Disney Plus: 10 million subs

We’ve spoken in the past about the heating up streaming wars, and Disney has come out to take a market share of 10 million users. It’s surprising because it’s not even been a week since their streaming service has launched, but at least 10 million households have decided to get Disney Plus.

Disney also sold some discounted memberships for 1, 2, or 3 years, earlier this year, but this robust launch clearly demonstrates that households are going to buy this product, even if it’s just for their kids.

As a media company, Disney has a fixed cost in producing content for its audience and can earn from the launch on the silver screen and on the streaming platform. Disney will probably add a lot more to its growing list of subscribers. But at the very least it will make 10 million * $6.99 = $699 million. This is an added line of revenue without a single dollar spent in producing new content. I’d say this is good decision making.

The stock rose 7.3% to close at $148.72 and has risen more than 35% in 2019.

Google Banks?

In today’s edition of Google expanding its current line of business, we have – consumer banking, as the firm will soon offer checking accounts to its global consumer base.

The project is code-named Cache, a not-so-subtle pun on the word ‘cash’ and the structure of computer data ‘cache’. You can expect the firm to launch its product next year with accounts that will be run by Citigroup Inc.

It seems now that every major technology firm is getting its beak wet in fintech. Apple launched its credit card this summer, and Facebook planned to release a digital cryptocurrency in hopes to dominate global payments. Despite the bump in the road for Facebook’s Libra project, it still reigns true that the firm spent billions in developing their product.

Apple too has had its fair share of trouble about its credit card this past week, with claims that their algorithm was gender-biased when determining credit limits. Google’s fair share of controversy over anti-trust claims in Europe is not unheard of, and by entering the financial services marketplace, Google may just have opened pandora’s box in navigating securities regulation and legal fees. Check out EquityGuru’s coverage of the full story here.

Bump in Trade Talks

US and China have hit a snag over farm purchases as officials sought to finalise the first phase of the deal locked down by President Trump last month.

Trump has stated that China agreed to buy up to $50 billion of soybeans, pork, and other agricultural products from the US annually. However, China hasn’t finally committed to the exact amount of purchase in this context.

I’m not saying this is correct but I do think it makes sense. As much as this trade war is economic, it is ideological and political as well. Neither country wants to admit to a trade deal that makes it look like the other country got the better of them. The contingency plan to any said agreement is that any country can always “stop” buying goods, or levy more tariffs if things go south. “We can always stop the purchases if things get worse again,” said one Chinese official.