Bharat Bhise on General Motors and Its Strategy: Pulling Out of Australia, Thailand, and New Zealand

Bharat Bhise reports on the latest news about General Motors.

The company, also known as GM, will be exiting three countries that haven’t provided them with enough return for their investments.

Countries that will be affected include Australia and New Zealand, where the iconic brand Holden will be discontinued in 2021. Another country involved is Thailand, where Chevrolet will be pulled out by the end of the year.

The Rayong plant in Thailand will also be sold to a Chinese automaker called Great Wall Motors. In total, the company has built around 1.35 million vehicles in the plant since it was first opened in 2000.

A Big Financial Hit Bharat Bhise notes that with the exit, the American automaker company is expecting to take a total hit of $1.1 billion, with roughly around $300 million cash loss.

Last year, GM also lost $200 million on its International Operations in Asia, which included China. This includes the $100 million loss during their fourth quarter.

GM’s Holden has seen its highest market share in 2002, where it reached a peak of 22.1%. However, it declined a year after, and since then, the numbers are getting lower.

Last year, they saw their lowest market share at 4.1%.

Eyeing Other International Operations Bharat Bhise says this wasn’t the first time General Motors is dropping off operations and selling their plants, as they have also sold off a few other international operations in the last few years. In 2017, GM sold European brands Vauxhall and Opel to PSA Group, which owned Peugeot, for $1.4 billion.

The automaker company has a total of 828 employees in both Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, they have around 1,500 employees in Thailand. Nevertheless, GM promises they will be helping their employees in these companies during the transition.

For now, Bharat Bhise notes that General Motors is focusing their strategies in countries in South America, South Korea, and the Middle East where they believe they can “drive robust returns.” They will also be keeping a small specialty vehicle business in New Zealand and Australia.

Bharat Bhise On Pinterest Stock: Is it too Late?

Bharat Bhise, always well aware of the on-goings in the online investment world, was asked this question this week: is it too late to buy stocks or shares in Pinterest?

The “bulletin board” website, which is ubiquitous for artists, planners, brides, and fashionistas, among others, is enjoying a boom as one of the hottest stock offerings of 2019. The hype was real: it was a vertical rise for Pinterest for several sessions from the moment it had debuted in the market. Though there was a disappointment in the third quarter of last year, there may still be potential for a comeback.  

The Social Media Grab

For Bharat Bhise, social media investments have certainly enjoyed their time in the light. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), and Snapchat (NYSE:SNAP) already took to the stratosphere when their shares went public. So there’s plenty of interest remaining for Pinterest, although some investors may still be a little wary.

Shares report for Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) has risen almost 20% in quarterly figures, with across-the-board gains. It soared over the expectations in revenue and earnings, proving that Wall Street’s hesitation on how well it would do was strongly misguided. Which begs the question: is it too late to get a piece of it?

The Next Steps

The market certainly took advantage, says Bharat Bhise. As a serious contender in the social media race, Pinterest is building back and rallying after some lost momentum in December. Currently, it’s earning just under the January high of $24. It’s not too late to take the opportunity to get some of Pinterest’s power, however. The market projects that over 50% retracement can bring the shares up to $27.11, and 61.8% retracement takes it to $29.40. That makes the elusive $30 not out of the question.

Bharat Bhise explains that Pinterest can maintain its power if it keeps things simple and if the market cooperates with it.

Bharat Bhise Recommends Crypto Wallet Security Tips

As Bharat Bhise repeatedly reminds investors in cryptocurrency, your crypto wallet is your entire vault. This is where your holdings are kept, and should virtually be accessible no matter where you are in the world. But the trouble with handling a form of currency that is entirely virtual is that it gets exposed to digital threats. Much in the same way that we’re all concerned about getting our real-world wallets or valuables stolen, crypto traders, particularly ones just starting, must be vigilant about the safety and security of their crypto wallet.

Here are some ways to ensure that your wallet and your cryptocurrency holdings remain invulnerable. And especially to malicious threats in the digital world.

1. Go beyond the standard

Bharat Bhise reminds us that even in our homes, we hardly ever settle for the locks that come with the place. We add an extra security measure or two, like security cams or double bolts. The same needs to get done for your crypto wallet. Don’t just rely on the provided security of wallet providers. Some companies provide extra encryption as needed, including the use of private keys.

2. Always create backups

As they say, don’t put all your eggs into one basket. A backup of your cryptocurrency wallet will ensure that in case of hardware failure, corruption, or even human error, you’ll have a chance to get your holdings back. Bharat Bhise adds that it also helps if your PC or phone gets stolen; you’ll be able to restore your wallet.

3. Go into cold storage

Cold storage refers to taking a majority of your cryptocurrency and putting them in a safeguarded vault. This method is offline and done by storing the crypto coin’s private keys away from the internet. Leave only a small amount of coins in your wallet. So in case it gets stolen, you won’t have lost a lot.

Bharat Bhise reminds everyone to stay vigilant and protect their wallets the way we’d defend our real ones. No one wants to be robbed online or offline, after all.

Bharat Bhise Explains Litecoin

Bharat Bhise noticed that many people are getting more and more interested in a recent development in a cryptocurrency called Litecoin. Considered as Bitcoin’s little brother, one great way to interpret it is that if Bitcoin were a golden coin, Litecoin would be its silver.

But what are the differences between them? Is one better than the other, and which one should you invest in?

What is Litecoin?

Contrary to popular opinion, Litecoin isn’t new, even though it had just recently gained attention. Litecoin is one of the oldest of the coins on the market. Like Bitcoin, Bharat Bhise says that this coin is a form of digital payment. Founded eight years ago by former Google engineer Charlie Lee, his goal was to create a more “everyday” type of cryptocurrency compared to the heavyweight that was Bitcoin.

How It’s Made

Litecoin, like all other cryptocurrencies, is not government-issued. Like its big brother Bitcoin, you get Litecoins by mining. The mining is done by processing a list of Litecoin transactions, and there is a fixed supply of them. The whole world only has 84 million Litecoins forever. Also, unlike Bitcoin, which generates a block or an entry of transactions all over the world every ten minutes, Bharat Bhise says that the lighter Litecoin makes one every 2.5 minutes.

Mining Process

Both Bitcoin and Litecoin use “proof-of-work” consensus. Miners have to use powerful CPUs to solve cryptographic puzzles. These puzzles need to be extremely difficult; otherwise, the miners will end up draining the entire Bitcoin supply as they mine blocks. But the difference with the two is that Litecoin uses a Scrypt algorithm. While Bitcoin can solve two challenging puzzles (A and B) at the same time, Litecoin’s process only allows those two puzzles to be done serially. Memory is what limits Litecoin.

Being simpler than Bitcoin, Litecoin is seen as something ordinary people can get into with their day-to-day memory cards. But for Bharat Bhise and other experts, it remains to be seen whether this lighter load will make Litecoin any more viable a currency than Bitcoin has been.

Bharat Bhise on Why Cryptocurrencies Help Maintain User Privacy

In July this year, Capital One, one of the largest banks in the U.S.A., reported a data breach that exposed data from over 106 million credit card applications and bank accounts. Bharat Bhise says that at a time when maintaining the privacy of their customers is becoming an increasingly tall challenge for financial companies, cryptocurrencies could be a viable option for individuals who don’t want third parties gaining unwanted access to their personal data.

If you’ve ever tried to open an account with a bank—or performed any financial transaction, for that matter—you may have noticed how much private information you are required to provide. Besides crucial details like your birth date and address, you may also be required to disclose information about your job or your other sources of income. The bank keeps these details in their records, but depending on how tight their security is, your private information could be stolen by hackers and sold in the black market or used for crime.

Bharat Bhise says cryptocurrency transactions proceed anonymously and require very little information from users. Not only does this speed up the entire process, it also keeps your information safe from crooks. After all, thieves cannot take what is out of their reach.

Needless to say, not all cryptocurrencies provide the same level of privacy to their users. Some put more focus on this feature than others. Verge, CloakCoin, and Monero are good examples of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.

There are plenty of cryptocurrencies to choose from in the market today. If you want to know which ones are best-suited for protecting your identity and data, you can go to experts and ask for their guidance. You can also ask them to help you come up with effective measures to boost the security of your cryptocurrency transactions.

Bharat Bhise on Why Cryptocurrencies Help Maintain User Privacy

In July this year, Capital One, one of the largest banks in the U.S.A., reported a data breach that exposed data from over 106 million credit card applications and bank accounts. Bharat Bhise says that at a time when maintaining the privacy of their customers is becoming an increasingly tall challenge for financial companies, cryptocurrencies could be a viable option for individuals who don’t want third parties gaining unwanted access to their personal data.

If you’ve ever tried to open an account with a bank—or performed any financial transaction, for that matter—you may have noticed how much private information you are required to provide. Besides crucial details like your birth date and address, you may also be required to disclose information about your job or your other sources of income. The bank keeps these details in their records, but depending on how tight their security is, your private information could be stolen by hackers and sold in the black market or used for crime.

Bharat Bhise says cryptocurrency transactions proceed anonymously and require very little information from users. Not only does this speed up the entire process, it also keeps your information safe from crooks. After all, thieves cannot take what is out of their reach.

Needless to say, not all cryptocurrencies provide the same level of privacy to their users. Some put more focus on this feature than others. Verge, CloakCoin, and Monero are good examples of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.

There are plenty of cryptocurrencies to choose from in the market today. If you want to know which ones are best-suited for protecting your identity and data, you can go to experts and ask for their guidance. You can also ask them to help you come up with effective measures to boost the security of your cryptocurrency transactions.

Bharat Bhise Dispenses Advice on Acting Upon Okta and Cloud Stocks

September may have been rough for cloud stocks, but Bharat Bhise can see that Okta is doing quite well for itself.

The company has been busy during October. Famous for its niche in the cybersecurity world, it has made several releases and advances. These movements have gotten the industry very interested in what the company has to offer.

Okta’s Updates 

Okta’s most significant moves include some large-scale developments in cloud computing. Partnering with Atlassian, they aim to integrate Okta’s security into Atlassian’s cloud products. This leap forward will boost the cybersecurity levels of the encrypted information in the cloud, for the benefit of large global companies.

Another development made in October is what they called the “OktaDynamic Scale.” For Bharat Bhise, this may be a gamechanger: it’s a high capacity customer identity solution. The biggest commercial enterprises and high-traffic apps and sites will be able to manage user traffic better. No matter how heavy the load gets, the apps will be able to handle it.

The Cloud Rises

But the most significant update of the month is that Okta’s stock is on the “buy” rating by Citi, prompting a wave of stock rise. It’s a 29% rise from its last closing. This sudden peak is apparently due to the Citigroup placing extensive coverage over the field of cybersecurity for the cloud. Analysts have now confirmed that Okta has a chance to grab market share. Should Okta continue to proceed with its high-intensity product roadmap for the year, the company can see further rises upward.

While the stock market remains tenuous, Bharat Bhise feels that Okta may have struck gold in the cloud computing and cloud security fields. With the right decisions and the proper management moves, this could mean a considerable upswing for the company and its foothold on the market.