Ronbowlens - Ron's Blog

KKR to invest $100 million into wireless infrastructure

KKR is making its 11th infrastructure investment. This time they are focussing on wireless infrastructure in rural America. KKR will be a minority investor in its three different communication companies. 1. PEG Bandwidth is a company that builds and operates backhaul networks. Their focus is on connecting wireless communication towers to the data and fiber backbone networks on the ground. 2. AP Wireless buys cell sites both on the ground and on rooftops (domestic and international.) 3. AP Towers develop wireless communication towers and purchase already existing towers. With the explosion of smart devices there has been a dramatic increase in demand for data. This demand is driving investments into wireless infrastructure. The current infrastructural grid is drastically outdated and in a large part of the country still consists of copper cable, which is unable to handle the burden of big data. Raj Agrawal, KKR's Head of North American Infrastructure said, "The need for wireless infrastructure will continue to be driven by increases in wireless data usage that is overwhelming existing network capacity... We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Associated Partners to grow this premier set of businesses with critical telecom infrastructure assets." KKR appears to be betting on factions of the economy that are driven by technical revolutions. In the last year they have also invested into natural gas. With the development of shale natural gas, the amount of natural gas available has skyrocketed. "As the shale revolution is driving the growth of natural gas pipelines to transport molecules, the advent of the smart phone is driving a similar wireless explosion to transmit electrons. Wireless communication networks are an essential component of the nation's infrastructure," said Scott Bruce, Managing Director of Associated Partners, L.P. "We are excited to have KKR partner with us as we expand our businesses."

About KKR Founded in 1976 KKR is  led by Henry R. Kravis and George Roberts. KKR is a leading investment firm with $90.2 billion under management as of September 30, 2013. With offices around the world, and notable global voices such as David Petraeus,  KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments.

http://assetsandmanagement.blogspot.com/2013/10/kkr-to-invest-100-million-in-wireless.html

Lazard CEO Kenneth Jacobs is interviewed on European Debt Crisis

 Kenneth Jacobs, chief executive officer of Lazard Ltd., talks about the global economy, the European debt crisis and banking regulations. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Conversations With Judy Woodruff,"

This past Sunday, the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots to win the AFC title. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers to capture the NFC title. Now the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks will face each other in the Super Bowl on February 2nd, 2014. Both football teams will help to bring in tons of revenue dollars for the economy and their respective cities. This coming Super Bowl is expected to be the most highly watched Super Bowl game ever. It features one of the best offensive teams in the NFL going against one of the best defensive teams in recent history. It has been estimated that a 30-second television commercial will go for about $4 million during this year’s Super Bowl.   At the start of 2014, two states began selling marijuana legally, Colorado and Washington. Since the two football teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl are coming from these two states it is safe to say that marijuana stores will likely do very well on Super Bowl Sunday. We can only expect marijuana sales to be up leading into such a major sporting event. After all, alcohol sales always increase during the week of the Super Bowl, so we should expect the same type of reaction from marijuana sales. Here are three marijuana related stocks that could benefit from the upcoming Super Bowl game. Please note, all of these companies mentioned below trade on the OTC-BB so they are equities that carry much higher risk. These stocks have also had big gains since the new year began. Traders and investors must make sure that they understand the risks involved before trading these stocks.   1. Cannabis Sativa  (OTC-BB: CBDS) 2. Medbox Inc (OTC-BB: MDBX) 3. Terra Tech Corp (OTC-BB: TRTC) Nicholas Santiago InTheMoneyStocks.com

Learn what type of impact a credit rating score downgrade can have on your personal life and what steps you can take to recover from a downgrade.

BofAML: Buy Any Dip In Treasuries; Stock Bulls “Watch-Out”

View Post

Blockbuster is shutting its doors.

Blockbuster the once popular video rental chain is putting the last nail in their coffin. The company has seen a steady decline in business over the last 5 years and has not been able to compete with other video services such as RedBox or Netflix. Blockbuster's mail services and streaming services simply were not able to compete. Blockbuster shuts downBlockbuster announced that they will be stopping all retail and mail order services next January. Blockbuster was bough by Dick networks in 2010 after going bankrupt. This purchase included roughly 300 locations both domestic and internationally. This shutdown will result in the termination of around 3000 jobs. The Blockbuster streaming services will continue moving forward. Dish says the Blockbuster franchise will stay open and that they will retain all licensing agreements with Blockbuster. For Dish users this included 15 movie channels with thousands of movies. With old relics like Blockbuster finally disappearing it makes me wonder what will happen the the video world next. How will we see Netflix and Amazon grow in the next 10 years.

(via How Winglets Work - Graphic - NYTimes.com)

Airlines are adopting ‘winglets’ at the end of wings and tails, in an effort to increase flight — and ultimately fuel —efficiencies. Winglets can cut fuel use by as much as 5%.

Airlines have also experimented with other weight reduction practices, like lighter paper in in-flight magazines, and replacing flight manuals with tablets.

Next we’ll see ticketing passengers by weight, since 1/3 of the cost of a flight is fuel.