As we here @ #Outsiders have been assessing the state of our affairs over the past 24 hours and assessed the view from Israel on the state of the pending Israeli Prime Minister, the Senator reminded me of the US Speaker of the House:
1/29/2015
Notations On Our World: On Saudi Arabia & Beyond
A new era has arrived in Saudi Arabia as King Salman has taken the reign and has moved immediately to insure stability at the top. An extent of the value the United States places is when the President cut short his visit to India to pay his respects--accompanied by a bi-partisan delegation of former Secretaries of State and key members of Congress:
Saudi Arabia is a challenging country as it changes. King Abdullah's 20 year reign was tumultuous. The Wahhabi Philosophy continues to be at the forefront as beheadings continue and people continue to be persecuted for their beliefs--as the case of the Saudi Blogger sentenced to 1000 lashes is self-evident here. But, it seems as if King Abdullah understood that he had to gradually change Saudi Arabia as noted in this snapshot published "On the Grid":
Saudi Arabia is a challenging country as it changes. King Abdullah's 20 year reign was tumultuous. The Wahhabi Philosophy continues to be at the forefront as beheadings continue and people continue to be persecuted for their beliefs--as the case of the Saudi Blogger sentenced to 1000 lashes is self-evident here. But, it seems as if King Abdullah understood that he had to gradually change Saudi Arabia as noted in this snapshot published "On the Grid":
But, people will ask for more as Saudi Arabia will have to deal with a number of challenges around it--including the collapse of Yemen and the raging insurgency in Egypt. As we went to press with this latest edition of "notations" we reviewed reports of Egyptians Soldiers being killed in a firefight with insurgents in the increasingly lawless Sinai Region. The current count is 42 Soldiers--based on the latest reporting from Al Jazeera.
This past 24 hours has also seen an escalation of tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. It was gratifying to see that Hezbollah has signaled that it is not interested in further escalating the conflict with Israel as Israeli Soldiers were killed in an apparent retaliation for an Israeli Drone Strike. It was unfortunate how the Foreign Minister of Israel slammed the Israeli Prime Minister for showing restraint.
As such changes are at hand, the plight of the ordinary man and woman continues to be ignored. Syrians and Iraqis continue to suffer as Palestinians continue their struggle for trying to survive from day to day. Iraqi Forces are being accused of a massacre in Diyala province as lawlessness continues ever more. The report from Jane Araaf at Al Jazeera is chilling on the details especially as Sunnis were targeted.
As the Middle East burns, what is ever so tragic is how the Young have been sacrified. One such brave voice spoke out which is noted below--it is telling how he expressed the hope and the frustration of the future generation:
1/28/2015
Notations On Our World: On the Latest on the Business Front
We here @ Outsiders have been blown away by what Apple announced. The latest quarter saw one of the current stalwarts of Technology Today blowing away every single conceivable record. It sold a record-breaking 74.3 Million iPhone!! This translated to over 34,000 iPhone per hour. Part of it is explained by what has been happening in China. An iPhone has been selling as high as $ 2100. One further measure of the extent of Apple's achievement is this:
Read story: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/
Beyond the iPhone success, we also are anxious about the advent of Apple Watch. There is a ship date for it--and all indications we've see are that it is going to be a hit. Beyond iPhone and Apple Watch, though, some of the other Apple Businesses seem to be either stuck in neutral or not making much headway. The iPad business continues to be stuck in neutral. It was quite stark as to how the Economist noted this as it said, "..they are doing business the old fashioned way". Although the World seems to be "on board" with Apple, Apple needs to be beyond a one or two hit wonder while some of the other businesses. We will be continuing to assess it here throughout Outsiders.
Facebook came out with earnings today. It exceeded expectations--but spending is also counting. It is continuing to trade at all time high and it underscores that some 1.39 BILLION People use Facebook daily. What we found ever so ironic was how Samsung has stumbled as it has. They have had a 27% drop in their quarterly income due to how they've stumbled in the Mobile Space.
We have also been following the latest from two of the old stalwarths: Yahoo & IBM. Yahoo came out to announce that it was spinning off its' stake in Alibaba to a separate company. There were some analysis that noted that Marissa Meyer would be losing her "Safety Net" when that in fact occurs as Yahoo tries to figure out where it fits in the changing landscape. Alibaba itself is about to announce and interestingly enough has gotten into a war of words with a Chinese Regulator. IBM is also on the horizon as it is about to go through a re-organization. There were rumors of 100,000 Jobs going away--which was denied.
As our "Virtual Run" continues, we leave all with this perceptive Thought courtesy of +Jonathan Huie :
This Company Earns More Than India's Top 50
Read story: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/
Beyond the iPhone success, we also are anxious about the advent of Apple Watch. There is a ship date for it--and all indications we've see are that it is going to be a hit. Beyond iPhone and Apple Watch, though, some of the other Apple Businesses seem to be either stuck in neutral or not making much headway. The iPad business continues to be stuck in neutral. It was quite stark as to how the Economist noted this as it said, "..they are doing business the old fashioned way". Although the World seems to be "on board" with Apple, Apple needs to be beyond a one or two hit wonder while some of the other businesses. We will be continuing to assess it here throughout Outsiders.
Facebook came out with earnings today. It exceeded expectations--but spending is also counting. It is continuing to trade at all time high and it underscores that some 1.39 BILLION People use Facebook daily. What we found ever so ironic was how Samsung has stumbled as it has. They have had a 27% drop in their quarterly income due to how they've stumbled in the Mobile Space.
We have also been following the latest from two of the old stalwarths: Yahoo & IBM. Yahoo came out to announce that it was spinning off its' stake in Alibaba to a separate company. There were some analysis that noted that Marissa Meyer would be losing her "Safety Net" when that in fact occurs as Yahoo tries to figure out where it fits in the changing landscape. Alibaba itself is about to announce and interestingly enough has gotten into a war of words with a Chinese Regulator. IBM is also on the horizon as it is about to go through a re-organization. There were rumors of 100,000 Jobs going away--which was denied.
As our "Virtual Run" continues, we leave all with this perceptive Thought courtesy of +Jonathan Huie :
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