Roic as core value

ROIC is a pil­lar of the core value of cash flow gen­er­a­tion. A firm's abil­ity to im­prove its ROIC depends on its com­pet­i­tive po­si­tion within its in­dus­try. A com­bi­na­tion of strat­egy, industry characteristics and ri­vals' prac­tices pro­duces a cor­po­ra­tion's com­pet­i­tive ad­van­tage.

"Com­pa­nies will go to great lengths to achieve a cer­tain earn­ings per share num­ber…but this is mostly wasted en­ergy."

Com­pa­nies may be first movers in their sec­tors, and scale and scope both can pro­vide an edge. Product and ser­vice might dif­fer­en­ti­ate a busi­ness as well. High-ROIC in­dus­tries tend to offer uniquely spe­cial­ized brand prod­ucts, like cos­met­ics, and in­dus­tries with low ROICs gen­er­ally mar­ket generic items, like paper. Their ef­fi­cient use of cap­i­tal is crit­i­cal. Price pre­mium and cap­i­tal cost efficiency dic­tate ROIC.

Growth is the other main­stay of core value, but not all growth is equal. Suc­cess­ful prod­uct introductions into new mar­kets can add rev­enue streams, which turn into new earn­ings and cash flows. Such mar­ket ex­pan­sion tends to con­tribute the most value to a firm. Slash­ing prices to in­crease prod­uct share in a mar­ket helps very lit­tle, be­cause com­peti­tors can read­ily cut their prices, too, thereby un­der­min­ing any gains in value.

保持幸福的秘诀

幸福感是指人类基于自身的满足感与安全感而主观产生的一系列欣喜与愉悦的情绪。是人类孜孜不倦所探索和追求的目标。本文通过科学家的研究结论列举出具体的获取幸福感的方法。

通过长期研究，科学家们最终明确了一些获取幸福感的具体方法：
“想法”—承认消极想法的存在并努力克服它们。尝试苏格拉底式的审问，记录下想法是什么，并自问：有什么证据吗？你是通过事实还是情绪来的？如果发生在别人身上，你怎么看待这种情况呢？别人会怎么看呢？或者，写一份关于这个问题的简短声明，然后以客观的局外人的身份或者以你会和朋友交谈的语气重写它。 

“家”—只有在良好氛围的自然环境和社会环境中，家才能极具包容性。所以试着搬离使自己不舒适的环境；尽可能让自己沐浴在有植物和阳光的舒适环境之下；保持住所的干净整洁。幸福专家格雷琴·鲁宾建议：当你不知道从哪里开始的时候请使用 "一分钟规则"。即从类似把衣服挂起来或者在洗碗机里放一个碗这样的一分钟工作开始。此外英国的一项研究表明，睡眠和性也是决定幸福感的主要因素，因此可以通过铺床，不安置电视机，用窗帘来调整光线以适应睡眠等来优先考虑卧室环境的布置。 

“人际关系”—耶鲁大学的科学家们分析了弗明汉的心脏研究，表明当人们的朋友和家人都很快乐时，尤其是他们住在自己附近的时候，人们会感觉更快乐。并且当人们拥有的快乐的朋友越多他们就会越快乐。研究还表明，与宠物的亲密关系也可以维持这种快乐。 

“工作与金钱”—拥有更多的金钱和财富并不一定会带来长期的幸福。然而，你可以通过将钱花在节省时间的东西和服务上来改善生活。同理你能获取财富的工作不一定是可以给你带来快乐的理想的工作。正如耶鲁大学的一项研究中所发现的那样,许多医院的管理人员认为他们自己是伟大使命的一部分，不是他们所完成的任务，而是因为他们工作的地方。

“幸福生活”—新西兰的一项研究表明，无论是捐出时间或者金钱的慈善都有益于幸福感产生。志愿者在志愿行为过程中经历了血压、死亡率和情绪等变化后产生的自我怜悯会导致更少的抑郁和焦虑, 变得更乐观。

Learn more about the world around you with Google Lens and the Assistant

Google Lens will be available in English on the Google Assistant in all Pixel phones in Singapore in the coming weeks. The feature, which builds on Google's advancements in machine learning, allows you to learn more about what’s in front of you and get things done at the same time.

For example, with Google Lens in Photos, you can get information about a landmark, but with Google Lens, it enables you to find out about things around you and even ask follow-up questions or get things done.

These are some of the things you can do with Google Lens and the Assistant:

• Look up products by barcode, or scan QR codes.
• Save information like email addresses, phone numbers etc. from a text, like on business cards.
• Learn more about a movie, book or record by checking out the cover with Google Lens.
• Learn fun facts about the painter of artwork in a museum.
• Find out more about landmarks when you go on trips.

Softbank’s potential investment in Uber

Regarding Softbank’s potential investment in Uber over the weekend, Mergermarket’s research editor Elizabeth Lim has commented below about the deal:  

• Sunday’s news of SoftBank’s bid with a consortium for a significant stake in Uber shows the company’s continued effort to be the king of high-profile start-ups.
• SoftBank also owns stakes in other ride-sharing startups around the globe, including Brazil’s 99Taxis, China’s Didi Chuxing, and India’s Ola, though it does not currently have a stake in Uber’s main competitor in the US, Lyft.
• To date this year, the company has engaged in a record 29 transactions, almost 5x the number for the whole of last year, and with only one transaction having lapsed – a US$1.8 billion attempt to acquire Luxembourg - based satellite provider Intelsat in the first half of the year.
• SoftBank’s buys have been fairly representative of a market share grab taking place throughout the industry, and have ranged from medical testing start-ups (Guardant Health) to budding autonomous vehicle companies (Nauto) to artificial intelligence (Appier; Petuum) and robotics firms (Boston Dynamics; Schaft) to co-working spaces (WeWork). Investments have especially picked up following the Vision Fund’s formation and close with US$93 billion.
• Deals that have closed over just the last few months have included such ventures as a US$250 million bid with Accel for popular messaging platform Slack, a US$114 million bid with Qualcomm Ventures for autonomous robot company Brain Corporation, a bid as part of a consortium of sponsors for an undisclosed consideration of indoor farming start-up Plenty, and the full-on acquisition of US cyberdefense company Cybereason, also for an undisclosed consideration, among many others.
• Most of SoftBank’s bids have been as part of various consortia – altogether, they have taken stakes in companies worth a combined US$25 billion so far this year, with no sign of letting up on that momentum.
• Uber has attempted to move past its recent woes by resolving certain issues within its board, which paved the way for this investment to take place. With plans for an IPO in 2019, SoftBank's stake buy and two new board seats signal a move forward finally for the ride sharing company.