Should the Government Dismantle Amazon? TheStreet: Investing Strategies

Published on 14 Sep 2018

It's Friday, but the market is still very much open for business. Amazon Deserves More Scrutiny? Jeff Bezos obviously thinks the government should leave Amazon alone. "It is really important that politicians and others understand the value that big companies bring in and not demonize them," Bezos told David Rubenstein, president of the Economic Club of Washington and co-founder of PE firm Carlyle, at an event Thursday before about 1,550 people at the Washington Hilton. "They shouldn't vilify big companies. The reason is simple -- there are certain things only big customers can do. I know what Amazon could do when we were 10 people; know what could do when we were 1,000 and 10,000, now we are half a million." Hat tip to our Ron Orol for reporting on this one. Amazon's growing reach into society -- and the pricing power it affords -- means it's likely to be slapped with some form of regulation within the next 10 years. Points out Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson: "Despite providing immense value for consumers, new readings of antitrust law that favor a structural view rather than consumer-benefit view could bring Amazon into focus. We think precedent will be upheld but near-to-medium-term noise from the FTC may cause air-pockets for the stock. Separately, concerns about the USPS under the Trump administration may leave some investors less optimistic about the company's future prospects, but Amazon continues to build its own last-mile delivery, negating long-term impact." Sears in Terrible Shape Sears Holdings reported a net loss of $4.68 a share, worse than the year ago loss of $2.33 a share. The adjusted EBITDA loss tallied a whopping $112 million versus a loss of $66 million a year ago. Considering Sears has been aggressively closing stores and consolidating its operations to cut costs, the loss is a disappointment. The company's cash levels are also dangerously low.