Today we are watching…
1. Disney (#disney)
It’s been a blockbuster year of lucrative movie premieres for investors in Disney, and today, a sixth famous title will get its billion-dollar sequel. ‘Frozen 2’ has already sold more tickets on Atom Tickets than ‘Toy Story 4’ and ‘The Incredibles 2,’ adding to momentum pushing Mouse House shares higher. If the film does well at the box office, a pre-Thanksgiving release date could mean replay after replay over the holiday period. During that time, merchandise will fly off the shelves as Black Friday dawns! If there’s a downside to all this, then it’ll arrive in the new year. Some investors worry that Disney has burned all its powder this year and could freeze out markets with a scarce content slate next year! Is it worth the risk?
2. Apple (#aapl)
When iPhones and iMacs go wrong, consumers face a difficult choice. They can either visit a dubious, independent local repair shop where cheap and hasty tech fixes risk even more going wrong, or they can retreat to an official Apple genius. The latter option has left many out-of-warranty consumers outraged at their repair bills, and suspicious of a would-be monopoly out to get them. With tensions rising, executives were summoned to Congress yesterday. They denied making any profit at all on repairs when asked the question point-blank, but markets aren’t buying it! Such a claim has investors’ minds racing about what the real numbers look like. If the government takes action, the truth will come out!
