You may need to start looking for a new financial advisor if your current one has put any of these high-fee, low-return "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" into your portfolio.

High fees plus poor performance: It's a pretty simple formula for a bad mutual fund. Some are worse than others - and some are so bad that they have earned a "Strong Sell" on the Zacks Rank, the lowest ranking of the nearly 19,000 mutual funds we rank daily.

First, let's break down some of the funds currently part of our "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market." If you happen to have put your money into any of these misfires, we'll help assess some of our best Zacks Ranked mutual funds.

3 Mutual Fund Misfires

Now, let's take a look at three market misfires.

Franklin Real Return R6 (FRRRX): This fund has an expense ratio of 0.48% and a management fee of 0.63%. Without even doing any in-depth analysis, just the fact that you are paying more in fees than you're earning in returns is reason enough not to invest. FRRRX is a Government - Bonds option, and holds securities issued by the U.S. federal government in their portfolios; these funds focus across the curve, meaning the yields and interest rate sensitivity will vary. The fund has lagged performance-wise, so perhaps a simpler index future investing strategy might be more effective.

Wells Fargo Absolute Return A (WARAX): 1.53% expense ratio, 0.72%. WARAX is classified as an Allocation Balanced fund, which seeks to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, and including precious metals or commodities is not unusual. This fund has yearly returns of 0.07% over the most recent five years. Another fund liable of having investors pay more in charges than what they receive in return.

Alger International Growth C (ALGCX) - 2.21% expense ratio, 0.71% management fee. This fund has yielded yearly returns of -0.32% in the course of the last five years. Too bad!

3 Top Ranked Mutual Funds

Since you've seen the most noticeably lowest Zacks Ranked mutual funds, how about we take a look at some of the top ranked mutual funds with the least fees.

T. Rowe Price Science & Technology Adviser (PASTX): 1.06% expense ratio and 0.64% management fee. PASTX is a Sector - Tech mutual fund, allowing investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. With an annual return of 15.53% over the last five years, this fund is a winner.

MFS Research R5 (MFRKX) is a stand out fund. MFRKX is a Large Cap Growth option; these mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. With five-year annualized performance of 11.1% and expense ratio of 0.48%, this diversified fund is an attractive buy with a strong history of performance.

Janus Henderson Enterprise S (JGRTX) has an expense ratio of 1.16% and management fee of 0.64%. JGRTX is a Mid Cap Growth mutual fund. These mutual funds choose companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion. With yearly returns of 14.41% over the last five years, this fund is well-diversified with a long reputation of salutary performance.

Bottom Line

Along these lines, there you have it - if your financial guide has you put your money into any of our "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market," there is a strong likelihood that they are either dormant at the worst possible time, inept, or (in all probability) filling their pockets with high fee commissions at the cost of your financial objectives.

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If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click the link to download our free report, 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement.

This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes, like trying to time the market, lack of diversification in your portfolio, and many more. Get Your FREE Guide Now Get Your Free (JGRTX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (ALGCX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (WARAX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (FRRRX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (MFRKX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (PASTX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

Excerpt from:
Are You Invested In These 3 Mutual Fund Misfires? - December 02, 2019 - Yahoo Finance

Over the past few years global trade has had a hard time. Sanctions and the continued threat of trade conflicts are having their toll. Even manufacturing wonderland Germany is feeling the pain despite the fact that together with America it currently accounts for around 30% of global GDP and nearly 20% of world trade.

But German growth is slowing, and only last month there were real fears of a recession. Now a new report by KPMG, supported by the Kantar Emnid research institute, brings the situation into focus.

A big imbalance

Long partnerships have their ups and downs. On top of that the relationship between Germany and the US is a marriage of unequals. In 2018, American GDP exceeded $21 trillion (19 trillion), while Germany came in at only $3.8 trillion. The same year Germany exported goods worth $125 billion to the US while only buying $57 billion.

This is the big trade imbalance that Donald Trump keeps trumpeting. It also gives America the upper hand in negotiations, and the threat of tariffs makes German manufacturers quiver. On top of that foreign direct investment in Germany declined by two-thirds in 2018 compared to the previous year.

The report pointed out that only 24% of thecompanies asked intend to invest 10 million or more in the next three years in Germany. This is a drop from 47% in 2017. Even more dramatically, now 13% say "they did not want to invest in Germany" compared to just 6% two years ago. What accounts for this change?

Not all gloom and doom

Overall US direct investment in Germany has been in decline since 2014 as companies have pulled back investments and focused "more on core business as opposed to expanding existing businesses or making acquisitions," Warren Marine, leader of US practices and capital markets at KPMG, told DW.

Surely theuncertainty of Brexit plays a role. So does the general slowing down of the global economy. But the report points to some very specific German problems like its bureaucracy, high personnel costs and lack of investment in infrastructure.

The study also found that a mere 17% of those asked "feel optimally supported when it comes to backing business establishments and expansions," which means that over 80% do not feel like their businesses are being helped along. Additionally, 21% think the country is "among the least favorable countries in terms of taxes and levies."

The report highlights still another area where Germany is behind: digitization. The country is still very much a builder of things and not a builder of the internet of things (IoT). Germany is well behind in the number of artificial intelligence companies and even in simply bringing fast internet to all corners of the country.

Not an easy fix

Frank Sportolari, the president of the US Chamber of Commerce in Germany, agrees that more needs to be done. "The signals have been out there for a few years. American companies have been talking about the problems with digital infrastructure, energy costs, bureaucracy, and interestingly one of the positives they always mentioned was political stability and now we can't even really talk about that anymore."

Yet perhaps Americans' shyness to invest is part of a general trend of looking inward. Nonetheless, many companies see Germany as a strategic location for working in the German-speaking world. And German subsidiaries provide a big part of group revenue for many international firms, a number expected to grow in the next years.A stronger world economy will only add to this.

Putting aside trade differences will put Germany back in focus for investment by foreign companies. Fixing its tax system, supporting foreign businesses, training more skilled workers and building up its portfolio of innovative technologies will keep it on the path of sustained growth and global importance.

"There is certainly work that needs to be done and there is too much at stake to not take these kind of surveys seriously," concluded Sportolari.

Continue reading here:
US businesses less willing to invest in Germany - DW (English)

Despite facing federal investigations regarding its accounting practices, stock in Under Armour, a fan-favorite athletic apparel company, has still performed well over the last decade.

The company launched in 1996 solely making sweat-wicking athletic shirts. But it has since expanded into nearly every area of athletic apparel and footwear, including running shoes and womenswear. It has also signed deals with top athletes, including basketball star Stephen Curry and golfer Jordan Spieth. Compared with its peers, Under Armour is still known to be more focused on performance than fashion. In some ways that has hurt the brand, as Lululemon's sales have skyrocketed while Under Armour has been struggling of late.

Although the company's sales have slowed recently, those who invested in Under Armour 10 years ago would have earned a healthy return. A $1,000 investment in 2009 would be worth more than $4,700 as of Nov. 22, 2019, for a total return of around 370%, according to CNBC calculations. By comparison, in the same time frame, the S&P 500 had a total return of around 250%. Under Armour's current share price is hovering around $16.

CNBC: Under Armour's stock as of November.

While Under Armour shares have done well over the years, it's stock has fallen 21% in the last six months. And so, it's important to note that any individual stock can over- or underperform, and past returns do not predict future results.

On Nov. 15, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, who is scheduled to step down from his role as of Jan. 1, responded to reporting by The Wall Street Journal that said the athletic apparel retailer borrowed business from future quarters to cover up slowing demand at the end of 2016. Plank said Under Armour's integrity "is unshaken" despite ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the Baltimore-based company's accounting practices.

"Given recent events that have entered the realm of public opinion without full context, it is disappointing to have our integrity and reputation called into question," Plank said in a memo sent to employees, which was obtained by CNBC.

Reporting by Journal describes practices employed by Under Armour as it "scrambled" to meet aggressive sales goals. The company allegedly moved around inventory and shifted sales from quarter to quarter to improve financial metrics in the final days of a given quarter. These tactics, and others, were allegedly used to prolong a 26-quarter streak of 20% sales growth through late 2016.

Stephen Curry Under Armour basketball shoe is displayed in San Rafael, California.

Getty Images

As a result of the SEC's probe into Under Armour, Goldman Sach's removed the company from its conviction buy list, which is a listing of stocks the investment bank's research team expects to outperform.

Despite the controversy, the company's third-quarter earnings and sales announced in early November still topped analyst expectations.

When it comes to shoe sales, Under Armour's focus on performance hasn't been paying off. While other athletic apparel companies, such as Nike and Adidas, have partnered with celebrities like Kanye West and Beyonce, to release high-profile collaborations, Under Armour has maintained its focus on innovation and, as a result, revenue fell 12% in the third quarter, CNBC reports.

Not all of Under Armour's recent headlines have been negative, however. At the end of October, the National Lacrosse League re-signed its sponsorship deal with Team 22, the manufacturer of Under Armour lacrosse gear. As part of the three-year contract, Under Armour will provide gear and equipment for the players.

Additionally, Under Armour is taking its advanced apparel line into space. In mid-October, it was announced that the company would make spacesuits to be worn by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic astronauts during upcoming flights. The collection, which is said to be the first line of spacesuits "created specifically for private astronauts," will include a spacesuit, a training suit, footwear and a limited-edition jacket.

When it comes to Under Armour's overall stock performance, the athletic apparel company's shares haven't always been on the rise. In 2017, its stock fell more than 50% as demand for products slowed. And while its shares have been making a steady recovery ever since, Under Armour could be up against a rough end to 2019 amid the investigations.

If you are considering getting into investing, experts, including Warren Buffett, often advise starting with index funds, which hold all of the companies in an index, such as the S&P 500. Because index funds fluctuate with the market and aren't tied to the performance of a single business, they're less risky than individual stocks, making them a safer choice for beginners.

Here's a snapshot of how the markets look now.

Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!

Don't miss:

Continued here:
If you invested $1,000 in Under Armour 10 years ago, here's how much money you'd have now - CNBC

The corporate travel segment has had huge investment rounds poured into it in the past year, with startups in the space claiming it needs fixing.

Longer term observers of the sectors are a little more sceptical of the so called "disruptors" and often question whether they offer anything different.

As founder and senior director of investment firmCertares and executive chairman of American Express Global Business Travel, Greg OHara is well-placed to comment.

During an executive interview at the Phocuswright Conference in Florida last month, OHara discusses how the Amex GBT joint venture between American Express and Certares came about in 2013.

He also talks about current developments in airline distribution such as IATAs New Distribution Capability and on the high valuations of startups in corporate travel (TripActionset al).

OHara contrasts some of those large funding rounds to the sums Amex GBT invests in technology as well as the companys potential to make further acquisitions and grow further.

Continued here:
VIDEO: American Express GBT on NDC, TripActions and tech investments - PhocusWire

In 2017, Snap (NYSE:SNAP) was one of the hottest IPOs of the year and was the largest to hit the markets since Alibaba went public back in 2014. The camera-based app has proven to be a hit with young users, and that's made Snap a popular platform for advertisers seeking to reach younger audiences. However, with the company facing some major problems, its stock has sent investors on a bit of a roller-coaster ride.

Although the stock was initially priced at $17 a share, it actually began trading at $24. It was a great early profit for investors who were able to buy at the lower price, but for the vast majority of us, $24 would've been the price available at the open. A $10,000 investment would have been enough to buy 416 shares of Snap. As of Friday's close, shares of Snap were trading at just $15.26, more than 36% below its opening price. If you had invested $10,000 in Snap on Day One, your shares would be worth just $6,348 today.

While it's a sobering realization for people who might have expected Snap to be the next big thing in tech, investors could have lost a whole lot more had they sold their shares back at the end of 2018 when the stock was trading below $6.

Image Source: Getty Images.

Snap's shares have struggled over the years for a couple reasons. The first has to do with the company's growth. While there's no question that Snap is a popular app, there have been questions regarding whether the company misled investors about its growth potential and the danger that Facebook poses to its business.

Questions surrounding Snap's user base were growing in 2018, when the app started to see its daily active users (DAUs) not only stall but even decline. Without a growing user base, it would be hard to convince investors that the stock was investable, especially since the other big problem for the company was its poor financials.

Although Snap's sales have risen significantly over the years, from $59 million in 2015 to $1.5 billion over the past 12 months, the problem is that the company is actually farther away from breakeven today. In 2017, its losses reached a peak at more than $3.4 billion, and while that came down to $1.3 billion in 2018, it's still been a massive problem for Snap. The company has been burning through lots of cash along the way, with free cash flow being more than negative $800 million in both 2018 and 2017.

The good news for early investors is that Snap has recovered in 2019 in a big way. The stock has risen more than 160% year to date, and in its most recent quarter, it posted a loss of $227 million. That was a sizable improvement from the loss it incurred a year ago, which totaled $325 million. And thanks to a redesign of its app, Snap has been able to see growth in its DAUs in recent quarters as well:

Image Source: Snap.

The big test for Snap is whether the company can continue to build on these results. It's going to need more good performances in order to be able to convince investors that it's an improved company. Getting back to its IPO price could prove to be challenging, because the stock is still an expensive buy today, trading at 9 times its book value and around 14 times its sales.

Investors who bought the stock at the IPO and managed to resist selling it during the lows of 2018 might as well continue holding on to see if Snap can prove that its recent results are just the beginning of a much bigger recovery. After all, the company's ability to hold its own against Facebook's efforts to copy its features should provide some confidence to investors.

The tech stock is still a risky one to hang on to today, but it's nowhere near as concerning as it was a year ago.

Here is the original post:
If You Invested $10,000 in Snapchats IPO, This Is How Much Money You'd Have Now - The Motley Fool

As 2019 winds down, its time to get serious about what 2020 holds. In this episode of Moneyline, Matt McCall has investors covered. He has broken down six major trends that hes confident will generate not only money, but financial freedom, for those who take the plunge.

Unsurprisingly, marijuana stocks make the list. This has been a rough year for what once were darling names. Canadian cannabis companies have tanked over supply issues and black-market competition. And in the United States, legalization is slow moving.

But McCall knows it isnt time to throw in the towel just yet. Over the next few years, these companies especially U.S. ones will thrive. Investors who stay in now will reap large profits ahead.

Not all that glitters is green, though. Several of the other investing trends for 2020 that McCall identified come from disruptive tech. In the world of healthcare, he sees big changes coming through medtech, or medical technology. This category includes everything from medical robots to individualized drugs. These up-and-coming biotech companies will eradicate diseases and develop treatments curated specifically for each patient.

Plus, these health trends connect to two more on his list. Youve probably heard of big data or at least heard of data centers that dominate suburban towns but how exactly should you be investing in it? Well, the biggest database is yet to come. Once scientists can crack the code to genome sequencing, companies that sort and store DNA data will be like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) andAlphabet(NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL). McCall is still looking for the perfect investment opportunity, but he knows one is right around the corner.

If youre not quite ready to believe (or invest in) the possibilities of gene editing, then what about wearables? Thanks to the Internet of Things trend, companies that produce and monitor medical wearables will be riding a cash wave into 2020. Just like Apples(NASDAQ:AAPL) smart watch offerings, the future will hold devices that monitor your health and alert doctors when necessary. These trends are disrupting the healthcare world as we know it. These devices will make day-to-day monitoring a simple process and radical new treatments will change lives. You dont want to miss out on what the future holds.

Tune in to Moneyline with Matt McCall for more groundbreaking trends and a little insight on why exactly you should be investing.

Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors by getting them into the worlds biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being first gave Matts readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), just to name a few. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now. Matt does not directly own the aforementioned securities.

Originally posted here:
6 Giant Investing Trends for 2020 That You Dont Want to Miss - Investorplace.com

December 2, 2019

Stephen Bonnyman, MBA, CFA, is Co-Head, North American Equity Research and Portfolio Manager of AGF Management Limiteds Canadian and global resources portfolios.

Working closely with the AGF research teams, Mr. Bonnyman focuses on identifying resource companies with solid balance sheets, advantaged cost structures, attractive valuations or unrecognized growth. Mr. Bonnyman is a member of the AGF Asset Allocation Committee AAC which is comprised of senior portfolio managers who are responsible for various regions and asset classes.

In this 2,879 word interview, exclusively available in the Wall Street Transcript, Mr. Bonnyman reveals his best bets for investors in real assets.

AGF Global Real Asset Fund was constituted in the first quarter of this year looking for a solution for clients to provide an inflation hedge and a market hedge that didnt require them to be active traders.

The real asset fund effectively is designed as a long-only public market portfolio to hedge against inflation and to be uncorrelated with the broader market.

We do that by focusing the investment universe on infrastructure, utilities, real estate, energy, materials and precious metals.

The fund has the capability of investing globally in equities, in debt, in physical precious metals, and it utilizes a derivatives overlay strategy to either enhance the yield or modify the risk characteristics of the securities within the portfolio.

In the interview, Mr. Bonnyman reveals many of his top investment prospects:

We have a bias toward production since, for the most part, what were trying to do is gain leverage to the gold price and reflect that into the portfolio. But we do own explorers.

As I had mentioned, where we see mispriced opportunities or where we see a catalyst in place, where a stock can make a material difference in its valuations over a couple of years, we will step in. In fact, one of our larger precious metals positions is a company called SilverCrest (NYSEAMERICAN:SILV) where they are approaching a production decision. Its an extraordinary geological opportunity, and its been a great stock for us.

Get the rest of Mr. Bonnymans exclusive 2,978 word interview, only in the Wall Street Transcript.

Continue reading here:
Liquefied Natural Gas, Silver and Gold Can Be the Best Investments for 2020 - The Wall Street Transcript

Two popular investment avenues, real estate and bitcoin, have been making waves in todays market. When it comes to these opportunities, it can be difficult to discern which is the wiser investment choice for you. Both have benefits and, like all investments, carry risk.

If you have been considering these assets and are looking to select the option thats a good fit for you, lets examine the pros and cons of each investment. Keep in mind before making any investment decisions to perform your due diligence and consult your financial advisor.

Breaking It Down: Real Estate Investment

Real estate investment is the purchasing of property with the intent of renting or selling it to make a profit. This is a multifaceted investment. You can flip homes, rent business space, be a residential landlord, rent out vacation property or open an Airbnb.

Real estate investing can help diversify your portfolio. Property is also a tangible investment; you can pull money from it and put value back into it. With a proper purchase and research, you can bring in money while putting value into a sellable asset. Additionally, owning property comes with tax breaks.

However, a great deal of effort is involved when it comes to real estate investment. Keeping up with property requires regular maintenance, upgrade and repairs. Owners need to collect rent and worry about utilities, not to mention that purchasing property can be pricey upfront.

Also, property is not an entirely fluid asset. Although you can sell property, it can sometimes be difficult to unload. It takes time to sell, and theres a chance you might pour a lot of money into something that does not equal out. On the other hand, people need somewhere to live, so real estate will always be a necessity.

Pros:

Tangible asset.

Versatile investment opportunities.

Tax benefits.

High cash flow.

Long-term returns.

Cons:

Not a fluid asset.

Costly investment.

High maintenance.

Breaking It Down: Bitcoin Investment

Cryptocurrency, the most popular of which is bitcoin, is one of the newest investment options available. These digital currencies act as a medium of exchange globally as an alternative to money. They are technological currency backed by blockchain technology.

One big benefit of bitcoin investment is the currency can never be inflated, since there will always be a limited number of bitcoins to go around. Theres also not much involved in purchasing the currency. You obtain your cryptocurrency wallet, purchase your bitcoin and mine. The currency is global and can be sold easily on a cryptocurrency exchange. Transactions are marked in the blockchain, which is publicly available, and bitcoin is currently in high demand.

However, as great as all these perks may be, there are some risk factors. Since bitcoin is an intangible asset, theres a fair bit of room for error in exchange. The currency is entirely digital, which makes it open to cyberattacks, and security isnt ironclad. Also, although there are only a limited number of bitcoins, there are many other types of cryptocurrency available that could inflate the market.

Additionally, since this asset is so new, theres not enough data to really calculate its value. As recent price fluctuations show, the market is volatile. You could easily lose everything you invest, so the decision of whether or not to get involved with bitcoin really comes down to how much you are willing to risk.

Pros:

Peer-to-peer system.

Governed by economic principles.

No inflation.

Easy to trade.

Long-term potential.

No maintenance.

Lower cost.

Cons:

Bubble inflates and fizzles out.

Not a tangible asset.

Security issues.

Little/no government involvement.

High risk.

Which investment comes out on top?

As you build out your investment portfolio, your best investment really depends on your personal financial background, your familiarity with the asset and how much you are willing to risk. Purchasing bitcoin is low-maintenance and high-risk with the potential for high reward, while real estate is a long-term investment that could end in a big payout down the road or provide steady income. So its ultimately up to what you can afford and what you can afford to lose.

The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.

Continue reading here:
Bitcoin Versus Real Estate: Which Investment Is Better For You? - Forbes

The Valleys affinity for robotics shows no signs of cooling. Technical enhancements through innovations like AI/ML, compute power and big data utilization continue to drive new performance milestones, efficiencies and use cases.

Despite the old saying, hardware is hard, investment in the robotics space continues to expand. Money is pouring in across robotics billion-dollar sub verticals, including industrial and labor automation, drone delivery, machine vision and a wide range of others.

According to data from Pitchbook and Crunchbase, 2018 saw new highs for the number of venture deals and total invested capital in the space, with roughly $5 billion in investment coming from nearly 400 deals. With robotics well on its way to again set new investment peaks in 2019, we asked 13 leading VCs who work at firms spanning early to growth stages to share whats exciting them most and where they see opportunity in the sector:

Participants discuss the compelling business models for robotics startups (such as Robots as a Service), current valuations, growth tactics and key robotics KPIs, while also diving into key trends in industrial automation, human replacement, transportation, climate change, and the evolving regulatory environment.

Which trends are you most excited in robotics from an investing perspective?

The opportunity to unlock human superpowers:

How much time are you spending on robotics right now? Is the market under-heated, overheated, or just right?

Are there startups that you wish you would see in the industry but dont? Plus any other thoughts you want to share with TechCrunch readers.

I want to see more founders that are building robotics startups that:

Three years ago, the most compelling companies to us in the industrial space were in software. We now spend significantly more time in verticalized AI and hardware. Robotic companies we find most exciting today are addressing key driver areas of (1) high labor turnover and shortage and (2) new research around generalization on the software side. For many years, we have seen some pretty impressive science projects out of labs, but once you take these into the real world, they fail. In these changing environmental conditions, its crucial that robots work effectively in-the-wild at speeds and economics that make sense. This is an extremely difficult combination of problems, and were now finally seeing it happen. A few verticals we believe will experience a significant overhaul in the next 5 years include logistics, waste, micro-fulfillment, and construction.

With this shift in robotic capability, were also seeing a shift in customer sentiment. Companies who are used to buying outright machines are now more willing to explore RaaS (Robot as a Service) models for compelling robotic solutions and that repeat revenue model has opened the door for some formerly enterprise software-only investors. On the other hand, companies exploring robotics in place of tasks with high labor shortages, such as trucking or agriculture, are more willing to explore per hour or per unit pick models.

Adoption wont be overnight, but in the medium term, we are very enthusiastic about the ways robotics will transform industries. We do believe investing in this space requires the right technical know-how and network to evaluate and support companies, so momentum investors looking to dip their hand into a hot space may be disappointed.

Were entering the early stages of the golden age of robotics. Robotics is already a huge, multibillion-dollar market but today that market is dominated by industrial robotics, such as welding and assembly robots found on automotive assembly lines around the world. These robots repeat basic tasks, over and over, and are usually separated by caged walls from humans for safety. However, this is rapidly changing. Advances in perception, driven by deep learning, machine vision and inexpensive, high-performance cameras allow robots to safely navigate the real world, escape the manufacturing cages, and closely interact with humans.

I think the biggest opportunities in robotics are those which attack enormous markets where its difficult to hire and retain labor. One great example is long-haul trucking. Highway driving represents one of the easiest problems for autonomous vehicles, since the lanes tend to be well-marked, the roads have gentle curves, and all traffic runs in the same direction. In the United States alone, long haul trucking is a multi-hundred billion dollar market every year. The customer set is remarkably scalable with standard trailer sizes and requirements for shipping freight. Yet at the same time, trucking companies have trouble hiring and retaining drivers. Its the perfect recipe for robotic opportunity.

Im intrigued by agricultural robots. Ive seen dozens of companies attacking every part of the farming equation from field clearing and preparation, to seeding, to weeding, applying fertilizer, and eventually harvesting. I think theres a lot of value to be harvested here by robots, especially since seasonal field labor is becoming harder to find and increasingly expensive. One enormous challenge in this market, however, is that growing seasons mean that the robotic machinery has a lot of downtime and the cost of equipment isnt as easily amortized in other markets with higher utilization. The other big challenge is that fields are very, very tough on hardware and electronics due to environmental conditions like rain, dust and mud.

There are a ton of important problems to be solved in robotics. The biggest open challenges in my mind are locomotion and grasping. Specifically, I think that for in-building applications, robots need to be able to do all the thing which humans can do specifically opening and closing doors, climbing stairs, and picking items off of shelves and putting them down gently. Plenty of startups have tackled subsets of these problems, but to date no one has built a generalized solution. To be fair, to get to parity with humans on generalized locomotion and grasping, its probably going to take another several decades.

Overall, I feel like the funding environment for robotics is about right, with a handful of overfunded areas (like autonomous passenger vehicles). I think that the most overlooked near-term opportunity in robotics is teleoperation. Specifically, pairing fully automated robotic operations with occasional human remote operation of individual robots. Starship Technologies is a perfect example of this. Starship is actively deploying local delivery robots around the world today. Their first major deployment is at George Mason University in Virginia. They have nearly 50 active robots delivering food around the campus. Theyre autonomous most of the time, but when they encounter a problem or obstacle they cant solve, a human operator in a teleoperation center manually controls the robot remotely. At the same time. Starship tracks and prioritizes these problems for engineers to solve, and slowly incrementally reduces the number of problems the robots cant solve on their own. I think people view robotics as a zero or one solution when in fact theres a world where humans and robots work together for a long time.

Continued here:
Leading robotics VCs talk about where they're investing - TechCrunch

As the leader in streaming TV services, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is in a class by itself. The streaming video pioneer, which popularized binge-watching, reached over $160 billion in market capitalization in 2019, even eclipsing Disney (NYSE:DIS) at one point in the year.

The surge in share price since Netflix entered the streaming market has been both explosive and persistent. As a result, any investor lucky enough to buy in during the early days -- and hold shares through the volatility -- has made a potentially life-changing purchase equating to returns of over 27,000%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Netflix went public in late May of 2002. At the time, it counted roughly 1 million subscribers who paid a monthly fee for access to its library of DVD movies and TV shows. Its most mature market was San Francisco, where its red envelopes shuttled to and from roughly 4% of households.

CEO Reed Hastings and his team thought they had a long runway for growth in fighting with rivals like Blockbuster, as DVD technology found its way into more households. Netflix's tech-based approach made it scalable, and its software roots gave it an edge over traditional retailers, management said back in 2003.

Those assets persuaded the company to price its IPO at $15 per share back in 2002. Netflix sold roughly 6 million shares at that price and raised about $86 million after expenses. That valued the company at less than $500 million.

Early investors were richly rewarded as Netflix battled with -- and beat -- major competitors like Blockbuster, Walmart, and Redbox for the DVD-by-mail niche. The stock reached a $15 billion market cap in 2011, in fact, translating into a 30-fold return for people who held for a decade after the IPO.

The company would go on to blow past those returns, but not before ensuring that shareholders earned their gains by withstanding a few bouts of epic volatility.

The streaming business was Netflix's real growth catalyst. Executives saw early on that there was much more potential for that entertainment channel, and so they launched a service in 2007 that supercharged subscriber growth. That move, combined with the shift into offering exclusive and original content, made the company a global powerhouse in the entertainment industry.

Along the way, Netflix only split its stock twice, once in 2004 (2-for-1) and again in 2015 (7-for-1). The two splits didn't impact the overall value of the company, but they did ensure that any investors who held through them both would own 14 times their initial number of shares.

So now we have everything we need to calculate your return if you had owned Netflix stock since the beginning.

For simplicity, you could have bought 7 shares for $105, which would have become 98 shares today after the two stock splits. Here in late 2019, Netflix stock is trading for around $314, which means your $105 buy would be worth over $30,770.For context, an equal investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $290 today for an almost 200% return in 17 years.

^SPX data by YCharts

Netflix's 27,000% return since its IPO makes it one of Wall Street's best performers, and those gains are mostly notable for how unusual they are. The other key factor to remember is that shareholders had to endure multiple periods of massive volatility and share price declines, including several 50% slumps, on the way to earning that phenomenal growth.

Together, these facts mean that, while rare, life-changing stock purchases are possible over periods as short as a dozen years. But investors also have to be willing to pay a price in volatility and patience to even have a shot at these massive payouts.

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If You Invested $100 in Netflixs IPO, This Is How Much Money Youd Have Now - Motley Fool