Morning Commentary
It’s early, but no matter what happens around the world, or in the stock market, I’m confident in saying that 2015 will go down as the year of Cybercrime.
And, that’s major, considering the massive attacks last year that hit companies, such as Target and JP Morgan.
Despite the personal information of millions of customers that were compromised, it felt as though corporate America did not take this issue seriously.
However, now that we’ve learned banks may have lost $1.0 billion of its own cash, consumer anxiety can be expressed in that famous Verizon ad: "Can you hear me now?"
An infamous cyber gang used a sophisticated Trojan horse and hacked into bank employees’ and administrators’ personal information. Once inside, they gathered information, taking screen shots every 20 seconds to be able to impersonate personnel.
Armed with this power, the gang stole money through online banking, e-payment systems, and even dispersed cash at ATMs at pre-determined times.
Very disciplined, the thieves limited their intake to $10 million per bank. This isn’t just about stolen cash; the same technique and others are being used in the following:
Internet banking is the wave of the future and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be a $1.7 trillion global juggernaut by 2019… but for any of this to work, we must feel secure. Right now, we have several cyber security ideas open and we salivate at the potential of online banking, and even more for the IoT, but this is a serious hurdle.
The Bottom of a Slippery Slope
However, increasingly, it looks like crude may be finding a bottom; and I wonder if Saudi Arabia might be the one blinking now. Sure, the oil kingdom is flush with its wealth fund hold of $733 billion, which is more than enough to cover the $39 billion budget deficit for 2015. The nation still has to lay out $240 billion a year to meet obligations while its American rivals in the oil patch has more room to adjust to price and demand dislocations.
Oil Cash of Titans in Billions | |
Saudi Arabia |
$733 |
Exxon Mobile |
$52 |
Conoco Philips |
$45 |
Chevron |
$43 |
Rig counts continued to freefall, down 98 last week, as job cuts are increasing and major construction projects are mothballed.
In addition, while the Saudis may be confident, its OPEC partners are in trouble...it is the U.S. production that is taking up the slack in meeting demand. The Saudis might have underestimated American producers. Sure, inventories will swell up, but maybe this game is over? I will be discussing this on my show tonight with a major industry executive.
Today’s Session
Equity futures have been mixed with Greece ticking toward a climatic finale and the Ukraine ceasefire lasting about as long as the life span of the mayfly (left). The market isn't panicking as there can hardly be any surprise these issues weren't magically resolved overnight, but the clock is ticking.
In the meantime, I'm bothered by another lackluster read from the Empire State manufacturing report which saw general conditions in February slip to a read of 7.8 from 10.0 in January. The street was looking for 9.0. The 'current' read is now down 72% from September high and expectations down 46%.
Below are some notable companies that reported earnings this morning.
Date |
Company |
EPS |
Cons. |
Revenue ($M) |
EPS Guidance |
EPS Consensus |
17-Feb |
GT |
0.59 |
0.58 |
$4,360 |
- |
FY15 3.02 |
17-Feb |
MDT |
1.01 |
0.99 |
$4,318 |
- |
FY15 4.20 |
17-Feb |
MGM |
-0.66 |
0.07 |
$2,386 |
- |
FY15 0.52 |
17-Feb |
WLT |
-1.97 |
-1.60 |
$286 |
- |
FY15 -5.12 |
17-Feb |
WM |
0.67 |
0.59 |
$3,437 |
FY15 2.48 -2.55 |
FY15 2.51 |
Comments |
Firms as big as Microsoft, Google, IBM etc., have the capability and duty, to not only their customers but offer solutions to protect and defend their country and the general public from these cyber crime issues. Barry M. Gold on 2/17/2015 10:21:49 AM |
The White House could not protect a kids lunch Bag Are you kidding we are in the worst zone In 100 years. Peter george on 2/17/2015 10:42:13 AM |
The Anthem answer to the 80 million customers re the hack to their system is to reassure them that their medical records were not hacked, but that there was access to names, addresses, SSNs,and such. No apparent concern on their part about that info being flung into cyberspace! Peggy Zuckerman on 2/17/2015 10:54:46 AM |
nothing is safe on the internet, the government really can't control anything, every entity is being hacked, they are cutting off more heads every day, we are leading from behind, God save us. ron zamarin on 2/17/2015 11:07:19 AM |
There is only one realistic permanent solution to cyber crime. Take all life and death items like the electric grid off the internet. The higher we build the firewalls, the higher the ladders the hackers will build. There is no end to this. We need to get real about this. Tom Wayne on 2/17/2015 11:08:07 AM |
I am not as concerned with the enterprising hacker that wants to take my money as I am with the NSA hacker that wants to take my liberty. They work for us! We know who they are and where they are. While we can not control the activities of individual hackers, certainly we should be able to control the activities of our employees. If not, we are doomed. George on 2/17/2015 11:34:26 AM |
With the breath and depth of personal information people share on Facebook and now on Tweeter... its so easy to create a profile on any employee of banks and other financial institutions. Its not just thoughts ,pictures, and videos that people share on social media... its all the damn personal history, future plans, geographic locations, and so on. You haven't seen the full extent of cybercrime as yet... wait and see in a few more months and years. Governments should put a "muzzle" on Facebook and Tweeter and rest of other social media networks. For the sake of a few Ad dollars, these social media companies are compromising the safety, security, well being and financial integrity of billions. Companies like Facebook and their CEO's should take responsibility for gathering the breath and depth of subscriber's personal information and then share with anyone that offer's a few lousy dollars. Shame on you Mark Elliot Zuckerberg... Shame on you Richard Costolo... Anant Goel Producer CEO www.LeRumba.com Anant Goel on 2/17/2015 11:53:51 AM |
From the business side of the problem. When businesses start feeling a loss of customers and a loss of earnings then and only then will they get aggressive in protecting their customers. Mike T on 2/18/2015 8:45:09 AM |
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