3 ms·

Amazon is getting too big. How's this for an investment strategy... Long AMZN, short a basket of all other mid to large retailers & grocers.

bbctol 9y ago
Agree on the getting too big; how's this for a political strategy... bust the trusts again EDIT: and for those pointing out (correctly!) that amazon doesn't violate antitrust, http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/amazons-antitrust-paradox http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/amazons-antitrust-para... is a good article
dx034 9y ago
The acquirer stock price often falls after an acquisition. So probably not a really good strategy. Conglomerates have happened in the past. They become very big until they stop making a lot of money and people realise that they could be more efficient if you split them up. Amazon and Google can afford growing so much because they have a very successful business line. If growth there stops they would likely start selling some parts.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  > Conglomerates have happened in the past. They become very big until they stop making a lot of money and people realise that they could be more efficient if you split them up. Yeah, who could forget when companies like Standard Oil or AT&T decided to split up, entirely through the power of market forces, with no government intervention at all.
  - dx034 9y ago
    Those are different examples. There are still countless competitors in each of their businesses, no reason for the government to act.
  - asr 9y ago
    Conglomerates are companies that hold unrelated businesses. Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate. Railroads and car insurance in the same company! Standard oil and AT&T were not broken up because they were conglomerates. They were broken up because they were monopolies in single (or closely related) markets.
    - WillPostForFood 9y ago
      Further, AT&T was a government granted monopoly in the first place.
    - emodendroket 9y ago
      The reason for Standard Oil's success was not specialization so much as expanding into every single business that could possibly affect the price of oil. Their ability to boss around railroads, and their eventual direct investment in railroads themselves, certainly calls Amazon shipping to mind.
RockyMcNuts 9y ago
Well, Trump said Amazon had a 'huge' antitrust problems, and Bezos's Washington Post is scooping dirt on Trump daily, so that should be fun to watch https://news.vice.com/story/amazon-buying-whole-foods-could-trigger-a-big-antitrust-fight https://news.vice.com/story/amazon-buying-whole-foods-could-...

bbctol 9y ago

Agree on the getting too big; how's this for a political strategy... bust the trusts again EDIT: and for those pointing out (correctly!) that amazon doesn't violate antitrust, http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/amazons-antitrust-paradox http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/amazons-antitrust-para... is a good article

dx034 9y ago

The acquirer stock price often falls after an acquisition. So probably not a really good strategy. Conglomerates have happened in the past. They become very big until they stop making a lot of money and people realise that they could be more efficient if you split them up. Amazon and Google can afford growing so much because they have a very successful business line. If growth there stops they would likely start selling some parts.

emodendroket 9y ago
> Conglomerates have happened in the past. They become very big until they stop making a lot of money and people realise that they could be more efficient if you split them up. Yeah, who could forget when companies like Standard Oil or AT&T decided to split up, entirely through the power of market forces, with no government intervention at all.
- dx034 9y ago
  Those are different examples. There are still countless competitors in each of their businesses, no reason for the government to act.
- asr 9y ago
  Conglomerates are companies that hold unrelated businesses. Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate. Railroads and car insurance in the same company! Standard oil and AT&T were not broken up because they were conglomerates. They were broken up because they were monopolies in single (or closely related) markets.
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    Further, AT&T was a government granted monopoly in the first place.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    The reason for Standard Oil's success was not specialization so much as expanding into every single business that could possibly affect the price of oil. Their ability to boss around railroads, and their eventual direct investment in railroads themselves, certainly calls Amazon shipping to mind.

RockyMcNuts 9y ago

Well, Trump said Amazon had a 'huge' antitrust problems, and Bezos's Washington Post is scooping dirt on Trump daily, so that should be fun to watch https://news.vice.com/story/amazon-buying-whole-foods-could-trigger-a-big-antitrust-fight https://news.vice.com/story/amazon-buying-whole-foods-could-...