Spotify

  • Great article on Spotify.
  • The rise of AirPods, smart speakers, and other wearable devices may not signal the onset of a true platform shift, but it undoubtedly represents a transformational evolution in the way we will consume media — and this emerging paradigm of distributed, “eyes up” device interaction directly benefits audio more than other content categories.
  • Nice table comparing the music services as well.

Artificial Intelligence

  • Fantastic resource for anyone interested in AI.
  • Especially worth checking out AI Index which has an absolute treasure trove of data (and makes it available via Google drive) on all aspects of AI.
  • The improvement in capabilities (see analysis and charts in the report) are exponential.
  • AI really has exploded on the scene – the chart shows attendance at big AI conferences. Notice the cyclicality though …

Electric Cars

  • Interesting piece from FTAlphaville on the carbon impact of electric vehicles.
  • First a staggering chart from VW – because battery production is so energy intensive it takes their new e-Golf 120,000 km of driving to breakeven in terms of carbon emissions vs. a diesel Golf.
  • This does depend on where the electricity used to charge comes from (VW address this) and ignores other gas emissions.
  • Some analysts suggest that because battery technology is yet to improve the best impact on CO2 emissions is to drive a hybrid.
  • Food for thought.

Biotech

  • Biotech investors take note – Eli Lilly are out for deals.
  • Eli Lilly and Co aims to announce roughly one $1 billion to $5 billion deal every quarter in 2020, its chief financial officer told Reuters, as the U.S. drugmaker looks to build up its pipeline of future products.
  • It will focus largely on earlier stage opportunities across key therapeutic areas including oncology, pain, immunology, and neurology

Drug Pricing

  • Pharma companies are starting to really come into their own with introducing innovative ways of pricing.
  • Alnylam only charges the $575k price for givosiran if the effect seen is on par with clinical trials.
  • Novartis now collects the $2.1m price tag for Zolgensma over 5 years.
  • Sanofi are offering $99/month subscriptions for insulin.
  • Pricing is a big issue for US Pharmaceuticals. There are start-ups looking at this issue as well – Generics 2.0.

Stock Market Bulls

  • A few hedge fund managers, worth listening to, continue to be bullish.
  • David Tepper is one. “I love riding a horse that’s running” and continue to do so to a point”
  • Stanley Druckenmiller is another:
  • “I revealed a very bullish posture intermediate-term since October when Powell guaranteed he would not rescind the insurance [rate] cuts unless inflation was persistently above target,” Druckenmiller recalled. “Since then, both have worked out, and the Fed is still whining about inflation being below target.”
  • Trump “election prospects have increased with two trade agreements and big win in Iran, which the Democrats have responded poorly to,” Druckenmiller added. “So I am still ‘riding the horse’ and bullish immediate term,”
  • Disclaimer: Make sure you do your own work and use common sense when investing!