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Star Wars The Jedi Must End

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jedi need to end

Disney should retire the Star Wars franchise while they still can.

Star Wars opens today and is likely to divide a loyal and fanatic audience just as this weeks impeachment of President Donald Trump has divided a nation.

Rise of the Skywalker marks the 9th and closed the circle on the 42 year old franchise. I write that loosely as there will be articles and questions. Reddit users will spot clues to the fate of the galaxy in a split second of film.

Disney’s Star Wars

Disney acquired Luscafilm in 2012 for $4 billion. This gave the studio the rights to create the new Star Wars films, build a theme park and access an already devoted and eager audience.

Star Wars A Space Western

The new movie will have critics and devotees, but we should remember the first Star Wars “ A New Hope” was panned by many critics as nothing more than a space western 42 years ago. This is probably the most beloved of all the movies. The following 2 movies “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return Of the Jedi” delighted audiences if not many critics.

George Lucas went on to revamp and re-release the movies in another attempt to tap in to the hearts and pockets of punters. A few cosmetic changes and Anakins ghost at the end of the trilogy didn’t really merit the hype. Jar Jar Binks was not able to tug at heart strings.

The Phantom Menace

The dark years of his prequel trilogy, probably the hardest movies to watch, you want to like them, you want to feel something but the tree movies did nothing more than push special effects and green screens to the forefront of movie making. The prequels were cold, and lost in the Bantha fodder.

For the older generation of fans the was a new hope with the a new trilogy that was to be human and less concerned with CGI. With a new studio in charge fans waited and there was a a surge in nostalgia.

Star Wars was everywhere in 2016, even Game Of Thrones lacked the conviction, intent and purpose that was given to the new trilogy.

The Force Awakens

The Force Awakens was new, it felt new but comfortable. Cheers in the movie theaters as their beloved characters entered on screen. No critic could have dissuaded the outpouring of “back to basics” feeling.

Lurking under all this was a darker force. Disney was planning to take the franchise and bring up pre-prequels, in between stories and give one character his own movie. Some of this worked and some fell flat. It’s not the character that matters it’s the feelings for the actors, the memories of a childhood. This is why fans watching tribute bands don’t rush the stage.

Star Wars Box Office Totals by Film:

Release
Date		 Title Production
Budget		 Opening
Weekend		 Domestic
Box Office		 Worldwide
Box Office
May 25, 1977 Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope $11,000,000 $1,554,475 $460,998,007 $775,398,007
May 21, 1980 Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire… $23,000,000 $4,910,483 $290,271,960 $547,969,004
May 25, 1983 Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of… $32,500,000 $23,019,618 $309,205,079 $475,106,177
May 19, 1999 Star Wars Ep. I: The Phanto… $115,000,000 $64,810,970 $474,544,677 $1,027,044,677
May 16, 2002 Star Wars Ep. II: Attack of… $115,000,000 $80,027,814 $310,676,740 $656,695,615
May 19, 2005 Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge … $115,000,000 $108,435,841 $380,270,577 $848,998,877
Aug 15, 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars $8,500,000 $14,611,273 $35,161,554 $68,695,443
Dec 18, 2015 Star Wars Ep. VII: The Forc… $306,000,000 $247,966,675 $936,662,225 $2,068,223,624
Dec 16, 2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $200,000,000 $155,081,681 $532,177,324 $1,056,057,273
Dec 15, 2017 Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Las… $262,000,000 $220,009,584 $620,181,382 $1,332,539,889
May 25, 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story $275,000,000 $84,420,489 $213,767,512 $393,151,347
Dec 20, 2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skyw… $40,000,000 $99,100,000
Dec 16, 2022 Untitled Star Wars Movie
Dec 20, 2024 Untitled Star Wars Movie
Dec 18, 2026 Untitled Star Wars Movie
Averages $133,000,000 $91,349,900 $383,659,753 $779,081,661
Totals 15 $1,463,000,000 $4,603,917,037 $9,348,979,933

Disney’s New Star Wars Trilogy

Yes, Disney is planning 3 more Star Wars movies.

Disney has re-released “The Lion King” as a live action movie “Dumbo” and “Aladdin”, with more on the way.

Disney has been buying up more franchises, Fox was purchased last year and they have Pixar whos success was unprecedented with “Toy Story” and “Up” to name a few.

The Jedi needs to End

It’s over, it’s done, like all good things it should come to an end. The more Disney will try to rejuvenate an audience it will simply case exhaustion. Some of the original Star Wars fans are bringing their Grandchildren to the movie. The Jedi needs to end.

It’s time to look ahead, but. Disney will create more movies, more storylines that repeat time after time, more cliff hangers that really are not that at all. Will their friends show up to save them ? Of course they will at the very last minute. It’s all too cliched, too repetitive and too familiar.

DISCLOSURE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of investornews.io. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: https://.investornews.io/disclaimer.

SEC Proposes A Broader Definition For Accredited Investor Status

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SEC Chairman Jay Clayton
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has said that many people who don’t currently qualify as accredited investors are sophisticated enough to participate in private markets. PHOTO: JACQUELYN MARTIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEC Proposes Giving More Investors Access to Private Markets

Americans who meet certain standards would be able to invest in startups before they become public.

WASHINGTON—More Americans would be able to reap the rewards of investing early in the next Uber Technologies Inc. or Facebook Inc. under a proposal advanced Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. They could also get more chances to lose their shirts.

The proposal would expand the number of people allowed to invest in private securities offerings, hedge funds and private-equity funds—vehicles that are more opaque and riskier than securities traded on closely regulated public exchanges.

Currently, people who may invest in those markets, known as accredited investors, must have the financial resources to withstand big losses: either $1 million in net assets, not counting their home, or at least $200,000 in annual income.

The SEC proposal, which was approved by a vote of 3-2, would allow investors with certain qualifications, such as an entry-level stockbroker’s license, to sidestep the income and wealth thresholds.

Proponents, including SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, say that many people who don’t meet the financial qualifications for accredited-investor status are nevertheless knowledgeable enough to participate in private markets, where startups like Uber have grown into multibillion-dollar companies before offering to sell their shares to the public.

“Our current definition includes investors that spend their days cruising around in a Ferrari that Daddy paid for,” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said. “Yet it excludes investors who spend their days earning money and their weekends and nights figuring out how to invest it.”

The proposal goes to the heart of the SEC’s Depression-era mandate to protect Main Street investors from the vagaries of financial markets. While Republican-appointed commissioners like Ms. Peirce and Mr. Clayton want to expand individual choice, those picked by Democrats object that the proposal would expose many Americans, including retirees, to undue risks.

“The issue is balancing investor protection with the more ideological notion that people should be able to put their capital where they want to,” said Elisabeth de Fontenay, a law professor at Duke University.

“The failure to update these thresholds may be less about providing American investors access to lucrative private markets, and more about providing private markets access to potentially vulnerable American investors,” said Allison Lee, a Democratic-appointed commissioner. “Once they cross the threshold, there are no limits on the amount that can be gambled and lost.”

The commission is also seeking comment on whether the financial thresholds should be reduced in areas with lower costs of living, and whether investors who are advised by professional brokers should also be considered accredited. By law, private issuers may only solicit accredited investors. The proposal is subject to a comment period before a final rule is proposed.

Supporters say the SEC plan would help level the playing field between the affluent and the knowledgeable, while creating deeper pools of capital for young companies and private-equity firms to tap. They add that the advent of the internet has given people more information to assess risk.

The move to expand access to private securities comes after decades of rapid growth in such markets, which once amounted to a tiny fraction of the funding raised on public debt and equity offerings. The SEC estimates that $2.9 trillion was raised through private channels in 2018, versus $1.4 trillion in registered offerings.

“Today’s proposals are an important step in our ongoing efforts to assess the private offering framework as a whole, including ways to increase opportunity for more of our Main Street investors to participate in the private capital markets,” Mr. Clayton said.

The SEC declined to estimate how many individual or institutional investors would become accredited under the new standards, though it said the proposal “may result in a significant increase in the number of individuals that qualify.”

Privately held companies aren’t required to provide audited financial statements, making their securities more difficult to value. And investments in private equity or venture capital take much longer to redeem than mutual funds, so investors must bear the risk of losses over longer periods.

Pension funds and other institutional investors often enjoy strong returns on private markets. That is partly because they employ lawyers and accountants who negotiate fair prices for prospective investments, as well as disclosure of earnings and other information that affects share prices. Many experts say individual investors would be hard-pressed to secure such concessions from private issuers.

Under the proposal advanced on Wednesday, current income and wealth requirements would remain unadjusted for inflation, making it likely that more households would qualify as accredited investors over time. The number of households who meet the current definition rose to 16 million in 2019 from 1.31 million in 1983.

Even the most experienced and deep-pocketed investors often fail to estimate accurately how much private companies are worth, critics say. They point to SoftBank Group Corp.’s recent fiasco with WeWork, whose valuation plummeted from $47 billion in a January funding round to $8 billion in October.

The proposal continues a decades long process of creating exemptions to securities laws, which critics say undermines more transparent public markets. This is one reason the number of publicly listed companies has fallen since the 1990s, experts say.

“The federal securities laws were established to ensure investors have the information they need about companies to accurately assess the companies’ values and allocate their capital wisely,” said Tyler Gellasch, executive director of Healthy Markets, an advocacy group. “The SEC is simply continuing to erode that basic regulatory framework, leaving in its place an opaque, two-tiered market that has greater risks and costs for investors.”

 

Oil’s Biggest Bullish Boost Since 2016 Scores on Trade Armistice

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Contractors operate a drilling pipe inTexas, U.S. Photographer: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg

Oil’s Biggest Bullish Boost Since 2016 Scores on Trade Armistice

Money managers elevated bullish bets on crude by the most in more than three years — just in time to profit from a long-awaited truce in the U.S.-China trade clash.

Hedge funds increased net-bullish wagers on West Texas Intermediate oil by 52% in the days leading up to Friday’s announcement that the U.S. and China inked a deal to ward off a new round of punishing trade levies. The rise was the most since August 2016 and presaged crude’s first settlement above $60 a barrel since devastating missile attacks on Saudi Arabia sparked a record price surge in mid-September.

The trade accord “seems like something we can believe in,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. “The outlook for growth may not be as dire as we thought.”

The so-called phase-one agreement calls on both nations to hold off on new tariffs that were set to kick in within days, and for China to purchase billions of dollars in American farm products. New York oil futures that had been on pace to end the week little changed jumped to settle at a three-month high. The previous week, crude rallied more than 7% in news of surprise supply curbs by OPEC and partner nations.

Money managers’ WTI net-long position, or the difference between bullish and bearish bets, rose to 228,425 futures and options during the week ended Dec. 10, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday. Long-only wagers climbed 28% to a 17-week high, while shorts dropped by 33%.

Great Hill Partners Makes All Cash Offer to Acquire VersaPay Corporation

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Great Hill Partners Makes All Cash Offer to Acquire VersaPay Corporation

TORONTO, Dec. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – VersaPay Corporation (TSXV: VPY) (“VersaPay” or the “Company”) and Great Hill Partners (“Great Hill”), a leading growth-oriented private equity firm, are pleased to announce that the Company and an affiliate of Great Hill have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the “Arrangement Agreement”) whereby Great Hill will indirectly acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company (“VersaPay Shares”) by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the “Transaction”).

Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, each VersaPay shareholder (the “VersaPay Shareholders”) will receive cash consideration of C$2.70 for each VersaPay Share held (the “Consideration”), valuing VersaPay’s total equity at approximately C$126 million on a fully diluted basis. The Consideration represents a 47.5% premium to the closing price of the VersaPay Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”) on December 12, 2019 and a 64.5% premium to the volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) of the VersaPay Shares over the last 30 trading days.

Benefits to VersaPay Shareholders

  • Immediate and significant premium of approximately 47.5% to the closing price of the VersaPay Shares on December 12, 2019, and approximately 64.5% based on the 30-day VWAP.

  • All cash offer that is not subject to a financing condition.

“We are very pleased to be able to recommend this transaction to our shareholders, employees and customers,” commented Art Mesher, Chairman of the Company, “With their deep knowledge of our industry and focus on supporting growth companies, Great Hill is uniquely positioned to understand our business and its long term potential, and help the Company to achieve that potential”.

“Great Hill is excited to partner with the VersaPay team and provide the capital to execute on their growth strategies” stated Matt Vettel, Managing Partner at Great Hill Partners. Craig O’Neill, CEO of the Company added, “I’d like to thank our employees who have worked so hard to achieve the growth and success we’ve experienced to date, our customers who have put their trust in us, and our shareholders who have supported us as a public company.  We’re equally excited about our future working alongside Great Hill.”

Independent Committee and Board of Directors Recommendations

An independent committee of VersaPay’s Board of Directors (the “Committee”) comprised of Arthur Mesher, Sheldon Pollack and David Dobson was constituted to consider the Transaction.  Capital Canada Limited has provided a fairness opinion to the Committee (the “Fairness Opinion”) stating that in its opinion, and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications set forth therein, the Consideration to be received by the VersaPay Shareholders pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to the VersaPay Shareholders.

The Board of Directors, after receiving financial and legal advice, and following receipt of the Fairness Opinion and the unanimous recommendation of the Committee, has unanimously determined that the Transaction is in the best interests of VersaPay and is unanimously recommending that VersaPay Shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction.

In addition, directors and senior officers of VersaPay, who as of the date hereof collectively hold approximately 3.7% of the VersaPay Shares, have entered into agreements to support the Transaction and vote their VersaPay Shares in favour of the Transaction.

Transaction Conditions and Timing

The Transaction will be implemented by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act and will require the approval of 66 2/3% of the votes cast by VersaPay Shareholders at a special meeting of VersaPay shareholders to be called to approve the Transaction (the “Special Meeting“).

The completion of the Transaction will also be subject to obtaining required court and other approvals and satisfaction of closing conditions customary for a transaction of this nature.  The Arrangement Agreement includes customary deal-protection provisions.  VersaPay is subject to non-solicitation provisions and in certain circumstances, the Board of Directors may terminate the Arrangement Agreement in favour of an unsolicited superior proposal, subject to the payment of a termination fee of C$5.67 million and subject to a right of Great Hill to match such superior proposal.  The Arrangement Agreement also provides for payment by Great Hill of a reverse termination fee of C$7.56 million if the Arrangement Agreement is terminated in certain specified circumstances, including if Great Hill does not satisfy its obligation to provide sufficient funds to complete the Transaction.

It is anticipated that the Special Meeting will be held in February 2020. Following closing of the Transaction, the VersaPay Shares would be delisted from the TSXV. The Transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.

Advisors and Counsel

INFOR Financial Inc. is acting as exclusive financial advisor to VersaPay in connection with the Transaction. Capital Canada Limited provided the Fairness Opinion in connection with the Transaction. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is acting as Canadian counsel to VersaPay and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is acting as U.S. counsel to VersaPay.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as Canadian counsel to Great Hill and Alston & Bird LLP is acting as U.S. counsel to Great Hill.

Additional Information about the Proposed Transaction

A copy of the written Fairness Opinion, and a description of the various factors considered by the Board of Directors of the Company in its determination to approve the Transaction, as well as other relevant background information, will be included in the management information circular to be sent to the Company’s shareholders in advance of the Special Meeting. The management information circular, the Arrangement Agreement, including the plan of arrangement, and certain related documents will be filed with the Canadian securities regulators and will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Great Hill

Great Hill Partners is a Boston-based private equity firm targeting investments of $25 million to $500 million in high-growth companies across the consumer, digital infrastructure, financial technology, healthcare, and software sectors. Over the past two decades, Great Hill has raised nearly $8 billion of commitments and invested in more than 75 companies, establishing an extensive track record of building long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs and providing flexible resources to help middle-market companies scale. For more information, visit www.greathillpartners.com

About VersaPay Corporation

VersaPay is a Fintech company and leading provider of cloud-based invoice-to-cash solutions, enabling businesses to provide a superior customer experience, get paid faster, streamline financial operations, and dramatically reduce DSO and costs. VersaPay ARC is the first platform to provide Customer-Centric AR™ with a customer self-service environment to view invoices online, collaborate on inquiries and disputes, and facilitate secure online payments (EFT/ACH and credit card). Businesses gain access to a suite of powerful tools that enable efficient collections, cash application and real-time insight into accounts receivable. VersaPay ARC automatically reconciles payments and account information through integrations with a wide range of ERPs and accounting software providers.

More information about VersaPay is available at www.versapay.com or under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains “forward-looking information” which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the  anticipated meeting date, timing for completion of the Transaction and delisting from the TSXV.

Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of terminology such as “anticipates”, “believes”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “estimates”, “schedules”, “forecasts”, “budgets”, “proposes”, or variations or comparable language of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “might” or “will”, “occur” or “be achieved” or the negative connotation thereof.

Forward-looking information is based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue or incorrect, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such information. Such information is based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including: the Company’s plans with respect to its products and services, including timing, content and pricing; market and industry expectations; a continuing increase in the number of customer relationships; the length of the sales cycles; the competitive environment; the ability to maintain or accurately forecast revenue from the Company’s products or services; the ability of the Company to identify, hire, train, motivate and retain qualified personnel; the ability of the Company to develop, introduce and implement new products as well as enhancements or improvements for existing products that respond, in a timely fashion, to customer/product requirements and rapid technological change; general economic, business and political conditions; stock market volatility; anticipated costs and ability to achieve goals; the impact of any changes in the laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates; and the effect of new accounting pronouncements or guidance. Although the Company believes its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions and has attempted to identify important factors based on its current expectations, estimates and projections that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, these are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and there may be other factors that could cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks related to: taxes, reliance on third-party service providers, potential failures of VersaPay and third-party systems, failure to develop or market new products or services, intellectual property, third-party claims for intellectual property infringement, privacy breach by service providers, merchant fraud, security breaches, service interruptions by cyber-terrorists or fraudulent or illegal use of services, competition, additional financing, variable revenues/earnings, dependence on key personnel, merchant attrition, loss of sales partners, increases in interchange rates, non-sufficient funds, market demand for products and services, changes in consumer spending, operating risk and insurance, conflicts of interest, stock price volatility, government regulations, litigation, general economic conditions, foreign exchange, liquidity, interest rates, internal controls and acquisitions strategy, as more particularly described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2018 dated April 2, 2019. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and other risks are detailed from time to time in other continuous disclosure filings of the Company. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking information contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

SOURCE VersaPay Corporation

Related Links

www.versapay.com

Weatherford Successfully Completes Financial Restructuring

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Weatherford Successfully Completes Financial Restructuring

Emerges from Chapter 11 and Appoints New Board of Directors

HOUSTON, Dec. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Weatherford International plc today announced that it has completed its financial restructuring and emerged from chapter 11 protection.

The Company emerges with a stronger financial foundation having reduced approximately $6.2 billion of outstanding funded debt, secured $2.6 billion in exit financing facilities, including a $450 million revolving credit facility, secured a $195 million letter of credit facility, and secured over $900 million of liquidity.

“This is a notable day for Weatherford as we have emerged as a stronger, more focused organization,” said Mark A. McCollum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Weatherford. “With renewed balance sheet strength, a strong customer base and a portfolio designed to meet the needs of our industry, we believe we are well-positioned to build on our reputation as a leader in the oilfield services sector and to capitalize on the growth opportunities ahead. I want to thank our dedicated employees, customers and suppliers, who continued to believe in Weatherford and worked with us to achieve this successful balance sheet recapitalization.”

Weatherford expects its newly issued ordinary shares will initially resume trading on the OTC Markets with the Company ultimately planning to transition trading to the New York Stock Exchange, subject to the receipt of applicable approvals. The transition to the New York Stock Exchange is expected to occur after the Company reports results for its fourth quarter ending December 31, 2019, holds an investor call, and completes the fresh-start accounting process, which are expected to be completed by early March (details to follow).

New Board of Directors
A new Board of Directors was appointed upon the Company’s emergence, providing critical expertise and experience to Weatherford as it enters the next phase of growth and innovation. The new Board of Directors consists of seven members, including Chairman of the Board Thomas R. Bates, Jr., John F. Glick, Neal P. Goldman, Gordon T. Hall, Mark A. McCollum, Jacqueline Mutschler, and Charles M. Sledge.  Regarding the new Board, Mr. McCollum continued: “The knowledge and engagement of our new Board of Directors will better enable us to deliver on the opportunities in front of us and remain focused on achieving objectives that are in the best interest of all the Company’s stakeholders.”

Weatherford was represented in the recapitalization by Latham & Watkins LLP, Matheson, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, Alvarez & Marsal and Conyers Dill & Pearman.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. In addition, our management may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “seek” or “intend” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future events and conditions and are based on currently available financial, economic and competitive data and our current business plans. Actual results could vary materially depending on risks and uncertainties that may affect our operations, markets, services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Risk Factors section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). While we believe our assumptions are reasonable, we caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements as it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, management’s expectations of plans, strategies, objectives, growth and anticipated financial and operational performance; financial prospects; anticipated sources and uses of capital and other matters that are not historical facts. For a more detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, see the Risk Factors section in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our other filings made with the SEC. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice. The forward-looking statements made by us speak only as of the date on which they are made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

About Weatherford
Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies providing innovative solutions, technology and services to the oil and gas industry. The Company operates in more than 80 countries and has a network of 620 locations, including manufacturing, service, research and development, and training facilities and employs more than 24,000 people. For more information, visit www.weatherford.com and connect with Weatherford on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Contacts:       

Stuart Fraser
+1.713.836.4208
Interim Chief Financial Officer

Karen David-Green 
+1.713.836.7430
Senior Vice President Stakeholder Engagement and Chief Marketing Officer

SOURCE Weatherford International plc

Related Links

http://www.weatherford.com

Warning Issued For Millions Of Google Chrome Users

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warning chrome users

Warning Issued For Millions Of Google Chrome Users

Google’s seamless Chrome updates are one of its most appealing features thanks (unlike Windows 10) to their reliability. Until now. The latest version of Chrome has already automatically rolled out to hundreds of millions of users around the world is causing some serious problems for Android users.

Picked up by 9to5Google and expanded upon by Android Police, Chrome 79 has been found to delete data from Android apps which access Chrome via Android’s built-in WebView. As 9to5Google notes, users and developers are furious and Chromium’s bug tracker lists comments describing it as a “catastrophe” and “major issue.”

The problem stems from Chrome 79 switching the location it stores web data and a failed migration process has caused this data to be lost. Google has confirmed the issue and paused the rollout, but acknowledges Chrome 79 has already reached approximately 50% of devices (there are 2.5 billion Android users worldwide).

One Chromium engineer revealed “We are currently discussing the correct strategy for resolving this issue,” and said the company is working on a pair of strategies:

a) continue the migration, moving the missed files into their new locations.

b) revert the change by moving migrated files to their old locations.

“We will let you know which of these two options have been chosen soon,” the engineer continued and also asked for users to “collect a list of affected packages” which suggests there is still some way to go in identifying and fixing all the impacted apps. At this time, there is still no official list of the affected apps.

“I understand that losing data puts you in very difficult positions,” admitted another Chromium engineer. “This issue is marked P0 [highest priority] so, at this point, we don’t need more reminders about how important this is for you 🙂 Please understand that the team is working on a solution that minimizes the data loss, and that can be rolled out safely… After we deploy the best mitigation that we can, we’ll figure out how to do better in the future. Thank you for bearing with us!”

If you’re already running Chrome 79 (check your Chrome install version in the Play Store) there’s little you can do other than sit and wait. With no official list of impacted apps and serious risks of data loss accessing those that are, there’s no obvious way to protect yourself and the data of affected apps.

Hang in there.

Here’s what JP Morgan thinks are among the top trades for next year

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Forget about a 2020 recession.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.88%  picked equities, U.S. agriculture and hedges against next year’s U.S. presidential election as three of its longer list of top trade picks to kick off the new decade.

Analysts at the nation’s largest bank by assets see the Federal Reserve’s recent “mid-cycle” adjustment, or series of three rate cuts this year, as going a long way to reverse last year’s hikes that nearly pulled the country into a slump.

“Our risk-on stance is supported by the improvement in growth indicators over the past couple of months,” wrote a team of analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.

“In particular, we believe that the bottoming out of global manufacturing PMIs and the strength of U.S. labor markets are lowering U.S. recession risks and are boosting confidence to the mid-cycle adjustment thesis,” they wrote.

That thesis assumes stocks will follow the path of the 1995-1996 “mid-cycle” Fed rate adjustment and produce “5% or so upside for equities over the next six months.”

Here is their chart showing the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.01% bounce after the 1995 rate cut.

JPMorgan data

Like in the 1996 rally, a lift to stocks in the coming year still will need help from spending consumers and resilience in the U.S. job market, which in November saw the unemployment rate match a 50-year low of 3.5%, as well as a bounce in the manufacturing sector, JP Morgan analysts said.

But JP Morgan also see the stars aligning for a powerful “Great Rotation II” into stocks from bonds in 2020, after investors pulled some $203 billion out of global equity funds this year and plunged some $789 billion into bond funds.

Their forecast already baked in a de-escalation of the protracted trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, in no small part due to the looming 2020 presidential race.

Trade optimism got a bounce Thursday following reports that an interim U.S.-China “phase-one” trade deal had been reached in principle. The Wall Street Journal, citing a presidential adviser, said the preliminary deal calls for China to buy $50 billion worth of agricultural goods in 2020, along with energy and other goods. In exchange the U.S. would reduce the tariff rate on many Chinese imports, which now ranges from 15% to 25%.

President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that a “big deal” with China was “very close,” which helped propel the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.01%  and Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.20%  to record closes.

All that could bode well another JP Morgan top pick: staying long agricultural commodities via an index that provides broad exposure and diversification away from any idiosyncratic moves in agricultural markets.

U.S. farmers have been reeling from the loss of China as a key buyer of agricultural goods as a result of the two-year trade war. But the phase-one element of any pact is expected to ease some of their pain.

“This would be a materially bullish development for the agricultural complex, which is not priced, and if agreed by heads of state will drive our price forecasts into the bullish scenario,” JP Morgan analysts wrote.

The UBS ETRACS CMCI Food Total Return ETN UAG, +0.89% which tracks a popular an index of 10 agricultural commodities, lost 2.72% on the year to date as of Thursday at $15.72 per share.

Shares of iPath Series B Bloomberg Agricultural Subindex Total Return ETN JJA, -0.11%  were down 1.5% for the same period at $44.18.

The biggest risk of 2020?

It’s the U.S. presidential election, according to JPMorgan analysts who recommend adding hedges by going long on baskets of assets that could benefit if a progressive Democrat like Sen. Elizabeth Warren is elected.

Barclays analysts put a chart together in November listing eight different areas, from taxes to Big Tech, that could be impacted if Warren won the White House.

Earlier this month, analysts at Jefferies pointed out that the Health Care Selector SPDR ETF XLV, -0.07%  could help predict a Warren win, according to this CNBC report.

What The Charts Say About Bitcoin

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Administrator
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bitcoin prices

For now, Bitcoin is just another trading toy

Ah, Bitcoin. The stuff of dreams. The new frontier in currency and commerce. The gateway to a world dominated by blockchain technology, with newly-minted zillionaires lining of streets of urban and rural sites across the globe. Or, the speculative arm of a legitimate evolution of financial transactions.

Now, before you get all defensive about how amazing Bitcoin is, and tell me how out of touch I am (after all, at age 55, I am way too old to understand this stuff, right?), hear me out. I do see the role of blockchain technology in the global economy going forward.

However, I think of Bitcoin, the most famous of cryptocurrencies, like “Band-Aids” are to adhesive bandages (hint: same thing, but one is a brand name, the other is just what the product is). Bitcoin is the proverbial poster-child for this new way to hold money. That is all fine with me. My point, though: just don’t pretend it is a substitute for traditional hard currencies. Not yet, anyway.

Bitcoin: what it is and what it isn’t

My evidence for that statement: the price of Bitcoin is not at all stable. Its price is more volatile than most stocks. You wouldn’t take the money you need to pay this month’s mortgage or buy food for your family’s dinners this week, and put it in an S&P 500 Index Fund, would you? Actually, I am afraid of the answer from too many investors. But I digress. The point is that Bitcoin still appears to be a trading tool (toy?), rather than a “store of value,” which is the textbook definition of a stable asset.

For that reason, I refuse to look at Bitcoin as a currency when following its price movement. However, as a vehicle to trade to make profit on over periods of time, I see it the way I see stocks and ETFs: as something to chart, and to evaluate its reward/risk trade-off at any point in time.

And, while I have not yet invested Bitcoin for my clients or myself, I am willing to consider it if it meets my usual investment criteria. One of those is that it can be charted.

What do the charts say about Bitcoin now?

Click to enlarge

Remember that time when Bitcoin ran up to seemingly impossible heights, then dipped below 8,000, then crashed to under 4,000? Above, you see the price of Bitcoin over the past couple of years. It shows that last dizzying episode from 2018. And to me, it appears to be setting up for a repeat downward performance in 2020.

Now, technical analysis (charting) is more precise when there is deeper data and history behind the price activity. With Bitcoin’s limited history as a popular asset, and the fact that it is not a business like a stock, we have less to work with than we would with a stock or commodity. However, if you look at the right side of the chart, you see an orange line—the 50-day moving average of Bitcoin’s price. That line is falling, and it is close to falling below the red line—the 200-day moving average. This is occurring while Bitcoin is quietly in the midst of repeating its early 2018 price pattern.

That last round of Bitcoin price drama had a similar pattern, as you can see in May of 2018. At that point, the orange line crossed below the red line, just as it is poised to do now. That “death cross,” as chart geeks often call it, is happening now at about the same Bitcoin price level (8,200) as it did then.

Will history repeat?

I don’t know, but I wouldn’t simply blow this off as a coincidence. After all, the downside risk of ignoring the chart pattern in Bitcoin was about $5,000. Bitcoin fell from that 8,200 level to about 3,250 at its December, 2018 low, before quadrupling in value 7 months later.

And that brings me back to my main point: Bitcoin is not an “investment” at this stage of its development as a marketable security. Neither are small marijuana companies and penny stocks. They are trading tools for virtual rooms of speculators. It is somewhere between a casino and the latest version of the “greater fool theory,” where you can profit from owning it as long as someone is willing to buy it from you. I would insert an analogy to tulip bulbs here, but suffice it to say, just look that up yourself.

“Big shots”

Last point: one of my personal investment tenets, and what I say to clients who tell me they are investing in Bitcoin or some other trading toy, is this: “It’s OK to take big shots, as long as you do it with small amounts of money.” Just don’t confuse speculation with investing.

Rob Isbitts is founder of Sungarden Investment Research.

Original article at IRIS.xyz

How to attract Accredited Investors and convert investor leads

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Administrator
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Accredited Investor

Is your company attractive to investors

How long will it take to get returns on investment? Accredited investors or high-net-worth investors focus on ROI more than what your company does.

All entrepreneurs have one thing in common. They really believe in their company and its future. Most entrepreneurs have their heads in the clouds and live in the future of prospective sales, clients and the company’s success.

How to approach potential accredited investors or angel investors.

  1. Make sure you have your company registration filed and legal.

    This is essential. Registering your company and having all your legal forms ready is the most essential requirement. Your company may need a sales license and other state requirements. Ensure they are filed and ready. Your company name should be files with the state, sellers permits and EIN numbers ready. A bank account should also be set up for the company. Without these basics. Don’t go any further.

  2. Get your company message right.

    Your team should all agree on what your company does and its value proposition for investors. Practice and rehearse your elevator pitch. Deliver 3 sentences that describe what problem your company addresses and how it addresses it.

  3. Don’t over-hype your company

    Don’t describe your company in terms of Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc. It makes no sense when looking for an investor to discuss how you will become the next Unicorn. Talk realistically about your team and their experience. Talk about your company’s successes and your timeline for major accomplishments.

  4. Respect investors’ time.

    Accredited Investors are usually inundated with companies looking to get their attention. If they seem like they are not interested, simply ask if you can follow up with them at a later time and ask for their information. There is nothing more annoying than following them around at conferences or approach them at every social occasion. You are wasting your time when you can try to source an investor who may be interested. If the investor is interested you will know.

  5. Have your website and investor deck ready.

    1. Have a website, that is not made on wix or squarespace. These tools may be ok for some businesses but in general an investor wants to see something more than just a basic site.
    2. Have business cards handy. This should be a basic thing, but there are times that your business cards are in your jacket, briefcase or you didn’t get any. If you cannot hand your business care, it is better not to approach an accredited investor. They are not going to take notes to look at your website on your phone.
    3. Create an easy to see link on your site to your Public Pitch deck. If you have videos have links clear. Don’t ask the investor to watch your youtube video pitch with your phone in his face.
    4. Ensure that your pitch deck is polished and that you have all the necessary information and financial modeling investors need to make an informed decision. Hire a professional to ensure that your investor deck will deliver the most accurate and concise information for investors. Your team should also be able to discuss all this information, don’t say “Our CFO is not here but let me call and see if we can get them on the phone.”
    5. Your team should rehearse and discuss so everyone delivers the same message. Enter pitch battles or other public forums to get feedback on your pitch. This is a great way to learn what questions your team will encounter from investors and help your team deliver a consistent message.
    6. Don’t lie about who may invest. Don’t discuss other investors or lie about interested investors in your company. There is nothing worse than saying there is another investor interested to try to close the deal. Suddenly, your current prospective investor can call or verify the information. This will make you or your company look ridiculous.

Investors focus on team experience, company progress and timelines to exits

Ensure that your team can engage the investor in light conversation at first. There is no need to ask how much they are willing to invest in your company during the first discussion. If the potential investor brings it up, then that is all the better. The best course of action is to discuss how much your company is looking to raise and how much it has raised so far. This makes it easier for the investor to gauge interest in your company from other parties. Don’t lie about how much you have raised.

Marketing to investors online.

Engage a professional investor marketing company with a background and seek legal advice before you begin any investor relations or investor marketing campaign. Engaging investors will require legal and financial advice. Make sure you can get all legal documents signed and delivered quickly. You may be required to issues shares and deliver legal compliance information. This should not be done as needed. These documents and legal representation should be already agreed upon and selected by your team.

Delivering late information or not having an agreed-upon term sheet ready will delay any investments and will also look very bad.

Email marketing to investors is not a numbers game. The more emails you send the less likely you are to achieve your goals. The rule is that you engage only warm investors. Cold accredited investor leads and investor email lists are not going to work

Hire and professional investor relations or investor marketing company that understands how to get your company message in front of the right investors. Targeting accredited investors is a difficult task. Emailing cold leads will not work and can cause serious issues for your company.

Here are things that your company should consider. Engaging 30,000 cold accredited investors will not get any investment. Connecting with 100 accredited investors who can see your website, read your pitch deck and are looking for your type of company will lead to 30% of these investors actually putting money in your company in the first round or further rounds. Most accredited investors will invest $100,000 to $250,000 or more in companies when they are approached in the right way.

These are real numbers that entrepreneurs need to understand with every interaction they have. Don’t ruin your company’s potential by not delivering the right message in the right way.

If you engage multiple accredited investors who seem interested but then do not invest. This may be a message that your company is not on track and your team should look into the reason why. Simply ask the accredited investor, they may tell you. Don’t take it personally. Take it as constructive criticism.

 

Here are some answers that you may hear from the accredited investor who doesn’t invest:

  • Company Valuation is off
  • Company is not ready yet
  • Your team is not experienced enough
  • Your company strategy is not focused
  • A team member may be toxic
  • There has been no personal investment
  • There are too many similar competitors
  • Too hard to sell the idea to others
  • Legal issues
  • Terms sheets
  • No track record for the company

For companies looking to attract accredited investors and get angel investors, take the advice from investors who may add more critical criticism than you are used to getting. If your team is not a team, cracks will show. If you hide anything or lie about anything, this may also be uncovered and you may face fines or legal issues form lying to investors.

Security Token Offerings the ways to avoid financial crisis

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Administrator
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Security token offerings financial crisis

Security Token Offerings the ways to avoid financial crisis for 2019 and beyond

The world economy is still struggling to recover from the 2008 Financial Crisis. Years after the massive economic collapse of countries wealth and the loss of $ trillions, we are still balancing the world economy on this same house of cards.

The world financial system is set for another downturn, many experts feel this will be even more catastrophic than in 2008.

The markets are at an all-time high and we have seen this before in the 1970s and 2008  before the massive crash that came. The time for a better, more secure investment system is already here, but, sadly mainly disregarded due to negative publicity.

The causes for the 2008 financial meltdown are still debated among experts but most agree that the deregulation of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) portfolios mixed with overreaching government policies that drove lenders to issue subprime mortgages.

Distributed ledger technology offers a transparency and liquidity solution that through security tokens can achieve a better investment alternative.

Security Tokens and Security Token Offerings

Security tokens serve as a digital representation of any other tradable financial asset, including equity shares of a company, interests in funds, contracts entitled to a specific slice of future revenue streams, ownership of intellectual property, fractional ownership of real estate and other physical assets, and derivatives themselves. Security tokens can be easily regulated and managed. Security tokens deliver an easier way to form capital and set the stage for a new reformed financial service infrastructure.

Private Placement through a security token offering (STO) traded legally on exchanges, which comply with existing regulations will become a better investment alternative over the coming years.

Security Token Offerings (STO), should not be confused with the initial coin offering (ICO) craze that was so popular in 2016-2018. Over 95% of the ICOs launched have either failed or become embroiled in legal issues. While security token offerings are a form of initial coin offerings there are many differences that should appeal to investors.

SECURITY TOKEN OFFERINGS CAN SAVE A FUTURE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

Recent downturns and corrections in the stock market are heightening fears of an impending financial meltdown. For some, this looming financial crisis will see the biggest single stock market crash in history along with the huge downturn in global economy.

To address this the adoption of security tokens should be the talking point on every economists and financial networks radar, yet, sadly, they are being ignored by the media and financial institutions.

Many see cryptocurrency as just Bitcoin or have recently heard about Facebooks Libra coin and are not too impressed with the speculative qualities associated with many of the cryptocurrencies, that were promoted.

In 2018 the cryptocurrencies market plummeted from $800 billion in January to $121 billion in December, giving rise to cynicism, skepticism and mass exits from the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Furthermore, the mass ICO market that yielded the simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT) confused many as these were not security tokens but utility tokens and many were created only for pump and dumps on exchanges.

Security tokens are in fact offering an alternative and more importantly can help provide a base level for a reformed financial service infrastructure that can address the flaws and weaknesses that led to the financial crisis. Security tokens offer the benefits of liquidity and transparency while resolving the issues experienced through flawed ICOs by embracing compliance, protecting privacy and automating regulatory reporting.

SECURITY TOKENS PROVIDE THESE KEY FINANCIAL BENEFITS:

  • Portfolio transparency:Security tokens offerings give investors direct, real time software driven access to portfolios and underlying financial assets. Therefore, investors can make their own assessments regarding portfolio performance, letting the market play out naturally as conditions change. Furthermore, these securities exist on the blockchain ensuring a transparent, immutable record of transactions, preventing users from “cooking the books”. Token holders are given the ability to manage their portfolios via direct access to transaction records that cannot be altered. Transparent record-keeping of transactions, investments, portfolio performance and origin of assets at every step along the way. Demonstrated clarity around how more complex instruments have been pooled, broken up into tranches, rated – and by whom and when -directly for both investor and the regulator, who have the ability to track the lifecycle of the asset, security or financial instrument.
  • Decentralized ratings: A direct result of transparency of security tokens means many entities are emerging with competing technologies to rate the value and viability of the offerings in the security token industry. This trend in decentralized rating combats the massive trust issues created from easily manipulated ratings in traditional financial sector. This “decentralized analysis” also provides the basis for innovative new models to rate offerings in real time and employ advanced techniques, such as machine learning.
  • Efficient, objective pricing: As institutional adoption grows and STO market comes out of its infancy, more influential and available security token offerings backed by key players will enter the market. STO platforms will offer an ideal convenient model for access, trading and monetization. Market makers and other tools offered by these platforms will improve buying and selling opportunities, even with minimal market participants. Furthermore, this will provide efficient, market-based pricing for almost all tokenized assets.
  • Elimination of “too big to fail” offerings: Security token platforms offer a streamlined compliance models and access to secondary markets. These capabilities deliver and substantially reduce the costs of capital formation, creates lower barrier to entry for all securities offerings and encourages innovation – leading to more investment choices and opportunities for diversification.
  • Liquidity at all market levels: Security token platforms offer seamless market access and dramatically reduce the cost of compliance and reporting. Therefore, assets of any size can be brought to market and, in many cases can be made available to masses in a more scalable and inclusive way. Institutional and retail investors will have the ability to efficiently monetize their investment interests, rebalance their portfolios and access opportunities previously unavailable to the majority of investors. Broader liquidity pools brought on by interconnected global secondary markets and streamlined liquidity that allow for instant settlements and atomic swaps. STOs would be the best answer to the complying with legislation written in the 1930s, by opening liquidity in secondary market leaving out retail investors from owning assets prior to IPO and only allowing institutional and accredited investors.
  • Control: Retail, accredited investors and institutional investors gain greater control over the management of their assets through transparency, direct access to further empowerment to control the parameters of their investment portfolio. Coupled with streamlined compliance frameworks and interconnected secondary markets, delivers more effective market making that promotes cross-border liquidity at range levels.
  • Access: The cost of completing an IPO in the U.S. is prohibitive and the continuing compliance does not make economic sense for most companies in today’s financial systems. More readily available and accessible investment opportunities at both the primary issuance and secondary markets on investments and trading size, reduce costs, provide more diversified opportunities to hedge risks related to investment portfolios.
  • Compliance: Real-time regulatory reporting on cash flow, allows discrepancies and risks to be easily and upfront identified to allow measures to be taken by central banker and policy makers, to counteract stresses to the financial system through monetary policy. Security tokens can be coded autonomously comply with relevant regulations and laws.
  • New Assets: Emergence of new financial instruments vehicles such as contingent capital in token form, which are essentially IOUs that imitate bonds and generate a return until maturity will reduce lag time in needing to quickly and effectively pivot to absorb market shocks.

NASDAQ PREDICTS 2019 WILL BE THE YEAR OF THE STO

The Nasdaq predicts that 2019 and beyond will see the STO becoming the ne norm as regulators in global markets work to set the stage for adoption and stable regulatory environments.

The adoption and education on the best practices for the STO is urgently needed and should be adopted by more institutions and investors quickly, before the global economy is at its knees again.

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