New donations were made last week to Northeastern Illinois University and Shriners Hospital Chicago. The donations were made because of trades from our partner, KDK Options.We have now donated almost 200% more in 2019 that in 2018.
We look forward to a strong close to the year!
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
New Donation made to Shriners Hospital of Chicago
Because of trading by our partner KDK Options, a new donation has been made to Shriners Hospital of Chicago. This is the second donation of the month(first was to Northeastern Illinois University) and continues our support of a great hospital.
KeaneVCC Charity philosophy - To provide funding for education and healthcare where needed. Current recipients include Northeastern Illinois University, Shriners Hospital of Chicago and the Orlando E Rodriguez Foundation. No donation gets used as a tax write off as we stay focused on the giving part. We believe that giving to worthy charities is as much of a wealth builder as having the capital ourselves.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
KeaneVCC Charity philosophy - To provide funding for education and healthcare where needed. Current recipients include Northeastern Illinois University, Shriners Hospital of Chicago and the Orlando E Rodriguez Foundation. No donation gets used as a tax write off as we stay focused on the giving part. We believe that giving to worthy charities is as much of a wealth builder as having the capital ourselves.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Monday, October 7, 2019
New Donation Made to Northeastern Illinois University
Donation Day!!!
Because of revenue created by our partner KDK Options, a new donation has been made to Northeastern Illinois University. It has been sent to the College of Business and Management.
KeaneVCC's charity continues to increase its donations throughout the year. This year's donations have more than doubled 2018's donations. KeaneVCC does not write donations off its taxes to keep the mission of giving clear and simple.
We believe that charity has to be a priority for the company. The current focus is on health and education institutions such as Northeastern Illinois University and Shriners' Hospital of Chicago.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Because of revenue created by our partner KDK Options, a new donation has been made to Northeastern Illinois University. It has been sent to the College of Business and Management.
KeaneVCC's charity continues to increase its donations throughout the year. This year's donations have more than doubled 2018's donations. KeaneVCC does not write donations off its taxes to keep the mission of giving clear and simple.
We believe that charity has to be a priority for the company. The current focus is on health and education institutions such as Northeastern Illinois University and Shriners' Hospital of Chicago.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Investment/Trading Partners Double Revenue in 2019
Hello
We are very excited to relay that Investment and Trading partners KDK Options and KDK Fund have collectively doubled their revenue in 2019 year over year.
KDK Fund recently bought and sold some shares in Taronis Technologies for a 30% return.
KDK Options has had successful trades in Facebook, Nvidia, Crispr, Jet Blue, Japanese Yen ETF FXY, Nasdzq ETF SQQQ, Bond ETF TLT, Bank ETF XLF, and Gold ETF IAU, You can find information on these trades (and the losing trades) by clicking the link here.
The expectation is to double the current amount by the end of the year. Reasons include geopolitical uncertainty, higher than normal market volatility, and a higher focus on innovative and transformational securities.
We are very proud of their work. Ten percent of revenue (not profits) is automatically given to charity. This year's charities include the O3R Father and Son Orlando Rodriguez Memorial Soccer Tournament, Shriner's Children's Hospitals of Chicago, and Northeastern Illinois University. We look forward to their future investments and trades.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
We are very excited to relay that Investment and Trading partners KDK Options and KDK Fund have collectively doubled their revenue in 2019 year over year.
KDK Fund recently bought and sold some shares in Taronis Technologies for a 30% return.
KDK Options has had successful trades in Facebook, Nvidia, Crispr, Jet Blue, Japanese Yen ETF FXY, Nasdzq ETF SQQQ, Bond ETF TLT, Bank ETF XLF, and Gold ETF IAU, You can find information on these trades (and the losing trades) by clicking the link here.
The expectation is to double the current amount by the end of the year. Reasons include geopolitical uncertainty, higher than normal market volatility, and a higher focus on innovative and transformational securities.
We are very proud of their work. Ten percent of revenue (not profits) is automatically given to charity. This year's charities include the O3R Father and Son Orlando Rodriguez Memorial Soccer Tournament, Shriner's Children's Hospitals of Chicago, and Northeastern Illinois University. We look forward to their future investments and trades.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
New Donation to O3R Orlando Rodriguez Foundation
Because of wonderful trading by KDK Options (link here), Keane VCC was able to make a donation to the O3R Orlando Rodriguez Foundation. They use their funds to promote youth education and sport opportunities. Their website can be found here.
Donations this year have gone to O3R, Shriners Childrens Hospital Chicago, and Northeastern Illinois University. This donation has already made 2019 the most successful year philanthropically for KeaneVCC!
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.*
Donations this year have gone to O3R, Shriners Childrens Hospital Chicago, and Northeastern Illinois University. This donation has already made 2019 the most successful year philanthropically for KeaneVCC!
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.*
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Innovation Weekly Update: Wow Factor, Discipline, and Grind
by Michael Keane
This week was marked by the Wow Factor, Discipline, and Grind. We had Nueralink make its announcement, Cryptocurrency all over the place, and company earnings reports that showed how they are continuing their march forward.
The Wow Factor
Earlier this week, Rachel Metz from CNN wrote (story link here) about Elon Musk's new venture, Neuralink. It is a venture looking to connect your brain with the internet through a device implanted in your brain. This is the Wow factor being introduced. Now the testing continues.
The Discipline
All things currency really were front and center this past week. Most notably, cryptocurrency and Facebook's Libra (not a designated cryptocurrency) took on a full onslaught from the US Government through hearings and press releases. One such story (link here) from The Wall Street Journal editors explain as much.
Also, in California, it was announced that the state will be deploying electric school buses throughout the state. The story link (here) is from Good News Network.
The Grind
Many companies reported earnings last week (Microsoft, Netflix, Banks, etc.) and many more report in the next few weeks (AMD, Facebook, Intel, etc.). It is clear that most companies on the innovative side of things are in a grind out their business mode. One such story from Marketwatch (link here) about its business shows some growth, but lots of grind.
That's it for this week. Can't wait for next week!
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.*
This week was marked by the Wow Factor, Discipline, and Grind. We had Nueralink make its announcement, Cryptocurrency all over the place, and company earnings reports that showed how they are continuing their march forward.
The Wow Factor
Earlier this week, Rachel Metz from CNN wrote (story link here) about Elon Musk's new venture, Neuralink. It is a venture looking to connect your brain with the internet through a device implanted in your brain. This is the Wow factor being introduced. Now the testing continues.
The Discipline
All things currency really were front and center this past week. Most notably, cryptocurrency and Facebook's Libra (not a designated cryptocurrency) took on a full onslaught from the US Government through hearings and press releases. One such story (link here) from The Wall Street Journal editors explain as much.
Also, in California, it was announced that the state will be deploying electric school buses throughout the state. The story link (here) is from Good News Network.
The Grind
Many companies reported earnings last week (Microsoft, Netflix, Banks, etc.) and many more report in the next few weeks (AMD, Facebook, Intel, etc.). It is clear that most companies on the innovative side of things are in a grind out their business mode. One such story from Marketwatch (link here) about its business shows some growth, but lots of grind.
That's it for this week. Can't wait for next week!
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.*
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Cryptocurrency Reaching New Heights via JP Morgan and Facebook
by Michael Keane
In 2019, cryptocurrency, and more importantly the blockchain technology behind it, has taken large steps towards societal adoption. Notably, both JP Morgan and Facebook have fully jumped in with announcements of competing currencies. We are also finding politicians becoming more and more active on the regulation side.This has a feel to it similar to the early stages of the internet.
With JP Morgan and Facebook now heavily involved, cryptocurrency is likely here to stay. Two years ago, Jaime Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, readily came out and called cryptocurrency a fraud (CNBC story here). Not 18 months later, in a company document, he releases the JP coin (CNBC story here). As you can see, the only fraud was believing what Jamie Dimon said before. Good strategy that carries credibility issues. But here is the take away. Banks are there to manage value. They would be silly not to invest in the ability to manage cryptocurrencies in the best way they know how. To date, it is to create their own.
Facebook's situation is even more juicy. As has been documented in the past (even with a feature film The Social Network), Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of stealing Facebook from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. The case was settled and the brothers walked away with a settlement in the hundreds of millions of dollars. What did they do with the money? Cryptocurrency (CNBC story here). They invested heavily in infrastructure, regulation, and the currencies themselves. Now that Facebook has entered the cryptocurrency in a big way with Libra, both the Winklevoss twins and cryptocurrency as an industry have both received a big viability confirmation (CNBC story here). It also turns out that business trumps likeability as the twins and Facebook have started to mend fences.
Politicians on the other hand are nearly standing on their head trying to catch up. They have not prepared themselves for the arrival and legitimacy of cryptocurrency. They actually were just ignorant enough to listen to Dimon's comments about it being a fraud. Ooops. You better believe work is being done now though. Hearings are ramped up (CNBC story here). This side of things could get ugly as the theory behind cryptocurrency butts up against the theory of needing a government to regulate it.
The time for understanding cryptocurrency is here and will likely need to some time and practice. Don't be the ostrich.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
In 2019, cryptocurrency, and more importantly the blockchain technology behind it, has taken large steps towards societal adoption. Notably, both JP Morgan and Facebook have fully jumped in with announcements of competing currencies. We are also finding politicians becoming more and more active on the regulation side.This has a feel to it similar to the early stages of the internet.
With JP Morgan and Facebook now heavily involved, cryptocurrency is likely here to stay. Two years ago, Jaime Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, readily came out and called cryptocurrency a fraud (CNBC story here). Not 18 months later, in a company document, he releases the JP coin (CNBC story here). As you can see, the only fraud was believing what Jamie Dimon said before. Good strategy that carries credibility issues. But here is the take away. Banks are there to manage value. They would be silly not to invest in the ability to manage cryptocurrencies in the best way they know how. To date, it is to create their own.
Facebook's situation is even more juicy. As has been documented in the past (even with a feature film The Social Network), Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of stealing Facebook from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. The case was settled and the brothers walked away with a settlement in the hundreds of millions of dollars. What did they do with the money? Cryptocurrency (CNBC story here). They invested heavily in infrastructure, regulation, and the currencies themselves. Now that Facebook has entered the cryptocurrency in a big way with Libra, both the Winklevoss twins and cryptocurrency as an industry have both received a big viability confirmation (CNBC story here). It also turns out that business trumps likeability as the twins and Facebook have started to mend fences.
Politicians on the other hand are nearly standing on their head trying to catch up. They have not prepared themselves for the arrival and legitimacy of cryptocurrency. They actually were just ignorant enough to listen to Dimon's comments about it being a fraud. Ooops. You better believe work is being done now though. Hearings are ramped up (CNBC story here). This side of things could get ugly as the theory behind cryptocurrency butts up against the theory of needing a government to regulate it.
The time for understanding cryptocurrency is here and will likely need to some time and practice. Don't be the ostrich.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Monday, June 3, 2019
New Donation Made to Shriners Hospital Chicago
Because of the great trading results from KDK Options, we are happy to
announce that another donation to Shriners Hospital in Chicago is being made. Posts for the trade in $SQQQ can be found here, and the trade in $XLF can be found here. This is the third donation of the
year for KeaneVCC. We look forward to continuing our philanthropic adventure. Some of
our philosophy is below if interested.
KeaneVCC's philanthropic mission is to provide resources (financial, human, etc.) to worthy causes that advance the progress of the human experience. We donate a percentage of all revenue generated (not just profits). We also find it part of our value system not to write off the donations.
KeaneVCC's philanthropic mission is to provide resources (financial, human, etc.) to worthy causes that advance the progress of the human experience. We donate a percentage of all revenue generated (not just profits). We also find it part of our value system not to write off the donations.
Saturday, May 11, 2019
When Patriotism Clashes With Capitalism
by Michael Keane
In the United States of America, it is generally accepted that there is a high level of both patriotism and capitalism flowing through its citizenry. With the China trade issues like forced tech transfer taking more of a center stage, how to answer the question of what to do when patriotism and capitalism clash has been laid open and the country's business leaders are not stepping up, but are selling out.While there are many layers to the issue, corporate behavior has been less than stellar if you have a lens of citizen first, investor second.
There is an informative Frontline episode by Laura Sullivan on the China trade issues (link here). A central theme of the piece is how corporations have found themselves having trouble explaining the issues while also not wanting the solutions (aka tariffs and other action items) taken because of ramifications to profits, products and services from China. A recent letter from the shoe retailers industry (here) conveys this behavior. Granted, not all of the retailers are based in the US.
This is continuing a trend where corporations are willingly choosing capitalistic desires over the patriotic requirements necessary. This is likely because billions of bonus dollars and stock appreciation is at stake. The tax cuts was another item of corporate misbehavior. The Trump administration were all but assured that corporations would repatriate more revenue when they received their tax cut. That did not happen to any extent the administration was expecting and now our deficits are much higher because of it.
The China tariff standoff will not end until the government of the United States does some honorable, but profit costing actions. Our future competitive advantages are being monetized and sold by the current generation of business leaders in this country. If corporations are allowed to continue to influence government officials to create policy for profits over patriotism, we all will be in trouble.
In the United States of America, it is generally accepted that there is a high level of both patriotism and capitalism flowing through its citizenry. With the China trade issues like forced tech transfer taking more of a center stage, how to answer the question of what to do when patriotism and capitalism clash has been laid open and the country's business leaders are not stepping up, but are selling out.While there are many layers to the issue, corporate behavior has been less than stellar if you have a lens of citizen first, investor second.
There is an informative Frontline episode by Laura Sullivan on the China trade issues (link here). A central theme of the piece is how corporations have found themselves having trouble explaining the issues while also not wanting the solutions (aka tariffs and other action items) taken because of ramifications to profits, products and services from China. A recent letter from the shoe retailers industry (here) conveys this behavior. Granted, not all of the retailers are based in the US.
This is continuing a trend where corporations are willingly choosing capitalistic desires over the patriotic requirements necessary. This is likely because billions of bonus dollars and stock appreciation is at stake. The tax cuts was another item of corporate misbehavior. The Trump administration were all but assured that corporations would repatriate more revenue when they received their tax cut. That did not happen to any extent the administration was expecting and now our deficits are much higher because of it.
The China tariff standoff will not end until the government of the United States does some honorable, but profit costing actions. Our future competitive advantages are being monetized and sold by the current generation of business leaders in this country. If corporations are allowed to continue to influence government officials to create policy for profits over patriotism, we all will be in trouble.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
New Donation to Northeastern Illinois University
Because of the great trading results from KDK Options, we are happy to announce that another donation to Northeastern Illinois University's College of Business is being made. This is the second donation of the year. We look forward to continuing our philanthropic adventure. Some of our philosophy is below if interested
KeaneVCC's philanthropic mission is to provide resources (financial, human, etc.) to worthy causes that advance the progress of the human experience. We donate a percentage of all revenue generated (not just profits). We do not report them on our tax donations as we feel strongly about giving these resources without receiving tax benefits in return.
KeaneVCC's philanthropic mission is to provide resources (financial, human, etc.) to worthy causes that advance the progress of the human experience. We donate a percentage of all revenue generated (not just profits). We do not report them on our tax donations as we feel strongly about giving these resources without receiving tax benefits in return.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
What Corporations Did With Their Tax Cuts
There were a few major topics identified when we first set out to analyze the effects of the 2018 tax bill. The link to the original post can be found (here).
One major topic was how corporations would handle the extra cash coming their way. One year out, we have some evidence as to know their behavior. A recent Bloomberg story identified analysis by Citigroup that showed corporations have spent more on stock buybacks than on capital expenditures (story here). This is the first year since 2007 that this has happened.
We mentioned in our original post how wages, stock buybacks, dividends, and capital expenditures would show the intentions of the executives of US corporations. Here is some data
- Wages grew 3.2% in 2018. That is the highest annual gain in a decade. CNBC story here.
- Stock buybacks increased to over $800 billion. That is an increase of 60% over the 2017 total of $500 billion. This happened with a stock market that ended the year 5% to the downside. (Bloomberg)
- Capital Expenditures increased $100 billion from $600 billion to $700 billion. (Bloomberg)
- Dividends increased 10% to $450 billion from $400 billion in 2017 (Bloomberg)
These numbers tell a strong story about how corporations used the extra revenue from the tax cut. It is not a healthy story. A higher than normal percentage was dedicated to buybacks. On the one hand, having that as the reason for rising earnings and stock prices is not a long term recipe for success for investors. Corporate America used the tax cut to buyback stock to boost earnings per share that inflated bonuses while wage growth was a paltry 3%. On the other hand, it is positive news for all those execs whose bonuses are tied to earnings. It also stemmed the slide in the stock market.
Corporate America needs to take the infrastructure opportunity coming and invest those tax dollars in its employees and products.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
One major topic was how corporations would handle the extra cash coming their way. One year out, we have some evidence as to know their behavior. A recent Bloomberg story identified analysis by Citigroup that showed corporations have spent more on stock buybacks than on capital expenditures (story here). This is the first year since 2007 that this has happened.
We mentioned in our original post how wages, stock buybacks, dividends, and capital expenditures would show the intentions of the executives of US corporations. Here is some data
- Wages grew 3.2% in 2018. That is the highest annual gain in a decade. CNBC story here.
- Stock buybacks increased to over $800 billion. That is an increase of 60% over the 2017 total of $500 billion. This happened with a stock market that ended the year 5% to the downside. (Bloomberg)
- Capital Expenditures increased $100 billion from $600 billion to $700 billion. (Bloomberg)
- Dividends increased 10% to $450 billion from $400 billion in 2017 (Bloomberg)
These numbers tell a strong story about how corporations used the extra revenue from the tax cut. It is not a healthy story. A higher than normal percentage was dedicated to buybacks. On the one hand, having that as the reason for rising earnings and stock prices is not a long term recipe for success for investors. Corporate America used the tax cut to buyback stock to boost earnings per share that inflated bonuses while wage growth was a paltry 3%. On the other hand, it is positive news for all those execs whose bonuses are tied to earnings. It also stemmed the slide in the stock market.
Corporate America needs to take the infrastructure opportunity coming and invest those tax dollars in its employees and products.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Friday, February 22, 2019
Blockchain Gets Major Endorsement
by Michael Keane
Last week, JP Morgan announced that it has created its own cryptocoin, the JPM Coin. Given what has been said before by the company, this was a major shift and endorsement not only for cryptocurrencies, but also a big endorsement of the blockchain technology behind it.
While Blockchain technology is absolutely still in its infancy, the announcement can be looked on as a game changer when it comes what the true perception of the technology by the big players. It harkens back to the infancy of the housing crisis, when at first the banks laughed at people like Dr. Michael Burry and Mark Baum, but then joined them in a big way while using deception announcements to keep the public at bay. Last week's announcement by JP Morgan would not have come without some testing of the technology's utility to the bank's mission and profit model. Jamie Dimon calling cryptocurrencies a "fraud" 18 months ago now looks like a delay tactic.
This announcement is also a very good indicator that average consumer uses are now ready to had in the marketplace.
The following outlets have caught the sea change in JP Morgan. Enjoy!
Cnbc article-Hugh Son
CNN Article- Matt Egen
Forbes Article - Michael del Castillo
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Friday, January 18, 2019
Donation Made to Shriner's Hospital of Chicago
Because of some great trading by KDK Options, we are able to make our first donation to Shriner's Hospital Chicago!We look forward to continuing our burgeoning charitable arm in 2019.
Keane Venture Capital and Consulting donates a portion of all revenue to charity. This is part of our ethos and work process. Previous donations have also included Northeastern Illinois University.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
Keane Venture Capital and Consulting donates a portion of all revenue to charity. This is part of our ethos and work process. Previous donations have also included Northeastern Illinois University.
** This blog is used for opinions and ideas and should not be used as a direction to act without doing your due diligence.**
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