Author Archives: Scalper1

Equinix Price Target Hiked, With Unmatched Data Center Assets Cited

Equinix ’s ( EQIX ) global footprint of data center assets and network connections to cloud services providers give it a growing edge over rivals, says Pacific Crest Securities, which raised its price target on the stock to 375. Equinix stock is about even for 2016 so far, after breaking out of a flat base with a 304.87 buy point at the end of 2015. It’s been consolidating ever since. Shares of Redwood City, Calif.-based Equinix edged up a fraction in early trading in the stock market today , near 302. Pacific Crest analyst Michael Bowen said the company’s acquisitions of Europe-based Telecity Group and Japan-based Bit-isle in 2015 will expand Equinix’s reach. “The magnetic pull Equinix has been able to achieve by having a dense global footprint of data center assets cannot be ignored. No other data center company in the world can offer equivalent scale of interconnection services as Equinix,” Bowen wrote. Data center operators provide space, power and cooling. Customers pack the warehouse-sized data centers with their own computer servers and other gear. Equinix also specializes in providing connections to high-speed, fiber-optic networks. Demand for data-center space has been driven by the rise of social networking, mobile devices, cloud services, online gaming, computer-based stock trading and more. Equinix’s customers include leading cloud computing services providers Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), as well as other large companies. “Equinix  is the only company that can enable enterprise adoption of the cloud, since it has created an ecosystem in which service providers can connect with enterprises,” added Bowen. “The ecosystem should be very difficult to replicate, and interconnection is one of the keys to Equinix’s success.” The data center market is divided among wholesale providers such as Digital Realty ( DLR ) and DuPont Fabros ( DFT ) and retail operators such as Equinix. Wholesale providers sell huge amounts of space over contracts that run several years, while retail operators sell less space over shorter contracts and provide more specialized services, such as hook-ups to high-speed data networks. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Americans Freaking Out About Robots Taking Jobs, But Not Their Jobs

The majority of Americans in a new survey predict that within 50 years robots and computers will do much of the work now done by humans. The Pew Research Center polled Americans for their thoughts on the future of workforce automation and found that 65% think that within 50 years robots and computers will “definitely” or “probably” do much of the labor currently done by people. The tally was 15% definitely, 50% probably, 25% probably not and 7% definitely not. But respondents in general said their own jobs were safe from the robot and computer takeover. Asked if they expected their own job to exist in its current form in five decades, 80% replied in the affirmative. The tally was 36% definitely, 44% probably, 12% probably not and 6% definitely not. Americans who work in the government, nonprofit or education sectors believe their jobs are less likely to be replaced by robots or computers than people who work for large corporations and midsize or small businesses. Some 86% of Americans who work in the government, education or nonprofit sectors believe their jobs will definitely or probably exist in 50 years. That compares with 79% of workers in large corporations or medium and small businesses. Just 11% of workers overall are concerned about losing their current job due to workforce automation. They rank competition from lower-paid human workers and broader industry trends as bigger immediate worries. Pew surveyed 2,001 U.S. adults June 10 through July 12 for the study, the results of which were released Thursday. Do Robots Help Create Jobs? While Americans express concerns about robots and computers taking their jobs, some studies show that new technology creates jobs by freeing up workers for other tasks. The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) last October released a study showing that use of factory robots is actually associated with increased employment. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the trade group showed that during recent non-recessionary periods (1996-2000, 2002-07 and 2010-14), general employment and robot shipments both increased. This week, a survey by research firm Evans Data showed that software developers fear that the rise of artificial intelligence might take away their jobs. Technologists see increasing factory and warehouse automation in the years ahead, boosting companies like ABB ( ABB ) and Teradyne ( TER ). They envision autonomous vehicles from the likes of Alphabet ( GOOGL ) and Uber taking the place of human taxi and delivery drivers. They even see robots taking a bigger role in fighting military conflicts. Last year, industrial robot orders and shipments in North America set new records, according to the Robotic Industries Association . More than 28,000 robots valued at $1.6 billion were shipped to North American customers in 2015. Shipments rose 10% in units and 9% in dollars. RELATED: Next-Gen Robots Poised To Enter Industrial, Commercial Markets Danger Will Robinson! A $15 Minimum Wage Will Only Help Robot Burger-Flippers  

Market Lab Report – Premarket Pulse 3/10/16

Major averages finished yesterday higher on lower, below average volume ahead of today’s ECB meeting. Oil continued higher finishing above $38. Futures are higher by roughly half a percent as the European Central Bank on Thursday cut its key lending rate to zero from 0.05% and pushed the rate on its deposit facility from -0.3% to -0.4%. It will also expand the size of its monthly bond purchases to 80 billion euros from its current level of 60 billion euros beginning in April. Yet since other countries announced negative rates, their stock markets have fallen. The eurozone announced negative rates for the first time in June 2014 but its market has fallen -4.6% since that announcement. Japan announced NIRP in late January 2016 and its market has fallen another -6.7% since then. Indeed, the markets seem to be losing confidence in the easy money policy of central banks as they grasp at straws to combat low inflation as they seem to be losing the battle. The European Central Bank slashed its eurozone inflation forecast for 2016 to 0.1%, much lower than the 1% it forecast in December. The ECB said inflation is expected to be weaker than previously expected into 2017 as low oil prices and a slowing global economy continue to slow the economic recovery. The issue is that demand inflation, a real measure of a growing economy, is non-existent as global economies continue to falter, creating a potential state of depression while the sovereign debt crisis worsens.Â