Share Tweet Share Share Email The traditional methods of investment analysis are no longer sufficient to maintain a competitive edge. Gone are the days when investors relied solely on earnings reports, balance sheets, and historical price trends to make their decisions. The emergence of alternative data is revolutionizing how investment strategies are formulated. By leveraging unconventional data sources, investors can gain deeper insights, uncover hidden opportunities, and predict market movements with greater accuracy. What is Alternative Data? Alternative data refers to non-traditional datasets that are not typically part of mainstream financial analysis. Unlike conventional financial metrics derived from company reports or market data, alternative data sources provide unique insights into market trends, consumer behavior, and economic activity. These datasets can originate from a variety of unconventional sources, including satellite imagery, social media activity, web scraping, credit card transactions, and even geolocation data from mobile devices. The defining characteristic of alternative data is its ability to offer a real-time or near-real-time view of trends, often before they are reflected in traditional metrics. This timeliness makes it a valuable asset for investors looking to stay ahead in competitive markets. Why is Alternative Data Important for Investment Analysis? Enhanced Decision-Making: Alternative data provides a more comprehensive view of market dynamics, enabling investors to make informed decisions. For example, analyzing satellite images of retail parking lots can offer early indications of a company’s quarterly performance before earnings reports are published. Competitive Advantage: Information asymmetry can drive market success, alternative data gives investors an edge over those relying solely on traditional metrics. Predictive Insights: Unlike historical data, which only shows past performance, alternative data can be predictive. Social media sentiment analysis, for example, can indicate potential market trends or consumer sentiment shifts. Diversification of Analysis: By combining traditional metrics with alternative data, investors can diversify their analytical approach, reducing the risk of relying on a single source of truth. Key Sources of Alternative Data Social Media and Online Activity: Platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn are treasure troves of real-time consumer sentiment and market trends. By analyzing posts, likes, and shares, investors can gauge public opinion about companies, products, or sectors. Web Scraping: Scraping e-commerce websites for product pricing, inventory levels, and customer reviews can provide insights into retail trends and consumer demand. Geospatial Data: Satellite imagery can track everything from agricultural yields to construction activity, providing real-time indicators of economic activity. Credit Card and Transaction Data: Aggregated and anonymized credit card transaction data reveals consumer spending patterns, offering a direct look into economic health and individual company performance. App Usage and Mobile Data: Data from mobile devices, including app downloads and usage patterns, can highlight emerging trends in technology adoption and consumer preferences. Weather Data: For industries like agriculture, energy, and retail, weather data can be a critical indicator of potential market shifts. For example, unseasonal weather can significantly impact crop yields or consumer purchasing behavior. Applications of Alternative Data in Investment Analysis Equity Research: Alternative data helps analysts assess company performance in real-time. For example, tracking online mentions and reviews of a product can signal its market reception. Macroeconomic Analysis: By aggregating data from multiple sources, investors can gauge macroeconomic indicators such as unemployment trends, retail sales, or industrial production. Risk Management: Alternative data can help identify potential risks that may not be visible through traditional metrics. For instance, monitoring public sentiment during a crisis can provide early warnings about potential market disruptions. Algorithmic Trading: High-frequency trading algorithms often rely on alternative data to identify market inefficiencies and execute trades based on real-time trends. Sustainable and ESG Investing: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investors can use alternative data such as satellite imagery to monitor deforestation or social media sentiment to evaluate a company’s reputation. Challenges and Ethical Considerations While alternative data offers numerous benefits, it also comes with its own set of challenges: Data Quality and Reliability: Not all alternative data sources are accurate or reliable. Ensuring data integrity is crucial for meaningful analysis. High Costs: Accessing and processing alternative data can be expensive, creating a barrier for smaller investors. Regulatory Compliance: The use of alternative data must comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR or CCPA. Failure to do so can result in significant penalties. Ethical Concerns: The collection and use of certain types of alternative data, such as geolocation or social media data, may raise privacy concerns. Investors must navigate the ethical implications of their data practices. Complexity in Analysis: Analyzing unstructured data from diverse sources requires advanced tools and expertise in machine learning and data science. Tools and Technologies Enabling Alternative Data Analysis Big Data Platforms: Tools like Hadoop and Spark allow for the storage and processing of large datasets. Machine Learning Algorithms: AI-powered algorithms help analyze patterns and trends within unstructured data. Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP techniques are essential for extracting insights from text-based data such as social media posts or news articles. Cloud Computing: Cloud platforms enable scalable data processing, making it easier to handle vast amounts of alternative data. The Future of Alternative Data in Investment The scope and application of alternative data in investment analysis are expected to grow. Emerging technologies like blockchain could provide new, verifiable datasets, while advancements in AI may enable even more s ophisticated analysis. Furthermore, as data becomes more accessible, smaller investors may also begin to leverage alternative data, democratizing its benefits. Conclusion The use of alternative data in investment analysis marks a significant shift in how financial markets are understood and navigated. By moving beyond traditional metrics, investors can gain a more nuanced understanding of market dynamics, identify opportunities early, and mitigate risks effectively. However, the adoption of alternative data comes with challenges that must be addressed through robust data governance, ethical considerations, and advanced analytical tools. Alternative data will undoubtedly play an increasingly central role in shaping the strategies of tomorrow’s investors. 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LONDON: The new British government’s plan to increase taxes on businesses contributed to the first contraction in private sector activity in over a year, a survey showed, after signs the economy was losing momentum even before last month’s budget. The preliminary S&P Global Flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index, published on Friday, fell to 49.9 in November from 51.8 in October. “The first survey on the health of the economy after the budget makes for gloomy reading,” Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said. It is the first time the index has been below the 50.0 no-change level in 13 months. Williamson said the survey suggested the economy was contracting at a quarterly 0.1 percent pace, but the hit to confidence hinted at worse to come, including further job losses. Sterling fell to stand half a cent lower against the US dollar on the day, with investors almost fully pricing in the Bank of England cutting interest rates to 4 percent by the end of 2025 from 4.75 percent now. “For policymakers, the key question now will be to assess whether the potential inflationary hit from higher taxes offsets the potential demand hit from weaker private demand,” Sanjay Raja, Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist, said. Some manufacturers worried about renewed trade tensions once Donald Trump becomes the next US president. Others hoped clarity after the vote would unblock investment decisions. The PMI also showed employers cut staffing levels for a second month in a row while the measure of overall new business was the weakest in a year. A weaker outlook for the global economy weighed on companies with the automotive sector in a slump. But the first moves of Britain’s Labour government were also a cause for concern. “Companies are giving a clear ‘thumbs down’ to the policies announced in the budget, especially the planned increase in employers’ National Insurance Contributions,” Williamson said. Finance minister Rachel Reeves increased the annual burden of social security payments for employers by around 25 billion pounds ($31 billion) a year. Many businesses have said her Oct. 30 budget flies in the face of the government’s pledge to turn Britain into the fastest-growing Group of Seven economy. Momentum was already weak with Britain’s gross domestic product edging up by only 0.1 percent in the three months to the end of September, according to official data last week, and retail sales fell sharply in October as shoppers worried about the budget. Figures on Thursday showed government borrowing shot past private-sector economists’ forecasts last month, underscoring how reliant Reeves is likely to be on stronger economic growth to fund more spending on public services. However, a measure of consumer confidence published on Friday suggested individuals turned a bit more optimistic this month after they avoided the brunt of the tax increases. Friday’s PMI survey found firms were not replacing departing staff as they braced for April’s rise in payroll costs. Selling prices rose at the slowest rate since the coronavirus pandemic but high rates of growth in input prices and costs related to wages were hurting the service sector. — Reuters*Vincent Busa battled through an injury to rush for a game-high 144 yards and a touchdown as Xaverian defended its state title with a 14-7 win over Needham. *The Xaverian defense picked the right time to step up and play its best game of the year, limiting the Rockets to 156 yards of total offense and nine first downs. *Lehigh-bound Aidan Williams ran for 58 yards on 13 carries, while catching three passes for 41 yards and Needham’s only touchdown. *Boston College-commit Mekhi Dodd ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, while adding a pair of catches for 40 yards and a third score as Catholic Memorial defeated King Philip 39-21 to claim the state title. *Catholic Memorial running back Lesean Sharp opened the game with a 65-yard TD run and went on to rush for 148 yards and two scores. *King Philip running back Drew Laplante ran for a game-high 157 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. *Ryan Bannon rushed for 85 yards and scored three times as North Attleboro defeated Hockomock rival Mansfield 35-0 to claim the state title. *The North Attleboro defense allowed Mansfield just 115 yards of total offense. *Mansfield’s Anthony DeGirolamo caught five passes for 79 yards. *Jonny Donovan capped off his first season as a starter by completing 18-of-24 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns as Scituate capped off an undefeated season with a 29-13 win over Duxbury. *Willy Robinson was Scituate’s prime receiving target as he hauled in eight passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. *Jack Sovik had an excellent game for Duxbury, catching 12 passes for 118 yards. *Sidney Tildsley capped off an amazing career by rushing for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Shawsheen took home the state title with a 14-0 win over Foxboro. *The Shawsheen defense held defending champion Foxboro to 58 yards of total offense and six first downs. *Jake Attaway threw for 93 yards and ran for 66 and the go-ahead touchdown as Hudson won its first title since 1991 by beating defending champion Fairhaven, 21-14. *Garrett Giorgio preserved Hudson’s victory by picking off a pass with 29 seconds left. *The Fairhaven offensive line paved the way for 298 rushing yards despite star Justin Marques missing time in the contest due to an injury. *Kaiden Brochu rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns, while Corey Scovil threw for 135 yards and a pair of scores as Bay Path captured its third straight Large School Vocational Bowl title with a 38-0 win over Whittier. *Declan Walker ran for 152 yards and a touchdown, while passing for 98 yards and two scores as Tri-County captured its first-ever Small School Vocational Bowl title with a 36-30 win over Blue Hills. Teammate Nick O’Brien added 102 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 4-yard TD run in the final minute. *Cam LaChapelle ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, while adding 55 receiving yards as Uxbridge pulled away from Mashpee 42-20 to successfully defend its title. *Rogan Devlin completed 11-of-18 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns and also scrambled for 70 yards and a pair of scores. *Dominic Matteodo was a shining star for Mashpee as he threw for 213 yards and ran for 73 more yards. *In Blue Hills’ loss to Tri-County, Kanyinsola Olanrewaju rushed for 165 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. *West Boylston’s tandem of Dominick Renzoni and Stephen Simpson combined to rush for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries in a 22-16 win over Randolph in the Div. 8 title game. *Mekhi White was a bright spot for Randolph as he rushed for 143 yards and scored both of his team’s touchdowns.The large white building under construction at Nestle Putina Petcare in Clinton can be described as a high-tech automated warehouse. When it’s operational, seven cranes will zip back and forth sorting cargo and eventually moving it trucks. “It’s a robot. It really is, it’s not even a building,” said project manager Phil Tackett-Irwin of Nestlé Purina Engineering. No people will need to be in the building for its operations, which is coming on the heels of and in conjunction with other production improvements increasing the plant’s output capacity. Grow Clinton celebrated the project by awarding Nestle Purina PetCare with a Value Spotlight Innovation Award, presenting it on Monday, Dec. 16. “We are presenting this award to Nestle Purina PetCare to recognize the addition of the Automated Storage and Retrieval System to their operation,” said Jennifer L. Holm, Grow Clinton director of member and community relations. “This is a major investment in Clinton, Iowa, and we are very proud that Nestle Purina continues to choose our community as partners in their industry.” The $110 million investment in the 90,000-square-foot facility will create 15 new jobs and will support the $156 million factory expansion completed in 2022. In Clinton, Purina produces various dry pet food and snacks. The company employs about 1,370 people at operations in Clinton, Fort Dodge and Davenport. At the Monday award presentation, Grow Clinton President and CEO Andy Sokolovich thanked the Nestle Purina Petcare team for its efforts and investments in the community. “The glitz and glamor of economic development is: ‘Whose coming in? What new businesses are you bringing in?” Sokolovich said. “The reality is that our existing industries are really going to make the biggest impacts. So sometimes you just don’t see it riding down the road, but there is so much that is happening.” He also said Grow Clinton continues to press the state to incentivize projects such as this. “We’re constantly putting pressure on the Iowa Economic Development Authority to continue to look at their incentive package and how we can offer (incentives to) companies that are making massive capital investments in our community,” he said. Nestle Purina production manager Jim Marshall talked about various technological and operational expansions contributing to the need for the Automated Storage and Retrieval System. While describing just one of the projects that is converting some warehouse space into production areas, he said, “We’ll go from when it was a warehouse with five to seven employees in it to probably 50 people a shift running realistically seven days a week.”
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AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:40 p.m. EST
How would you feel, if someone added another 10 years to your mortgage? (Or, if you don't have one, or have paid yours off, let me ask it another way: How would you feel about signing up to pay off a home over 40 long years?) Because that's the offer being made by finance company, Pepper Money, which is rolling out a brand new 40-year mortgage. That sound you just heard is my brain exploding. Now, let's deal with why it's being offered. Here's how 's Wealth Editor, James Kirby, put it: Indeed, in that same article, comparison site Finder's data is cited, thus: Bear in mind, that's 5 more years. And that's the average loan, meaning many, many people are paying even more. And Pepper is offering to extend the mortgage term by not 5, but 10 years. It's not easy to do the maths yourself, by the way: the first dozen loan calculators that Google served me up wouldn't let me use more than 30 years. So... I did it myself, and check out these numbers. If you borrowed $625,000 at 6% for 30 years, you'd pay: $3,747 per month $724,000 in interest $1.349 million in total repayments Reckon that's a lot? Check out the numbers over 40 years: $3,438 per month ($308 less) $1.025m in interest ($302,000 more) $1.651 million in total repayments Yep, you'd pay more than $1 million in interest , on top of the repayment of the principal.. And more than $300,000 more than a 30-year term over the life of the loan! I don't know about you, but I reckon that's a lot to pay, just to save $308 per month! But wait... there's more. See, this probably gets a worse. Before we get to that, let's remember that proponents of this sort of loan would say it increases access for those who don't have the monthly income. Which is a little bit true. Only a little bit? Well, yes – I doubt there are many who could afford $3,438 per month, but not $3,747. Meaning the size of the group that this 'helps' is small. (Oh, and remember: the financial institutions benefit from all of that lovely extra interest. It's possible that's part of the motivation...). So, the 'it gets worse' bit? Well, we know that buying a house is a competitive process. That's most obvious at auctions, but it happens for private sales, too – the agent and the seller set the price as high as they think the keenest buyers will pay. Now, let's go back to our example. Let's say the person who can currently pay $3747 a month (and who would currently take a 30 year loan) goes to a banker offering a 40 year mortgage. Here's what happens now: And when there are 40 year mortgages? It'll go like this: Sure, some people will just take a 30-year mortgage and borrow less. But most people? Well, here's one I prepared earlier: Standard mortgage terms used to be 25 years. When was the last time you heard of a borrower who asked the bank to calculate their borrowing capacity over 25, and not 30, years? Exactly. Once 40 years becomes the standard loan length, everyone will use it by default. And the person who asks the bank for a 30 year mortgage will take their $625,000 loan with them when they try to buy a house, only to be outbid by those with longer mortgage terms and $680,000 in the back pocket. In other words? In other words, this approach which is supposed to help 'affordability' is very, very likely to result in: – Monthly repayments remaining the same – Loan terms being longer – Total repayments being much higher – Interest bills being much higher – House prices being much higher ... and those who can't afford the current 30 year mortgage being locked out of the market, . Oh, and finance company profits being higher. Funnily enough. How's that for a neat trick? Seriously, this isn't an affordability measure. At it's a well-meaning mistake and a sign of desperation from buyers who feel locked out of the housing market. But, as I've hopefully shown, 40 year mortgage terms would be a disaster for everyone except banks and sellers – two groups who are entitled to make a buck, but who don't need the generosity of first home buyers. This is one 'innovation' that should be nipped in the bud... before it becomes the norm. Fool on!Buffalo Sabres (11-10-2, in the Atlantic Division) vs. New York Islanders (8-10-6, in the Metropolitan Division) Elmont, New York; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EST Islanders -130, Sabres +110; over/under is 5.5 BOTTOM LINE: The New York Islanders take on the Buffalo Sabres as losers of three straight games. New York has gone 3-5-2 in home games and 8-10-6 overall. The Islanders have gone 6-1-1 in games they score one or more power-play goals. Buffalo is 5-4-1 in road games and 11-10-2 overall. The Sabres have a 4-7-1 record in games their opponents commit fewer penalties. Saturday's game is the second time these teams match up this season. The Islanders won the previous meeting 4-3. Simon Holmstrom scored two goals in the victory. TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Palmieri has 10 goals and nine assists for the Islanders. Brock Nelson has five goals and five assists over the last 10 games. Tage Thompson has 11 goals and seven assists for the Sabres. Rasmus Dahlin has five goals and five assists over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Islanders: 2-4-4, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.6 assists, 2.4 penalties and 5.1 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game. Sabres: 6-3-1, averaging three goals, 4.7 assists, 4.3 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game. INJURIES: Islanders: None listed. Sabres: None listed. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by and data from . The Associated Press