I briefly discussed credit ratings in my S&P write-up. It’s a great business, we all know that. But it’s also tied to issuance volume, which is highly cyclical and difficult to predict. Investors tend to dislike that kind of volatility even in deeply moated companies. Perhaps in an effort to smooth its earnings profile through […]
S&P, Moody’s, and the limits of AI disruption: Part 2
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [MCO] Moody's Corp | Comments Disabled[scuttlebit] Wix at the AI Crossroads
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [WIX] Wix.com | Comments DisabledWhat are scuttlebits? Wix was conceived to democratize the creation of websites at a time when doing so required access to developers. Its Wix Editor presented a drag-and-drop interface that let anyone arrange design elements into a professional-looking web presence, no code required. Over time, Wix expanded beyond well site design, adding capabilities – accepting […]
S&P, Moody’s, and the limits of AI disruption: Part 1
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [SPGI] S&P Global | Comments Disabled(Part 1 concerns S&P Global; Part 2 will be published next week and discusses Moody’s) Moody’s and S&P Global have this year traded as a blended average of two different businesses: a deeply moated ratings franchise that is largely insulated from AI disruption, and a data and analytics operation that is squarely in its crosshairs. […]
Veeva, AI, and regulated workflows
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [VEEV] Veeva Systems | Comments DisabledI recently recorded my annual podcast interview with @LibertyRPF, where I offer some thoughts on the market and the business of newsletters. Enjoy! (Spotify, Apple, YouTube) A lot has happend since I wrote up Veeva nearly five years ago. At the time, Veeva, the dominant biopharma CRM, remained locked in a bitter dispute with IQVIA, […]
How Pool stacks up to Watsco
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [POOL] Pool Corp. | Comments DisabledMBI and I recorded an episode of Never Sell recently (Big Tech Earnings) (Spotify, Apple, YouTube, RSS feed) Having just written up Watsco, I thought I’d offer some thoughts on revisit Pool Corp. given the similarities between the two businesses. Pool Corp is a distributor of pool supplies and equipment. It sources ~200k SKUs from 2k+ suppliers and sells them to […]
Remitly looks interesting
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [RELY] Remitly | Comments DisabledIt may not be entirely fair to think of Wise as “cross-border transfers for yuppies”, but that’s just where my mind goes. After all, the company grew out of a scheme devised by two white collar professionals – Taavet Hinrikus, a Skype employee in Estonia, and Kristo Kaarmann, a Deloitte consultant in the UK. Taavet […]
[KNSL] Kinsale is built for speed
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [KNSL] Kinsale | Comments DisabledOne way to carve up the investment universe is between standardized products, like index funds, that run on fixed rules and scale effortlessly, and bespoke ones, like distressed credit or esoteric ABS, where the risk is niche and full of weird wrinkles. In the world of property & casualty insurance, “admitted” lines are more like […]
thoughts on Watsco
Posted By scuttleblurb On In [WSO] Watsco | Comments DisabledWhile investors continue to be enthralled by AI and all things Tech, I can’t help but think there are easier opportunities being overlooked in boring industries that don’t make the business news or saturate our Twitter feeds. So you’ll have noticed that in recent months, I’ve been looking beyond the white hot center, concentrating my […]