News Highlights: Top Company News of the Day

News Highlights: Top Company News of the Day

Kinetics Internet Was No. 1, Up 56.9%, Boosted by Bitcoin The fund's largest holding was a position of 12% in Bitcoin Investment Trust. China's Electric Car Market Has Grown Up Beijing has offered the electric car market plenty of support, but there now appears to be solid demand from consumers to go green. That should give confidence to investors in the sector. Celgene to Buy Impact Biomedicines Celgene agreed to buy blood-disease biotechnology company Impact Biomedicines for as much as $7 billion. Continue Reading Below ADVERTISEMENT 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Falls Short in China "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opened to a soft $28.7 million in China this weekend, less than the prior two installments in the series. Iranian Tanker Leaks Fuel After Colliding With Chinese Ship A massive Iranian oil tanker was ablaze and leaking fuel in the East China Sea after colliding with a large Chinese cargo ship, Iranian and Chinese officials said. Retail's Tax Windfall Provides Ammunition Against Amazon Corporate tax cuts mean a free cash flow for retailers. How will they use it? Why Uber Can Find You but 911 Can't Software on Apple's iPhones and Google's Android smartphones help mobile apps like Uber and Facebook to pinpoint a user's location. But 911, with a far more pressing purpose, is stuck in the past. Chinese Car Buyers Like a New Option: Used Second-hand car sales are surging in China, putting pressure on auto makers after a year of sputtering growth in the new-vehicle market. Amazon's Alexa to Meet Google's Assistant in a Las Vegas Showdown Amazon.com Inc. and Google are going to the big CES dance this week, looking to find love for their voice-operated platforms. iPhones and Children Are a Toxic Pair, Say Two Big Apple Investors Jana Partners and Calstrs are beginning an unusual activist-investor campaign accusing Apple of failing to do enough to limit smartphone addiction among young users. (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 07, 2018 23:15 ET (04:15 GMT)

These 2 Companies Are the Best Contrarian Value Plays of 2018!

© Provided by Fool With a retail apocalypse apparently on the horizon, nearly any company selling a product in a brick-and-mortar environment is, unfairly or not, being painted with a very wide brush as a potential zombie. With retail continuing to be affected by massive changes originating from forces that have continued to disrupt and change the economics of a number of sectors reliant on in-person transactions, the slow and inevitable shift to e-commerce is something many investors expect will destroy the retail industry altogether. While I agree that disruption is coming and we are living in a truly remarkable time for retail transformation, I also believe that a “one size fits all” mentality with respect to Canadian retailers is both unfair and unrealistic in specific insulated niche retail segments. I’m going to discuss two of my top picks to not only survive the retail/e-commerce apocalypse, but thrive in an e-commerce-oriented world. Sleep Country Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. (TSX:ZZZ) is one Canadian retailer which has taken an interesting route to tackling the e-commerce revolution. While it may seem odd to consider e-commerce in the mattress industry (a pretty big box would be required to ship this merchandise), Sleep Country is not resting on its laurels and has instead embraced a new “ship and try” program, which will allow consumers to try a mattress for a specific amount of time and be refunded should the mattress not be to the customer’s liking. Sleep Country has performed very well in 2017, returning approximately 15% to investors who’ve bought into the company’s long-term vision and underlying fundamentals. While the company’s valuation will continue to not be anywhere close to deep-value levels, given Sleep Country’s dominant market position and innovative team, I would expect continued margin expansion to drive a premium valuation in 2018. Canadian Tire Another company operating in the bulky, heavy, difficult-to-ship segment which should be insulated from outside e-commerce threats is Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (TSX:CTC.A). Canadian Tire has been a top pick of mine for some time now due in large part to the vigilance and proactive approach taken by management to combat industry-related threats from Amazon.com, Inc. and others. Canadian Tire has also taken an innovative approach to e-commerce, while initiating a number of other strategic tactical improvements in 2017, including building the company’s private label program and enhancing the company’s customer service levels at its physical locations. I expect 2018 to be a year in which Canadian Tire will continue to expand margins, grow its dividend, and effectively stiff-arm outside e-commerce threats once again. Stay Foolish, my friends. Fool contributor Chris MacDonald has no position in any stocks mentioned in this article. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. David Gardner owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon. 

How To Chase Away Your Best Employees

No result found, try new keyword!On top of that, unhappy employees can bring down the business as a whole. Allowing a poor work ethic to permeate the team will drive away those who seek success. Good employees are usually diligent workers looking for some kind of upward mobility.