Archive for the 'Microsoft' Category

Microsoft + Skype = Netscape Redux?

Let’s look at Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft 10, 20, even 50 years from now. The first thing I noticed was the cancellation of: “Skype Me Now” Moreover, Skype remains downloadable for Android regardless of the acquisition and iPhone is still on the boards as well. No proprietary moves thus far but it’s the top of [...]

Microsoft Invented Google, Facebook and Linux? What if?

I can only say an unnamed but deeply connected source that is not a conspiracy nut but a major hedge fund manager that owns a $14 Billion hedge fund, who once mentored me, and we still keep in touch, told me the following. He even said he was one of the first approached for the [...]

CME and US Stocks in General

If you look at a chart of CME from late ’08 to the present, you’ll notice it’s gone into a flat-line, just like much of the US equity market. GOOG ended the year right where it started. BIDU (amazing split on the year) and APPL kicked ass because GOOG would do no evil and APPL [...]

Help Investment Capitalist Cover Costs

It’s not free running a free blog, much less something like a Proprietary Trading site based on Global Macro financial research. Every reader knows that they get something out of the site and for each reader it’s unique. Some like the geo-political twists, some purview based on Quantitative Global financial research. While most of you [...]

Verizon VCAST Not for Windows 7 64-bit

Verizon (NY: VZ) Wireless has informed the least amount of people, (i.e. those that ask), that their VCAST Program so aggressively being marketed around the world to support their new launch of phones DOES NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS 7 64-BIT and the Rep I spoke with said her Supervisor claims they have no plans of [...]

An Epic Battle for Individual Eyeballs Starring: Google, Yahoo, Apple, MSN and Facebook

Although behavioral targeting has thrived by allowing marketers to offer ads that are customized based on the web surfer’s age, gender, location and online activities, in the immediate future not only will those variables be considered, but also the items the user may have been shopping for recently. For example, imagine you have searched for a specific bottle of wine from a shopping web site in the past couple of weeks, and were now on your favorite news site reading an article about foreign affairs. At the end of your article, you might see an ad from a wine merchant suggesting you take a look at their inventory and pricing. To go one step further in our example, the merchant that is serving you the ad has agreed to pay the advertising network a generous fee if that user clicks through and ends up purchasing a product. So the advertising network will be incentivized to track every single web user going through their network in a way that continually allows them to “guide” users to products that meet their real time interests. The convenience factor lies in that last term, “real time interests”.

Invitation to Join New LinkedIn Group

With all of the clutter and insanity due to groups turning into recruiting grounds and advertising forums for esoteric and mindless products, I was compelled to launch my own LinkedIn Group which is being emphatically embraced by the systematic and discretionary proprietary trading universe, to my delight. I know many of you are Prop. Traders, [...]