Do January Returns Bode Well for 2013?

As we close out the first trading month of 2013 on a positive note, some investors may be wondering about the January Effect when it comes to the equity markets.  The January Effect is simply looking at how the rest of the year performs vs. how the actual month of January performed.  Not very scientific but nonetheless the data according to this Barron's article shows the DOW has better shot of staying in the positive than if January was a down month.

It goes with out saying, we would not make investment decisions based upon this data point alone.

January Barometer

Dow in January is…	% of time Dow rises from February through December	Average Dow gain from February through December
Up	73%	7.68%
Down	52%	3.78%
All years in sample	66%	6.27%

Best Values in Public Colleges, 2013

Kiplinger is out with it's top 100 college value choices.  According to Kiplinger their criteria is based upon tangible measures of academic quality—including test scores and four-year graduation rates—as well as affordability.

Top 5 list is below along with a couple of highlights.  The University of North Carolina takes the top spot for the 12th time.  Go Heels!

• Despite a slowly improving economy, the landscape for public colleges continues to look bleak. Having endured cuts in state appropriations over the past several years, colleges have bumped up class sizes and trimmed administrative staff. Meanwhile, the average sticker price—$17,860 for in-staters and $30,911 for out-of-staters, according to the College Board—climbed 4.2% and 4.1%, respectively, over last year, once again outpacing inflation and family incomes. An even bigger cause for concern: The net price (sticker price minus financial aid) for in-state students has risen for the third year in a row.
• The outlook for new grads isn’t much better. Many recent graduates are swapping mortarboards for part-time or low-paying jobs, while tackling student debt. "The notion that college is a ticket to a good, middle-class life of prosperity is perceived to be less true today," says Richard Vedder, of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. Still, a typical college grad can expect to make about $20,000 more per year than the typical high school graduate.

Top 5 Ranked Colleges according to value

1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2. University of Virginia
3. University of Florida
4. College of William and Mary
5. University of Maryland, College Park

Speedier Internet Rivals Push Past Cable

How much internet speed does one really need?  Well the need may or may not be there, but the demand is surely growing.  According to the graph below by RVA Market Research courtesy of this WSJ article, high speed internet users are scheduled to reach over 10M by 2016.

This could mean costly upgrades for current carriers who have been using huge amounts of free cash flow to buy back stock and increase dividends.  This would also mean pressure on earnings but would the investment be worth it?  Some costs would likely be passed along to consumers who are already looking for low costs alternatives to the current major cable subscribers.

This is likely a very long trend that would have to play itself out, but one worth keeping your eye on.

Everything Is Marketing: How Growth Hackers Redefine The Game

For those of you small business owners out there struggling without a lofty ad budget, review this piece in Fast Company that discusses the new ways of marketing.

• At the core, marketing is lead generation. Ads drive awareness…to drive sales. PR and publicity drive attention…to drive sales. Social media drives communication…to drive sales. Marketing, too many people forget, is not an end unto itself. It is simply getting customers. And by the transitive property, anything that gets customers is marketing.
• innovations were possible because they came from startups, businesses typically averse to traditional marketing for two reasons: 1) they don't have the money and 2) they don't have the experience. Because they didn't have access to the "luxuries" of an ad budget or the burden of proper training, they were able to be creative enough to broaden the definition of marketing to immense advantage. Meanwhile, companies with the ability to spend millions a year (or month), chug along with poorer results and poorer ROI.

Although the article may be light on specifics, if may give you a spark to think of something different that you can do as far as getting the word out about your own product or business.