” he said in an interview with TechCrunch+. “You need to make sure that the data you’re tracking is coming from the right types of people.”
Thinking about pulling the plug on your startup?
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I just read a Twitter post by angel investor Gokul Rajaram asserting that founders who raised large sums before the downturn but have yet to find product-market fit “are going through an excruciating psychological journey.”
Entrepreneurs are indoctrinated to pursue success at all costs, but “chasing endless pivots trying to find PMF is a bridge to nowhere,” wrote Rajaram, who shared a story about a founder who returned funds to investors before winding down operations:
“The relief they felt when they realized investors and employees were on board and 100% supportive of their decision, was palpable. (All employees received solid severance before the company shut down.)”
If you’re a founder who has decided to shut down (or an investor who’s counseled one), please consider sharing your story with TechCrunch+. To get in touch, send a note to guestcolumns@techcrunch.com.
Corporate investment in AI is on the rise, driven by the tech’s promise
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Last year, global investors poured $77.5 billion into AI startups, a 115% YoY increase, reported Tortoise Intelligence.
According to Kyle Wiggers, corporate adoption of generative AI is fueling investor interest, as are the sector’s outsized returns: A 2022 poll found that 92% of large companies are “achieving returns on their data and AI investments.”
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For many Americans, the importance of planning for retirement has in recent years become an essential financial priority as many soon-to-be retirees are gearing up to exit the workforce in the coming years.
As people get older, retirement planning takes a superior position among other financial priorities. In a time where the cost of living is constantly rising, against the backdrop of an uncertain future, planning for your financial future becomes increasingly challenging as you start to age.
The state of retirement in America
In recent years, several studies and surveys have found that it’s become increasingly hard for Americans to save and boost their retirement savings due to ongoing economic risks
In a GOBankingRates survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18 years and older, around 32.9% had no more than $100 in their savings account. A similar study published in 2022 found that nearly 22% of Americans had less than $100 in their savings accounts.
There’s no correct time or age to start planning or saving for the future, especially when everything seems to have so many added risks these days.
According to a Northwestern Mutual 2021 Planning & Progress Study, Americans have in recent years been increasing their retirement savings, with the average retirement savings account growing by 13% from $87,500 to $98,800.
Despite many bumping up their saving efforts, soon-to-be retirees, those aged 55 to 64 have a median savings balance of $120,000, while younger U.S. adults, under 35 currently have a median account balance of $12,300 according to a PwC report.
A number of unplanned scenarios throughout the last few years have forced many people into early retirement. Those who were unable to properly save and plan, have in recent years stepped out of retirement and back into the workforce as a way to financially sustain themselves.
The average age of retirement has increased from 60 in 1990 to 66 in 2021 and with the majority of adults now living longer than previously, enjoying life after work can be costly if you don’t start planning well before the age of retirement arrives.
Retirement calculation – cutting costs before retirement
Economic uncertainty and rising costs have beckoned American adults to start saving early on in their careers.
From this, research shows that for younger earners, those born between 1981 and 1985, the retirement outlook is more optimistic, as experts predict them to have the highest inflation-adjusted median annual income by the time they reach 70.
Early millennials, as they’re called, will see a 22% increase in their annual earnings once they enter retirement, compared to pre-boomers, or those workers born between 1941 and 1945.
Generation Z, individuals aged 19 to 25 are even better at saving for their future, with a majority of them putting away on average 14% of their income according to one BlackRock study published last year.
Younger generations have more confidence, and more optimism when it comes to planning for their retirement and future. Now with a majority of them taking up space in the workforce, financial priorities will soon begin to change, as many look to build a nest egg that could last them through retirement.
Following a strict budget, cutting unnecessary expenses, and learning how to work with money are some of the few things many people are doing to reduce costs to stuff their retirement savings.
Reduce high-interest debt
Inflationary pressure throughout much of last year has seen an increasingly high number of American adults lean on credit cards and personal loans to help them pay for everyday expenses. As of 2023, close to half – 46% – of U.S. adults carry month-to-month debt, whether it’s credit cards or other interest-related debt.
Keeping expenses to a minimum can start by reducing high-interest debt such as credit cards or personal loans. For the majority of the working class, while it’s still possible to afford it, it’s suggested to minimize any interest debt you may still have, while you’re still receiving a monthly income.
Having this financial safety net means you’re in a position to lower your future expenses and direct more cash towards more important financial goals such as saving for retirement.
Taking control of your debt can be a challenge, as these expenses tend to accumulate over time, so it’s best advised to look at which payments can be dealt with first and foremost, and whether it’s possible to shorten the payment period so that it doesn’t stretch into your retirement years.
Assess your insurance coverage
Another way to cut expenses early on in your career is to assess your insurance coverage. As you become older, health insurance coverage becomes an increasingly important product that you will need to carry for much of your golden years.
Taking the necessary steps now to ensure you have the right insurance coverage will help you better understand what type of product you should take out, and what you are paying for.
Often people only take out insurance coverage later in their life, once they are in a comfortable financial position. While this would make sense at the time, insurance products tend to become more expensive as you age.
While the difference in products may be a few dollars each month, over the long term these quickly add up. Speaking to a financial professional or broker will give you better guidance on which insurance products are best for someone in your position, and will give you the most benefits once you step into retirement.
Take control of student loans
Student loan debt is a massive burden for the majority of American adults. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average federal student loan debt is $36,575 per borrower, while private student loan debt averages $54,921 per borrower.
As of the start of this year, around 45.3 million adults in America have some form of student loan debt, with a majority of them – 92% – having federal student loan debt.
Carrying this debt into retirement is not only a financial burden, but it takes a strain on your retirement savings plans if you don’t manage to prioritize these payments.
Taking more ownership of your student loan debt now will help you in the long term, allowing you to direct more of your financial efforts later in your life toward setting up your nest egg. If you’re not sure how to manage your student loans or have been struggling to make payments, reach out to a financial advisor for guidance, or apply for student loan relief assistance.
If you currently work in the public sector, or for a government entity, see whether there are any student loan relief programs you can qualify for to help lighten the burden.
Pay-off your mortgage
Mortgage rates have nearly doubled in a year, as the Federal Reserve continues with its aggressive monetary tightening, making it more expensive for consumers to borrow money.
In mid-January 2023, the benchmark 30-year mortgage rate was 6.48%, up from 3.22% at the same time a year ago. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median monthly mortgage payment sits around $1,100.
Americans have witnessed house prices soar in recent months, as demand grows, supply decreases, and the cost of labor and building materials continue to rise.
Despite these challenges, many adults still sit with a mortgage by the time they retire. Shockingly enough, 44% of Americans aged 60 to 70 have a mortgage once they step into retirement, with 17% saying they will never be able to completely pay it off according to the American Association for Retired People.
Many soon-to-be retirees and even those still active in the workforce are living with the high cost-burden of their mortgage. Being proactive to reduce these settlements while you’re still pulling a paycheck each month may help you lower your down payment term, but also give you some breathing room to rather put this money towards your retirement fund.
Several different financial programs exist to help homeowners with fulfilling their mortgage payment duties, and often banks provide clear and more concise financial guidance. Take the opportunity to resolve these payments sooner rather than later, and take advantage of lower rates where possible.
Reassess your car insurance
Vehicle insurance tends to increase over the years, and insurance providers adjust payments based on inflation and the market value of your vehicle.
Over time, you may end up paying slightly more for your car insurance, even if you still have the same car, or perhaps have downsized. Values for car insurance are calculated by your insurance provider using the actual cash value (ACV) of your car, to determine how much they will need to pay out in the event of an accident or to conduct any repairs on the vehicle.
What some insurers have done in more recent times, is to provide lower premiums for older customers, to help lighten the expense burdens they might have on their cars. This would make it a lot cheaper and perhaps more affordable for some retirees or car owners to hold onto more than one car.
Additionally, you can approach your current insurance provider to help settle a more manageable insurance premium based on several factors such as years of driving experience, age, and condition of the car, where it’s parked overnight, how often you make use of it, and who the primary driver of the car might be.
These factors, along with others will influence the total monthly amount you will need to pay for your insurance. It’s advised to annually assess your vehicle insurance to make sure you get the most budget-friendly deal available.
Cut unnecessary expenses and subscriptions
Another useful and smart way to minimize your expenses early on in your career is to avoid any unnecessary expenses such as subscriptions, streaming services, and internet bills.
While some may argue that these are essential to their everyday lifestyle and entertainment. The latest figures indicate that the average American spends roughly $114 on video downloads and streaming services, a nearly four-figure increase from 2016.
Internet bills have also increased over the last couple of years, despite seeing a growing number of consumers coming online.
The typical American household pays between $40 and $100 per month for internet services, with the average being $64 per month. Even the lowest internet packages can cost households close to $58 per month when adjusted for taxes and other service fees.
While there is a need and use for these products or services in the everyday household, it’s often best to keep these costs to a minimum. Splitting costs between those residing in the same house or apartment can be one way of bringing down expenses.
Another could be to take out fewer streaming or subscriptions and keep only the necessary products that have a purpose.
Make sure to research the best possible deals for these types of services, and now and again take some time to review your account statements so that you can see where your income is being spent.
You can always opt out or cancel these subscriptions, but make sure to read the fine print first, so that you don’t end up paying a higher cancellation fee, or continue paying for something you no longer use.
The bottom line
Planning for retirement has become an essential financial priority for many Americans. For those that still have enough time before the age of retirement, it’s best to plan and strategize as much as possible to ensure you’re on track with your financial and savings goals.
On the other hand, for those individuals that might soon step out of the workforce, and into retirement, making some cutbacks to minimize unnecessary expenses, while also boosting your retirement portfolio is perhaps the best way to ensure you can enjoy your golden years, without any financial stress.
There’s no right time to start saving for retirement, the sooner you have a savings plan in action, the better. Take control of your finances, and make an effort of breaking down the smaller costs, and minimize costs that could rather be directed to your retirement fund.
The post Small Changes, Big Results: What You Can Do To Minimize Costs And Plan For Retirement appeared first on Due.
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RI fitness influencers with big followings help motivate exercise The Providence Journal
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The new-year rally seems to be fading as investors digest the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, which reiterated the central bank’s tough stance on inflation. Amid rising market volatilities, iconic stocks Walmart (WMT) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) could be ideal additions to your portfolios owing to their fundamental strength. Read on….
The stock market has witnessed significant volatility of late on concerns over the Fed’s hawkish comments to tame the stubbornly high inflation and other macroeconomic uncertainties. Therefore, it could enhance the need to add stocks of financially resilient companies, Walmart Inc. (WMT) and Oracle Corporation (ORCL), to one’s portfolio. Let’s dig deeper to understand why these stocks could be big winners this year.
A string of hot economic data in recent weeks has increased the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would have to continue raising interest rates to bring prices down, stalling the early-year stock rally. Moreover, hotter-than-expected inflation and the minutes of the Fed meeting indicate that inflation is “well above” the central bank’s 2% target.
As the bears dust themselves off, market participants expect the Fed to go with a 50-basis-point increase in March. At the last FOMC meeting, Fed Governors James Bullard and Loretta Mester favored such moves to curtail inflation sufficiently. This could induce significant pressure on the stock market in the upcoming months.
Meanwhile, investors have now ditched expectations for rate cuts later this year for some time now as the markets move from a soft landing to a “no landing‘ scenario.
Given such a wobbly market scenario, fundamentally strong stocks, WMT and ORCL, might be wise investments for long-term investors. Despite the highly uncertain market conditions, these stocks have delivered solid returns due to their strong fundamentals.
Walmart Inc. (WMT)
The retail giant WMT operates supercentres, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, discount stores, membership-only warehouse clubs, and e-commerce websites, including walmart.com and Walmart.com.mx flipkart.com, and others. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S.; Walmart International; and Sam’s Club.
On January 12, 2023, Walmart Commerce Technologies and Walmart GoLocal announced a partnership with Salesforce Inc. (CRM) to give retailers access to the tools and services that enable frictionless local pickup and delivery for customers globally.
Last year in December, WMT Canada announced its plans to open a first-of-its-kind distribution center in Quebec in addition to two distribution centers that opened earlier that year. Another distribution center in Mexico is strengthening its logistics and supply chain networks across the entire Southeast region.
Such investments in infrastructure, logistics, and supply chains should enable the company to bolster its distribution networks and offer a brisker shopping experience to its customers.
On February 21, 2023, the company raised its annual dividend by 2% to $2.28 per share, marking the 50th consecutive year of dividend increase. WMT’s four-year average dividend yield is 1.67%, and its forward annual dividend of $2.28 translates to a 1.60% yield on prevailing prices. Its dividend has grown at a 1.8% CAGR over the past three years and a 1.9% CAGR over the past five years.
The stock’s trailing-12-month ROCE of 14.60% is 48.2% higher than the 9.85% industry average. Likewise, its trailing-12-month ROTC of 8.71% is 41.2% higher than the industry average of 6.17%.
For the fiscal fourth quarter that ended January 31, 2023, WMT’s total revenues increased 7.3% year-over-year to $164.05 billion. Its adjusted operating income grew 6.3% from the year-ago value to $6.37 billion, while its adjusted EPS came in at $1.71, representing an increase of 11.8% year-over-year. Also, the company’s attributable net income stood at $6.28 billion, up 76.2% year-over-year.
Street expects WMT’s revenue for the first quarter (ending April 30, 2023) to increase 4.9% year-over-year to $147.24 billion. Its EPS is expected to increase by 10% per annum over the next five years. Moreover, the company surpassed the revenue estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, which is promising.
Shares of WMT have gained 14.8% over the past nine months and 5.9% over the past year to close the last trading session at $142.47.
WMT’s strong fundamentals are reflected in its POWR Ratings. The stock has an overall rating of A, translating to a Strong Buy in our proprietary rating system. The POWR Ratings assess stocks by 118 different factors, each with its own weighting.
It also has an A grade for Stability and a B for Growth, Value, and Quality. Among 39 stocks in the A-rated Grocery/Big Box Retailers industry, it is ranked #3. Click here to see the other ratings of WMT for Momentum and Sentiment.
Oracle Corporation (ORCL)
ORCL provides products and services that address all aspects of corporate IT environments, including applications, platforms, and infrastructure worldwide. The company operates through cloud services and license support; cloud license; and on-premises license; hardware; and services segments.
Recently, ORCL announced the launch of Oracle Banking Cloud Services, a new suite of componentized, composable cloud-native services to help banks accelerate their movement amid increasing transaction volumes, customer expectations, and growing competitive threats.
The cloud native SaaS suite provides corporate and retail banks with the agility to modernize their banking applications rapidly to meet customer demands and capitalize on new opportunities.
On February 2, 2023, ORCL announced that Mizuho Bank, Ltd., one of Japan’s largest financial services organizations and the integrated retail and corporate banking unit of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (MFG), is modernizing its legacy banking system for international operations by integrating ORCL’s banking solutions to support critical functions.
With the ORCL foundation, the bank should be able to continue to evolve its services and products to best meet the needs of its clients and stakeholders worldwide, thereby boosting ORCL’s growth.
ORCL’s four-year average dividend yield is 1.59%, and its current dividend of $1.28 translates to a 1.44% yield on the current price level. Its dividends have grown at a 10.1% CAGR over the past three years and an 11% CAGR over the past five years. The company has a record of eight years of consecutive dividend growth.
The stock’s trailing-12-month net income margin of 19.09% is 561.2% higher than the 2.89% industry average. Likewise, its trailing-12-month EBIT margin of 31.42% is 409% higher than the industry average of 6.17%.
In the fiscal second quarter that ended November 30, 2022, ORCL’s total revenue increased 18.5% year-over-year to $12.28 billion. Its non-GAAP operating income grew 4.8% year-over-year to $5.09 billion. The company’s net income came in at $1.74 billion compared to a net loss of $1.25 billion in the previous-year quarter. Its non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.21.
Analysts expect ORCL’s revenue for the quarter ending February 2023 to increase 18.1% year-over-year to $12.42 billion. Its EPS for the current quarter is expected to increase 6.5% from the year-ago period to $1.20. Over the past nine months, the stock has gained 28.4% to close the last trading session at $88.66.
ORCL POWR Ratings reflect its solid prospects. The stock has an overall rating of B, which equates to Buy in our proprietary rating system.
It has a B grade for Stability and Sentiment. In the Software – Application industry, it is ranked #33 of 137 stocks. Click here to see the additional ratings of ORCL (Growth, Value, Momentum, and Quality).
Consider This Before Placing Your Next Trade…
We are still in the midst of a bear market.
Yes, some special stocks may go up. But most will tumble as the bear market claws ever lower.
That is why you need to discover the brand new “Stock Trading Plan for 2023” created by 40-year investment veteran Steve Reitmeister. There he explains:
- Why it’s still a bear market
- How low stocks will go
- 9 simple trades to profit on the way down
- Bonus: 2 trades with 100%+ upside when the bull market returns
You owe it to yourself to watch this timely presentation before placing your next trade.
WMT shares were trading at $141.53 per share on Monday afternoon, down $0.94 (-0.66%). Year-to-date, WMT has declined -0.18%, versus a 4.21% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
About the Author: Shweta Kumari
Shweta’s profound interest in financial research and quantitative analysis led her to pursue a career as an investment analyst. She uses her knowledge to help retail investors make educated investment decisions.
The post 2 Iconic Stocks That Could Be Big Winners in 2023 appeared first on StockNews.com
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