Thursday, February 21, 2013

Oddly Relevant Feb-21-2013


The Economist breaks about the watch industry: Swatch’s dominance (1/3 of all sales of Swiss watches) goes futher than just watches—it is also one of the biggest supplier of watch parts. When economies of scale plays in their favor, amidst multiple brand line-ups and somewhat irrational consumer behaviors, the time is good. [Note: Let’s see what Apple and Android can do to this industry]…Source: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21571943-industry-ripe-shake-up-time-money/comments#comments

Rail traffic continues 2013 at a positive pace: Intermodal traffic up 5.3% yoy. Quite consistently positive since December 2009. [Note: BNSF may indeed deserve a 16x PE multiple]…Source: http://pragcap.com/rail-traffic-continues-2013-at-a-positive-pace

Gigacom exclusive: Airtel bets big in Wifi across Africa: The continent still relies heavily on 2G, where 3G are few and far between and 4G virtually nonexistent. Wifi is cheap and, when surgically delopyed, could encompass > 100,000 nodes in 17 African countries. [Note: major beneficiaries are RKUS and ALU]…Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/02/21/exclusive-airtel-bets-big-on-wi-fi-across-africa-as-it-looks-for-3g-substitutes/

The science behind addictive junk food: via  rigorous statistical methods to determine the right combination of ingredients, texture, and color to reach the bliss spot that pique the taste buds enough to be alluring but don’t have a distinct, overriding single flavor that tells the brain to stop eating. [Note: When in doubt, add sugar.]…Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1361498579-AU2GeAe5LSN0q2AvIdilfQ

A virus as perhaps the most abundant organism on the planet: Pelagibacter Ubique, member of a group of bacteria called SAR 11, jointly constitute about 1/3 of the single-celled organisms in the ocean. Source: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21571843-newly-discovered-virus-may-be-most-abundant-organism-planet-flea

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