THANK YOU MODS FOR LETTING THIS THROUGH!
Please click HERE for the PDF version if you would like to download the dd.
(credit: research compiled by IG:@wydstockbros)
To get things started, I'm not a financial advisor, I'm not a bot, and this one goes out to you, Chamath.
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tl;dr
AMC is the global leader in a $17 billion dollar industry that’s been beaten senseless to the ground with so much room to run. After pioneering deals with streaming services, buying out their competition, and upgrading their facilities worldwide, 80% short interest is highly inappropriate for its TRUE fundamental value — $69.69 a share.
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀$AMC TO $69.69🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀$AMC TO THE MOON🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
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"I'm questioning whether they[WSB] are actually doing the research when it comes to things like GameStop and AMC ..." - clueless CNBC dude.
I fuckin miss movies. And when I say movies, I mean the whole damn experience. I wanna buy my $15 popcorn, pour an ungodly amount of butter and jalapenos on that shit and munch in a recliner seat watching in laser 4k quality. I like this company. I like this stock.
For the past few days, I've been scouring Google for news articles and company data. I've also been trying to find some detailed DD in here but they’ve all been pretty limp-dick when it came to AMC. And most of the news articles I've read were surface-level AT BEST with a grim outlook based on first-glance analysis. Guess these analysts are just too damn lazy to dig deep.
Because when we dive into these issues, we can easily see that the theater giant may not be in as bad a situation as the media/analysts are claiming.
In fact, I believe that AMC is absolutely misunderstood, overlooked, and undervalued.
Here is why I am more confident than ever that $AMC will not only reach $30 but is in the perfect setup to see ATHs and WELL ABOVE.

I. Ugly Start, Beautiful Setup

Chances are if you are currently holding a significant position in $AMC, then most likely you've already read up on the company and its current standing in the cinema industry. You've probably read about how the corporation has nearly $5 billion dollars worth of debt with many of its locations still closed as the pandemic remains a global issue. You may have realized that new movies haven't been coming out. But more than that, you're seeing that movies are just being released on streaming platforms anyway. You might be concerned for AMC, or even the industry as a whole.
All of these concerns are very valid and based on real uncertainty, but let's break down each of these points and see if they’re as bad as analysts claim.

II. A Discussion on Debt

Media outlets keep honing in on this debt like it’s an ugly scar of the corporation. But what we need to focus on is why that debt came to be, how the money was spent, and how this debt was a strategic play in order to cement AMC into the new era of cinema-streaming.
We can categorize the money used into four parts:

• New equipment and amenities
• Lease payments
• Maintenance costs (utilities, wages, etc.)
• Expansion (buying out the competition)

Pay close attention to the last category because this one is important. Over the past five years, AMC has been acquiring smaller theater companies like Odeon. After buying out these companies, AMC then had to suit its "new locations" with the standard luxury amenities AMC is known for. This makes for a significant bulk of their debt totaling over $3 billion in just acquisitions. This was the investment that helped solidify AMCs spot as the world's largest cinema chain.
On the topic of maintenance costs, AMC managed to raise enough money to get through 2021. With ongoing news of vaccines, we can hope their efficacy leads to a speedy reopening near mid-late 2021. But when the economy does reopen—and AMC is back at full operation—what will it look like?

III. The Future of AMC

There's an elephant here.. right in this very room. Yes, streaming and cinema have had some serious beef in the past. In fact, some cinema chains are having tensions with streaming to this day. But what has AMC done in regards to streaming? They were the first to settle deals in order to partner up and take part in streaming revenue.
Yup, you read that right. AMC is both having their cake and eating it too.
Why would motion picture companies do this? Why not just end the cinema industry? To put simply, analysts are deeply underestimating the value of the "cinema experience". Just as I mentioned in the intro, I miss the cinemas. But I am definitely not alone. But let's not talk about me and the hypothetical "people'', instead let's talk about research studies.
In a 3-year study done in Korea, researchers found that shortening the window of cinema exclusivity and releasing movies on streaming early did not have a significant effect on ticket sales. And though this is a limited study done outside of the US, remember that AMC is a global corporation and these results have a hopeful outlook for the future relationship of cinema-streaming for AMC worldwide.
"But wait, you still haven't mentioned what streaming gets out of this?"
It's not what streaming "gets out of this" but rather what these motion picture companies maintain in keeping a healthy relationship with cinemas. During the peak heat of the movie theater-streaming feud, AMC halted the showing of Trolls and vowed to never show a Universal Pictures film in its theaters again if they were to continue releasing their films on streaming platforms without a proper cinema-exclusivity window. But today, we can see that the tensions have fallen and both motion picture companies and AMC have found a way to mutually benefit each other.
Now besides streaming, AMC has been investing in luxury amenities as seen by their chairs, 4K laser projectors, MERV air filtration, and ultra-surround sound speakers. With so many locations and so many amenities, they are offering full theater rentals with high demand during the pandemic. AMC has further cultivated their century-old movie experience into modern times. And this pandemic didn’t just change their amenities.
They had to learn how to cut costs and have more efficient operations in order to survive. This only spells good news for when they emerge with better operations, more money to spend, and higher valuations. So that begs the question, how high can the company's share price go realistically?

IV. Valuation

First, let's look at the Movie Theater industry as a whole in comparison to a few other popular entertainment industries:
Movie Theater US Market Size $17.1 billion
Casinos US Market Size $15.7 billion
Amusement Parks US Market Size $14 billion
Music Label Music Production US Market Size $9.4 billion
Music Publishing US Market Size $7 billion
In the world of entertainment, cinema is a very lucrative business.
And, again, who is the largest movie theater chain in the world? Yup, AMC.
Clueless CNBC dude mentioned that we retail traders don't trade with a fundamental reason but is there a fundamental reason in shorting a $17 billion dollar industry GLOBAL leader down to its grave? Does AMC deserve to die? I surely don't think so.
Now I won't touch upon squeezes in this since I'm sure many of you folk have already read/heard enough about them, but I will leave this quick intuitive article about it. And yes, these shorts can and will be squoze once we have faith in our upper valuations and investors(we) begin buying again.
And buy again we will. As many users flee limp-dick Robinhood and join one of the real brokerages, their positions/funds will be settled and ready to trade come next week. Where do you think these angry RH refugees will be putting their investments? That's right, exactly into the positions that RH stopped them from buying last week: which includes $AMC.
If you were part of the RH user base and your plays were affected by the blatant market manipulation, it's not only "not too late", but I believe it is an opportune time to BUY.
How high can it go then? When will I know it's too late to take a position?
So when we talk about valuation, many people fear the uncertainty of a stock rising far past its current value. Well, I think Chamath Palihapitiya said it best:
"Everybody that bought that stock is also underwriting how they want to own it."
In our current price-action environment, it's not too ridiculous to see how we are forming the foundations for AMC to continue rising beyond ATHs. We are already hitting nearly $16 on the day and rallying +53% while enduring heavy trade restrictions. Who's to say that this passion cannot continue? Now I’m no expert and can’t tell you how high this can go, but I am personally eyeing $69.69 as a target.
With so many current factors at play including hype, short covers, and ITM options having to be exercised, this is actually the BEST entrance to manifest its ATH valuation and chart some never before seen territory in its price action. It's like the manifest destiny of stock valuation. In fact, we may never see this opportunity for AMC again if we don't act now and solidify its value upward.
At the end of the day, prices are what the buyers/sellers settle upon so WE can pioneer that value if we damn well please. This is what a free market is all about.
Will there be people that disagree with this?
Sure.
Will people continue to short AMC as it goes up?
Absolutely.
Do I think that AMC being shorted 80% and rising is fair?
Really? See section III.
But institutions are selling off! Like Silver Lake liquidating their 44m shares.
Yes, then the next day $AMC dipped to $7.50 and has since recovered… with AMC $600m less in debt.
We all know who is shorting AMC, and I am sick of these hedge funds who think they, alone, can decide whether or not a company is worth a damn.

V. Conclusion - Resurgence

We are at the cusp of AMCs resurgence. Because most of us have been kept from participating in social activities, we can better understand that the public is yearning for a sense of normalcy. Sure we've gone pretty far with just watching movies on our TVs or computers through the pandemic, but that doesn't scratch the itch for many folk.
What you're investing into when you invest in AMC is the entire experience in tandem with its new streaming deals. And having been beaten so low—while still holding such great fundamental prospects— its share price is ready to blow up.
In the future when “The Deep Squeeze” is turned into a movie, we’ll be a part of history.
And you’re going to want to see it on the big screen.
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Position: $50k in calls and shares
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀$AMC TO $69.69🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀$AMC TO THE MOON🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀

I know what you're already thinking. Playboy is a dead porn brand that publishes a magazine and doesn't appeal to millennials or gen z right?
Wrong.
Leadership
Let's start with Ben Kohn, the CEO. Kohn has worked in private equity for 25 years and started a firm called Rizvi Travers which invested in pre IPO tech companies. They were the largest investor when Twitter went public and invested in Facebook, Snapchat, Square, SpaceX, Instacart, and Uber.
In 2011, Kohn partnered with Hugh Hefner and took Playboy private. Kohn became the CEO in 2017 with the goal of revitalizing one of the largest, most recognizable brands in the world. Since becoming CEO, Kohn has been shutting down most of the legacy business and most recently discontinued producing a domestic magazine. He's focused most of his attention so far on growing the high margin licensing business and direct to consumer business, transforming Playboy into a consumer lifestyle brand focusing on 4 categories:

• Sexual Wellness
• Style & Apparel
• Gaming & Lifestyle
• Beauty & Grooming

Kohn is also placing a strong emphasis on appealing to women and young people, something that Playboy had never done in the past. Over the last 3 years, the female audience has grown by 70% and 90% of their audience today is under the age of 40. Out of the total e-commerce sales, 40% of customers are women.
Financials
Playboy is already a profitable business. They have a highly efficient, high margin business model that accelerates with growth.
For the first 9 months of 2020, Playboy grew revenue by 78% from 57 million to 101 million and grew adjusted ebitda 129% from 9.5 million to 22 million. For 2021, they reaffirmed guidance of 167 million of revenue and 40 million dollars of ebitda. By 2025, Playboy is conservatively projecting 296 million of revenue and 140 million in ebitda, but expects it to be much greater. It's also important to note that they have over 400 million of forward booked minimum guaranteed cash flow, but they only recognize 67 million of that today, so the actual revenue numbers are much higher.
Playboy's business is monetized in two primary ways, licensing and direct to consumer. Licensing is a key part of the revenue stream and they anticipate it more than doubling moving forward. However, Playboy is extremely excited about its growing direct to consumer business as well which I will dive into in the next section.
Growth
Playboy has huge growth opportunities in each of their 4 product categories. First I want to point out that Playboy is HUGE in China and it's growing rapidly in India. In China, Playboy is one of the leading men's apparel brands with over 2500 brick and mortar stores and over 1000 e-commerce stores. Playboy sells products in over 180 countries and is the 17th most licensed brand in the world.
Style & Apparel:
Over the last 3 years, Playboy has partnered with Pacsun, Misguided, Supreme, and others. The Pacsun and Misguided businesses have increased almost 15x over the last 3 years. Playboy also launched Playboy Labs and partnered with Steve Aoki to promote the brand. Playboy intends on transitioning this business from a pure licensing business to a direct to consumer business going forward. They have future collaborations with Yandy planned as well.
Sexual Wellness:
The sexual wellness category is a 240 billion dollar industry today and is projected to grow to 400 billion by 2024. Currently, the industry is fragmented and made up of small businesses with no ability to scale. Playboy is poised to become the leader in this category through strategic acquisitions of existing companies and by growing its product offerings. Yes, I'm talking about lingerie, condoms, sex toys etc. They recently acquired the sexual wellness retailer Lovers for 25 million and expect them to add 45 million in revenue over the next 12 months. They are planning on making more strategic acquisitions in this space moving forward to become the leading direct to consumer brand in this field. They also began offering online sexual wellness classes for women, which have seen large growth since inception.
Gaming & Lifestyle:
The growth opportunities in this category are huge. Playboy is diversifying into online gambling, mobile gaming, CBD/Marijuana, and virtual reality. They have a social club/poker room opening in Houston this year in addition to their casino in London. They currently have partnerships with Microgaming as well as Scientific Games for mobile gambling apps like slots and poker, with plans to build more. They are also planning on entering the sports gambling market through partnerships with well known sports betting operators.
Moreover, they recently launched an exclusive furniture collection on Wayfair and plan on offering more in the future. They currently offer 3 CBD products and have plans to enter the legal marijuana market when it's legalized at the federal level, which might happen soon under the Biden administration. As of now they sell Playboy branded smoking materials like ash trays and grinders. They are planning on launching 4 more CBD products in 2021. Lastly, Ben Kohn said that experiencing Playboy through a virtual world format is something that is "extremely interesting to us". He gave an example of the Travis Scott and Unreal Platform collaboration.
Beauty and Grooming:
Currently, Playboy offers men's and women's fragrances and color cosmetics in Europe. They have plans to expand their product line and enter the North American market this year. In China, a place where Playboy has a large market presence, Men's grooming is one of the fastest growing categories and an area that Playboy is not in today. They are planning on entering this market in the near future with Playboy branded skincare and grooming products.
SPAC Merger
Playboy has a DA with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp, $MCAC, with the shareholder vote taking place THIS TUESDAY 2/9/21. Once it's approved, the ticker will change to PLBY shortly after. One of the great things about this deal is that there are absolutely no warrants outstanding, meaning there will be very little dilution. They only have 1/10th of a right per share outstanding which automatically convert to common stock. Upon completion of the merger, PLBY will have only 37 million shares outstanding, which is a very low float. Any increase in volume and demand will send the stock price higher.
After the merger, PLBY will have a market cap of approximately 413 million. For comparison to other global brands, Nike's market cap is 185 billion, Disney's is 329 billion, and Lululemon's is 45 billion. Now I'm not saying Playboy is near those companies today. However, if they continue growing and realize their potential, they're massively undervalued.
Additionally, the management team all signed 12-month lock ups, preventing them from selling for at least one year. This is not a transaction sale, but a true capital raise to accelerate growth. They are in this for the long haul.
Conclusion
Playboy has big growth opportunities in multiple product categories to become a leading consumer lifestyle brand. They have a high margin profitable business model and a very healthy balance sheet. They have 100 million in free cash right now and only 40 million in net debt, or one times 2021 adjusted ebitda. They already have global brand awareness and the bunny logo alone has tremendous value. Ceo Ben Kohn knows what he's doing and has a proven track record of success.
It might be flying under the radar right now because all the hype is surrounding GME and EV socks. I believe when the ticker changes to PLBY and people realize that Playboy is no longer what it used to be, this has huge long term upside.
FYI: All of the statistics I mentioned are directly taken from the CEO Ben Kohn in his 1 hour webinar interview with SpacInsider.
Disclosure: Long 500 commons $MCAC
Disclaimer: Do your own due diligence too

So, I want you all to listen up and listen up good. We've become pimps for equities: prop 'em up to make them look pretty and sell them off to a troglodyte infested with STD's. We need to change the way we see stocks as a piece of a company that offers potentially good returns with a little bit of patience and gambling. Get-rich-quick schemes, as we have seen throughout the last 30 days can easily turn into get-broke-even-faster gambles that ruin your wallet and faith in the stock market.
You might've heard "you want to invest in your future." Take it seriously. Throwing 10-50 stacks at GameStop to fend off "short ladder attacks" or injecting steroids into a no-name Canadian weed company that rivals the market cap of Wendy's is pretty reckless, and you deserve to lose that money when it craters. INVEST LONG TERM BUT GAMBLE WITH THE MARKET. Make sounds decisions but make bets on market conditions to fulfill your cocaine addiction.
With that said, there's a great investment opportunity in SPG (Simon Property Group). Simon is an American commercial real estate company, one of the largest REITs, and the largest shopping mall operators in the US. They had a steep selloff in March of last year, but has seen a rise of 3100 basis point YTD (31%). They have more room to climb because of stock momentum, COVID vaccines, consumer demand, and a aggressive strategy to stay ahead of competition. Despite this, they're still bullish. During the Q4 call, they remain "confident" that the worse is behind them, and SPG is trading at a discount of $109 to its target price consensus of $125.
In 2020 with COVID ravaging the bottom line for a lot of companies, they pulled in some impressive numbers.
Company Statistics Over the Last Year back from December 2020

• generated over $2.3 billion in operating cash flow;
• acquired an 80% interest in The Taubman Realty Group who specialize in super-regional and outlet shopping malls in the United States and China (China is back in business, remember?) ;
• raised over $13 billion in the debt and equity markets
• opened two new international shopping destinations, expanded two others and completed three domestic redevelopments;
• returned more than $2 billion to shareholders in cash dividends paid (for comparison, even though they're not a REIT, Ford suspended dividends along with many other companies)
• Occupancy was 91.3% at December 31, 2020. (Doesn't even seem like COVID made a dent).
• Base minimum rent per square foot was $55.80 at December 31, 2020, an increase of 2.2% year-over-year.
• Extensive, permanent cost-cutting measures were implemented to reduce operating expenses and offset revenue decline. (Leaner businesses are best equipped for a rebound in profits)

Chart Analysis
They have historically been almost spot on with moving average analysis. Comparing their 50-day and 200-day moving average, they're currently on a bullish trend, positive upward momentum to a higher stock price. The short term moving average is above the long term line, thus indicating they're in for a good run in the near future.
COVID Vaccines
We know that the Biden administration is pushing for vaccinations. For good reason: once we're at herd immunity, states will be opening up because they're in need for revenue after incurring major expenses to keep their hospitals and small businesses staffed and opened during the height of the pandemic. Today we learned that the Biden administration is moving up their timeline to distribute vaccines after Pfizer and Moderna made a deal to provide 200 million shots. Once people are vaccinated to the threshold of herd immunity, the economy will start moving in the right direction. And, remember, Simon is trading a discount now. Once people feel more comfortable being around others, mall traffic can expect to increase.
Summary
I know some of you see the market as a casino. But, if you bet on America, you can never go wrong. Once sentiment changes, if it hasn't already curved in a better direction, businesses will attract the traffic. Maybe not pre-pandemic levels for some, but their stock price will rise as we get closer. SPG is primed for a return built on solid fundamentals (curse word in this sub?), an upward trend based on chart analysis, and growing confidence in our ability to be around others after much fatigue. Right now, betting on America is wagering if we can make a recovery. And when have we been unable to recover as a country?
Full Disclosure: I'm long on SPG.

Canada is now a strange country, and most Canadians seem to be socialists. As in all socialist regimes, Canadians love collective repression and are generally against any form of individual freedom. They believe that for quality service government must spend their money, so it costs 10 times the regular price… when at the end of the day the service they receive is always of very poor quality. And even though the most of their schools and hospitals are poorly managed, they believe they are very lucky that their government is providing this service for them while they are just getting robbed.
Mass media justice
Canadians are against justice; they prefer to keep all legal procedures secret so that their system looks good even when it is wrong. Instead of listening to both sides and forming an opinion in a dispute, Canadians prefer to rely on the story the medias tell them, which often has as their sole source official press releases from the justice system or the police. Canadian medias are funded by the government and only exist in metropolitan areas. The events that occur in the suburban areas are non-existent in media coverage. They do not do any investigative work since a journalist’s duty is limited to writing 750-word texts on a subject given by the publisher. The topics of the day are oriented by the government which dictates the news with its new policies, while the media only serve to relay its message. Most of the time, journalists who share the socialist ideology becomes columnists and their main mission is to influence people to perceive things in the way the government have perceived them. The medias deliberately put forward liberal columnists to push their good relationship with the government.
The end of Canadian capitalism among political corruption
Canadians dream of a great social reset to bring down the capitalist system. Canada is in the process of voluntarily destroy its economy by closing every business and location with audiences, including basic needs like getting a haircut or go to a gym. The only shops that do not close are grocery stores, there citizen's control is tightened to the point of having to be told where to walk or not. In more remote areas, small grocery stores are running out of food because they do not have enough money to adequately fill the shelves. As Canadian commercial laws are very strict, stores must throw away their food after a date decided by the government even when it is still good. Several other parameters are controlled like the number of employees required to operate. Canadian taxes are also very high, making it is impossible for a local store to make a profit that is worth it. Local entrepreneurs manage to live off their debts, until the revenue agency eventually finds minor irregularities and initiates proceedings that typically shut down businesses. Canadian revenue officers have an interest in destroying businesses, because the government gives them bonuses based on the number of cases they initialize. The Canadian government monopolizes all criminal sectors of the economy such as alcohol, casinos, lottery and even weed. Because Canada has an anti-monopoly law, the government is breaking its own law to indirectly monopolize other sectors of the economy such as the internet, telephony, communications, factories, real estate, electricity, public transports and so on. In the manner of a communist country, the Canadian government is a shareholder in most companies that offer these essential services. The government is therefore passing several laws that unfairly favor its competition against small Canadian businesses, for example by setting fixed prices, which makes these American companies even richer in a trade of political favors.
Canadian politicians have a lot of power and are deeply corrupt. The country is basically ruled by two parties that are exactly alike, except one seems dumber and less dishonest than the other (you choose which one). Most of the Canadians' money is wasted to give all kinds of contracts to these big companies which, in return, use their resources to win elections and support the government in its measures. Obviously, the prize for the worst service and Canadian monopoly goes to health care. Health care is by far the biggest budget in Canada. Ever since we are into pandemic, they are the worst G7 country in the race for vaccination by far last in terms of quality of care. Health Canada voluntarily chooses not to follow the manufacturer's protocols to inflate the statistics on the number of people vaccinated and Canadians think this is a great idea. In their strategy, they also waste the little amount of vaccine they have on the elderly who are going to die soon anyway and on the indigenous communities.
Canadian sociology
Canadians are deeply racist and politically believe that testing vaccine on indigenous people is in fact a humanitarian act. The first line of this country's charter of rights and freedoms says that religion is a fundamental right, yet the government has no problem sending police into mass arrest for people who practice in churches. If the church is Jewish or Muslim, Canadians (especially Quebecers) applaud the politicians for shutting down communities within their right of religious practice. Like good socialists, Canadians support all the politically correct causes borrowed from the United States, like the radical fight against climate change, movements like Antifa, Black Life Matters, #MeToo, lgbtqia2 + and so on. Canadians believe that they are much more virtuous and smarter than Americans. In their racism against the US, they are convinced that Americans are all fat and poorly educated to the point of not knowing where to pin Canada on a world map.
Since Canadians are better than anyone else, they think they should behave in a politically correct and exemplary manner in public. A Canadian could very well go to Tim Hortons and buy a coffee, get spit in his face, and say thank you at the end if that gives $1 to a subsidized foundation that pays themselves big salaries. Canadians believe that society is collective and that everyone should be responsible for participating in the way they see fit. For example, in the health care system nurses are slaves to the government. They are not allowed to take vacations and even if they are sick the police will pick them up from home to force them to work and they might be judged as having endangered the lives of patients for not showing up at work. In all spheres of public employment in Canadian society omerta reigns since most leaders are dishonest and rob Canadians, but these people are protected by political power or unions’ leverage. In private employment, omerta is also present, but rather to protect the employer because if the company works it often means that it has succeeded in somehow abusing public money with the complicity of the government.
Young Canadians have absolutely no ambition because there are no prestigious jobs in Canada. Some dream of becoming internationally known artists on the internet, while some others think of suicide as the aspect taken by this repressive regime is ruining their lives. The lives of young people in Canada are already mapped out so that they will go all the way to university to study socialist theories and get a worthless degree that does not give access to any job. For most of them, their life will be mainly reduced at the level of working forever in a business for minimum wage. Even while working, it is not enough to afford an apartment and to eat adequately. The price of real estate in Canada is inflated by the Mafia like other sectors of the economy, and the lack of competition between businesses also means that food is more expensive than it should be. Young Canadian men are ready to hang out with anyone, anyhow, while young women have no idea about sexuality and are very unpleasant as both genders are deeply uneducated. This social factor, combined with the lack of education among Canadians, means that most couples in Canada live together for financial reasons. Even the conception of a child for the poorest becomes a monetary consideration since the government grants tax advantages based on the amount of children you have got. Even for the poorest, the Canadian tax rate is close to 50% of the annual salary.
Often living in debt, the average Canadian has no leisure. Simple activities like fishing or riding a motorcycle require expensive permits and are highly regulated. Taking advantage of the Canadian winter to ski or snowboard is seen as something very luxurious. Even a night at the movies is off budget, but that was back in the days when leisure was legal. In its mission to destroy capitalism, Canada has banned all forms of leisure except those that are well regarded by intellectuals. It is illegal to play hockey, but it is legal to visit a museum or library. Still in the same vein, Canadian police have suddenly become very aggressive and have the power to instantly issue fines of $5000 for no good reason at all. For instance, it is normal in Canada to see a police officer guarding a stairway and fining someone who climbs it too quickly by claiming it was jogging since sport is illegal. It is also normal to walk on the street and suddenly a police car starts following you just to intimidate. If you react badly you will have big problems. In addition to having your life ruined financially, you will lose your job and the people around you will be socially encouraged to judge you negatively.
Canada's “ new normal ”
To further divide Canadians, the Socialists rely on very cruel coercion reminiscent of humanity's worst war crimes. They sequester elderly people in long-term care facilities by depriving them of food while preventing their families from visiting them as the survival rate on average is of 2 years within these facilities. They also forbid humans to socialize, currently government decrees do not allow you to meet with people not living your house. If you choose to invite a friend over, your neighbors are encouraged by the government to call the police and you will then be arrested. The few Canadians who are fortunate enough to be professionals and to have a real job have an alleged duty of reserve which compels them not to express opinions that are contrary to those of the government. Canadian professionals are often governed themselves by paragovernmental instances that have the power to prevent someone from practicing their job if they see a lack of loyalty to the regime.
According to polls, Canadians strongly support the way their government currently runs the country. The pressure on the government is ever greater to continue to abolish even more fundamental freedoms. For over a year now, the Government of Canada has stopped manufacturing and renewing passports. Recently, Canada also added several additional barriers to prevent those with still valid passports from fleeing the country. Currently, Canada is in the process of constructing detention facilities or “quarantine facilities” to sequester those who will return to the country because their visas have expired. It is claimed that the detention in quarantine is voluntary, but refusal results in criminal imprisonment and a penalty of $750,000. The facilities are provided with airtight cells supervised by armed guards and the quarantine is for 15 days… if the results are negative. Even people who have tested negative upon return or been vaccinated will face this jail sentence upon their return to Canada.
Under Canadian law, internet service providers are responsible for reporting criminal behavior to the police. Since the new legislation, Canada considers criminal to post information on the internet that would be deemed fake or provoking hatred. It has therefore become normal and common for people expressing opinions against the government on the internet to be arrested, tried, and then jailed for making comments on social media. When this happens, the state medias are conducting the People's Court, and your reputation is ruined forever. If what you put on the internet is too sweet to be accused of anything, political employees will notice you and find a roundabout way to make you lose your right to speak. For instance, they will call directly Facebook or Twitter to suspend your account and they will also complain to your bank. Your assets will thus be easily suspended under the simple vague pretext that you have violated the terms of use.
For that reason I now use a VPN and I no longer feel safe at home.

I wanted to share with the group some due diligence and speculation I have done around Gamehost (TSX: GH). I want to start by saying that this is not a situation where you urgently need to buy this right now and ride up a wave, there will be no rocket ships on this post and I strongly encourage you to perform your own due diligence and see if you want to buy this stock. This is an extremely low volume stock and if you rush to buy it, the price will go up far past the supply of sellers. I do not intend to pump this but only to get critique.
Gamehost is an owner and operator of 3 casinos located in Alberta, 2 hotels in Grande Prairie and a retail store rented to a liquor store near one of the casinos. The 3 casinos are: Boomtown Casino in Fort McMurray, The Great Northern Casino in Grande Prairie and the Deerfoot Inn and Casino in Calgary which they own 91% of currently.
As you probably guessed by these locations, the casinos are cyclical and make a lot of money when oil prices are up and go through downturns when prices are low and projects stop. All 3 casinos are not destination type casinos like you would find in Las Vegas where people come from all around to visit, but are very reliant on their local communities. The Boomtown Casino is the only casino in Fort McMurray and the Great Northern Casino is the only proper casino in Grande Prairie with a much smaller limited one in town. The Deerfoot Inn and Casino is 1 of 7 (yes, 7!) casinos in the Calgary area. It primarily focuses on the Southeastern portion of the city and the surrounding suburbs and still serves a market of about 200,000 people in just that area. All 3 casinos are also very focused on live events and have become gathering points for live events and nights out for their communities.
Although all 3 casinos have been affected by oil downturns all 3 communities they serve have much higher median income than the country as a whole. The casinos have remained profitable throughout the entirety of the oil downturn and despite a dividend cut in 2016 they have still paid a consistently strong dividend until the COVID-19 pandemic (more on this later). Grande Prairie’s economy is more focused on natural gas extraction which has been consistently profitable. Calgary as a major city does have a diversified economy as well which leaves just Fort McMurray to be the lone straggler in dealing with oil prices. No new casinos have been built in Alberta since 2006, which has left people still coming to the doors of the casinos regardless of the economy. All three cities have seen consistent population growth greater than 10% from 2016 according to Statistics Canada’s estimates which is far greater than the national average. People are still coming to these cities and are still making a fairly high wage compared to the average Canadian.
The second thing that has likely come to your mind is why casinos when they have been shut down during the pandemic? As the vaccine is currently being implemented the orders will not last forever. When the casinos have been opened even with reduced services, they have remained profitable and the management has responded by using the pandemic as an opportunity. They have been consistently buying back thousands of shares every day and cancelling them. If you look at their SEDAR profile you can see that they have not missed a single day to cancel at least 2,000 shares per day. Since the company had 24.5 million shares issued, they have bought back about 1-2% of the float so far which has made the stock even harder to buy on the open markets due to the lack of volume. They have also been approved to expand the operations of the Deerfoot Inn and Casino which should be completed by the summer. The insiders have followed by accumulating many shares in their personal accounts over this period of weakness.
In the third quarter of 2020 the company posted EPS of 12 cents per share down from 16 cents a year ago. Revenue was down to $4.9 million from $6.7 million. This is with severe restrictions and limitations on the amount of people that can come in the casino and what they can do. All live events were cancelled, table games were restricted and yet the company was still making enough money to buy back significant shares and improve their existing assets. The management has essentially channelled the dividend into making the number of shares decrease in a time of strong price weakness.
There is interest in this space since the largest casino operator in the country Great Canadian Gaming was acquired recently for almost double what they were trading for in the spring. Private equity firms have been looking into casinos as a post-recovery play. Unlike companies in airlines or movie theatres, these do not have significant issues staying profitable during intense downturns, they only become less profitable with a sudden surge afterwards.
I am speculatively buying this stock on the idea that as COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifted there will be an awkward window where people will be back almost to normal within Canada and will have a strong urge to go out and do activities that they have been restricted from doing for months. At the same time they will be unable to travel internationally due to different countries having different vaccination schedules, planes still operating at reduced capacity with many airlines being in trouble and governments being reluctant to remove limitations abroad. This will significantly bring business to casinos and other live event focused businesses within Canada. I anticipate that in the 12 months past restrictions being lifted that the business will see a significant bump in EPS. They will reinstate the dividend and the share price will grow significantly. My personal price target is $12 per share but I could see it being anywhere from $10-$15 per share. This is without oil prices budging at all.
In the long-term the price will be cyclical based on oil prices unless they start diversifying geographically. It is extremely difficult to get a licence to open a casino, which leaves the company with the only option of acquiring other casinos. This is a possibility down the road but something I will look more into once I see a significant bump in EPS due to increased demand.
I do believe that in the current market with the price having barely recovered from the March lows, that the stock is a very good contrarian play in the 12-24 month range. Holding after that could potentially be risky depending on your own views on how the oil industry will play out and if the management has what it takes to diversify. Online gambling is an even longer term threat but since these casinos are focused on live events and have become a staple of the communities that they are in, this is not likely to be a threat for some significant time.
Please let me know what you think, feel free to criticize. If you guys like my analysis I could do more on other small or mid cap companies. There have been a few I have kicked myself over missing.

Every department inside the casino has a position to play, and every is vital for special motives. Our visitors could not stay with us long if we did not hire janitorial services and our restaurants could not promote plenty without the cooking personnel.
Likewise, the on line casino advertising department is essential to the achievement of the casino. Consider the breadth of duty held within the casino marketing blend: promotions, marketing, player critiques, player clubs, host staff, comps, rankings and slot advertising - and this is just to call a few. Click here for more details here- 퍼스트카지노 Today.
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While it would be exaggeration to signify that players might prevent coming to the on line casino if these disappeared, we might omit out on exponentially growing sales opportunities should we pick to no longer take advantage of all that the on line casino advertising and marketing department can provide.
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Promotions
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Few activities breed pleasure inside the lives of our on line casino visitors as lots because the promotions we offer within the casino. They hold the records on the refrigerator and mark the date on their calendar. They stay up for every occasion and breathe within the excitement the merchandising promises to deliver. Obviously, the primary motive for such occasions is the revenue this is generated from the boom in play. However, it's also debatable that the heightened degree of anticipation creates a loyalty inside the visitor that lends itself to repeated revenues within the destiny as nicely. The advertising and marketing department is crucial inside the evaluation and implementation of these promotions.
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The marketing workforce is first chargeable for the evaluation of past promotions to determine what mixture of occasions and gives may be simplest on which days of the week with the intention to make certain the utter-maximum profitability. Obviously, these policies will vary by way of location and on line casino and most effective a strategic analysis of past promotions, no matter final results, will offer the statistics needed to make informed and logical choices. For instance, an evaluation of your past slot tournaments might also display that Tuesdays are greater worthwhile than Thursdays. As a end result, it may be a costly mistake to make any assumptions regarding the feasibility and profitability of those activities. Instead, a thorough evaluation performed by the advertising department will make certain the superior achievement of all future promotional campaigns.
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After the profitability evaluation comes the guidance. In order for every occasion to be successful, the advertising department ought to wear a variety of hats to maximise the event. They are the masters of communique that make sure that every one departments are working in synchronization in coaching for, and during, the event. Additionally, it is their organizational talents and interest to detail in the practise a good way to make certain that visitors are properly received and experience the event to it fullest.
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And let us no longer forget the event itself. This is whilst the host personnel actually stay as much as their identify, welcoming the guests into the occasion and ensuring that everybody is having a splendid time. This is your birthday celebration and your purchasers are exactly that, guests in your home.
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Advertising
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It's no longer a stretch to don't forget that none of the above could be possible with out informing visitors of the promotion and no matter which method, or strategies, you pick, the only way to do that is marketing. Whether you use mail, telephone, e mail or even personal conversations, advertising is the way you hold in communique together with your visitors. Remember that flyer on the fridge? It had to be conceived, designed, created, revealed, addressed and mailed. It's numerous info just to remind your visitor of an occasion, but with today's pace of lifestyles, it is a essential reminder that might suggest the distinction among their attendance or absence.
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Advertising can also be used for non-advertising communications that generate income for your on line casino: room gives, meals specials, on line casino news and amusement are all methods to preserve in touch with your client base and offer that little more reminder to carry them back into the casino. Leverage the advertising branch to be always aware about every opportunity for communication that solidifies your dating along with your guests.
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Player Evaluations/Ratings
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Player assessment is a important element to ensuring on line casino ROI thru strategic evaluation of participant expenditure and this assessment is first-class carried out via the host personnel for your advertising branch. They have the visibility to the visitor's play and as a end result have the ability to decide the player's status and, as you realize, this reputation is important for multiple reasons. To correspond to the sooner dialogue on promotions, know-how a participant's fame will ensure that we're inviting visitors to events that correspond to their level of play. It might now not be beneficial to invite a guest that barely meets the necessities of your lowest tier of play to the same New Year's Gala as your VIP visitors.
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Comping Policies
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On a related be aware, fame is also critical to expertise the boundaries through which comping maintains the on line casino worthwhile. Well-skilled advertising and marketing hosts recognize the casino's comping rules are capable of make choices approximately which comps will in the long run generate greater sales for the casino via endured, or improved, play. Of path, comping exists at each level of play, but comping incorrectly, whether over or below, will in the long run fee the on line casino money. Over-comping a penny slots player decreases the casino's earnings similar to underneath-comping a high-restriction participant would possibly suggest losing those revenues to another casino. The advertising department, and most significantly the host staff, is aware this stability and may be the casino's advocates for comping in a way that is beneficial to the enterprise.
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Host Staff
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While we are on the topic, a discussion approximately the importance of the advertising and marketing department would now not be entire without which includes the casino host body of workers. They are the ambassadors of your casino and your VIPs' number one point of contact. As such, they are quintessential in your usual marketing plan. Not simplest that, however whilst aggressively and accurately skilled, they can be instrumental in maximizing casino profits and growing revenue era.

• Gambling addiction has been shown to have the same pharmacological effects as opiates.
• Casinos are designed to disorient and confuse patrons, from the lighting and carpeting to the key of machine sounds.
• Nevada had the highest suicide rate in the nation from 1990-1994, according to statistics from the CDC.
• In Gulfport, Mississippi, suicides increased by 213 percent in the first two years after casinos arrived. In neighboring Biloxi, suicide attempts jumped by 1,000 percent in the first year alone.
• The National Council on Problem Gambling, citing various studies, reports that one in five pathological gamblers attempts suicide, a rate higher than for any other addictive disorder.
• In the UK more than 2 million households are affected by problem gambling including 50,000 addicted minors. Suicide deaths every day increasingly include young, healthy males with good careers from stable families. This is worth reading.
• Asia is even worse, with Macau generating about 8 times the revenue of Las Vegas, but Thailand, Korea, and India are also in very severe condition. Japan began the process of legalizing casino gambling in 2018, with a new agency established in 2020.
• 1 in 5 habitual gamblers attempts suicide
• 1 in 5 suicides is related to gambling (usually with no other health or psychological problems)

That's JUST the suicides. Not the drugs, prostitution, organized crime, alcohol, cigarettes, job problems, domestic problems, credit card interest, or whatever else people could be doing with their lives. It's just the suicides.
Gambling was illegal in 48 states for over 100 years, but in the last ten years has risen almost perpendicularly. Ask anyone who works at a gas station or convenience store, daily lottery drawings and scratch-off tickets are almost a $100B industry - with some states legalizing lotteries as recently as January of 2020. Sports betting is almost as large, formally estimated at $85B.
Casinos, together with strip clubs and the other forms of gambling listed above, are open and operating right now in states that continue to (illegally) force churches and businesses to shut down. By the way.

Landcadia Holdings II (LCA) is Worth Your Investment, and Here’s Why…
Tilman J Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget casinos and CEO of LCA, holds a net worth of $4.9 Billion according to Forbes. He entered a purchase agreement on June 28th, 2020 in an effort to merge both of these companies, here is the 8k sec filing. The merge is set to happen sometime in the 3Q changing ticker from LCA to GNOC, as stated in this article. Although there is no current price target on LCA, it had an enterprise valuation of $385.94 M on 09/30/2019, fairly close to its competitor DraftKings (DKNG) with a valuation of $392.86 M on 09/30/2019. However, it should be noted that these valuations were published before the actual merger of DraftKings and Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp.
We could have a similar scenario with LCA once the merger happens, potentially surpassing DraftKings' share price, since Golden Nugget has continued producing revenue throughout this pandemic. Golden Nugget is leading the New Jersey online casino market and was responsible for 33.8% of the state’s $85.9m gross gaming revenue in May alone, according to igaming. We could see an increase in revenue for GNOC given that the following states have active bills looking to legalize sports betting: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia. If California were to do so, it could generate them an approximate 700 million every year in tax revenue, according to the Los Angeles Times. Texas could potentially be open to online gambling as well, as Fertitta has joined Governor Abbott’s advisory council to safely reopen the state. Fertitta is not only looking out for himself, but his investors as well.

This week Prague City announced major plans as they prepare to approve a complete slot machine ban! The City Council voted to approve a decree that bans all technical gambling games which includes slot machines that are in the Czech Republic’s capital city. This ban will take effect from 2024.

Ban on Slot Machines

This is big news for residents of the city who enjoy slots machines as the decree was given the green light by lawmakers. It will prohibit mechanical, electromechanical and electronic games which includes slot machines and video lottery terminals.
However, regardless of the news operators will still be able to run casino venues which offer live gaming services within 16 city districts across Prague as long as they permit this form of legal gambling.

A decree has been issued that slot machines will be banned in the city of Prague as of 2024.

This new decree is just the latest piece of legislation that has been introduced with an aim of clamping down on problem gambling in the region and in fact the Czech wider market too.
Prague councillor Hana Kordová Marvanová said "In Prague, we decided to follow the path of a blanket ban on slot machines throughout the city, because we set ourselves the goal of reducing the most dangerous forms of gambling, which include playing slot machines,”
“Statistics show that limiting the availability of gambling has a significant positive impact in the area of negative social phenomena, such as pathological gambling or non-payment.”

Previous Legislation

Back in 2007 a decree also set out the places and times where gambling was permitted in the city. This included 16 of the city’s 57 districts allowed to offer gambling, legally.
Since this was enforced the number of approved gambling locations in the city has actually plummeted from 1,422 to just 101 official casino establishments. Also falling in numbers was the number of gambling terminals reducing from 15,934 in January of 2010 to 3,995 as of August this year.
2016 also saw the Czech Republic’s Gambling Act set out a series of new measures which included a ban on the advertising of gambling and new taxes in the industry. Other cities outside of Prague have also implemented an outright ban on all forms of technical gambling.

Impacting Revenue

The new ban will naturally impact revenue in the city Kordová Marvanová said prohibition is expected to result in a CZK400m (£13.8­m/€­15.0­m/­$17.8m) drop in annual tax income for the city.

Tackling Problem Gambling

“We have promised all parts of the city that they do not have to worry about the loss of revenue from taxes on technical games, which they have so far used to finance public needs such as culture, education, sport or social affairs,”
Kordová Marvanová added “Therefore, together with the approval of the decree, the task of compensating the City Council for possible loss of income so that the financing needs of important public activities do not suffer was also approved.”
The new gambling exclusion register has also been launched which forms part of the wider effort in the country in order to tackle problem gambling and help protect those who are the most vulnerable from gambling related harm.
The register allows players to voluntarily self-exclude from all forms of gambling. It also allows authorities to place people on the register, such as those on welfare, those who are bankrupt and those who have received treatment for gambling addiction.

FunFair has come a long way since I started following the team in 2017, recently adding a Japanese casino (the fourth casino now in the network), in-wallet purchase of FUN with credit/debit cards, the removal of the need for ETH to cover gas charges, browser and device-independent play, an easy to use wallet and a raft of new games.
Unlike many crypto projects where tokens were seen primarily as a fund-raising approach, the FUN token provides significant utility by coordinating the activities and incentives of the six stakeholder types within the FunFair ecosystem:

1. FUN Token Holders
2. Casino Players
3. Affiliates and Referral Partners
4. Licensed Operators and White Labels (Casinos)
5. Game Developers
6. Gaming Regulators

For me, the FUN token is THE perfect example of a project where the token has significant utility in aligning incentives across disparate stakeholders and is a poster child for effective tokenomics.
Here's my personal view on the value propositions and incentives for each of these groups:

FUN Token Holders

• An active FUN community with reddit, discord, telegram and twitter channels.
• Regular updates of the FunFair roadmap and release notes for all the new functionality
• A solid management team behind the project
• Great descriptions from the team on how all the pieces work together
• The FUN token is a standard ERC-20 token and is thus easily managed on a wide variety of Ethereum hardware and software wallets
• FUN is traded on major exchanges such as Binance (International), Uniswap, etc. and is thus quite liquid
• FUN is a non-inflationary token - there will only ever be 11 Billion FUN tokens and 4.45 Billion of those are held in cold storage and not expected to ever be used
• All of the 2.29B Founders tokens have long been unlocked, thus there is no ongoing selling pressure from those allocations
• As players play, a portion of the FUN tokens representing the house profits are ‘singed’ - that is, they are sent to an address that effectively takes them out of circulation. This is slightly different from the tokens being burned (irretrievably destroyed) but has a similar result in that they are no longer available for trade or purchase by anyone.
• Scarcity of FUN (and therefore it's presumed value) will also be driven by more and more Casinos coming online and needing to establish their own bankrolls
• FunFair has stated that they want to support FUN Staking - which would allow FUN token holders to lock their FUN tokens up in a smart contract and form part of a communal bankroll that could be used by new Casinos leveraging the FunFair platform. These token holders would then share in the house profits generated from that bankroll. There has not been any specific date given for rolling out this feature but the community is excited about it and the team has come up with a technical approach for implementing this.
• Great visibility as to the current statistics for the FunFair network, due to the excellent FunStats.xyz

Casino Players

• Each FunFair-powered Casino offers a broad selection of fun, engaging, high-quality games, playable on any device / any browser (including mobile) - no need for metamask, etc. - including Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Cho Han, Dice, a wide array of slots, and many unique titles
• Available to over 4.5B players worldwide across 40+ countries under FunFair's Curacao gaming license - with more countries coming when additional gaming licenses granted
• A functionally equivalent (and still fun!) showcase site that gives ANY player worldwide access to all the games FunFair has in their portfolio, using TESTFUN instead of FUN. TESTFUN is freely given using an in-wallet faucet - so play as much as you like!
• Four casinos (currently) to choose from: CasinoFair.com, CryptoCasino.com, KingTiger.io and the newly launched Japanese language jp.CasinoFair.com
• Newbie-friendly approach to crypto provides an integrated browser-independent wallet that includes easy backup/restore and familiar username/password style access
• Easy purchase of FUN tokens right from within the wallet using credit / debit cards and crypto-to-crypto conversion
• Rapid KYC means that you can get approved once, typically within 60 seconds or less, and then play on any FunFair powered Casino
• Signup promotions and welcome packages give you some instant free FUN to play with
• No need to wait for deposits to be available - all funds are instantly playable
• No need to request withdrawals - you retain full control of your funds at all time - the Casino never has control of them
• No need for separate ETH - Each Casino pays for all Ethereum Gas charges - all seamlessly
• House funds to cover even the largest wins are always held in the smart contract during play - no need to worry that the house won't pay out when you win big
• Automated dispute resolution means that when issues arise they are dealt with in a timely, objective and automated manner
• The games are provably fair and ’cheat-proof’, secured by the blockchain - which means that players don’t need to worry whether the implementation of each game is legit - everything is recorded and verifiable on the blockchain - and is driven by provably fair (random) random number generation.
• FunFair’s innovative ‘FateChannels’ (their version of the State Channel concept) means that games have all of the advantages of provably fair blockchain-based gaming, but have the performance and quick play of modern games (thus the ‘Fun’ in ‘FunFair’)
• Allows consistent implementation of Responsible Gaming policies network wide - take a break whenever you need to

Affiliate and Referral Partners

• Easy signup process that is available to any person, anywhere - even if you do not reside in a jurisdiction currently approved for gaming
• Get paid on ALL wagers made by players you refer - for the lifetime of each player recruited
• Fees are paid to you whether the players win or lose - based on the statistical house edge
• Provably fair - all affiliate and referral payments are recorded on the blockchain and fully verifiable
• Instantaneous payouts in real-time - no need to worry about waiting for monthly payouts or anyone else being in control

Licensed Operators and White Labels (Casinos)

• Easy white label approach lets you leverage FunFair’s existing gaming license(s) - get up and running quickly
• FunFair has now received an Isle of Man Token-Based Software Supplier license - making it easy to adopt the platform for IoM license holders
• Ability to run under your own gaming license if preferred
• No need for expensive gaming servers
• All the KYC/AML is performed by the platform - no need to hire expensive compliance staff
• Broad selection of high-quality games with quick play that drives engagement
• No need to worry about chargebacks, payment processors dropping you without notice or other payment / financial risks
• Built-in credit / debit card support, along with crypto-to-crypto conversion makes it easy for players to bring funds into their wallet without each individual operator needing to set up their own payment gateways or exchanges
• Your bankroll is protected from hackers by being secured within a fully audited smart contract
• Automated dispute resolution means that when issues arise they are dealt with in a timely, objective and automated manner
• CRM marketing support from FunFair to help you stay engaged with your audience, drive promotions, etc.
• Affiliate and referral networks lets you harness your community and existing affiliates to drive traffic
• New FF-powered Casinos can market to a base of previously KYC'd players
• Localization support allows you to create a local language casino for any geography
• FUN staking in the future will allow you to establish a Casino with little upfront investment, leveraging a communal bankroll - take as little or as much risk as you wish and share in the profits accordingly

Game Developers

• Fully published API and documentation (timing tbd)
• Easy approval process (timing tbd)
• Sample code for standard categories (slot machines, etc.) (timing tbd)
• Great support for interested 3rd party developers
• Current 3rd party developers include Big Wave Gaming with the popular titles Cho Han and Five Fruits
• Set your own revenue share approach - you decide how much you should keep
• Games made available to all FunFair-powered Casinos (individual Casinos can opt in/out to specific games)
• Provably fair payouts - recorded and fully verifiable on the blockchain in realtime

Gaming Regulators

• FunFair allows straightforward verification that the games used by a given operator are provably fair
• Provides an automated dispute resolution mechanism
• Facilitates verifying appropriate KYC / AML laws, including age, identity verification, source of funds, etc. are being consistently enforced for each jurisdiction
• Allows consistent implementation of Responsible Gaming / Vulnerable Player policies network wide
• The non-custodial nature of FunFair means Operators cannot abscond with player funds or delay withdrawals, a common source of player complaints

As you can see, the value to each stakeholder is considerable - especially when compared to the current legacy technology - which is why I'm bullish that FunFair will be successful in achieving its mission of truly reinventing this industry.
What do you think? Do you see other value props? Let me know and I'll add them to the list!

When we speak of casino gambling in Australia, we’re usually talking about new live or online pokies, fortuitous wins, or the dreaded affliction of problem gambling. That last topic has been abundantly proliferated by today’s leading politicians and anti-wagering groups. But have you ever ever stopped to ask yourself: What has gambling for you?
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There’s a powerful message that gambling is bad. It’s a degenerative activity that causes nothing quite pain and suffering. this is often what anti-pokies campaigns are sputtering in radio and tv ads – that nothing good can come of it.
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In reality, much good has come of it. The Australian government didn’t legalize lotteries because it thought the overall public needed a replacement sort of entertainment. It didn’t employ companies like Tabcorp and Tatts to officiate racing and sports betting because legislators had an excessive amount of time on their hands.
Read More pokies online
These gambling activities were authorized to assist raise money to enhance local communities.
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What Australia Casino Gambling Does For You
Were you aware that the taxes our government collects from gambling operators are wont to ensure every child is provided a free and honorable education? Did you recognize that Australia uses the cash it collects from lottery sales to send promising athletes to free training camps, where they will excel into professional, tournament-worthy competitors?
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While anti-gambling campaigners are busy spitting out problem gambling statistics, the sports, lottery and casino gambling industry is doing little or no to defend itself. likelihood is that , an informed public – one that's made conscious of all the items those taxed wagering dollars do for them – wouldn’t be so easily swayed to side with the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) of anti-pokies politicians.
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Transition To Sustainability Messages
Hannah Harrison, SABMillerHannah Harrison is that the Senior Manager of worldwide Sustainable Development Strategy and Consumer Brands, otherwise referred to as SABMiller. She is of the firm belief that gambling operators should take a page from the book of the beer industry when it involves public messages in sustainability.
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“I really think it's interesting once you check out beer brands. you'll not think beer as being a very ethical product, but actually you'll use sustainability messages to bring a beer’s purpose to life,” said Harrison in an interview with nzpokiesonline.com/
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“Purpose are some things that's here to remain ,” continued Harrison, especially when it involves things people care about. She explained that brands can improve their sale volume compared to competitors by letting consumers know “they are buying a product that resonates their own personal values…”
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Her company played a key role in Uganda creating a sustainable source of income through harvesting Sorghum, a crop that they were ready to become a beer product. Not only did it bring down the value of beer, the govt was compelled to supply harvesters a tax benefit since it had been ready to sell the beer at lower cost. it had been clearly a win-win situation.
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How does this have anything to try to to with Australia casino gambling, and therefore the benefits it brings to the people? Harrison explained:
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“We were competing not with the prevailing beer but with the elicit alcohol market, attracting people out of the damaging and unregulated, illegal alcohol market. So, we are making beers safer for consumer, creating new revenue for our business and creating money for the govt also , which have increased their tax income for over 50 percent since 2002.”
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She went on to explain a huge opportunity for Australia’s casino gambling market to tap into unique product and repair concepts which will inevitably appeal to consumers, just by invoking the facility sustainable messages.

Firstly, let me just say that I love what Expensify does for my business. It has really streamlined the process of getting my employees receipts, reviewing them, and getting them into QuickBooks.
I'm curious, however, if other business owners are frustrated with Expensify Marketing. I feel like most products where our business pays the bill and prescribes the solution as a matter of policy, we have the ability to manage how much contact our employees receive from the company. I feel as if, between email marketing and junk on the splash screen after login, Expensify is overwhelmingly pushing the way they think our business should handle expenses onto our employees. From the Expensify Card to Automatic Approval, Expensify thinks there are certain ways things should be done, and tries to market those to the entire employee base... instead of the owner or accounting departments - who actually set the policies. I find it particularly frustrating the Expensify will not allow a company-wide unsubscribe, or management of the email content they send. I expect I'll be looking for Exchange Rules for managing this messaging in the future... but I'm wondering if other small business owners find this as frustrating as I do.
Here's an example email that they want my employees to read, while I'm paying those employees to work:

Tl;dr- Starting today, we will donate part of every USD purchase made with your Expensify Card to a purchase-appropriate charitable fund (namely: climate change for travel purchases, homelessness for hotel purchases, hunger for restaurants, etc). We're making this possible through our new direct-reimbursement charitable arm, Expensify.org. Just use the Expensify Card for any business purchase like normal, and you'll earn Karma Points that we'll donate on your behalf, along with an instant notification about which cause that purchase supported. I've spent more than ten not-so-patient years preparing to share this story. But before I do, I need to admit something. Even though we've been used by over a million businesses, and we process tens of billions of dollars in payments… Expensify was never supposed to exist. When my last company got acquired, I was living in the Tenderloin in San Francisco, and passed the same homeless folks on the street every day. There are a lot of opinions on this, but I've never felt super comfortable giving cash directly — especially in a city like San Francisco that (at the time) had good facilities for the homeless, but only if you showed up sober. And if you weren't sober, it might be due to someone giving you cash to spend on drugs or alcohol. So I wanted to help, but I wasn't sure how to do it without doing more harm than good — and I figured the most obvious place to help was not with cash, but food. After some awkward forays bringing people directly into restaurants to get a hot meal, I concluded that it wasn't very scalable. I considered gift cards, but it's a $10 gift card for a $7 value meal; that last $3 is real awkward to use. But what if I made a system that loaded the gift cards on demand for exactly the amount of the purchase, in the few milliseconds while the server is authorizing the transaction? Limit it to 1 purchase per day, for at most $10, and restrict it to restaurants that don't serve alcohol, and voila! A secure platform for feeding the homeless, funded by my personal credit card, with cards I could give to all the regulars I saw in my neighborhood. I went to the banks with this idea and they were like… "Uh, what? How do you deal with PCI compliance, and money laundering, and money transmission licensing, and a million other things? And there is no business model: you are just giving out money on a few dozen cards to people in your neighborhood? There's no way I'll help you. This is too weird, too risky. I'm out." Undeterred, I thought Ok, how do I make this sound safe… boring. What is the most boring application of these cards I can imagine as a cover story… aha! Expense reports! And that is truly what started all of this. So I went back to those banks and they were like "Oh, that sounds safe, boring, and I hate my expense reports too! How does it work?" I was caught off guard by this totally obvious question, because I actually had no idea about this industry and no real intention of building any of it. But I had a huge supply chain of vendors I needed to impress, so I just started saying "yes" to everything everybody asked: "This new iPhone thing, does it support it?" Even though it doesn't have an app store yet so it's impossible, "Yes we totally have an iPhone app." "Does the app scan receipts?" Even though the original iPhone's camera was so bad it made completely illegible receipt images, "Yes, totally we scan receipts." "Does it reimburse through ACH?" I've never heard of those letters before, but "Yes we totally do that." "Does it export to accounting?" "Yes, it obviously exports to QuickBooks and… you know, all the others." And so on. By the time I launched at TechCrunch 50 in 2008, I had a well rehearsed story of a truly magical (albeit completely fictional) expense management system called "Expensify: The Corporate Card for the Masses!" It went something like this: Expensify is a mobile app linked to a corporate card that provides secure access to company funds within strict spending limits and receipt requirements, combined with a next-day cash reimbursement system, all of which seamlessly exports to QuickBooks and every other accounting package in the world. Basically, the same exact technology I wanted to build for my platform for feeding the homeless, but wrapped in a fictional startup. And people loved it. Strangers came up and hugged me, talking about how much time they thought I was going to save them. And I was like… "Uh, cool man, maybe someone will do all that, but definitely not me. I just want to give out cards to hungry people on the street." Then the economy collapsed, my savings were wiped out, and I lost my job all in quick succession. That kind of shock will make anyone reevaluate their priorities, and forced me to adopt a attitude of, "Put on your oxygen mask before helping others" — especially since making a real dent in this problem will require a lot more resources than one guy handing out cards to the people in his neighborhood. So armed with little more than a popular brand for a nonexistent mobile app that did perfect mobile receipt scanning atop a phone with an illegible camera and no app store, I got started. And it all would have ended very quickly, had two lucky things not happened: the App Store opened, creating a free channel to distribute this app, and the next iPhone had an auto-focus camera that took crystal clear receipt images on the road. That kicked off a ten year journey to actually make that mythical dream into a practical reality for millions of people around the world. But over those years, the initial idea has been nagging at me the whole time. Which brings us to today, and why I'm writing this to you now. No, we're not launching the original homeless card idea. (Not yet, at least…) We're launching something much, much bigger. As you might know, we launched the Expensify Card a couple months ago, and it's even better than what I was proclaiming to the world back in 2008. (If you don't already have yours, request it right now in your Expensify Inbox : it's completely free for you and all Expensify customers.) But like all corporate cards, our initial "perks" were focused at business owners — free AWS credits, discounted Stripe fees, and so on. To be clear, those perks are great… if you're the owner. Which there's a 99% chance you aren't, as employees outnumber owners a hundred to one. So while the card we launched in October is by far the best in the world for owners, we want it to be the absolute best for employees too. To be clear, the Expensify Card is already pretty rad for employees: thanks to our integrated eReceipt feature, you almost never need to scan receipts for Expensify Card purchases. Even better, you don't need to pay extra interest on your personal card to extend a zero-interest loan (aka, "expense report") to your employer. And those two features alone in practice are what people love the most. But those benefits are hard to appreciate before experiencing them, so we wanted something a bit easier to imagine to differentiate the card. In the search for some other employee-focused perk to offer, we first checked out the competition. To our surprise, we couldn't find a single company-issued corporate card that offers perks to employees: they're all so focused on offering rewards to business owners for employee spend (which makes sense, as they are the decision-makers), that card issuers ignore the people actually spending the money. So, bad news for basically every corporate card holder in the world. But good news for us that the competition is so easy to beat in this regard! Given this, we started looking at the reward programs of personal cards for inspiration. The most common is something like "1% cash back!" Which basically amounts to a 1% discount on everything you buy. How is that exciting to anybody? I've never seen an ad saying: "Going out of business sale! Everything must go! 1% OFF EVERYTHING!" Then we looked into point programs, but wow, the math is pretty brutal. After you swallow the "hook" of free points to sign up, it's real hard to make the points you earn later justify all the hidden fees and extra interest payments. The large print giveth, the small print taketh away. If "points" were instead called "pennies" then nobody would care about them — even though they aren't even worth pennies. Points are like pennies you can only spend on a full moon at an invisible concession stand guarded by pumas. I'm sure many, many will disagree, but it seems like the whole points game exploits the same statistical fallacies (and questionable motivations) as casinos: the billboards show ordinary people with fists full of money living lavish lives, but in reality the house always wins. Rewards worth hundreds of billions of dollars go unredeemed every year, and most people with rewards cards spend more in fees and interest than the paltry rewards they earn. Reward cards have done an amazing job convincing people that they mint free money or are some kind of status symbol, but really they are just keycards to casinos that have worse odds than the real thing — and when gambling for points, you don't even get free drinks. They're perhaps an effective way to trick people into making poor life choices, but that's not what we had in mind as the inspiration for our card. At the end of the day, the margins on these cards are so incredibly thin that revenue from the program is literally measured in pennies on the dollar — meaning reward programs are fractions of pennies. And when you remove all the marketing spin and statistical subterfuge, splitting something as small as fractions of pennies between a million different cardholders isn't inspiring, to anyone. But what if we instead combined all those millions of fractions of pennies, and put them into the hands of those who need them a whole lot more than we do? What if we weren't trying to fragment millions of pennies between people who are lucky enough to have a credit card, but instead combine them into a central place where they can be collectively spent accomplishing something meaningful? That's the idea behind the Expensify Card's reward program, the spirit of which is best captured by this simple name: Karma Points. The Expensify Card's Karma Points program costs you nothing, and is completely automatic. We're taking the tiny amount that every other provider tries to convince you is a big deal, and instead giving it to someone to whom it is a big deal. In short, we're donating 10% of all revenue (which is way, way more than 1% of profit) from the Expensify Card towards making the world a little better, one swipe at a time. Where does the money go? Like before, we looked to others for inspiration — with Amazon Smile topping the list. But again, we need to be realistic about how much all these pennies add up to. Amazon Smile has donated $156 million to date, which is impressive. But these donations are spread across a million charities, or like $156 per charity. As such, instead of fragmenting our donations and barely creating a dent in a million charities, we decided to concentrate them and thereby create a meaningful dent in fewer places. To maximize simplicity and participation in the program (which again is completely free and automatic for you — like Smile, but without needing to remember to do it), we've picked five areas to fund that are organized around keeping people off the streets, getting hungry kids meals, and climate change. And rather than asking you which fund to support, we're going to pick one for you based on the type of purchase you make: • Expensify.org/hunger - Buy a meal; give a child reliable access to school lunch • Expensify.org/homes - Book a hotel; reunite someone with their family for good • Expensify.org/climate - Book a flight; capture carbon to mitigate the worst effects of climate change • Expensify.org/youth - Buy office supplies; reconnect graduating foster kids and parents • Expensify.org/reentry - Pay your bills; help someone get back on their feet after incarceration While this automatic offsetting feature is built into every purchase with the Expensify Card, no company has perfect corporate card compliance. So for those companies that want to go a step further by offsetting their non-Expensify Card purchases, please enable our Corporate Offset feature, which will automatically make a donation just like we do for our Expensify Card, but for all your approved expenses. Not in a position to decide this for your company but you still want to participate? No problem: enable Personal Offsets and we'll use the same logic to make a donation for each purchase you track with Expensify, whether for business or pleasure. Not an Expensify user yet? Still no problem: go to Expensify.org/donate to join as a founding member for only $20/month. Regardless of how you join, once a member you'll be a part of creating something new and special, and will be the first in line for future events and initiatives that even this overly long newsletter doesn't have room to discuss. And that's it! Now you know the secret to Expensify's origin, how the Expensify Card fulfills our original dream (albeit in a different, better form), and how Expensify.org is a new kind of charity building a global community based on transparent and direct engagement with people in need. It's not quite as splashy as 2 Chainz and Adam Scott in our Super Bowl ad last year . But as this new decade opens upon a series of challenges almost impossibly daunting, it seems clear we need everyone to take a second look at what resources they have at their disposal that could be more constructively applied — the most important of which is time. We are inundated by messages, messengers, and memes calculated to enrage us all, to a point of paralysis. There are countless thousands of engineers who are devoted to perfecting social networks, seemingly designed for little purpose but to reinforce our confirmation biases by scouring the global detritus of amateur tabloids. There are countless millions of people crafting these messages, using these tools, and harnessing your incapacitating anger to further their ends. It's easy to give up, to accept that They are responsible, and that You are helpless. My resolution in 2020 is to turn off that noise, and I'd ask you to do the same. Turn off the talking heads on TV. Turn off the echo chamber online. Stop being the fuel for their machines. Stop caring so much about the outrageous thing that person you don't know did in that place you can't find on a map, and redirect that caring to the people living on the street outside your door, to the kids struggling to get lunch at your kid's school, and into truly constructive action to solve the sobering problems facing this world. At Expensify, we saw an opportunity to transform an expense management platform literally picked because it was the dullest thing in the world, into a globally-distributed platform for locally-applied charity. We spent a staggering amount of time, money, and creativity to make it real. But we're just one company. The Expensify Card is our way of helping all companies not just save hours doing expenses, but truly combine forces to save the world, one swipe at a time. This is our world after all, and for the foreseeable future, we've only got the one. Let's make the most of it. -david Founder and CEO of Expensify Sent by: Expensify, Inc - 548 Market St #61434 - San Francisco, CA 94103 

I just feel like, if I'm paying Expensify every month, I should be able to control what they email to my employees. I did ask Expensify Support, and they indicated that each employee must unsubscribe directly. What do you think? Is this good business?
EEDrew

16th December 2019
Good Morning fellow autist, GL today.

DOW

Boeing Company (BA) is reportedly considering reducing production or halting production of its 737 MAX over continued uncertainty regarding its return to service, according to people familiar with the matter.
Coca-Cola Company (KO) announced its Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer, Francisco Crespo, will retire in 2020 after 30 years with the company.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) has its Erleada for treatment of patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer approved by Health Canada after a priority review.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) increased its quarterly dividend to USD 0.38/share from USD 0.36/share, a 6% increase.
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) streaming product, Disney+, will launch on Vivendi’s (VIV FP) Pay-TV business Canal+ by the end of March.
United Health Group Inc. (UNH) has been upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman Sachs, where analyst Stephen Tanal highlighted its attractive commercial business, which holds top market share position in Medicare Advantage, and a top three position in Medicaid. The analyst states > USD 19bln in operating cashflow next year will “handily cover” its USD 2.3bln worth of capital expenditures, which puts the company in a good position to deploy capital against earnings growth vie tuck-in acquisitions and share repurchase programmes. Stephen Tanal increased the PT to USD 330 from USD 300.
Walmart (WMT) and Flipkart are to invest in a Bangalore based fresh produce supply chain start up named Ninjacart, the financial terms were not disclosed, however Economic Times citing people familiar with the matter, state WMT could invest up to USD 50mln.

NASDAQ 100

Alphabet Inc Class A (GOOGL) self-driving business, Waymo, acquired Latent Logic, a spinout company from Oxford University which specialises in imitation learning, helping machines learn from human actions. The financial terms were not disclosed, although it gives Waymo its first presence in the UK. (The Guardian)
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) Ring is to introduce new security features after hackers broke into a child’s bedroom and had the ability to watch and talk to the child. (Business Insider)
Facebook, Inc. (FB) had tens of thousands of its employees personal banking information compromised after a thief stole several corporate hard drives from an employee’s car.
Micron Technology (MU) had its PT raised at USD 56 from USD 48 from Morgan Stanley ahead of its earnings on Wednesday, where analyst Joseph Moore noted the recent memory chip strength is surprising and should bring short-term momentum back into the name.

S&P 500

Dollar General (DG) & Dollar Tree (DLTR) is being asked by local governments across the country to provide fresh food amid a lack of grocery stores. (WSJ)
DuPont de Nemours Inc (DD) is to merge its Nutrition & Biosciences business with International Flavours (IFF) where DD shareholders will own 55.4% of the combined company, and DD will receive a onetime USD 7.3bln special cash payment in closing of the IFF deal. Following the deal DD sees 2019 operating EBITDA at the low end of its guidance range. Executive Chairman Ed Breen says they have some interesting bolt on opportunities they like in the company and don’t plan to sit on cash, may do bolt-on M&A.
Humana Inc. (HUM) is to acquire Enclara Healthcare, although financial terms were not disclosed.
Lilly (Eli) & Co. (LLY) announced a global commercialisation agreement to join DexCom (DXCM) products into LLY’s diabetes management system, adding it is currently in development to advance the treatment of diabetes.

OTHER

Amarin Pharmaceuticals (AMRN) received FDA approval for its Vascepa, to reduce cardiovascular risk. Following the approval, it increased its FY19 revenue forecasts to (USD) 410-425mln (exp. 410.25mln, prev. 380-420mln. Updates FY20 revenue guidance to 650-700mln (exp. 654.55mln)
BeiGene (BGNE) announced its Phase 3 ASPEN trial did not meet its primary endpoint as it did not achieve statistical significance when comparing BTK inhibitor BRUKINSA to ibrutinib for the treatment of Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.
Chesapeake (CHK) received a notice from NYSE regarding its noncompliance with a rule which requires listed companies maintain an average closing price of above USD 1.00/shr over a 30-day average. CHK acknowledged the notice, adding they intend to regain compliance by pursuing measures in the best interests of the companies.
Live Nation (LYV) and Zebra Technology (ZBRA) and Steris (STE) (will move to the S&P500, replacing Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) , Trip Advisor (TRIP) and Macerich (MAC), respectively, on 23/12/19.
Owens Corning (OC) executive chairman sold 30,000 common shares for USD 65.646/share.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PCG) had its plan to exit bankruptcy and to pay the victims of the North Carolina wildfire rejected as the proposal falls “woefully short”.
Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) takeover by Roche (ROGN SW) has received clearance from UK regulators, although the two are still awaiting US approval.
Uber (UBER) is reportedly in advanced talks to sell its UberEats India business to a local rival, Zomato, according to people familiar with the matter.
WPX Energy (WPX) is reportedly in discussion to purchase Felix Energy assets for approximately USD 2.5bln, according to people familiar with the matter.
Of note for US Casino Names (MGM, WYNN, PENN, LVS, BYD), Barclays is bullish on the sector heading into 2020 where analyst Felicia Hendrix believes it could be poised for further growth next year.
Of note for Semiconductors (SOX), JPMorgan forecast further upside in 2020 as industry growth rates inflect positively and drive a positive earnings revision cycle. Analyst Harlan Sur notes the top pick in the space is Broadcom (AVGO), citing its underappreciated diversification and strong FCF and dividend growth. The analyst also highlights Nvidia (NVDA), Intel (INTC), Micron (MU) on strong data centre exposure, Qorvo (QRVO), Marvell (MRVL) as key 5G plays and Texas Instruments (TXN) and Microchip (MCHP) on improving industrial/cyclical trends. Also of note, RBC highlight unconfirmed reports that Samsung (SSNLF) will invest roughly USD 8bln in its second semiconductor plant in Xian, China, citing Business Korea. RBC also highlight unconfirmed reports that Intel’s (INTC) is expecting to reach 1.4nm designs by 2029, with 7nm in 2021, 5nm by 2023, 3nm by 2025, 2nm by 2027. The desk notes that if this leaked information is correct, it implies a two-year node reduction cycle.

Cuba & Fidel Castro
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Resources:
Cuba before and After
BBC Interview on Castro
Operation Mongouse
Cuba ranked 3th in the world for literacy
Free quality healthcare:
The facts of a relatively poor economy and a long-term continuous sanctions on trade makes the Cubans' achievements more impressive. For the past forty years, education has been a top priority for the Cuban government.[17] Cuba maintains twice the amount of public spending on education as its more wealthy neighbors, at 10% of GNP
Racism: Article detailing the history of racism, and how Castro combat it through anti-discriminatory laws with overwhelming support, that is conveyed today Also Pre-revolutionary Cuba was, in effect, an apartheid society. There was widespread segregation and discrimination. Afro-Cubans were restricted to the worst jobs, the worst housing, the worst education… The commitment to defeating racism has brought about tremendous gains in equality and racial integration. Isaac Saney writes: “It can be argued that Cuba has done more than any other country to dismantle institutionalised racism and generate racial harmony.”
Cuban woman rights record (ranked 6th in the world for women political participation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Cuba
[From Leo Humberman and Paul Sweezy's "Cuba anatomy of a revolution: "Note that in all of Cuba (from the 1953 census), in both urban and rural areas, only 35.2% of the dwelling units have running water, and only 28% have inside flush toilets. In 2015, about 95% of Cubans had access to an improved water source (96% of the urban population, but only 92% of the rural population). Cuba's access to adequate sanitation is the second-highest in Latin America and the Caribbean after Uruguay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Cuba#Access
In 1959, only about 50% of households in the island nation had access to electricity. By 1989, the electric grid provided service to 95% of household.
Ironically, the electricity before the revolution was ran by an American-owned electric power company, and was riddled with corruption (from the same book from above)
Over the last 50 years, comprehensive social protection programmes have largely eradicated poverty and hunger. Food-based social safety nets include a monthly food basket for the entire population, school feeding programmes, and mother-and-child health care programmes.
First country to develop Lung cancer, meningitus vaccines and HIV mother-to-child prevention
Free training for international students
Cuba is the largest and most populated island in the Caribbean yet consistently experiences the lowest death tolls during hurricane season. According to United Nations, it's not because Cubans are lucky but because they're prepared. According to Oxfam, from 1996 to 2002, only 16 people were killed by the six hurricanes that struck Cuba. Cuba's meteorological institute has 15 provincial offices. They share data with US scientists and project storm tracks. Around 72 hours before a storm's predicted landfall, national media issue alerts while civil protection committees check evacuation plans and shelters. Hurricane awareness is taught in schools and there are practice drills for the public before each hurricane season.
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(the above information was completely compiled by bayarea415, thank you comrade).
The blockade explained https://www.reddit.com/LateStageImperialism/comments/crc8j4/cuba_50_years_of_economic_blocade_explained/
Democracy in Cuba:
20 Reasons to Support Cuba Cuba: A Revolution in Motion by Isaac Saney
https://www.democracyintheus.com/ Cuban Democracy Fact Sheet All in This Together:
Cuba's Participatory Democra The Elected Delegate and the Dissident in Cuba's Municipal
Elections by Arnold August 2002 Cuban Constitution Work and Democracy in Socialist
Cuba by Linda Fuller
Article by Hellen Yaffe:
Alongside his depiction as a “brutal dictator”, negative reflections on Fidel Castro since his death in November 2016 have focused on his “mismanagement” of the Cuban economy and the consequent “extremes of poverty” suffered by ordinary Cubans.
This caricature is problematic – not only because it ignores the devastating economic impact of the United States embargo over 55 years, but also because it is premised on neoclassical economic assumptions. This means that by stressing economic policy over economic restraints, critics can shift responsibility for Cuba’s alleged poverty on to Castro without implicating successive US administrations that have imposed the suffocating embargo.
This approach also ignores key questions about Cuba after the revolution. Where can medium and low-income countries get the capital to invest in infrastructure and welfare provision? How can foreign capital be obtained under conditions which do not obstruct such development, and how can a late-developing country such as Cuba use international trade to produce a surplus in a global economy which – many claim – tends to “unequal terms of trade”?
It was the search for solutions to the challenge of development that led Cuba’s revolutionary government to adopt a socialist system. They adopted a centrally planned economy in which state ownership predominated because they perceived this system as offering the best answer to those historical challenges.
But the commitment to operate within a socialist framework implied additional restraints and complications, particularly in the context of a bipolar world. My book, Che Guevara: The Economics of Revolution, examines the contradictions and challenges faced by the nascent revolutionary government from the perspective of Guevara’s role as president of the National Bank and minister of industries.
Literature on Cuba is dominated by “Cubanology”, an academic school central to the political and ideological opposition to Cuban socialism. Its emergence and links to the US government are well documented. Its arguments are that the revolution changed everything in Cuba – and Fidel (and then Raul) Castro have personally dominated domestic and foreign policy since, denying Cuban democracy and repressing civil society. Thanks to their mismanagement of the economy, growth since 1959 has been negligible. They simply replaced dependency on the US with dependency on the USSR until its collapse in 1990.
These ideas have also shaped political and media discourse on Cuba. But the problem with this analysis is that it obstructs our ability to see clearly what goes on in Cuba or explain the revolution’s endurance and Cuban society’s vitality.
What did Castro inherit?
Arguments about the success or failure of the post-1959 economy often hang on the state of the Cuban economy in the 1950s. The post-1959 government inherited a sugar-dominated economy with the deep socio-economic and racial scars of slavery. Cubanologist Jaime Suchlicki argues that Batista’s Cuba was “well into what Walter Rostow has characterised as the take-off stage”, while Fred Judson points to structural weaknesses in the Cuban economy: “Long-term crises characterised the economy, which had a surface and transient prosperity.” So while one side insists that the revolution interrupted healthy capitalist growth, the other believes it was a precondition to resolving the contradictions obstructing development by ending Cuba’s subjugation to the needs of US capitalism.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/files/2017/02/cuba_graph_b.gif GDP of Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica 1960-2015 (Source: World Bank)
Following the revolution, Castro set out to bring social welfare and land reform to the Cuban people and to confiscate the ill-gotten gains of the Cuban elite. But when the defeated Fulgencio Batista and his associates fled Cuba, they stole millions of pesos from the National Bank and the Treasury. The country was decapitalised, severely limiting the capacity for public spending and private investments. Wealthy Cubans were leaving the island, taking their deposits and taxes with them. How was the new government going to carry out the ambitious socio-economic reforms without financial resources?
We have to consider these real circumstances at every juncture. For example, when the US embargo was first implemented, 95% of Cuba’s capital goods and 100% of its spare parts were imported from the US – and the US was overwhelmingly the main recipient of Cuban exports. When the Soviet bloc disintegrated, Cuba lost 85% of its trade and investment, leading GDP to plummet 35%. These events produced serious economic constraints on Cuba’s room for manoeuvre.
Putting a price on poverty
Moving on, we should also ask: how are we to measure Cuba’s poverty? Is it GDP per capita? Is it money-income per day? Should we apply the yardsticks of capitalist economics, focusing on growth and productivity statistics to measure “success” or “failure”, while paying little attention to social and political priorities?
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Even factoring in its low GDP per capita, the Human Development Index (HDI) lists Cuba in the “high human development” category; it excels not just in health and education, but also in women’s participation and political inclusion. Cuba has eliminated child malnutrition. No children sleep on the streets. In fact, there is no homelessness. Even during the hungry years of economic crisis of the 1990s, Cubans did not starve. Cuba stuck with the planned economy, and it enabled them to ration their scarce resources.
Yes, salaries are extremely low (as both Fidel and Raul have lamented) – but Cubans’ salaries do not determine their standard of living. About 85% of Cubans own their own homes and rent cannot exceed 4% of a tenant’s income. The state provides a (very) basic food basket while utility bills, transport and medicine costs are kept low. The opera, cinema, ballet and so on are cheap for all. High-quality education and healthcare are free. They are part of the material wealth of Cuba and should not be dismissed – as if individual consumption of consumer goods were the only measure of economic success.
Operation miracle
The specific and real challenges Cuban development has faced has generated unique contradictions. In a planned economy, with an extremely tight budget, they have had to prioritise: the infrastructure is crumbling and yet they have first-world human development indicators. Infant mortality rates reveal a lot about the standard of living, being influenced by multiple socioeconomic and medical factors. Cuba’s infant mortality rate is 4.5 per 1,000 live births, which sits it among first-world countries – and above the US on the CIA’s own ranking.
It is not just Cubans who have benefited from these investments. Tens of thousands of Cuban doctors, educators and other development aid workers have served around the world. At present some 37,000 Cuban doctors and nurses work in 77 countries. They generate foreign exchange of some US$8 billion a year – Cuba’s biggest export.
In addition, Cuba provides both free medical treatment and free medical training to thousands of foreigners every year. As a direct initiative of Fidel, in 1999, the Latin American School of Medicine was inaugurated in Havana to provide foreign students from poor countries with six years of training and accommodation completely free. In 2004, Cuba teamed up with Venezuela to provide free eye surgery to people in three dozen countries under Operation Miracle. In the first ten years more than 3m people had their sight restored.
Prohibiting even trade in medicines, the US embargo led Castro to prioritise investments in medical sciences. Cuba now owns around 900 patents and markets pharmaceutical products and vaccines in 40 countries, generating yearly revenues of US$300m, with the potential for massive expansion. The sector produces more than 70% of the medicines consumed by its 11m people. The entire industry is state owned, research programmes respond to the needs of the population, and all surpluses are reinvested into the sector. Without state planning and investment it is unlikely that this could have been achieved in a poor country.
In the mid-1980s Cuba developed the world’s first Meningitis B vaccine. Today, it leads in oncology drugs. In 2012 Cuba patented the first therapeutic cancer vaccine. The US embargo forces Cuba to source medicines, medical devices and radiology products outside the United States, incurring additional transportation costs.
Sharing economy
Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, told me in 2009:

A great example provided by Cuba is that in its poverty it has known how to share, with all its international programmes. Cuba is the country with the greatest cooperation in relation to its gross domestic product and it is an example for all of us. This doesn’t mean that Cuba doesn’t have big problems, but it is also certain that it is impossible to judge the success or failure of the Cuban model without considering the US blockade, a blockade that has lasted for 50 years. Ecuador wouldn’t survive for five months with that blockade.

Let’s consider the embargo: the Cuban government estimates that it has cost the island US$753.69 billion. Their annual report to the United Nations provides a detailed account of that calculation. That’s a lot for a country whose average GDP between 1970 and 2014 has been calculated at US$31.7 billion.
Yes, Castro presided over mistakes and errors in Cuba’s planned economy. Yes, there is bureaucracy, low productivity, liquidity crisis, debt and numerous other problems – but where aren’t there? Castro pointed to these weaknesses in his own speeches to the Cuban people. But President Correa is right – to objectively judge Castro’s legacy, Cuban development and contemporary reforms today, we cannot pretend that the US blockade – which remains today despite rapprochement – has not shaped the Cuban economy.
Castro almost saw out 11 US presidents since 1959, but he never lived to see the end of the US embargo. New challenges face Cuba, with economic reforms underway and the restoration of relations with the United States. The next step, including for me personally, is to assess the Cuban revolution’s resilience in this post-Castro, Donald Trump era. End of article.
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More Resources

• Draft constitution of Cuba

https://mronline.org/2018/09/28/introduction-to-the-analysis-of-the-draft-constitution-of-the-republic-during-the-popular-consultation/

• How Cubans live as long as Americans at a tenth of the cost

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/cuba-health/508859/

• Cuba hailed as world champion on protecting Children’s rights

https://www.facebook.com/telesurenglish/videos/1313058045504261/

• As the world burns, Cuba is number 1 for sustainable development - WWF

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/As-World-Burns-Cuba-Number-1-For-Sustainable-Development-WWF-20161027-0018.html

• 20 reasons to support Cuba

http://www.invent-the-future.org/2013/07/20-reasons-to-support-cuba/

• Obama’s Cuba visit illustrates US arrogance

https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/24/obamas-cuba-visit-illustrates-us-arrogance/

• Cuba’s low level of internet use:; not a policy of restricting the flow of information

https://gowans.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/cubas-low-level-of-internet-use-not-a-policy-of-restricting-the-flow-of-information/

• Cuba expands internet service

http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2017-09-28/etecsa-expande-servicio-nauta-hogar-a-otras-provincias-de-cuba-28-09-2017-00-09-26

• Cuba gets fibre-optic link to Venezuela

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-cable/cuba-gets-fiber-optic-cable-link-to-venezuela-idUSTRE7193DP20110210

• Cuba will expand internet to all households in the country by end of year

http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/3147347/0/cuba-internet-todos-hogares-diciembre/

• A failed system’s failed promises

https://gowans.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/a-failed-systems-failed-promises/

• Cuba and the real battle for democracy

https://gowans.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/cuba-and-the-real-battle-for-democracy/

• Over 300,000 Cubans pay tribute to Fidel

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Over-250000-Cubans-Join-Procession-to-Pay-Tribute-to-Fidel-20171204-0019.html

• Before the Hurricane - Cuba’s response to hurricanes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npkeecCErQc

• Lessons from Cuba’s incarceration model

https://www.guernicamag.com/hyatt-bass-lessons-from-cubas-incarceration-model/

• The truth about unions in Cuba

https://www.workers.org/2015/01/22/truth-unions-cuba/#.WFk3ufArJdh

• Cuba before the Revolution

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/09/cuban-revolution-fidel-castro-casinos-batista/

• Cuba begins clinical trials to delay progress of Alzheimers

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cuba-Begins-Clinical-Trials-to-Delay-Progress-of-Alzheimers-20170515-0013.html

• Cuba develops new skin cancer medicine

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cuba-Develops-New-Skin-Cancer-Medicine-20160909-0007.html

• Cuba's internationalist solidarity recognized once again - doctors awarded the Dr. Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health from WHO

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cubas-Internationalist-Solidarity-Recognized-Once-Again-Doctors-Awarded-by-WHO-20170524-0024.html

• Cuba's agricultural revolution: Vanguard for global food system

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cubas-Agricultural-Revolution-Vanguard-for-Global-Food-System-20161129-0010.html

• Cuba’s sustainable agro-ecological model could save the world

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Cubas-Sustainable-Agro-Ecological-Model-Could-Save-the-World-20161013-0023.html

• Cuba’s Socialist biotechnology sector a global leader

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cubas-Socialist-Biotechnology-Sector-a-Global-Leader-20160517-0041.html

• CIA motto: proudly overthrowing the Cuban government since 1959

https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/15/cia-motto-proudly-overthrowing-the-cuban-government-since-1959/

• The Claim Game: Cuba and the United States

https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/21/cuba-and-the-united-states-the-claims-game/

• Cuba: reflections on life and death

https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/25/cuba-reflections-on-life-and-death/

• Cuba one year later: what has changed?

https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/18/cuba-one-year-later-what-has-changed/

• Cuba: 55 years of ideas and truth

https://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/10/cuba-55-years-of-ideas-and-truth/

• Human rights hypocrisy: US criticizes Cuba

https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/18/human-rights-hypocrisy-us-criticizes-cuba/

• Cuba - showing how to defeat racism

https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/cuba-showing-how-defeat-racism

• Cuba’s Green Revolution

https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/cubas-green-revolution-%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94-achieving-sustainability

• The Latin American school of Medicine today: ELAM

https://monthlyreview.org/2011/03/01/the-latin-american-school-of-medicine-today/

• Cuba pushes its “Medical Diplomacy”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8059287.stm

• Community Drills Part of Cuba’s Top-Notch Disaster Response System

http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/05/community-drills-part-of-cubas-top-notch-disaster-response-system/

• Cuba’s cancer vaccine CIMAvax is finally coming to US

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/cubas-lung-cancer-vaccine/505778/

• The Cuban Revolution: defying Imperialism from its backyard

https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/09/the-cuban-revolution-defying-imperialism-from-its-backyard/

• Castro speech at May Day rally in Revolution Square, Havana, May 1 2003

https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/2003/05/01.htm

The Cuban Blockade

• Twitter storm launched against US blockade of Cuba

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Twitter-Storm-Launched-Against-US-Blockade-of-Cuba-20171031-0015.html

• US, Israel, only states to vote against lifting blockade on Cuba (excellent infographic included)

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Israel-Only-States-to-Vote-Against-Lifting-Blockade-on-Cuba-20171101-0005.html

• The necessity of ending the economic blockade against Cuba - speech

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/11/08/the-necessity-of-ending-the-economic-commercial-and-financial-blockade-against-cuba/

• Using fear to strike at Cuban tourism

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/11/06/using-fear-to-strike-at-cuban-tourism/

• US political class looks away as Cuba details impact of U.S. blockade

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/10/27/u-s-political-class-looks-away-as-cuba-details-impact-of-u-s-blockade/

• The unrelenting economic war on Cuba (Excellent article)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/28/the-unrelenting-economic-war-on-cuba/

• US-Cuba relations: what would constitute normal?

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