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Coke and Pepsi-Controversial ingredients being used in drinks

Coca Cola is the world’s largest beverage company is having controversy these days because of abandoning ingredients in its drinks. According to the company it has planned to remove brominated vegetable oil from all of its drinks in US by this year-end that has been claimed by food activist.

Addition to this, BVO known as Brominated vegetable oil will be taken out of individually ready to drink beverages plus fountain machine formulas, mentioned by representative of Coca-Cola Co. (KO) Josh Gold in a yesterday. BVO has drawn attention from social media, online forums and thousands of sign petition against it. BVO use to work as stabilizer in drinks like Powerade, which helps to prevent ingredients from separating. PepsiCo Inc. has removes BVO from Gatorade last year.

The United States Food and Drug agency Administration let beverage companies to use BVO up to 15 parts per million , though after some time they dropped it from its general recognized as safe list of food ingredients in 1970.

According to Mayo Clinic, Health issues are more concern about BVO as its use of bromide, the element found in brominated flame retardants. Atlanta based Company, will switch to use sucrose acetate isobutyrate or glycerol ester of rosin –alone or in combination.

Gold said in a statement that “All of their beverages, including those with BVO are safe and always been to comply with all the rules and regulation in the countries where ever they are being sold and the safety and the quality of our products is our highest priority.

Gold added that two varieties of Coke’s Powerade sports drink that is fruit punch and strawberry lemonade are already switched to glycerol ester of rosin.

Social activists claimed that BVO is banned in all over Europe and Japan and become more concerned when they learned about the ingredients was in drinks.

PepsiCo was using BVO in Mountain Dew and Energy drinks addition to Gatorade.

“We regularly evaluate our formulas and ingredients to ensure they comply with all regulations and meet the high quality standards our consumers expect,” Jeff Dahncke, a spokesman for the Purchase, New York-based company, said in a statement. “We removed BVO from Gatorade in 2013 in response to our consumers and since that time we have been actively working to remove it from the rest of our product portfolio.”

According to Jeff Dahncke , spokesman of Purchase , New York based company “ We evaluate our formulas on regular basis to ensure that they comply with all the regulations and meet the high quality standard for our consumers expectation. In addition to this we have removed BVO from Gatorade in 2013 because a consumer response and since then they have been working actively to remove from its rest of its our product portfolio.

Industry Analysis of Consumer Staple

Consumer Staples are the goods which cannot be cutout from daily usage regardless of people financial position. Its stocks are also considered to be non-cyclic like it will always be in demand no matter how economy is performing. Consumer Staples is always be in constant level irrespective of prices. In terms of Global revenue of Consumer staples sector, it is contributing around $447 Billion in the industry. Industries include Food and Staple Retailing, Food, Beverages, Tobacco, Household & Personal Products. It also includes retailing of Pharmaceutical products, Supermarkets; Hyper retail markets.Major customers including Mass Merchandiser, Whole sale stores and specialty outlets. Consumer Industry is under-performing in S&P 500 indices .Its 1 year annual return is around 8.81% and price return is around $434.89.

Current trends of Consumer Staple sector fund characteristics are as follows; Market capitalization of this industry is around $3.22Trillion but according to S&P it has undervalued by average  -1% .Estimated EPS growth of 3-5 year is around 7.85%, dividend yield around 2.79%, Price Earning around 17.9% and return on equity is 20.47% as of 3-13-2014 Recent consideration of short selling is allowable because of unstable economic position. Some companies are modifying their objective to make healthier, nutritious products to increase and promote health conscious environment because of rising corpulence and regulatory pressure.

Companies like Coca Cola and Pepsi is expected to expand their portfolios in non-carbonated categories. Coca cola is positioning itself in new market and will competing with market leader Orangina Schweppes which has around 25% of market share in drinks and in tonic about 22%.On the other hand Pepsi Co. is planning to announce naturally sweetened, low calories soda i.e. Pepsi Next estimated that it will contribute to bring up sales in 2014.Coffee giant Starbucks Corps.  is also looking for expanding its portfolio to make new addition in more nutritional, healthy products in the menu. Phillip Morris is planning to come up in e-cigarette business by late 2015.

The year-end review of consumer staple sector is quite well from previous year and there are actually some companies where investor can invest for healthier profit.

Netflix Earning boosts its shares up as it is raising prices

 The company that have popular binge-watching added recently to charge its new customer about $1 to $3 per month for more of its online video facility and it will start later in this quarter soon. Netflix Inc. is also verified a report that in first quarterly profit there is a subscriber growth that will beat analyst projection and added to this the shares climbed on a new height.

The prices of the shares show the growth and confidence on the original show like House of Card and also the exclusive movies will continue to gain new subscriber, even that the soccer world cup is starting in mid-June that will be a distinction for the company and  it will  temporary low user.growth. Netflix currently offering, unlimited web browsing in just about $8 per month.

The leverage earning on even just a one dollar is pretty fine added by Daniel earnst-an analyst at Hudson square research,New York who suggested buying its stocks for investing point of view. “Its incredible value  will be added advantage for the Netflix customers”.

Netflix Stocks grew 6.5 % to $371 in the expanding trade announcement .Its investment has gained 0.8% to $348 at the close in New York and withdrawn about 20% from its close high of $454 on 4 march. Netflix have now gained around 48 Million streaming facility worldwide. The company also forecasts that it will gain more new subscriber this quarter which include around 520,000 in United States.

Current customers might not effect by changed price for at least one or two year said Chief Executive Officer Reed Hasting on webcast. It means all of the fans of women prison series i.e. Orange is the new black will not face higher prices when this show will return in June. When the FIFA World Cup starts in June at Brazil, it will slight headwinds forecasted by the Los Gatos, a California based company.

Netflix is the world’s largest online-subscription service provider which splits the DVD through mail business from the steaming which ultimately increased the prices by 60% of the people that prefer to buy both. Adding $2 to the recent price amounts up to 25% increase.

Netflix added 2.25Million new domestic subscriber that streaming during the quarter in line.with.the.company January predicted and carrying the USA’s total up to 35.7Million.          

Amazon might offer 5 features in its phone

According to New York, a report of this week in Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon (AMZN) is designing to release a smartphone and as analyst suggests that technology sector is in growing stage and there is a lot more intensive work has to be done in coming years. A real challenging arena is emerging in the smartphone sector has been developed after big giants like Apple, Samsung, Motorola and E-bay too in some extent.

In this race amazon is coming up with its smartphone although it’s not yet confirmed by Amazon because of there is so much crowd in this industry. Introducing such devices would be tough contending product in recent days as market is dominated by the big mobile phones corporation .Even that innovation like the kindle fire and prime membership platform establish that the online retailing enterprises has an ability to go for its massive size marketing budget to capitalize on gap in the e-market or in market place.

Though some of unofficial reports says that the phone might have a 3-D interface and multiple that can be include front facing camera.

We have mentioned here five feature technological options which can be believed by experts that might be opted in its smartphone. Let’s have a look on its features

1. Free streaming video

As per IDC’s Llamas reported that one of the mobile phone’s unique selling points could be a free advertisement supported version of Amazon’s existing instant video service, that can be include in the around $99 per annum in prime membership criteria. The proposed service could be seen on its smartphone, Kindle or an Amazon’s Fire TV but not anywhere like Xbox or Ruko he added

2. 3-Dimension shopping

3D interface does not include any unique glass or any which can have a more of uses. This option will open features like when for instance anyone wants to opt for shopping, he or she can pull up a 3D image of any product like any sport wear or jackets and can be able to see its entire feature easier propose by Bill Menezes who is the research analyst at Gartner. Another possible reason you could do that , scan your living or drawing room to make a 3D rendering and if you are out of furniture or wants to change , you can take a picture and digitally insert the product into the rendering to see if its fit and matching accordingly.

It could be like if it matches with your taste then you can easily order and have it in your dinning or drawing room added by Ramon Llamas research manager of research organization IDC mobile phone team.

3. All-in-one grocery shopping

Amazon was testing a Wi-Fi bandwidth called amazon dash which can be simplifies through barcodes scanning interface. Comparable feature might be included in that smartphone which can improve on existing barcode scanning application. Combining a same day grocery feature with amazon fresh it is currently in testing phase in Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco after that grocery shopping would be amazingly simplified through this component. It is relatively easy then dragging a shopping cart to look around or scrolling down for a list of products online. This service could be done through a quick response from the phone that can be delivering your all groceries at your doorstep with in an hour.

4. Enhanced gaming feature

As it is consider that amazon is rapidly expanding its business into the gaming area through its Amazon gaming Studio and video game offering service through its new streaming device, Amazon fire TV.

.According to CRT Capital analyst Neil Doshi. , “Smartphone can be a way to help potentially boost more on game front.”

The phone is supposed to offer 3D experience through 3D interface facility.

5. Competitive.  Pricing

Menezes at Gartner wonders that the phone could be offered on.different price levels. One level could be a one-time payment for the phone.that offers Amazon's apps and services but a limited number of other features. A higher price level could feature a monthly bill and a.phone with more bells and whistles.

It's difficult to be competitive on price in the cutthroat phone market. But as Amazon has shown with its tablets, the.company is willing to deliver high-quality hardware at a loss in order to undercut competitors like Apple.and put its devices in the hands of people.who will use them to buy Amazon's goods and services.

Decline earning of Samsung electronics due to sales of smartphone went slowdown.

In recent days, Samsung electronics has begun an experimental design over another patent battle with its competitor Apple Inc. in California.

Introducing a new smartphone just like Samsung Galaxy S5 has been flawed in its South Korean home market, and also Samsung is facing a new multiple reviews. After that sales and profit give the impression to be drop down. Samsung claimed in a brief interview on Tuesday.it has expected to post profit from operation is about 8.4 trillion won, or rather 8 Billion in the tenure from January to March, it went down from 8.8 trillion won a year before, it was for the second back to back quarter decline. Amount of sale is about 53 trillion won, and it was down from around 59 trillion at the end of the last year.

The company has provided no other information though projected to release its full remunerations report this month and however there is a lot of analyst thinks that forecast of the company are healthy enough, and sales profit will bounce in the next quarter as in part of a reason of the introduction of the phone known as Galaxy S5.After the release of wages guidance as it maintained its outmatch rating on the stock and Nomura its bargain reference.

Sales of smartphone industry have risen up globally over the last year up to 968 million units, and it has an increase percentage of 42% from 2012 and concealing average mobile phones for the first time, according to a latest news from Gartner , the about information technology research company. Moreover the Samsung electronics eclipse l the market with a 31% share and its largest competitor is Apple Inc. which holds a 16% share which is facing experiments. Market is becoming more mature and it also becoming more saturated and the competition is intensively more from lower cost productions, precisely from China manufacturing industry so far.

Oil and Gas sector Overview

The industry of Oil and gas are considered to be the largest one in the sphere as far as market capitalization is concerned. With revenues of around $4 trillion in the previous fiscal year, this industry experienced 7.23% of an average growth.

Within oil, gas and consumable fuels industry, integrated oil and gas sector is one of the major sub sectors. The sub-industry comprises companies that are engaged in upstream as well as downstream activities. Oil companies are also known as ‘Majors’ as they have spread themselves around the globe to explore, extract, refine and market oil and gas. The majors, because of their vast global network and highest revenues among all firms, face strong headwinds from environmental groups to alter their heartless practices as well as experience grave setbacks due to geo political unrest. Upstream activity includes the exploration of a site, to extraction of crude oil and/or natural gas and downstream activity includes Refining of the upstream extractions and marketing them to end users.

The key players in integrated oil includes: Chevron, Exxon, British petroleum and Royal Dutch shell. These ‘Big Four’ oil super-majors own around 20.3% - calculated using last FY figures - of the total developed oil and gas reserves held by the top 33 firms falling in the sub-industry, including state-owned integrated oil and gas companies such as Petrobras of Brazil. From production and exploration perspective, oil and gas integrated companies are faced with the pressure of replacing their energy reserves for sustaining future production. The techniques of EOR have drastically altered energy background in this regard.

The two key players in the industry includes Chevron and Exxon, ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants is one of the leading companies in the marketing of the finished asphalts, lubricants, and other special products. The company also specializes in the supply of base stocks. The global brands of the company actually recognize the ExxonMobil product, which are distributed all around the world. The company has a huge customer base in which most of the large industries come up front.

The California-based oil company named chevron is considered to be the one of the largest oil companies in the world traded in NYSE as “CVX”. It is founded in 1984, having total numbers of employees of around 64,600 as on December 2013.The operations of chevron have been divided into the upstream (related to exploration and production) and downstream (related to oil marketing) activities.

Because of their energy extraction yield the methods of EOR which are being employed by oil and gas companies. Using conventional methods, the energy extracted was around 20% to 40% of the overall en deposit of energy in a specific field, while new innovations in EOR techniques have increased it to 30% to 60%. North Sea was the main source of Oil production in a Brent, is a mature field on which oil extraction started. With the number of easy oil fields (conventional source) decreasing, companies of oil and gas need to search for other unconventional sources in order to increase their reserves. In this case as well, EOR techniques have played a major role. Unconventional sources such oil shales and oil sands which are developed by the oil firms in order to increase their reducing reserves.

The US has a pro-stance towards the EOR methods whereas in Europe, especially in the UK, there are ongoing protests related to the use of such kind of techniques.  Fracking and hydraulic are the technique that is employed in shale oil and gas extraction had faced severe criticism on part of the strain it puts on the surrounding environment. This is the reason that shale been exclusively been in the US.

Taking this into account, oil and gas integrated companies has been required to raise their exposure relatively towards natural gas, even though the prices of natural gas have declined while the prices  of crude are on the rising side. This is so because carbon emissions from burning natural gas are 30% less as compared to the amount of oil burned to produce the same amount of energy.

The prices of crude oil are the key drivers of revenue for the upstream segment of the oil and gas integrated companies. Benchmark price of crude oils are utilized as reference against which the price of the oil extracted is calculated, judging on the differences in the quality

Natural gas prices in Europe (as indicated by the Heren NBP index) increased in FY12 to lure supply away from Asia, even though natural gas demand decreased in Europe. On the other hand, Henry Hub prices have fallen as shale gas production has rebounded after declining in 2007.Refining margins reflect the value addition in the crude oil after it has gone through the refining process. Therefore, it heavily depends on various input costs.

Soda stream Participation in Annual International Home and Housewares Show

Some trade shows or business exhibitions have always been a great platform for launching new products. “Annual International Home and Housewares Show” is one of the reputable platforms which had always given substantial boost to new products. That is the reason every year maximum number of companies dealing in consumer goods actively participate in this show to present their most recent product created or to get a boost in their existing product line. Annual International Home and Housewares Show is particularly a platform for companies which are in the business of household items in some way or the other.

The show is warmly welcomed by global business world and 1000s of retail buyers participate in this show from all over the world. The main focus is to interact with manufacturers, suppliers, to see the products, to remain updated from current happening and for a lot more.

This year had been a great for Soda Stream International. Though cannot be claimed to be the highest exhibited but for sure one of the highly exhibited company. It is expected that in near future Soda Stream will face severe competition in the industry as many companies have find potential and are aiming to get in the category of home carbonated water.

                

Fluctuation of U.S stocks after S&P 500 wipes away gains for the year

Stock fluctuated of U.S after the technology trade off widened the last day to remove the year’s improvements in the S&P 500 Indices , as there was internet share bounce back and phone companies fallen before the corporate earnings report jumps off.

According to NASDAQ Index increased up to 1.9 % after four days of weakening position. Before the release of first quarter earnings report Alcoa-(AA) has gained around 1.8 %.

S&P 500 raised around less than 0.1 % to 1846 approximately at 10.07 a.m in New York. The Dow Jones Index average dropped around 19.08 points or 0.1% to 16227.The NASDAQ index has gained 0.4%, it was its first increase in four days. Trading in S &P stocks was nearby 9% above 30 days average at this time of day.

“Tech sector was just out of control and here we have had certainty inserted back in,” Lorne Baring, Who manages about $500 Million as a managing director of B-Capital in Geneva. He told this on a telephonic interview. He also mentioned that as we go into earnings season, we perhaps going to see a confirmation of revenues, its sustainable growth in most companies in U.S.”

The S&P 500 Index has lost 1.1% a day before yester as it is sending its three day drop to 2.4%, it was the most since January. Though NASDAQ 100 measure the biggest technological stocks dropped down by 4.3& in the period , it was the record since 2011 , besides that Russell 2000 Index comprises of small companies descended 1.5% to a two month low day before yesterday. Measure of Biotechnological and Internet companies fallen down more than 15% from all time area of high pressure.

Recorded Points

The auction comes as evaluation in technological stocks that have flown while the wider market has spotted high-all time. NASDAQ 100 flowed 257% from its low in March 2009 over a 13 year high on 5^th March. It has beaten the 177% increase for the S&P 500 in that specific period, although S&P500 has closed at a record on 2^nd April.

Companies like Amazon Inc., Transocean and Whole Food Market are among the 43 companies that lost more than 20 in 52 weeks this data have been gathered by Bloomberg .About 9% average stock is also down from its recent crowing, added by Bespoke Investment Group.

The start of March, improvement in U.S market growth has led by earning of the companies that are least tied to growth of the economy. Companies like Phone and utilities have grown more than 2.9%, where household traders are risen up by 1.9% and besides this technology sector and raw material manufacturer have dropped. 

Coca Cola- Planning to invest hefty amount of around $4 Billion in 2015 to 2017

Coca Cola Inc. is the world’s largest beverages company and it has planned to invest more than $4 billion in China after 2015 to 2017. It builds companies and additionally innovative products for meeting demand which will rise to competition.

            Moreover , Coca cola is likewise open to acquisition in China and it might consider arrangements with  corresponding business that is juice makers or protein drinks like Almond milk , David Brooks , president of Atlanta based company’s greater China and Korean business unit, mentioned in 6^th Nov interview in capital of China.

He also comments on the future investment plan for China that “You will see an increase in investment on annual basis on three year basis on average. Coke is financing around $4 Billion in the country for 2012 to 2014.

     United States soft drink maker raging up its China investment as the company and its bottlers pursue to multiply revenue globally up to $200 Billion in 10 years to 2020. Adding to this, Coca cola Inc. is the country largest soft drink maker and they turned up with competition from other companies which include Pepsi Inc. and the local Hangzhou group as they are seeking to expand around the Globe.

Moreover, Pepsi Inc. is the world’s second largest soft drink maker as it is pacing up its push into China. Pepsi also opened new factories and required to expand supply through a channel with Tingyi Cayman Islands. There is an intense competition in beverage industry China. This sector is with low growth and weak profitability as mentioned in Sep 25 reports by analyst Jean Chan (Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.) .She added promotions are typically driven by promotion.

Coca cola states that in the month of July’s second quarter the sale volume in china was little altered after growth of 7 % a year ago. Brooks said “Third quarter sales have shown improvements and this will be continuing over the next year as well”. Asian economy has paired a projective growth of an average of 7% this decade as compared with 10.5 % in last decade.

Hence Coca cola is planning to open as many as two product facilities on each further year in the country and over the next decade Brooks added. In the earlier term, they are planning to invest in a new blending factory in Shanghai and most likely they will open a new plant in South West province in next two years Brooks stated.

Chinese beverage market is still much disunited as executive said. Not a single company has the major share of market and there is a large amount of available opportunity left to grow.