Sunday, June 03, 2012 1:36:23 PM
Reflection on online shopping AMZN GRPN FB NFLX
Amazon (AMZN) has my number. That is to say that its advanced algorithms know my shopping preferences. They know what I like so well, that it's almost scary. I have made purchases of items that I would not have known existed were it not for Amazon's recommendations.
Among the recommendation I found when I logged in this morning was “The New Sell and Sell Short: How To Take Profits, Cut Losses, and Benefit From Price Declines,” by Alexander Elder. Naturally, I clicked on the link and found not only that I could browse portions of the book online, but that there were three videos by Elder himself discussing the benefits of short selling (or of simply knowing when to sell a long position) in a bear market.
See for yourself: http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Sell-Short-Declines/dp/0470632399/
Other recommendations for me in the book department included: “How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short” by William J. O'Neil and Gil Morales; “High Probability Trading” by Marcel Link (which I already have and highly recommend); “Trading Price Action Trends,” byAl Brooks; and “Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques,” by Steve Nison, among others.
Recommendations in music included three CDs involving Sonic the Hedgehog. My daughter was the beneficiary of a Sonic Soundtrack CD this Christmas, and Amazon remembered that. Oddly, there were no recommendations of the variety that had hooked me into actual purchases in the past. Such as the then-new Steve Winwood CD (which I bought and greatly enjoy); a Dark Side of the Moon remake by various artists (that I hate and regret purchasing ((I read the user reviews, and they warned me not to buy it)) ). That experience will keep me from buying the recommended “A Tribute to Pink Floyd: Back Against the Wall” by various artists, and “Pink Box: Songs of Pink Floyd” also by various artists. Burn me one, shame on you, burn me twice . . .
Hey - New for Me! The Beatles Yellow Submarine on Blu Ray disk; “Analog Man” by Joe Walsh (I'll pass on that, thanks); “Everybody's Talkin'” by Tedeschi Trucks Band (never heard of them); and “Driving Towards The Daylight” by Joe Bonamassa. I'd never heard of him, but I suppose it won't hurt to play a couple of clips online.
[Time passes].
Sounds like a cross between Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Mark IV Deep Purple, early Led Zeppelin and Joe Walsh. Not bad, but it misses the mark. Still, I think it's rather a brilliant algorithm that would bring it to my attention.
Sometimes, Amazon manages to catch me completely off guard. They accomplished that with a pair of high top tie dyed Converse sneakers. Not only did I buy them, but a co-worker who saw me wearing them had to order a pair for herself. Amazing algorithm, that!
I don't mind Amazon profiling me based on my demographics and prior purchases. In fact, I rather enjoy and appreciate their recommendations. Indeed, there have been Christmases in which two or three boxes marked with the Amazon logo appeared right at my front door. No brick and mortar high stress trip to Wal-Mart or Target. No fighting over a parking space, and no standing in line with nervous and perspiring last minute shoppers. It was all done right at my cozy little kitchen table. Life can be good in the digital shopping domain.
But Amazon is the exception to the rule. I understand that Facebook offers ads, but I have never seen one. Google offers ads as well, but I don't see them either. I once logged into this I-Hub conference, and was surprised to see large banner ads in messages that I have posted. I'd never seen them before, either.
The miracle of ad-free web browsing is made possible by a small Google browser extension by the name of AdBlock. AdBlock is a free extension, and the most popular for Chrome, with over 5 million users. It blocks ads everywhere, including Facebook, Youtube, Google, Hulu, and, I=Hub.
Even among those who don't use ad-blocking software, according to recent surveys, only a minority of Facebook users actually click on ads. 70 percent of its user base hates the new Timeline feature foisted on them (I despise it myself), and 49 percent of Americans think Facebook will be a passing fad once the next new thing comes along.
Nevertheless, Facebook weighs in at 7.95% in the Global X Social Media Index ETF. The ETF counts among its holdings Tencent Holdings, Linkin, Sina, Netease, Google, Nexon, Tandex, and Zynga, among others. Its performance has been dismal since the FB IPO.
As for Groupon - also an SOCL component - according to one survey, up to 78 percent of users will not return to the merchant after having used the Groupon discount. The much-hyped GRPN IPO has not fared well in the market since its inception.
To put this all into perspective, diversified AMZN closed at $208.22 last Friday. Social networking behemoth FB closed at $27.72 - way below its IPO price. GRPN closed at a mere $9.69 - a fraction of its IPO price. Meanwhile, one-trick-pony NFLX closed at $62.95 - a huge drop from its high of $304.79.
Sometimes market corrections are exactly what the name suggests - corrections.
Amazon (AMZN) has my number. That is to say that its advanced algorithms know my shopping preferences. They know what I like so well, that it's almost scary. I have made purchases of items that I would not have known existed were it not for Amazon's recommendations.
Among the recommendation I found when I logged in this morning was “The New Sell and Sell Short: How To Take Profits, Cut Losses, and Benefit From Price Declines,” by Alexander Elder. Naturally, I clicked on the link and found not only that I could browse portions of the book online, but that there were three videos by Elder himself discussing the benefits of short selling (or of simply knowing when to sell a long position) in a bear market.
See for yourself: http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Sell-Short-Declines/dp/0470632399/
Other recommendations for me in the book department included: “How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short” by William J. O'Neil and Gil Morales; “High Probability Trading” by Marcel Link (which I already have and highly recommend); “Trading Price Action Trends,” byAl Brooks; and “Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques,” by Steve Nison, among others.
Recommendations in music included three CDs involving Sonic the Hedgehog. My daughter was the beneficiary of a Sonic Soundtrack CD this Christmas, and Amazon remembered that. Oddly, there were no recommendations of the variety that had hooked me into actual purchases in the past. Such as the then-new Steve Winwood CD (which I bought and greatly enjoy); a Dark Side of the Moon remake by various artists (that I hate and regret purchasing ((I read the user reviews, and they warned me not to buy it)) ). That experience will keep me from buying the recommended “A Tribute to Pink Floyd: Back Against the Wall” by various artists, and “Pink Box: Songs of Pink Floyd” also by various artists. Burn me one, shame on you, burn me twice . . .
Hey - New for Me! The Beatles Yellow Submarine on Blu Ray disk; “Analog Man” by Joe Walsh (I'll pass on that, thanks); “Everybody's Talkin'” by Tedeschi Trucks Band (never heard of them); and “Driving Towards The Daylight” by Joe Bonamassa. I'd never heard of him, but I suppose it won't hurt to play a couple of clips online.
[Time passes].
Sounds like a cross between Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Mark IV Deep Purple, early Led Zeppelin and Joe Walsh. Not bad, but it misses the mark. Still, I think it's rather a brilliant algorithm that would bring it to my attention.
Sometimes, Amazon manages to catch me completely off guard. They accomplished that with a pair of high top tie dyed Converse sneakers. Not only did I buy them, but a co-worker who saw me wearing them had to order a pair for herself. Amazing algorithm, that!
I don't mind Amazon profiling me based on my demographics and prior purchases. In fact, I rather enjoy and appreciate their recommendations. Indeed, there have been Christmases in which two or three boxes marked with the Amazon logo appeared right at my front door. No brick and mortar high stress trip to Wal-Mart or Target. No fighting over a parking space, and no standing in line with nervous and perspiring last minute shoppers. It was all done right at my cozy little kitchen table. Life can be good in the digital shopping domain.
But Amazon is the exception to the rule. I understand that Facebook offers ads, but I have never seen one. Google offers ads as well, but I don't see them either. I once logged into this I-Hub conference, and was surprised to see large banner ads in messages that I have posted. I'd never seen them before, either.
The miracle of ad-free web browsing is made possible by a small Google browser extension by the name of AdBlock. AdBlock is a free extension, and the most popular for Chrome, with over 5 million users. It blocks ads everywhere, including Facebook, Youtube, Google, Hulu, and, I=Hub.
Even among those who don't use ad-blocking software, according to recent surveys, only a minority of Facebook users actually click on ads. 70 percent of its user base hates the new Timeline feature foisted on them (I despise it myself), and 49 percent of Americans think Facebook will be a passing fad once the next new thing comes along.
Nevertheless, Facebook weighs in at 7.95% in the Global X Social Media Index ETF. The ETF counts among its holdings Tencent Holdings, Linkin, Sina, Netease, Google, Nexon, Tandex, and Zynga, among others. Its performance has been dismal since the FB IPO.
As for Groupon - also an SOCL component - according to one survey, up to 78 percent of users will not return to the merchant after having used the Groupon discount. The much-hyped GRPN IPO has not fared well in the market since its inception.
To put this all into perspective, diversified AMZN closed at $208.22 last Friday. Social networking behemoth FB closed at $27.72 - way below its IPO price. GRPN closed at a mere $9.69 - a fraction of its IPO price. Meanwhile, one-trick-pony NFLX closed at $62.95 - a huge drop from its high of $304.79.
Sometimes market corrections are exactly what the name suggests - corrections.
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
