Thursday, April 29, 2021

Transforming the Newsroom: Palantir and Ringier

Let's take a background look at these news stories that started sloshing around about a week ago - there are many about something now named "Data-Driven Decision Making In The Newsroom".

Palantir Deepens Relationship With Ringier To Help It Transform Into

A Digital-First, Global Media Company

Shanthi Rexaline , Benzinga Staff

April 20, 2021 1:45pm

Palantir Deepens Relationship With Ringier To Help It Transform Into A Digital-First, Global Media Company

More > Why It's Important: For Ringier, the enhanced partnership with Palantir will mean an increased thrust on its digital transformation plan, which it embraced more than a decade ago. The company is striving to shift away from a legacy newspaper business into a diversified, digital-first, global media company through significant investments in technology and skills.

"Palantir's world-leading integration technology enabled us to create a secure, comprehensive data foundation that enables experienced journalists to make more informed decisions about what content best serves their local communities," said Marc Walder, CEO of Ringier. . .

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NEW Massive Palnatir Breaking News! Palantir Renews Media Contract!!! - YouTube

1280 × 720

5 days ago

YouTube

NEW Massive Palnatir Breaking News! Palantir Renews Media Contract!!!

Watch (10:51)______________________________________________________________________

Uploaded by: Beyond our Money, Apr 20, 2021

767 Views · 79 Likes

PLTR Stock might not go up but does it really matter when a company is consistently locking in New partnerships . . .

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STREET INSIDER

Palantir (PLTR)

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Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome • We Don't Need Another Hero • Tina Turner

Accelerating De-Risking Going Forward > High Incentives to Lock In Gains by Selling Equities in Favor of Long-Dated Bonds

Here's an explanation noted by Bloomberg in a few selected excerpts that goes like this

JPMorgan predicts that public pension funds run by states and local governments are also on course to shift more into fixed income. These public defined benefit plans, with about $4.5 trillion in assets, have a funding status that trails their private-sector peers, at about 60%.

MARKETS

Bonds Beat Stocks at Pension Funds, Turning 60/40 Inside Out

Liz McCormick

and

Lu Wang

‎April‎ ‎28‎, ‎2021‎ ‎3‎:‎00

Top 100 public companies have over 50% of assets held in debt
State, local government pensions to buy more, JPMorgan says

The debate over the traditional 60/40 portfolio seems endless, but for pensions at least, it’s over -- and bonds won.

More Bonds Beat Stocks at Pension Funds, Turning 60/40 Inside Out

Bonds Beat Stocks at Pension Funds, Turning 60/40 Inside Out - Bloomberg The retirement funds of the top 100 U.S. public companies, with combined assets of about $1.8 trillion, have ratcheted up their fixed-income allocations to a record level. At the end of their last fiscal year, they held 50.2% of assets in debt, while slashing money parked in equities to an all-time low of 31.9%, according to a recent report from pension advisory firm Milliman Inc.

INSERT FROM BLACKROCK > Why bonds are still a good hedge| BlackRock Blog

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The shift, part of a longer-term transition spurred by federal legislation that made fixed-income more appealing, is gaining momentum even though asset class returns have gone in opposite directions with stocks surging to record highs while a four-decade rally in U.S. bonds is in jeopardy.

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Low bond yields test 60/40 asset allocation - InvestmentNews

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“So public pension funds have less incentive to de-risk in general,” Panigirtzoglou wrote. “But they do face a problem. Their equity allocation is already very high and their bond allocation stands at a record low of 20%. So, from an asset/liability mismatch point of view they are under some pressure to buy bonds.”

"... Paltry yields that seemingly have nowhere to go but up have been an almost universal worry that has prompted investors to question the wisdom of sticking with the long-favored portfolio diversification recommendation of 60% stocks and 40% bonds.

Ten-year Treasury yields have risen over a percentage point since August, nearly reaching 1.8%, as an improved vaccine rollout sparks business reopenings amid trillions in fiscal stimulus. The jump in yields resulted in the worst quarter for Treasuries since 1980, and has prompted Wall Street to predict even higher yields before year-end. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index climbed 5.8% in the three months ended in March, the fourth consecutive quarterly increase.

Until last quarter, it’s mostly been the best of both worlds for pension funds, with equities outperforming long-duration debt even as yields plunged over the past few years. That generated gains that exceeded increases in pension liabilities. . .

The funding status -- a measure of the degree to which pensions have enough assets to meet liabilities -- of the 100 companies tracked by Milliman was 88.4%. Since 2005, the funds have also increased their allocations to “other” investments including private equity, real estate, hedge funds and money market securities to 17.9% from 9.5%. The majority of the companies have a fiscal year end that coincides with the calendar year end.

The Old 60-40 Formula for Stocks and Bonds Has Run Into Trouble

“The main reason for the overall shift from equities into fixed income has had to do with the change in pension regulations,” said Zorast Wadia, a principal at Milliman. “And as these pensions’ funding status have improved they have continued to shed equity risk -- getting more and more into fixed income.”

Under the federal Pension Protection Act passed in 2006 companies had a set time to fully fund retirement plans and were required to use a specified market-based rate of return -- tied to corporate bond yields -- to compute liabilities rather than their own forecasts. This change made buying debt in an asset-liability matching framework more appealing than equities.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the most recent Covid-19 pandemic relief bill, provides two forms of general funding relief for single-employer pension plans. It’s not clear yet if that may affect asset allocation decisions.
more

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

SUSPICIOUS OBSERVERS >>. More CMEs Erupt, Super-Flare Confirmations, Earth Rotation Glitches

Yale's Shiller Surprised by Surging U.S. Housing Market

Gundlach: U.S. Stocks Are Overvalued on Almost Every Metric

Verra Mobility (American Traffic Solutions) ...Speed Cameras and Much More

Verra Mobility Corp. engages in the provision of smart mobility technology solutions and services. It operates through the Government Solutions and Commercial Services segments. The Government Solutions segment delivers traffic law enforcement services and products to state and local governments. Verra Mobility - Home | Facebook

The Commercial Services segment offers tolling and violation management services to rental car companies, commercial fleet vehicle owners, and violation issuing authorities. The company was founded on August 15, 2016 and is headquartered in Mesa, AZ.

BTIG Stick to Their Buy Rating for Verra Mobility Corporation

19 hours ago (Apr 26, 2021 09:15AM ET)

BTIG analyst Mark Palmer reiterated a Buy rating on Verra Mobility (NASDAQ:VRRM) Corporation on Monday, setting a price target of $18, which is approximately 33.73% above the present share price of $13.46.

Palmer expects Verra Mobility Corporation to post earnings per share (EPS) of -$0.01 for the second quarter of 2021.

. . .According to TipRanks.com, BTIG analyst Mark Palmer is currently ranked with 5 stars on a 0-5 stars ranking scale, with an average return of 21.2% and a 67.33% success rate.

MesaZona > Table of Contents : Here's The Menu. Enjoy