Author Archives: Scalper1

Google Fiber Bark Worse Than Market Bite For Comcast, AT&T: Report

Google Fiber had only 53,390 TV customers as of Dec. 31, said a MoffettNathanson report, which added that parent Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) public relations bounty from the service is “wildly out of all proportion” to its actual market share gains vs. AT&T ( T ) and other cable TV players. The Google unit sells high-speed Internet and TV services in four markets and has trumpeted expansion plans. Google Fiber bundles video and gigabit-per-second broadband service for $130 monthly and also sells stand-alone Internet for $70 monthly. Google Fiber is currently available in Austin, Texas; Provo, Utah; Kansas City, Mo., and neighboring Kansas City, Kan. Google announced plans early in 2015 to expand the service to San Antonio; Nashville, Tenn.; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Salt Lake City. It’s also deep in talks with other potential markets. Telecom companies have been alarmed over Alphabet-owned Google Fiber’s recent spate of announcements. AT&T in February sued Louisville, Ky., over a new law that would make it easier for companies like Google Fiber to install gigabit Internet networks using existing utility poles. Comcast ( CMCSA ) in early February stepped up its marketing in Atlanta in anticipation of Google Fiber’s arrival. MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett says Google Fiber likely has more broadband customers than TV subscribers, but the firm’s study didn’t track broadband. Still, he says that Google Fiber’s relatively few TV customers, based on data from the U.S. Copyright Office, raises questions over the media hype the service has garnered. “The addition of less than 12,000 subscribers over the span of six months for a service that has generated this kind of fanfare isn’t terribly impressive,” wrote Moffett. Alphabet hasn’t given any subscriber figures for Google Fiber, nor any financials. The business is grouped in its quarterly earnings into what Alphabet calls its “other bets” — basically including all businesses other than the core Google units. Google has been in talks with local governments in Portland, Ore., San Jose, Calif., and Phoenix to expand its service to those markets. In late 2015, Google Fiber said it might enter Chicago or Los Angeles. And in late February, Google Fiber said San Francisco was also on its expansion list. “Google has made a number of splashy announcements. Taken together, they have a rather provisional feel, as if the company is still experimenting,” Moffett wrote. “Each market is different, and seemingly intentionally so. The goal doesn’t seem to be how much ground they can cover. It seems to be how many different business models they can showcase.”

2 More Multialternative Funds Decide To Liquidate

A recent article in the Economist magazine predicted that 2016 could be the first year since “the worst of the financial crisis” that more hedge funds are closed than are launched. Mutual funds and ETFs that pursue hedge-fund strategies – so-called “liquid alts” – have also been shuttering at an accelerated pace, and two more recently announced plans to liquidate: the Collins Alternative Solutions Fund (MUTF: CLLIX ) and the Lazard Master Alternative Portfolio (MUTF: LALTX ). Collins Alternative Solutions Fund According to a February 19 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Collins Capital Management advised the Board of Trustees governing the Collins Alternative Solutions Fund to close and liquidate the fund. New investments were halted immediately, and the fund was planned to be liquidated entirely by February 26. The fund was managed by a number of external sub-advisors. Based on data from Morningstar, the fund had assets of $21.7 million as of the end of January, and returned -14.26% for the 1-year period ending January 31, 2016. Lazard Master Alternative Portfolio On February 24, Lazard announced plans to liquidate its Lazard Master Alternative Portfolio. The fund was closed to new investors as of that date, and it was expected to liquidate on or around March 1. According to Fund Action , Lazard has joined “a long list of providers who have seen funds fall by the wayside after failing to garner enough assets in their alternatives portfolios.” The fund, which debuted on the first day of 2015, generated returns of +0.30% in its first year of operation, but then lost 4.09% in the first two months of 2016. These year-to-date returns through February 29 ranked LALTX in the bottom 15% of funds in its Morningstar category, and undoubtedly sealed its fate. As of the end of February, the fund’s assets under management had dwindled to just $16.9 million. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. Jason Seagraves contributed to this article.

Millennials Prompt Angie’s List To Tear Down Paywalls, Go Free: CEO

Online reviews site Angie’s List ( ANGI ) said Thursday that it will drop its current membership model this year and replace it with free access to its business ratings and reviews as part of a tiered subscription plan. The company promised changes last fall after it turned down a $512 million acquisition offer  from IAC/InterActiveCorp ( IAC ) subsidiary HomeAdvisor. Angie’s List is trying to grow its presence in the $400 billion home services market. Indianapolis-based Angie’s List has struggled with competition from rivals including Yelp ( YELP ), search engines such as  Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google and others. The company announced changes and 2016 year guidance at its annual analyst meeting Thursday in New York. Angie’s List stock was up nearly 4% in afternoon trading on the stock market today , near 9. Angie’s List stock is up 28% in the past 12 months but down nearly 70% from its all-time high of 28.32, brushed in July 2013. “The new plan announced today transforms our legacy business model to bring in a new era of growth and profitability,” Angie’s List CEO Scott Durchslag said in a statement. “By removing the paywall for ratings and reviews, our new profitable-growth plan removes the barrier that has limited our growth and enables Angie’s List to engage with more consumers and more service providers than ever before.” He said, “We expect to reignite revenue growth and drive significant increases in profitability over time with minimal disruption to the business.” The new tiers — to launch this summer — include a free option where users can research ratings of local businesses, read reviews and see display advertising. Premium silver ($24.99) and gold ($99.99) annual subscriptions include options such as an emergency service hotline and fair price guarantees. “The reviews paywall served the company well for the last 20 years, but looking ahead to the next 20 years — millennials are not going to pay for reviews,” Durchslag told USA TODAY on Thursday. Angie’s List guided 2016 revenue at $345 million to $355 million, up 0.25%-3.00% year over year. That’s short of the $361.5 million analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had modeled. “There will be some trade-off in terms of consumers that will want to just get things for free as opposed to paying a subscription,” says Durchslag. “There will be others that want the new set of offers we’re launching.”