$120 Billion for Uber? Wall Street's Greed Knows No Bounds

Today's updates from Rick's Picks. You are receiving this email because you signed up for daily updates at www.rickackerman.com Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser](. [Follow on Twitter]( [Forward to a Friend]( The Hidden Pivot Seminar "Trading success is only six hours away." Learn Rick Ackerman's risk-averse Hidden Pivot Method and never trade the old way again. -------------------------------- “...I am pinching myself to be sure I am not dreaming. I am more confident every day with the HP approach. I am making money... I am able to escape the screen if I so wish. I do not end the day stressed and hyperactive. Impressed? I am absolutely knocked out - just wish I had found the site years ago. Best wishes, long may you continue.”- David Ivory --------------------------------------------------------------- - [North Korea Is on Investors’ Radar]( - [How Long Can Mr. Market Waffle?]( - [One-Decision]( Are Too Enticing to Shun for Long]( - [Over-Under Bet for a Holiday-Shortened Week]( - [‘Seasonality’ Takes a Licking]( - [Pre-Holiday Hijinx]( - [Is ‘Matt’s Curse’ About to Doom Stocks?]( - [Nasdaq Produces a Rare Profit for Shorts]( - [AMZN Glowers at Bears]( Rick's Pick for Thursday Uber IPO Could Take Folly to New Heights Published Wednesday, October 17, 5:36 p.m. EDT The spectacular orgy of greed surrounding Uber’s impending IPO shows how out-of-whack valuations have gotten. Wall Street thinks the ride-hailing company could fetch as much as $120 billion when it is retailed to the rubes early next year. That’s nearly double the valuation of Uber’s last fundraising round just two months ago, according to the Wall Street Journal, and more than the value of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler combined. For further comparison, the biggest deal ever in the defense sector, a proposed merger between Harris and L3 Technologies, would be worth a measly $33.5 billion. Are investors out of their minds? Uber, after all, has little physical substance and no profits. It exists in the form of a smartphone application, a few office buildings and a global network of freelance drivers who struggle to make a living at it. The fact that Uber hasn’t booked any profits is no drawback for Wall Street’s gifted pitch-men, who have always lived by P.T. Barnum’s dictum that there’s a sucker born every minute. These shysters regard earnings for IPO companies as an abomination, since, once a company starts making money, its shares can be marked-to-market to reflect a price/earnings ratio. The last thing in the world Uber insiders want is earnings, since they provide a reality check against whatever “story” deal-makers have concocted to hype a company’s supposed potential to-the-moon. An Uber-Killing App Already Exists Those who are eager to pay $120 billion to take Uber public had better consider that the company’s future is just as vulnerable to disruptive new technologies as the taxi fleets Uber and Lyft have decimated. Are the yokels who will be bidding hand-over-first for IPO shares aware that there’s a phone application that makes it possible for anyone to start a ride-hailing company of his or her own overnight? That’s right. The software handles every task that Uber’s does, from soup-to-nuts, including insurance. Will Uber (and Lyft) be able to compete with 50 million scheming, dreaming entrepreneurs who can leap into the ride-hailing business and have a dozen subcontractors working for them practically overnight? A $120 billion valuation for Uber would be the slickest con-job ever foisted on retail investors. Under the circumstances, a stock-market crash before the IPO is probably the best thing that could happen to them, since it would bring the deal back down to earth, perhaps in the $15B-$20B range. Even that would be absurd by the standards of yesteryear, when “disruptive” companies had to earn their way to success. No such demands are placed on hot upstarts these days, and that’s why it’s not going to end well. To learn more about the Hidden Pivot Method, and for an unbeatable deal, [click here](. [follow on Twitter]( || [forward to a friend]( Copyright © 2018 Hidden Pivot Enterprises, All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you requested that our Daily Commentary be emailed to you. The return email address is not monitored for reply. If you don't wish to receive further mailings, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this message. Our mailing address is: Hidden Pivot Enterprises PO Box 270646Louisville, CO 80027 [Add us to your address book]( [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences](