Fitbug - Analysing Their Global Potential:

I need to begin by expressing that I do own shares in Fitbug, so I obviously have a vested interest in the share price of the company rising. Nevertheless, I will still try to be vaguely balanced in what I write:

Fitbug has certainly taken the stock market by storm over the past couple of months, but even better than this, Fitbug seems to have won the hearts of consumers too, with the Fitbug Orb having been sold out in many major UK and US stores (TESCO, Argos and Walmart, just to name a few).

Now, I need to be honest and admit that I have not personally found these retailers listed below, but that the information was taken from a poster on LSE named as "AntonyFree", who has some really excellent posts on the Fitbug forum, which I highly recommend. 

Retailers:

America:

Fry`s online  http://goo.gl/fmABgU 

Walmart  http://goo.gl/yc7MgD 

Target America  http://goo.gl/Hjimmz 

Radioshack  http://goo.gl/GTZknN 

MacMall  http://goo.gl/ljJ9qs 

Amazon USA  http://goo.gl/GWvxR8

Australia:

Knewone  http://goo.gl/KYRM2W 

Myer  http://goo.gl/MxKLMA 

Beezers Australian  http://goo.gl/cjEUll

Neol Leming  http://goo.gl/2sYD9v

Mighty Ape  http://goo.gl/Jr9Lvb 

Play tech  http://goo.gl/OyEidK

Macfixit Apple Accessories  http://goo.gl/WE2EqA

Camera Paradise  http://goo.gl/k0yyRF

Brazil:

Amazon http://goo.gl/lFYy57

Canada:

Amazon Canada  http://goo.gl/aFaMUW

China:

Apple store  http://goo.gl/yX1Ql8

France:

Amazon France  http://goo.gl/MfYNjq

Rueducommerce http://goo.gl/m4udhX

Germany:

Migros  http://goo.gl/QAknOV

http://goo.gl/aq5wSk

Amazon Germany  http://goo.gl/hhwHDJ

Italy:

Amazon Italy  http://goo.gl/lEALUa

Hong Kong:

http://goo.gl/ofmHX6

Apple store  http://goo.gl/QQnvu3 

Revoit  http://goo.gl/OeEdzg

Japan:

Apple store  http://goo.gl/Uukao1

Apple store  http://goo.gl/i2JLNj 

Apple store  http://goo.gl/3Ctpt3

Amazon co.jp http://goo.gl/16oPEO

Yahoo Japan shopping http://goo.gl/AeeYQv

Korea:

http://goo.gl/0Z1mm7

http://goo.gl/KSldak

http://goo.gl/Wx2pp7

http://goo.gl/tTDbr9

http://goo.gl/v0ZPma

Poledit  http://goo.gl/mm8B89

Middle East:

http://goo.gl/KfxdgY

Netherlands:

Apple Cover  http://goo.gl/97QtM3

tns online  http://goo.gl/4CsFcu

New Zealand:

Apple store http://goo.gl/QQnvu3

http://goo.gl/AZwXEs

Russia:

Mvideo  http://goo.gl/C2dE69

Walmart Russia  http://goo.gl/85uq1C

http://goo.gl/ay09Pu

http://goo.gl/Jo7Alk

http://goo.gl/55CiFQ

http://goo.gl/fi8Abd

Online Shop svsmaster.ru  http://goo.gl/zydbhy

Moscow  

http://goo.gl/5gYXfM 

http://goo.gl/iG5BsG

Fitbug Russia  http://goo.gl/EWm1Wp

South Africa:

Clicks Group  http://goo.gl/J32YCl

Amazon Spain  http://goo.gl/AM8XYD

Rocket shop  http://goo.gl/fc1Dlv

Dis- chem.  http://goo.gl/dttKA1

Switzerland:

Migros  http://goo.gl/QAknOV

Taiwan:

Taotao http://goo.gl/FojHma

Price .com http://goo.gl/z8c1Ma

US Direct http://goo.gl/pQZi0z

UAE - Dubai:

DealsHabibi.com  http://goo.gl/ZhiHIe

UK:

Amazon  http://goo.gl/ufQzCs 

Target UK  http://goo.gl/Uh42no 

Ideal World/also Sainsburys  http://goo.gl/m0Cgcu 

Homebase   http://goo.gl/ZfY1GS 

Argos   http://goo.gl/O5bqJ7 

Tesco  http://goo.gl/f8329i 

Generic Online:

Freemans.com  http://goo.gl/3ML0nj

SmartWatchNet  http://goo.gl/8kk6QA

O2 shop  http://goo.gl/cTxAB3

Handbag.com  http://goo.gl/cA1JpC

Analysis:

This is almost certainly not all of the retailers globally, but it's certainly a lot and we can use these along with a few assumptions in order to generate some more possible figures to give us an idea of potential sales revenue figures:

There are 60 Retailers on the list above (counting Amazon stores as one massive retailer and the same for Apple Online Stores).

Now, to get an idea of how many units are being ordered by these companies we have to make do with some glorified, but reasoned guesswork:

• Walmart for example have 3400 Supercenters in the USA - these are the large ones where Fitbug Orbs are likely to be sold.

• Let us be staggeringly pessimistic and assume that each store only orders 5 Fitbug Orbs.

• This gives a total order figure from Walmart alone of 17,000 units.

I'm not going to continue down this route, as I desperately need to wrap Christmas presents, but I would encourage people to do some basic maths and draw their own conclusions from these global retailers (large and small).


All the best,

The Masked Stock Trader

Turmoil In The Oil Market.

I've never traded oil futures before, in part because the high inherent volatility of the commodity combined with a leveraged environment would throw me significantly out of my current comfort zone, but also because I would rather learn to trade on sector of the global markets really well rather than many to a mediocre level.


Nevertheless, falling oil prices have hit the AIM substantially knocking back the majority of junior oil explorers/producers, so I have to keep a vague eye on the market even if I don't directly trade it.


In my opinion the major falls we've seen in oil prices ca be split down into a few major points:


1. OPEC Vs Shale

- Personally, I feel that one of the major reasons why OPEC has decided to maintain its current supply levels is due to a desire to try and drown-out the US Shale Oil producers from the market and allow the status quo within the OPEC to continue undisturbed by foreign input and disruption.


- Moreover, intra-OPEC there seems to be certain parties who don't want their dominance with the OPEC to fall, with Saudi Arabia being possibly the best example of this. From the outside looking in, it would seem that they don't want to relinquish their supply into the hands of other members of the OPEC and will therefore hold at their current levels for the meantime.


2. Global Growth

- The next fundamental point is that global growth levels over the past quarter really haven't been anything to write home about, especially in the major growth markets, with China growing 7.3% in its third quarter - its slowest growth rate in five years. This coupled with China being potentially described as a "statistically generous" country with regards to its economic figures, means that the downwards pressure we've seen regarding oil prices was on a balance of probabilities going to be reasonably likely.


3. Reducing Sanctions on Oil Producing Nations

- Another key point that we shouldn't ignore for indication for the future direction of the oil price, is Iraq, Iran and Libya, all of whom have said they intend on increasing their production levels by 2015. This does in part depend on the sanctions currently in place on Iran over its nuclear program, but I certainly would not be surprised by more downwards momentum in the oil markets assuming a global state of ceteris paribus.


All the best,

The Masked Stock Trader

Petition to regulate Share Tippers/Financial Journalists

There is a danger that this brief post may well be a little ironic, as it's regarding share tippers however as I don't believe that I "promote" stocks and shares in the FCA sense of encouraging investment decisions, but merely discuss popular stocks and shares, I feel that I can side step this one.


Nevertheless, I would encourage people to have a good look at this petition and sign it if you believe in its message:


https://www.change.org/p/the-financial-conduct-authority-enforce-or-change-the-ruling-under-section-21-of-the-financial-services-markets-act-to-ensure-that-bloggers-share-tipsters-and-financial-journalists-such-as-found-on-shareprophets-com-have-to-be-fully-registered-on-the?recruiter=47444308&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive%20via%20@UKChange


All the best,

The Masked Stock Trader