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And:
Happiest and Healthiest of New Years!!!!
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Hanson on Mueller: Mueller creating more problems than he is solving? (See 1 below.)
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Investment themes for 2019:
2018 was an upbeat year and the market did not respond accordingly.
2019 should be a more subdued year because the tax cut stimulus should lessen, corporate earnings should grow but by half as much or even less, Democrats will take over The House and they will do everything they can to make 2020 a bad pre-election year so Trump will have tough re-election sledding and trade issues will continue to bug the market because we are engaged in a Cold War with China not just a trade one.
America's GDP should fall back to 3% or a bit less and the social media stocks, which have been power houses, will come under increased Congressional scrutiny and face a growing possibility of regulation. The impact these companies are having and their unregulated status is bothersome and when Zuckerberg lied to Congress that did not help. Congress lies all the time but they are less prone to be tolerant when they are lied to because it gives them a chance to display righteous indignation and to showboat on TV through unctuous hearings. (Think Spartacus.)
Inflation should remain subdued and action by The Fed should be less of a negative factor though they will continue to withdraw liquidity.
Markets climb walls of worry so, since there is no recession currently in view, 2019 could be a better market year than 2018.
We always have curve balls and predictable un-predictable's to deal with but the correction and lower multiples go a long way toward providing some cushion.
If the dollar drops it could be a plus for raw material stocks, including energy, along with value and yield stocks.
Time will tell..
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Israeli Start Ups! (See 2 below.)
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1)Mueller investigation stirring up more trouble than it's finding
By Victor Davis Hanson
After 19 months, special counsel
Cohen allegedly negotiated a nondisclosure agreement concerning a supposed past Trump liaison with porn star Stormy Daniels . Yet no one alleges that Trump used cash from his 2016 campaign account to buy Daniels' silence.
Instead, the accusation is that Cohen and Trump used Trump's own money, but they did not report the payout as a "contribution" to his campaign. But Trump likely would have paid off Daniels anyway to protect his marriage, family and reputation, regardless of whether he was running for office.
If you take media-sensationalized sex out of the equation, Trump, like any other American, has the right to pay anyone whatever he wishes to keep quiet about past embarrassing behavior, whether that be secretly gulping down too many Big Macs or cheating on the golf course.
Apparently, Cohen was leveraged by Mueller's team to plead guilty to a crime that was likely not a crime. And in circular fashion, his confession was used as proof that the non-crime was actually a crime after all -- and thus could serve as yet another way to find something on Trump.
Retired Gen. Michael Flynn , Trump's former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to giving false testimony about a "crime" that also apparently did not exist.
It was not a crime for Flynn to talk with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition. Yet the Russian diplomat was being surveilled by American intelligence, perhaps to reverse-target Flynn by getting something on him on tape.
The secret taping was green-lighted by a federal court in the midst of the hysteria created by the Christopher Steele dossier paid for in part by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Then, Flynn's name was illegally leaked to the press.
The FBI sent two investigators to interview Flynn, apparently on the prompt of acting Attorney General Sally Yates , a holdover from the Barack Obama administration. Yates, who served as the interim attorney general for 10 days, apparently came up with the ludicrous idea that Flynn might have violated the Logan Act. That law is an ossified 219-year-old statute about meeting foreign officials that has resulted in only two indictments over the years.
Next, former FBI Director James Comey counted on the Trump administration's inexperience and broke normal protocol by sending investigators to interrogate Flynn directly without bothering with the usual administration intermediaries. Comey's deputy director, Andrew McCabe , misled Flynn into assuming that the interview would be a friendly chat among "allies." Flynn was told he would not need a lawyer.
Flynn complied, rightly assuming that it was not a crime for a transition administration official to talk with a foreign ambassador. He also likely was not fully aware that the FBI's intent was to have him say something that would contradict the FBI's secret transcripts of his talks with the Russian ambassador.
It gets worse. The FBI agents, who presumably had transcripts from Flynn's talks with the Russian ambassador to compare to Flynn's interview answers, expressed the belief that Flynn did not seem as if he was lying to them. Yet that conclusion was apparently overturned at some point by the FBI. To this day, the only real evidence that Flynn lied is his confession -- and apparently the second thoughts of the FBI investigators, who reinterpreted their initial impressions in a much later official report.
Mueller seemingly wanted Flynn to testify about something that might prove that the Trump administration colluded with Russia . When that did not work, Flynn was later leveraged to "confess" to having lied to FBI investigators, who originally thought that he had not lied about a "crime" of talking about foreign policy with a Russian ambassador -- an act that in itself was not illegal.
Once Flynn confessed that he lied, his legal costs diminished. His son was not indicted by Mueller. He was promised little or no jail time by cooperating with the investigation.
One of Flynn's investigators was subsequently fired FBI agent Peter Strzok , who had exchanged texts with his paramour, fellow FBI official Lisa Page , in which they shared their disdain for Trump and their desire to keep him from ascending to the presidency.
Add it all up, and we have reached the point where the Mueller team may be constructing more crimes than it is finding.
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2)Best Of 2018: 15 ‘Superhero’ Israeli Startups Changing The World
By Diana Rabba
Israel’s leading role as a breakthrough technological innovator spans across fields ranging from medical research and cyber security to automotive and robotics.
2)Best Of 2018: 15 ‘Superhero’ Israeli Startups Changing The World
By Diana Rabba
Israel’s leading role as a breakthrough technological innovator spans across fields ranging from medical research and cyber security to automotive and robotics.
The country’s know-how and entrepreneurial spirit also extend to social challenges and generally improving quality of life. In 2018, a number of Israeli initiatives have had a deep impact on the lives of people around the globe, and are on track to change the world with innovative solutions and services.
As 2018 comes to a close, NoCamels highlights fifteen startups and companies that have contributed to making the world a better place this year and will likely be doing so for years to come. Here they are, in no particular order.
IceCure: Destroying cancerous tumors with ice
Caesarea-based IceCure Medical, a biomedical company, developed groundbreaking technology that turns cancerous tumors into ice balls.
Founded in 2006, IceCure has advanced the concept of cryoablation, a process which uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy diseased tissue used by medical experts for years, to develop technology that could be applied to cancer tumors. The treatment involves streaming liquid nitrogen in a closed circuit and then freezing the tumor with a unique needle developed by IceCure. The company says the healthy tissue remains untouched.
A screenshot from an IceCure video showing its cryoablation technology.
IceCure touts the procedures as non-invasive, safe, and a viable alternative to surgery. The system had specifically been developed to treat fibroadenomas, which are the most common type of benign breast tumors, typically seen in young women aged 15 to 30.
Earlier this year, IceCure reported great success rates following clinical trials across the US. Using the IceSense3 system, IceCure said doctors performed the procedures on 146 patients affected by early-stage breast cancer, a majority (103) of whom were under monitoring for almost two years. The company reported that out of the 146 women, one saw the cancer recur.
IceCure announced this summer that it will begin commercial treatments at Elisha Hospital, a private hospital in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, on patients using the ProSense system, one of its two cryoablation systems.
SpaceIL: Taking Israel to the moon
Israeli startup SpaceIL was founded in 2010 by engineers Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Weintraub, as part of a Google Lunar X international challenge to build, launch and land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon, a competition that never actually had a winner nor a given out prize.
The startup has vowed to launch Israel’s first spacecraft to the moon, a mission that is now planned for February 2019. The upcoming launch would make Israel the fourth country in history — after the US, Russia, and China — to complete a controlled lunar landing. Israel’s moon-bound spacecraft, dubbed “Beresheet” (the Hebrew word for Genesis), will carry a digital time capsule loaded with Hebrew songs, stories, Israel’s Declaration of Independence and national anthem as a special gift for future generations.
SpaceIL. Photo by Yoav Weiss
Earlier this year, SpaceIL signed an agreement with NASA for its upcoming spacecraft launch mission. As part of the agreement, NASA will fit the spacecraft with a reflector, allow SpaceIL to receive communication services with the spacecraft through its antenna network, install a magnetometer device on the spacecraft that will conduct measurements of the magnetic field at the landing site and photograph the spacecraft as it lands from its Lunar Research Satellite (LRO).
Healthy.io: Turning Smartphones Into Medical Devices
Healthy.io aims to turn smartphones into sophisticated diagnostics devices capable of analyzing urine samples.
Earlier this year, Healthy.io announced a partnership with the US National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and Geisinger, one of the largest health services organizations in America, for a clinical trial using the smartphone-enabled home urinalysis device for chronic kidney disease (CKD) among patients with high blood pressure.
HealthyIO analysis, via healthy.io
The Israeli startup’s app will enable users to conduct a urinalysis test at home and securely share results with their clinicians to monitor the presence of albumin, which indicates kidney damage. Part of the clinical trial will be to “examine the effect of mailed, Healthy.io smartphone urinalysis kits (Dip.io test) to improve albuminuria screening compliance and detection of albuminuria,” the company said in a statement.
Healthy.io CEO Yonatan Adiri said the company was “proud to pioneer its ‘adherence as a service’ platform with such forward-looking institutions as Geisinger and the National Kidney Foundation, adding that its “mission is to use advanced computer vision and patient-centric design to let clinicians empower their patients at scale without additional cost or effort.” He went on, “We lean on the spread of digital technology and efficient logistics to offer on-demand testing delivered directly to the home. With a smartphone in your pocket, the point of care becomes wherever you are.”
Adiri has said before, “If you can text, you can test.”
IsraAID: Bringing disaster relief and aid to those in need
Israeli-based humanitarian aid agency IsraAid has become synonymous with a rapid response to humanitarian crises. Its medical teams, search and rescue units, post-trauma experts, community specialists and other professionals have led international responses to disasters and civil strife in a total of 49 countries to date since it was founded in 2001.
Nepal earthquake. Credit – Mickey Noam-Alon.
In October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has presented IsraAID with the German Federal Government’s Integration Prize, in recognition of the Israeli humanitarian NGO’s Brückenbau (“Bridge Building”) project, an initiative which provides psychological support in Arabic to refugees in Germany. The annual Integration Award is the German federal government’s highest honor in that category.
IsraAID has played a significant role in rescue and response for large-scale disasters including the 2015 Nepal earthquake, 2013 Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. They deployed teams to the Philippines during its recent typhoon and the Indian state of Kerala during the disastrous flooding. IsraAID has also deployed a team to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in October following the devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 1,400 people.
SodaStream: Taking on plastic waste
SodaStream, the Israeli developer of at-home carbonated beverage units for sparkling water, has built a solid reputation as an environmentally conscious drinks developer, advocating strongly for the discontinuation of single-use plastic bottles within the industry and promoting reusable ones. The company has said “the use of one soda bottle in Israel is an alternative to 3,833 bottles and disposable cans per family over three years.”
As part of its strong environment-focused approach, SodaStream launched an initiative in October to rid the waters of plastic, only nine percent of which is recycled. The company built the “Holy Turtle” – a massive contraption designed to clean plastic waste from open waters as part of an ambitious clean-up operation led by SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum. The device was piloted in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Roatán, Honduras.
SodaStream deploys the ‘Holy Turtle,’ a 1,000 ft. contraption designed to clean plastic pollution from the ocean waters in Honduras. Photo via PRNewsfoto/SodaStream International Ltd.
SodaStream was acquired this year by beverage giant Pepsi for an estimated $3.2 billion. Birnbaum most recently announced the planned opening of a manufacturing plant in Gaza set to be operated by a sub-contractor.
Softwheel: Reinventing the wheel
Reinventing the wheel – again – this year is Tel Aviv-based Softwheel. The company has developed an in-wheel suspension technology for the mobility sector. Its innovative suspension systems are engineered for use in wheelchairs, bicycles, and vehicles.
In wheelchairs, the system reduces pain for riders and increases their comfort to significantly improve their daily lives. And in cars, Softwheel’s systems enable the fusion of the suspension, e-motor, steering, and brakes into the vehicle’s wheels to provide a significant reduction in volume, weight, and energy consumption of vehicle platforms for EV, hybrid, and autonomous vehicles.
Softwheel recently signed a $4.5 million deal with the US Department of Veteran Affairs to provide wheels for 2,000 wheelchairs over three years. The wheel tech is said to reduce pain for wheelchair riders and increase comfort. In August, the company also announced that it signed a new R&D and manufacturing partnership with Japanese automotive and transportation equipment maker Musashi Seimitsu Industry, marking its entry into the automotive industry.
Softwheel wheelchair. Courtesy
The latest deal with the Japanese multinational comes on the heels of an April strategic cooperation agreement with Linamar, the second largest Canadian manufacturer of auto parts. The latter has expressed the intention to set up a production line for SoftWheel products in North America.
SoftWheel was founded in 2011 by Gilad Wolf, a farmer who broke his pelvis four years prior and found himself in a wheelchair for three weeks.
Wolf told NoCamels in 2014: “When I was wheeled to the synagogue one day, I was in agony when we went over some Ackerstein stones (a traditional stone used for sidewalks in Israel, which has many grooves). I work with tractors and I noticed that tractors have a simple and ingenious airbag-based shock-absorbing construct. So I put two and two together: I built a wheelchair and combined a similar construct for each wheel. It made the wheelchair experience completely different. I took the idea and started to roll with it.”
Eviation Aircraft: Giving regional transport a lift
Eviation Aircraft, founded in 2016, is an Israel-based aerospace company that seeks to transform the regional travel industry through an innovative, all-electric, 9-seat aircraft – in other words, aerial rideshares, or “Uber meets Tesla in the sky.”
The thinking is that while Uber’s plans to combat inner-city traffic congestion with the flying taxi concept is groundbreaking, where does this leave families, entrepreneurs, executives, and others who seek an efficient, cost-effective way of traveling between cities without having to deal with traffic in a busy airport or getting on a large, full aircraft for the short journey? And can this be booked via a smartphone app?
The company has been building its battery-powered aircraft, dubbed the “Alice,” since mid-2017 and will start test runs in 2019.
eviation aircraft, via eviation
CEO Omer Bar-Yohay says Eviation Aircraft services will make regional trips cheaper than a train ticket and better for the environment.
In April, the company was selected as the winner of the transportation category of Fast Company’s 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards.
Aidoc: Disrupting radiology with AI-powered algorithms
Tel Aviv-based Aidoc is an artificial intelligence-powered software that analyzes medical images to identify the presence of diseases. It assists radiologists in expediting problem-spot detection through specific parameters such as neuron-concentration, fluid-flow, and bone-density in the brain, spine, abdomen, and chest.
The company says its solutions help to significantly improve the radiology workflow and enhance the diagnostic process, thus saving lives. The company’s software can be applied to full-body imaging, and outside the US, has been commercialized since December 2017.
From left to right: Aidoc founders Michael Braginsky, Elad Walach, and Guy Reiner. Courtesy
Aidoc was founded in 2016 by Guy Reiner, Elad Walach, and Michael Braginsky, graduates of the elite Israeli military program Talpiot, which trains recruits with advanced abilities in science and technology to become research and development experts.
Aidoc was named among TIME Magazine’s 50 “genius companies” in 2018.
Flytrex: Taking drone deliveries mainstream
Another company reaching new heights in 2018 is Flytrex. Founded in 2013 by Yariv Bash, best known as the co-founder of SpaceIL, and Amir Regev, Israeli drone logistics startup Flytrex provides autonomous on-demand urban drone delivery services. Not an actual drone maker, but rather a developer of the software that controls them, Flytrex is prepared to deliver everything from sushi and beers to retail goods in as little as four and a half minutes, the company says.
The Flytrex drone carries its delivery across the sky. Courtesy
Flytrex has launched its delivery services in Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland, in collaboration with AHA, one of the country’s largest e-commerce companies, expanding its delivery routes from one to 13. The company was also selected in May to participate in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aimed at expanding testing of commercial drone operations through partnerships with private entities. Pairing up with North Carolina’s Department of Transportation, this allowed them to take on the challenge to establish the first drone-based delivery service in the United States.
Most recently in September, the company teamed up with King’s Walk Golf Course outside Grand Forks, North Dakota, and EASE Drones, the US drone services provider, to launch the first golf course delivery system in the US.
Hippo Insurance: Making insurance less of a headache
Founded in January 2015 by Israeli-born Assaf Wand and Eyal Navon, Israeli Insurtech startup Hippo Insurance allows homeowners to get a quote and purchase home insurance online in a minute or less, the company says, and obtain smarter coverage for household goods like appliances and consumer electronics.
The company earned particular attention this year as Northern California was affected by devastating and quickly spreading wildfires, which claimed the lives of over 90 people. As the catastrophe unfolded, Hippo contacted its customers in active wildfire areas to offer help from booking hotels to covering temporary living expenses. It was also able to preemptively file claims for more than 80 percent of its impacted customers before they even reached out to the company themselves. Forbes also reported that the startup, using maps and artificial intelligence, “canvased” all 14 million home in California to develop a specific fire zone footprint against the wildfire,” and “wanted to ensure its customers had enough time to evacuate.”
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