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John McKenna

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  • Is Pepsi Poised for a Bubbling 2013?

    By John McKenna - May 21, 2013 | Tickers: KO, PEP

    One of the best things about the US economy is that it fosters an environment of intense competition, both on the shelves of stores and in the boardrooms. There is probably no better personification of this competitive environment than the centuries-old rivalry between Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Pepsico (NYSE: PEP). Whether it’s waged by the legions of die-hard fans of these soda empires, or in the office towers where more »

  • Politically, Japanese Solar Is Better than Japanese Cars

    By John McKenna - May 21, 2013 | Tickers: HMC, KYO, TM

    It’s not easy being a Japanese company these days. Last year, rough relations with China over islands in the East China Sea stirred up anti-Japanese sentiment and boycotts across the country. This resulted in everything from lower sales of Japanese goods to restaurants and shops outright banning Japanese customers from coming in. This year, even though the tensions are dying down between the two countries, car manufacturers like Toyota more »

  • Apple Losing its Shine

    By John McKenna - May 20, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, MSFT

    There are very few certainties when it comes to investing in the stock market, but for the past decade, nothing seemed more certain than Apple’s continued excellence in the tech sector. Churning out world-changing innovations like the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and the Macbook dynasty, innovation and creativity were as natural to the company as tying one’s shoes. The last year though has called this long standing reputation into more »

  • A Not-So-Happy Birthday for Facebook

    By John McKenna - May 17, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, T, FB

    On May 18th, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) will be celebrating its one-year anniversary of its IPO release. Actually, wait, celebrate is a bit of a bad word of it, because in reality, the celebrations of the IPO launch died out as quickly as they started. Starting its first day at $38.23/share, a lot of people were expecting the stock to soar. It’s Facebook after all, the website more »

  • The Coming American Car War in China

    By John McKenna - May 17, 2013 | Tickers: F, GM

    Remember when the 1970's were marked by the great Japanese invasion of cars on our shores? Brands like Toyota and Honda, seeing potential in our lucrative market, set up shop and soon began to out-muscle domestic car producers like Ford (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) for American market supremacy. Now there is a new national rush to establish a foothold for the car giants, and to nobody more »

  • What Tesla Fans Can Learn from Green Mountain

    By John McKenna - May 16, 2013 | Tickers: GMCR, TSLA

    In October, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about how Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) was behind schedule on its Model S, and it was requesting a new Department of Energy loan to keep itself going. Back then, I took this to mean that Tesla was in some financial trouble, and taxpayers were going to be stuck with the bill of another dying green car company. Last month more »

  • Why It's Time for Sony to Break-Up

    By John McKenna - May 16, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, BBRY, SNE

    Breaking up is hard to do. It can be the hardest decision one makes in their personal life. Things were once hunky-dory, but have since gone sour. Maybe you realize there are other pretty creatures around that you should spend more time with or that the relationship has been in an unavoidable rut and it’s time for a shakeup. This is the dilemma facing Sony (NYSE: SNE) and investment more »

  • Google Glass: A Bridge Too Far?

    By John McKenna - May 14, 2013 | Tickers: GOOG, P, SIRI

    Whenever Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)) mentions it’s developing something new, people assume that it will sweep the world and we’ll all be using it in the near future. We can be forgiven as an always plugged-in society for wanting the next generation of whatever gadget we have, and Google has been more than happy to satisfy that craving.

    This is Google’s aim with its new product, the Google more »

  • A New Look at Europe's Banking Landscape

    By John McKenna - May 8, 2013 | Tickers: SAN, DB

    On May 2, European Central Bank head Mario Draghi announced a 25 basis point cut in the bank’s interest rate, from 0.75% to 0.5%. This marks the first cut in the interest rate since July 2012 amidst the news of slow economic activity in the first quarter. This was a cut that many saw coming, as the ECB looks to stimulate lending to businesses among Europe’s more »

  • A Brand Bowl Scorecard: Part III -- Clash of the Cars

    By John McKenna - February 10, 2013 | Tickers: F, GM, TM

    When it comes to certain ads, style is a must. For car ads during the Super Bowl, style is everything, because cars are a stylish product, are they not? This is why it is no surprise that car companies go all out to promote the new model. Moreover, since there is no one car company that has exclusive contracts with the NFL for the Super Bowl, it’s a diverse more »

  • A Brand Bowl Scorecard: Part II -- The Tech War

    By John McKenna - February 7, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, BBRY, GOOG

    A couple of the Super Bowl’s more clever ads came from the world of technology, and this year it featured two ads from Blackberry and Samsung, leaders in the world of the Android. These two companies rolled out their newest gadgets, mostly phones and tablets. The stakes were especially high for Blackberry, which announced that it was going to change its ticker symbol, putting them back in the investment more »

  • The Return of Toyota: How Does GM React?

    By John McKenna - February 5, 2013 | Tickers: F, GM, TM

    At first glance, the fall and rise of General Motors (NYSE: GM) seems like one of those success stories of a dying car maker roaring to life and getting back into competition. GM was the lowest of the low in 2008, resorting to a government-managed bailout to save staff and, as American politicians would like us to believe, Detroit and the American car.  For the past few years, it looked more »

  • A Brand Bowl Scorecard: Part I -- Beer Battle

    By John McKenna - February 5, 2013 | Tickers: BUD, SAM, TAP

    Another Super Bowl is in the books, folks. A game that featured a retiring legend getting his second title, a 34 minute power outage, the return of Destiny’s Child, and commercials--so many commercials. It’s no surprise that the commercials during the Super Bowl are almost as looked forward to as the game itself. After all, it’s the most expensive 30 seconds a company can buy. This got more »

  • Big Gun Control Plan for President Obama, Big Profits for Gun Sellers

    By John McKenna - January 28, 2013 | Tickers: CAB, SWHC, RGR, WMT

    One of President Obama’s first priorities of his new term is set to be about gun control laws. Following the tragic Newtown shooting, he held two press conferences where he signaled a desire to pass some of the most sweeping gun control laws in three decades, the most prominent of which is a ban on “assault weapons,” which was repealed in 2004 after 10 years. The measures drew criticism more »

  • The Telecom Battle: American Market, International Intrigue

    By John McKenna - November 1, 2012 | Tickers: CLWR, S

    What a turn of events in just a month! Barely a month after Huawei was turned away because of espionage allegations by the US Government; a Japanese telecom company has jumped into the telecom fray, and announced a $20 billion purchase of Sprint Nextel, in what is being considered the biggest merger since the failed AT&T-T-Mobile attempt a year ago.

    In the wake of Huawei’s unsuccessful attempt to more »

  • Huawei or No Way? Chinese Telecoms vs. The US Govt

    By John McKenna - October 10, 2012 | Tickers: CSCO, NOK, S, ERIC

    It is no secret that China is becoming a key player in the world economy, and the one sector that China is beginning to flex its muscle globally is telecommunications. Two companies, Huawei and ZTE, have been expanding their products and software across the world to eager customers and companies looking to cash in on the latest in advanced technology. Yet for these two companies, the toughest nut to crack more »