Netflix All Set To Make Its Way In India

Netflix is said to be entering the Indian streaming industry by the end of 2016.

Netflix Inc. is rapidly expanding throughout the world. The company is the online streaming giant that has disrupted the television industry in an attempt to cut the cords of viewers. The streaming service offers its services in more than 50 countries and now it has nearly 62 million plus paid subscribers on its platform. Recently, it has focused mostly on expansions and less on generating profits and revenues. However, after adding many regions in its pipeline and actually expanded in some of the countries. The latest additions were Australia, Cuba, and New Zealand along with China to be the next.

Netflix’s expansion in China is said to be the most hyped and talked about in the streaming industry. Now reports are coming that Netflix is planning to make its way in India. The Indian population loves watching movies and streaming online video content. Furthermore, the trend of streaming in the region is growing substantially in recent times. Even then there is a lack of online movies and TV shows’ streaming services in the region. But, sources suggest that ‘a consistent impediment in the recent past, in addition to licensing hassles, has been the long debate around net neutrality in India.’

According to a reported published in the Times of India, it stated “US-based Netflix, has firmed up plans to enter India by 2016, according to people familiar with the matter. This has sent domestic DTH players into a tizzy with some of the major ones chalking out strategies to diversify beyond television. On the cards are iconic shows including Buniyaad, Nukkad and Malgudi Days on various mobile devices across iOS and Android.”

The streaming service has vowed to be in each and every country of the world by the end of 2016 along with totally decimating the traditional television trend and make a new market of internet TV only. Netflix also seeks to pass a huge number of users by the end of 2019 in order to sustain its market position and status.

Whenever Netflix eyes to enter a certain market, it imposes great threat on the traditional pay TV cable business operators as well the local established businesses in the same sector. The report that was published also quoted a spokesperson of Netflix “We have said we plan to be nearly global by the end of 2016. We have nothing else to share at this point.”

Local Direct Broadcast Satellite owners (DTH) such as Tata Sky has already started to make a plan and work on it in order to bring Netflix to the masses once it is all set to launch

Cablevision Systems See Dead Future For Big Bundle Of Cable Channels

Cablevision Systems CEO sees fewer customers taking the “big bundle” of cable channels and a shift to a mix of online and over-the-air broadcast programming.

James Nolan, CEO of Cablevision Systems (NYSE:CVC), anticipates a bleak future for the big bundle of cable service channels, expecting customers to switch over to a mix of online and over the air broadcast programs. In an investor group meeting organized by the Guggenheim Partners, he said that a reduction in the number of customers in taking big bundle is inevitable.

Such an impact is likely to affect programmers, which Mr. Dolan estimates from his own personal estimate is around 20-25 percent loss in the following five years, especially with the industry moving away from the current structure to new dimensions, such as digital antennae. His views hold many teeth in it. A Wall Street analysis of the Nielsen data show that the top 40 TV channels in the US, such as CNN and ESPN, lost more than 3 million subscribers for the past four years, because of ‘cord cutting’.

Demographics are also playing its part, with the customer base of the baby boomers shrinking while the current generation is hooked up into the Internet and streaming for movies and videos online. This is the reason why Mr. Dolan warned that the cable operators would stop selling video services one day and focus more on broadband service.

In response, Cablevision Systems has been introducing “cord-cutter packages”, which uses a digital antenna in order to pick up to 70 broadcast channels, including popular channels, such as CBS, ABC, and Fox.

Cord cutter and digital antenna programs are not yet deemed practical for the time being, due to a lack of content. However, due to HBO and ShowTime, it is now possible to mix the broadcast with over the top cable offerings. The price tag for the digital antenna is around less than $40, in addition to data and phone service, what Dolan calls it as a cheap triple play.

While there are a handful of competitors out there in the market, the CEO of cablevision is confident that their offer is one of the cheapest, because of lower prices, while acknowledging that their service is not yet a top class. Now the focus shifts to the customers having the chance to move from one bad cable company to a good one.

The organization is known for its affordable offerings to people who think that cable is too costly, as stated by the CEO.

Cablevision Systems stock price ended the day at $24.51, a gain of 0.60% from the previous day.

Herbalife And Taipei Medical University Partner Up For Diet Clinical Study

Study to show whether combination of meal replacement, fish oil, and a calorie-restricted diet led to effective weight management.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) entered into an agreement with Taipei Medical University to conduct a clinical study as well as trials to study the combination of fish oil, meal replacement and calorie restricted diet leading to a better management of weight and improvement in the metabolic syndrome.

This is the first of a kind medical research study and part of the nutrition food company’s corporate social responsibility in collaborating with a medical university in Asia that is renowned in researching on traditional medicinal products with a slight modern twist to address the growing health challenges of the world.

The results released showed that during the 12-week period that was conducted, participants lost 6.5 cm in terms of waist circumference, around 4.5 kg in weight and 2.5% in body fat percentage. Other factors, such as the triglyceride level, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, fasting blood glucose level, were all brought into control by the method.

A total of less than 190 students were selected for the study in Taiwan, and were segregated into four different parts, namely  “calorie restricted diet”; “calorie restricted diet with meal replacement”; “calorie restricted diet with fish oil”; and “calorie restricted diet with meal replacement and fish oil” groups.

David Heber, chairman of Herbalife Nutrition Institute and Advisory Board, stated that metabolic syndrome is affecting at least 20-20 percent of the middle aged adults in many countries around the world and has resulted in increased waist circumference, fast rising blood sugar and blood pressure. This condition is becoming increasingly common among Asian adults, and that is the reason why here is a spike in cases of diabetes and heart disease.

The Taipei Medical University was all praise for the collaboration from Herbalife’s part, which had provided vital data and the scope of the study structure and sharing of expertise that has helped to shape the study to reflect on the local needs while ensuring correct information is being supplied, so that prevention measure can be enacted to ensure healthier living for young adults around the world, instead of looking it from the perspective of profits and what healthy snacks from the part of Herbalife can be supplied to those adults for a better standard of living.

The Journal will be published in the “Journal of Functional Foods”, a well-known journal in the food science research field, as well as on the “European Journal of Clinical Nutrition”, an internationally renowned nutrition journal. Herbalife’s stock price ended the day at $53.91, a loss of 0.30% from the previous day.

Middle East and U.S airlines trade charges on subsidy claim

Middle East and United States airline chiefs traded accusations on Monday over a campaign by major U.S. carriers.

According to Reuters, Middle East and United States airline chiefs traded allegations on Monday on a campaign by chief U.S carriers to limit what the look is deeply subsidized competition from Gulf Corresponding.

In the US, airlines are working to encourage the government of United States to change the Open Skies contracts with the Qatar and United Arab Emirates, alleging them of heaping their airlines with over $40 billion in grants and twisting competition. Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Emirates deny the claim of subsidy.

Akbar Al Baker, the Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways said any alteration in the agreement might spark protection.

Al baker stated in an annual meeting at the International Air Transport Association in Miami, "Any rollback of liberal market access and Open Skies policies will reverberate across the whole world and will lead to retaliatory protectionism affecting all aspects of trade,"

After the comments by Al Baker, Tony Tyler Director General of IATA said they were in support of liberalization. The body has said it does not have any right to officially act on the problem.

While replying to the journalist’s questions, Mr. Tyler said, “IATA and its members are fully in favor of growing liberalization, free and fair competition, that's the policy of members and policy of IATA,"

The Chief Executive Officer of American Airline Group, Doug Parker recognized that the carrier has got a code share coalitions with Etihad and Qatar, but stated that US must impose its trade policies.

After Al Baker comment, Parker said during the press conference, "We've produced evidence to the U.S. government that indeed other countries are subsidizing carriers that are flying to the United States,"

Parker said the government of US was working thoroughly on the matter and was in continuous contact with the airlines. He also said that the government of US timeline was unclear, but he believes it will act soon.

While United States carriers such as American and Delta Airlines have closed positions on the matter, other such as FedEX Corp and JetBlue Airways Corp partner of Emirates have raised up for the open Skies contract, raising voice that alteration might set a bad example.

Lufthansa of Germany, whose business is on Asia routes have been damaged by the Gulf carriers competition.

Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa said in a news briefing, "There's various ways to how you can achieve balance of openness. It could be limitations of destinations, limitations of frequencies,"

Cummins Inc. Expected To Report $2.57 EPS Following “A” Credit Rating

Company reported EPS at $2.04 in late April this year.

Analysts at Wall Street are expecting Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) to report an earnings per share at $2.50, which is 26% more than when the company reported its EPS at $2.04 for the quarter ending on March 31, 2015.

The consensus is made after Cummins Inc. was given an “A” credit rating from Morningstar, indicating that the company is at low risk of default at the end of last month. It has also led many brokerage analysts to set the target price at $154 on the stock. The most bullish assessment among analysts is seeing the stock price at $180 and the bearish ones are expecting $134.

For future growth projections for the company, analysts are expecting earnings per share to average around $10.35, with the most bullish assessment calling for EPS at $11.08, and the most bearish calling for $9.7.

Cummins has been expanding its operations by taking advantage of strong, yet sputtering, economic growth, even though the economy is mostly driven by startups and high finances. Last month, the company has expanded its distribution center in Memphis, in order to support its global supply chain operations to optimize freight and transportation options, as it stretches itself to the point of bringing down costs while helping to support the country’s physical infrastructure in a market that is likely to value in trillions of dollars. This provides a tremendous opportunity for the diesel engine and fuel and natural gas systems manufacturer to keep innovating and try to adapt to ever-changing needs of environmentally sustaining lives of citizens.

It is also aggressively investing in boosting its clean power credentials to make its engine oil fuels more economically and environmentally friendly. Demand is more to come from overseas market, as countries, such as India and China, try to step up their fight against environmental pollution that is choking the health of its citizens at the cost of economic growth. Although the company had to face the hiccups from crisis to crisis, such as the Asian financial crisis in the late 90’s to the Great Recession, it has managed to, more or less, dodge them due to its wide exposure to the world, helping to offset volatility.

Cummins stock price ended the day at $135.47, down 0.53% from the previous day, despite the relatively bullish assessments from analysts and the company’s future drive. However, the future of the company regarding its endeavors is yet to be determined accurately.

Yahoo To Shut Down Mail And Contacts On Old Apple Devices

Yahoo is also determined to pull down Maps and Pipes feature as well.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has announced that for those who operate their Yahoo Mail on devices, such as iOS 4 or earlier, will no longer have access to those accounts through their iOS’s native Mail app. Simultaneously, the web search engine will also pull the plug on Macs and OS X Lion.

A Yahoo spokesperson has said that the changes are necessary, as they try to streamline the speed, security, and the functionality of Yahoo services. However, those who possess unsupported operating systems can still access their Mail and Contacts on the web via mail.yahoo.com. It is not going to eliminate its maps product though, since Flicker and Search, as well as other properties, still needs it.

These are part of Yahoo’s theme, which has made it clear, as it published its second quarterly progress report for the year 2015. It is time to kill off antiquated features and products that have slowed down the performance of Yahoo!’s apps. These changes will come into effect from June 15.

In addition, by the end of the month, Yahoo will also shutter its Yahoo TV in countries, ranging from France, Germany, Canada, and the UK, along with Yahoo Autos, though it will keep that product in Canada for the time being. By the mid of this month, Yahoo Movies will vanish in Spain, and pull the final curtain for much of Yahoo Philippines, where most of the traffic will be redirected to Singapore home page. Even the smallest country in Southeast Asia will also face the disappearance of its Yahoo entertainment page sometime early next month.

As for ‘Pipes’, which is an app that gives people an easy platform to develop their own apps and also aggregate the web feeds, it will not allow any new creation to be entertained, effective from the end of August, after which, developers will have a month to scoop up any essential data that may be permanently eliminated, once the service comes to an end eventually after a month long deadline.

The shutting down of these websites is the clearest indication of Yahoo struggling to cope up with Google and other web search engines, and is putting pressure on the CEO, Marissa Mayer, to be shown the door, following the departure of several executives in recent months that are putting the company at discourse and flowing through uncharted waters without a lack of strategy.

Yahoo stock price ended the day at $42.88, down 0.77% from the previous day.

BP CEO Believes Shale Revolution Will Pinch Much of the World Albeit Positively

Shale gas revolution will be "very painful for many parts of the world”, with the US as potential giant.

British Petroleum (BP) Plc. (NYSE:BP) CEO, Bob Dudley, believes that the ongoing shale gas revolution in the US will serve to be “very painful” for virtually every oil producer around the world, with the US dubbed as the potential giant that can change the fortunes of crude oil producing and oil importing countries.

The shale industry is currently dominated by the US, which has boomed in recent years, despite the current slowdown, partly because of cheap financing and little government support, which pushed down global oil prices as a result to record lows on the backdrop of increased production.

At this rate, it is possible for the US to sweep past Saudi Arabia as the largest single producer, toying with the demand and the supply of oil. According to Mr. Dudley, he foresees oil prices to remain “lower for longer”, the latest amongst a string of analysts who do not foresee the possibility of $100 plus barrels of oil in the near future – even the OPEC countries know that too. Still, this has not stopped the OPEC in committing not to go for a production cut in any case ahead of a key meeting in Friday.

On the oil and gas industry as a whole, Mr. Dudley believes that there is going to be further consolidation in the oil and gas industry, once executives acknowledge that low oil prices are here to stay. He has ruled out London based oil and gas major as either a predator or a prey, when asked if BP is up for sale or if it prefers to become the predator.

Mr. Dudley also mentioned that winners of the low oil prices are the emerging economies of India, China, Southeast Asia, and much of Europe, most of them are fuel importers. Even the US is also a big winner in this regard, since most of the coastal states are usually net importers than exporters because the US has banned any export of fuel oil in the market.

On the subject of Russia, Mr. Dudley said that the company intends to maintain its presence there, despite the ongoing tensions with the west, and has no plans to sell the 20% stake on the Rosneft, which is majorly owned by the Russian state, led by CEO, Igor Sechin, who has close ties to Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin.

BP stock price ended the day at $41.51, a gain of more than 1.40% from the previous day.

Alibaba Modifies Its Fake Goods Procedure

Alibaba revamps its strategy in an attempt to combat counterfeit goods.

Alibaba Group Holding is the largest B2B business in the world. The Chinese e-commerce giant has been the center of attention recently where it was accused of counterfeiting goods on its online marketplaces more than once. The latest accusation was made by the luxury brands that were concerned about their products.

However, the online retailer came ahead and mentioned the safety measure in order to combat the counterfeiting goods issue, but it is recently facing immense criticism that it is not doing enough to battle counterfeit. Hence, it has revamped its strategies to do it.

According to Wall Street Journal, Alibaba Group revamped its strategies completely in order to remove problematic listings from its famous online marketplaces. “Under the new rules, global brands that have been highly accurate in flagging fake goods on Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao will have their complaints reviewed in one to three working days, compared with five to seven days previously”, reports Wall Street Journal.

Furthermore, the company says that all the global brands that will be signing up for this program will also have a representative that will help in reviewing and dealing with their complaints regarding counterfeits.

The new latest program of the company is named as ‘good faith takedown’. It has declined to disclose any details regarding how many brands and their names have signed up for this program. The good faith takedown was effective from April 1.

The corporate giant believes that the steps that it has been taking are only to enhance and refine its anti-counterfeiting operations in the online marketplaces; specifically Tmall and Taobao. A few experts and professionals have agreed to it and welcomed this program, but the others are not in favor, as they feel that this will make the process of filing complaints more complicated.

This is not a new problem for Alibaba. For a very long time, the company is facing problems regarding counterfeited goods and numerous accusations regarding it as well. The Wall Street Journal adds, “Although public scrutiny has increased since the company raised $25 billion from global investors last September in the world’s largest initial public offering.”

Alibaba is the largest company in China, which is also tapping the United States market lately in order to expand its business. In the overseas market, it has not yet made a staunch mark but it wants to bolster its international presence in the world’s largest economy.

Apart from making a new book of rules and regulations, the company is promoting and fostering local brands as well.

Halliburton Company Rated Halliburton as Overweight With $56 Price Target

The article discusses some of the reasons why JP Morgan is positive about Halliburton Company.

The past one year has been very difficult for the providers of oil services. Their services demand has tumbled expressively following over 50% decline in prices of crude oil in the 2^nd half of last year.

The United States crude oil benchmark, WTI was up 4.54% to $60 per barrel on Saturday, although Brent oil was up 4.76% to $65.56 per barrel. In the scenario of decreasing oil prices, oil companies are unceasingly seeking to decrease their average costs in an attempt to persist the downturn.

In 2014, the second biggest oil company of the world, Haliburton Co. reached Baker Hughes for a merger. Likewise, Royal Dutch Shell lately settled its merger with BG Group Plc.

On Friday, JP Morgan revealed its future perspective for the oil industry. The research firm emphasized that while the companies were surrounded by the problems with in the industry, there are still some positive for the service companies with large market capitalization. JP Morgan indicated that large cap firms are well expanded and have the scale, flexibility and technology to survive the slump.

JP Morgan has rated the Haliburton stock as Overweight. The twelve month stock price target as assigned by the research firm stands at $56.

JP Morgan praises the Haliburton merger with Baker Hughes. During the period of declining oil prices, this will allow the company to broaden its operations and witness economies of scale. As per research firm, Baker Hughes will fill in certain Haliburton product gaps, whereas providing upgrades in remaining.

Because of the huge size of joint entity, Haliburton will be requires to do asset divestment in an attempt to get approval by regulatory body. These divestment plan, as per JP Morgan will attract small firms seeking to move up their tech curves. JP Morgan also suggests market share reshuffling in the oil service sector. If the estimates of crude oil of the company are precise, then there are chances that large equipment abrasion can occur in the industry. The equity firm expects a lot better demand and supply environment by the end of year 2017.

Around 37 analysts covered the stock of Haliburton, out of which 26 rated Buy, 9 gave Hold, and two of them assigned Sell rating g to the stock. The 12 month stock price target forecasted by the analysts is $53.72 which shows 18.3% of return potential. Clarkson RS Platou Securities analyst Turner Holm has the most bullish point of view on the stock with $70 of price target and Buy rating. Whereas Griffin Securities analyst Kevin Simpson with $40 price target and Sell rating has the most bearish view on the stock.

ConocoPhillips Receive Green Signal from Alaska Court On Oil Field As It Ponders Future Strategy on Chinese Shale

Ruling clears hurdle for project that will yield first drop of oil in December while US oil major presses ahead for shale gas in China.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) will press ahead with its oil field in Alaska after the US District Court there approved a key permit for the company to commence its projects.

The permit was granted by the US Army Corps of Engineers four years ago for the project codenamed CD-5, which is a $1.1 billion endeavor that will produce more than 15,000 barrels of oil per day. However, five residents, who live in a nearby village of Nuiqsut, challenged the project.

The residents of the village challenged the project after they expressed their concerns over the new infrastructure bridges and a connecting six-mile long road that would disturb subsistence farming in the Colville River delta streams. The US Army Corps of Engineer denied it then, only to reverse it later on after ConocoPhillips provided extensive assurances.

Then ruling has displeased the environmental law firm, Trustees for Alaska, representing the villager’s case but ConocoPhillips welcomed the ruling for which the project is nearing the completion with a peak of 700 workers, who had worked on this project for the past two winters.

Meanwhile, the US oil major says that it is still interested to work on shale in China despite calling its exit at the Sichuan Basin blocks last year. Poor oil prices and returns forced the company to pull out of the Neijiang-Dazu as well. In addition, the block was too deep and deemed too high risk to go for a further step.

The decision for ConocoPhillips, the latest oil major to pull out of the venture with shale oil major, Sinopec, will serve as a blow to the East Asian nation’s ambition to boost its shale gas output goal to 6.5 billion cubic meters of shale gas. Chevron ended its partnership with Sinopec for the block at Qiannan Basin of Guizhou province in April 2014, after three unsuccessful drilling attempts. Sichuan is still considered as the best bet, as its shale acreage is expected to produce 20 bcm/y of shale gas by 2020.

Shale oil producers have been expressing their interest in going beyond providing research and development of technology, signing PSCs and equipment manufacturing, but low oil prices provide little room for profits. Despite that, ConocoPhillips remains optimistic and say that the only way this can be looked at is through a third party venture capital. Some oil majors still hold the interest in Chinese shale and willing to incur small-term losses for long-term profits.

ConocoPhillips stock price ended the day at $63.68, down 0.30% the previous day.