#$race

[thesevillereport]

Can Ferrari’s stock get you to owning a Ferrari?

https://www.sevillereport.com/single-post/2017/09/08/Can-a-Ferrari-Investment-Lead-to-a-Ferrari-One-Day

[estimize]

Estimize Roundtable: Who are the winners and losers in the rapidly changing auto industry?

This week on the Estimize Roundtable, Estimize's CEO, Leigh Drogen and SVP of Media, Christine Short, are joined by Jeff Macke, head of Macke Asset Management, and Nicholas Colas, former Chief Market Strategist at Convergex soon launching a new independent research firm. The group discusses everything automobiles, including auto names such as Fiat Chrysler, GM, Ford, Ferrari, Tesla, auto parts retailers such as Advanced Auto Parts, Autozone, O’Reilly, as well as ride sharing services such as Uber, and the future for electric and autonomous driving vehicles.  

[patientflips]

$RACE

This IPO might be ready to take off after the positive earnings they announced last week. This is a bit aggressive entry because there is a strong resistance ahead and I enter at the bottom of the breakout flag. Fortunately, the support around 53.50 is a previous resistance which is actually what I trade and that’s why I decided to take this one, anticipating the breakout higher.

I’m not particularly sure about the entry timing because I entered just because price “showed strength” at the beginning of the day after it opened back at the support. No higher high, no intraday flip or any other clear price structure. However, this has already happened many times that while waiting for a clear signal to enter price just opens at the support level and starts to run up on large vol. 

I’m not sure yet whether I should take such a price action as a signal to enter or not. Future will show and I will hopefully learn from these situations. 

This time, not only it tested the support once more but also the intraday trendline.

[pras-s]

Ferrari's newest car was inspired by these two classics

When the church bells ring in Maranello, Italy, on Sunday – it’s not always to remind the faithful for prayer. Since 1928, in the land of Ferrari the church bells ring for victory on the Formula 1 track, too.

But times have been changing, and the most famous team in Formula 1 has seen muted success as of late. Nevertheless, the company has been winning where it counts in another area – the bottom line. The Prancing Horse brand continues selling thousands of high-priced machines.

Ferrari is public now, spun off from parent Fiat Chrysler, and Ferrari must meet the demands for its passionate customers and the investing public. That’s why the setting of Pebble Beach, during Monterey Car Week from August 15-21, was the perfect time for Ferrari to make both parties happy by showing off a new car.

Home away from home

“This is one of the most important automotive events in the world this is for car enthusiasts. It’s all about beauty, it’s all about performance, it’s all about classic cars, and Ferrari is everything about cars,” says Enrico Galliera, SVP of Sales and Marketing at Ferrari. “Here we have some of our best customers, our best collectors, and we’re here to support them at this fantastic event.”

At Casa Ferrari, Ferrari’s home away from home in Carmel, California, fans of Ferrari can meet for an espresso, display their treasured Ferrari automobiles, or just buy a t-shirt. It was at Casa Ferrari that the automaker debuted the GTC4Lusso in North America for the first time. The GTC4Lusso is an update to the groundbreaking FF, a hatchback, or shooting brake as they call it.

The ‘4’ in its name signifies all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering, which is represents the highest technology Ferrari has to offer. “This is a GT car, and the DNA of Ferrari is performance,” Galliera proclaims about the GTC4Lusso, adding that it also “takes inspiration from some cars from [Ferrari’s history].”

And just behind us paying homage to the GT cars of the past, Ferrari had on display a vintage 330 GTC. This was Monterey Car Week after all, a celebration of both the past and present of the automotive world’s most celebrated carmakers.

“The 330 GTC represents the heart and soul of the company, which is not only creating high performance sports cars, but high performance cars you can use everyday,” Galliera says. It was also one of Enzo Ferrari’s favorites.

[techstockinsider-blog]

Future Technology Trends: Augmented Reality Finding To Be A Good Bet For Many

By now if you’re not living under a rock, you’ve become familiar with the revival of the Pokémon craze. Following the launch of Pokémon Go, the popular Nintendo (NTDOY) title from the ‘90s, the tech industry is abuzz with the virtual (“VR”) and augmented reality (“AR”) industry.  Minds blown? Well not so fast. Though some are seeing this as a “brand new thing,” augmented and virtual reality technology has been around for decades but hasn’t had mass exposure until this one mobile gaming app took center stage this summer.

Even before the boom in AR was sparked by Pokémon Go, analysts were already foreseeing a strong market for wearables and applications. Based on data from Digi-Capital, there has already been $2billion invested into AR/VR within the last 12 months alone; most of which has been directed toward start-ups.

Although the majority of these companies were built outside of a mobile phone platform, the quality and appeal are showing that a bucketload of money is being earmarked for this pending boom.  Just take for instance Google’s investment in Magic Leap to the tune of just under $800 million in a series C round.  

The interesting part is that Magic Leap does not have a commercialized product but the renderings are pretty breathtaking, which could mean some very positive expansion for the industry as a whole. With big money being thrown around to the tune of 10 figure sums (even without the Magic Leap transaction), larger corporations are looking to bypass the “development stage” and simply acquire or merge with some of these lesser-capitalized boutique tech firms.

Take for instance Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). Though the $2B investment was initially in virtual reality via Oculus, the VR company has said that it will also be diving into the AR space as well.  At the San Jose Comic Con, Palmer Luckey, founder and CEO of Oculus, alluded to the company’s ultimate inclusion of AR into its portfolio and take the company beyond VR.

But it isn’t as simple as differentiating what is VR and what is AR. A new push from companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has nudged the boundaries of this space by implementing “mixed reality” (“MR”). Using its HaloLens, Microsoft has made it possible for VR and AR to converge where virtual objects can actually interact with physical objects as opposed to AR where physical objects interact with virtual objects.  Though AR is still relatively under-developed compared to VR, proponents like Steve Wozniak identify that AR could end up surpassing the successes that VR has had. “Some of us just like to be early adopters and play with what the future could be,” Wozniak stated when referencing the AR marketplace.

Keep in mind that this was back in March and all those presenting had no idea that the Pokémon Go craze would be as wild as it has been. And it could only be getting bigger, near term.  Recently announced Nintendo NX game platform, could up the ante for VR/AR sooner than we think. With no prominent competition (yet), many of the larger players could be looking at Nintendo to be the guinea pig for the mass marketplace.  Keep in mind that the image quality through the Pokémon Go App isn’t much to write home about but the idea behind it is bringing AR to the spotlight.

The big three games that are planned for release are Zelda, Mario, and Pokemon (the classics). Though nothing has been confirmed yet, Zelda/Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has commented that, “As for VR, we are researching not just VR but [augmented reality] and many other technologies… In terms of NX, there's an idea that we're working on…That's why we can't share anything at this point, and I don't want to comment on the other companies."

The race is on and it could quickly come to a head for more than just gaming systems & accessories. Large companies are vying for market share and R&D early.  Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is planning to unveil its augmented reality smart glass called Remote EyeSight, at the Intel Developer Forum this month. Not much has been confirmed directly by Intel but tech sites like PCWorld speculate on the potential of Remote EyeSight.

“Intel’s Remote EyeSight could enable interactive remote communication on smart glasses, kind of like having Skype on a wearable. That could promote freedom of movement and communication, and blend in real and virtual world scenes into video chats. In the enterprise, it could be used in areas like repair, medicine, and education.”

Intel has also been on the acquisition path and its latest buyout of rendering engine company, Replay Technologies, could put users of Intel’s 3D RealSense in a whole new view of sporting events.  Though the buyout price has not been disclosed, Intel has told sources “Replay's technology could play a role in capturing real-world content for use in VR and augmented reality worlds.”

Intel already has a platform that can allow consumers to create enhanced VR/AR projects through its RealSense product. And in addition to sensing things like depth and position, it can also depict very impressive attributes like gesture control, 3D scanning, as well as special recognition for applications in things like drones (so they don’t run into buildings); probably something Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) could use if drone delivery takes off (no pun intended).

Thinking outside the box also has helped begin to mold the market for augmented/virtual reality. Normally technology like this would only be for “early adopters” but New York State residence could be put in the front row whether they like it or not.  Something that has changed very little has been lottery. Whether it’s buying a ticket or scratching off a card, the interaction is the same; until now.

A California based company, Paymaxs, has adopted AR technology and applied it directly to a very novel and potentially game changing product for the New York State Lottery.  Their “Gold Castle” game (found at http://www.nylottery3d.com) is fully immersive and involves augmented reality. In an exclusive interview, Liana Kadisha, Paymaxs Chief Product Officer of Paymaxs, told TechStockInsider.com, “Gold Castle is the first scratch-off lottery ticket with augmented reality gameplay in the world and right now it is only available in New York. Paymaxs and the New York Lottery have been working together for a year leading up to our July 5th launch. We're in active conversations with other lotteries but as North America's most profitable lottery, we expect New York's innovation to set a fast-growing trend in the $292.7B global lottery market.”

It’s a clear example of how a novel idea now brings a technology in the infancy/early adopter phase and puts it right in the faces or a relatively “conservative” audience. But more importantly, like Mr. Wozniak, Kadisha also believes A/R is just beginning to become relevant, “I believe the next year will continue the recent trend of taking augmented reality to the general public and revamping familiar experiences with new and interesting augmented reality layers. Recent events have quickened the education of users and have brought a sense of urgency to funding and product development cycles for further innovation.”

Outside of these companies making headway, this isn’t to say many other household names aren’t looking for ways to apply this “new technology”. From Car companies like Ferrari (NYSE: RACE), Ford (NYSE: F), and General Motors (NYSE: GM), to entertainment & media giants like Disney (NYSE: DIS), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), and even airlines like Emirates are taking a stab at the new reality of AR.

“Over the next few years, as people get more comfortable with using augmented reality, we will see more sophisticated interfaces and exciting uses of the technology. It is clear that users are ready for augmented and virtual reality and that it will be a significant part of our future,” said Kadisha.

Though these are still the early stages for AR and VR, incubators and large corporations are still looking to raise significant funding while also continuing to dive into the world of M&A. This is a new advent of a technology that up until now has not really been in the public eye. Now that Pokémon Go has opened many eyes, this could be a sector to be paying much closer attention to heading into the end of 2016 and into years ahead.