Citi Puts Out a Report on Ten Technologies That Will Completely Change the Way We Do Business

“In a massive new research report, analysts at investment bank Citi take a close look at 10 technologies they say will disrupt the way we do business.

They’ve dipped into practically every sector you can think of: energy, entertainment, IT, manufacturing, and transportation among them.

Some of these technologies have been with us for awhile, but are poised to get better or cheaper.

Others have only recently surfaced, but will be ubiquitous in a matter of years.

This is what they say the future is going to look like.

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“Here’s your happy thought of the day from SocGen strategist Albert Edwards:

Over the last 15 years most investors have refused to contemplate that events in the West are playing out in a similar fashion to Japan in the 1990s. But the latest inflation data out of both the US and eurozone should ram home the fact that we are now only one short recession away from Japanese-style outright deflation. Similarly, investors refuse to believe that equities can fall in an environment of rampant QE. They are wrong.

Basically, we’re so close to deflation, that all it will take is another downturn, and we’ll be toast.

SocGen

So is another recession on deck? …”

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“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Intel Corp said on Thursday that its board had elected its Chief Operating Officer Brian Krzanich as the chipmaker’s next chief executive, replacing Paul Otellini.

Intel shares fell slightly in early trade after the news.

Krzanich, who has worked at Intel since 1982, will take on the top job at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 16. Krzanich, 52, has been COO since January 2012. The board also elected Renée James, 48, to be president of Intel and is expected to expand to 10 members to add Krzanich….”

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“NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Facebook (FB_) beat Wall Street revenue estimates in its first quarter, and the company’s future lies in the hands and laps of its mobile users.

For the full quarter, Facebook earned 12 cents a share on revenue of $1.46 billion, an increase of 38% year over year. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company was expected to earn 13 cents on a non-GAAP basis, with revenue coming in at $1.44 billion, according to analysts surveyed byThomson Reuters….”

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On the Wires

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell to their lowest level of the year in April, suggesting slowing economic growth has not translated into significant job losses, a report showed on Thursday.

Employers announced 38,121 planned job cuts last month, down nearly 23 percent from 49,255 in March, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. It was the lowest level since last December.

April’s layoffs were also down 6 percent from a year ago…..”

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“ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – UBS faced a fresh call to separate its investment banking operations and wealth management division at an investor meeting on Thursday, after activist investor Knight Vinke Asset Management demanded a review of the Swiss bank’s structure.

The surprise intervention by New York-based Knight Vinke comes six months after UBS decided to pull out of the most risky areas of investment banking and just days after first-quarter results beat expectations, giving investors some reassurance that the strategy was working.

One top ten shareholder dismissed Knight Vinke’s argument that UBS’s investment bank was holding back its wealth management arm, which attracted the most customer money in six years in the first quarter of this year.

“I would not buy the argument that one side is preventing the other side from reaching full potential. For sure, there was a phase where that was the case because of the way the investment bank was run but to me, UBS is learning from past mistakes and is moving forward,” said the investor, who declined to be named.

UBS said it would listen to the arguments and ideas of its shareholders and discuss them at the annual general meeting, which was being held on the outskirts of Zurich….”

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“BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Kellogg’s first-quarter net income slid 11 percent on higher expenses and acquisition costs.

The Battle Creek, Mich., company announced a $1 billion stock repurchase program Thursday, but shares slipped in premarket trading.

Kellogg earned $311 million, or 85 cents per share. That’s down from $351 million, or 98 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the costs related to its acquisition of Pringles, earnings were 99 cents per share. Taking out 3 cents per share for the Venezuelan currency devaluation, earnings were $1.02 per share, which was in line with Wall Street expectations.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $3.86 billion on improved sales, but fell short of analysts expectations, according to a poll by FactSet.

Kellogg Co. maintained its full-year adjusted earnings and revenue forecasts.”

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“Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA)’s first-quarter profit fell 26 percent as a branded drug lost patent protection and opportunities diminished to introduce new generic medicines.

Earnings excluding some costs declined to $960 million, or $1.12 a share, from $1.3 billion, or $1.47, a year earlier, the Petach Tikva, Israel-based company said in a statement today. Profit beat the average estimate of $1.11 a share from 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Teva’s branded-drug sales dropped as Provigil, a sleep- disorder medicine it got in the $6.5 billion acquisition of Cephalon Inc. in 2011, lost patent protection last year. Sales of generics were higher in last year’s first quarter as Teva began selling seven new products and benefited from a partnership with Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. for copies of Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor.

Revenue from Copaxone, the branded multiple-sclerosis treatment that is Teva’s best-selling product, increased 17 percent in the quarter to $1.1 billion as Teva boosted the price of the injection. Copaxone faces new competition from Biogen Idec Inc.’s Tecfidera, which grabbed an 8 percent share of the MS pill market in the week ended April 19, according to Bloomberg Industries.

Feedback from doctors suggests some Tecfidera patients are switching from Copaxone, according to Marko Kozul, an analyst with Leerink Swann & Co.

Levin’s Forecast…”

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“WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit narrowed for a second month in March as the daily flow of imported crude oil dropped to the lowest level in 17 years. The deficit with China hit a three-year low.

The Commerce Department says the trade deficit decreased to $38.8 billion, an 11 percent drop from February’s $43.6 billion….”

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“ING U.S. Inc. (VOYA), the New York-based unit of the largest Dutch financial-services company, raised $1.27 billion in its initial public offering, pricing an increased number of shares below the marketed range.

ING U.S. sold 65.2 million shares for $19.50 each, according to a statement yesterday, after offering 64.1 million shares for $21 to $24 apiece. ING U.S. will be renamed Voya Financial after the IPO and the switch will take about two years, the company has said. The stock will start trading today, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VOYA….”

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“General Motors Co. (GM), after losing more than $18 billion in Europe since 1999, narrowed its first- quarter loss in the region, outpacing Ford Motor Co. (F) and helping the automaker beat analysts’ earnings estimates.

GM’s European adjusted loss before interest and taxes was $175 million, compared with $294 million a year earlier, as the region’s economic slump continued to roil sales, according to a statement today from the Detroit-based automaker. Companywide profit excluding one-time items was 67 cents a share, exceeding the 54-cent average of 16 estimates compiled by Bloomberg…”

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“Euro-area manufacturing output contracted for a 21st straight month in April, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates to spur lending and growth.

A gauge of manufacturing in the 17-nation euro area declined to 46.7 last month from 46.8 in March, London-based Markit Economics said today. That’s above an initial estimate of 46.5 on April 23. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

With the euro-area economy mired in a recession, the ECB’s Governing Council will cut its benchmark rate today to a record low 0.5 percent from 0.75 percent, according to the median of 70 economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The Frankfurt- based central bank sees the economy shrinking 0.5 percent in 2013.

“There is nothing here to suggest that manufacturing will turn the corner and stabilize any time soon, putting greater onus on policy makers to act quickly to reinvigorate growth,” Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said in today’s report.

The euro pared losses against the dollar after the data were released, trading at $1.3172 at 10:41 a.m. in Brussels, down less than 0.1 percent on the day.

Record Unemployment…”

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“China’s yuan advanced to a 19-year high after the central bank raised the currency’s reference rate by the most in more than six months amid speculation U.S. monetary stimulus will spur faster gains. Volatility surged.

The yuan strengthened 0.15 percent to close at 6.1560 per dollar from April 26 in Shanghai as markets reopened after a three-day holiday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The People’s Bank of China set the fixing 0.2 percent stronger, the most since Oct. 15, at 6.2082 per dollar….”

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“HEADS UP: The world’s biggest economies are releasing their April manufacturing PMI reports. And this is our scorecard.

So far, the reports reflect a global deceleration.

China’s official manufacturing PMI report slipped to 50.6 from 50.9 in March.  China’s unofficial HSBC PMI fell to 50.4 from 51.6.

In the U.S., the ISM and PMI manufacturing reports each fell.

However, the Chinese and U.S. numbers all remain above 50.0, which indicates expansion.

In Europe, Spain, Italy, France and Greece all posted modest increases in their PMIs.  However, they are all in contractionary territory.

The big story out of Europe is certainly Germany, whose PMI tumbled sharply into contractionary territory.

PMI…”

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“The euro strengthened for a fifth day against the dollar as the European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record 0.5 percent in line with economists’ forecasts.

The 17-nation currency gained for a fourth day versus the yen even after a euro-area report showed the manufacturing industry shrank last month. ECB President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. in Bratislava, Slovakia, where the policy meeting was held. Sweden’s krona weakened against all except two of its 16 major counterparts as manufacturing in the nation unexpectedly contracted….”

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The ECB cuts rates for lending, refinancing, while keeping deposit rates at zero.

European markets had no interest and have sold off since the decision.

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