SNOOPY, if you're chasing dividend yield something like NYSE: BTI could be solid.
Printable View
SNOOPY, if you're chasing dividend yield something like NYSE: BTI could be solid.
British American Tobacco? I think most people have ethical lines below which they would never invest. I think BTI is below mine. But crikey, a yield of 9.57%! I can see the temptation for others. If I bought that, I might even be able to afford to start smoking myself!
SNOOPY
Hi SNOOPY, doesn't your analysis make investing in SPK more like investing in a bond?
Yes I do think of Spark shares as kind of like a bond, mainly because I don't own any bonds! But show me a mainstream bond that is not in distress (not talking about Synlait SML010 here) that is paying a coupon rate of 9%? And with a potential capital gain upside to boot? If you can find one, I will happily diversify into that. Otherwise I am very happy with my Spark shares.
SNOOPY
There are two aspects to this.
One is that by purchasing shares on the secondary market, there is no impact to the companies financials whatsoever. This is a transaction between a buyer and seller, so by buying shares your capital doesn't go to BTI, it goes to whoever sold you the shares. Therefore, your investment into BTI would no impact on the number of cigarettes/vape products consumed at all. It's hard to call to that transaction immoral.
Secondly, it's questionable to whether any individual tobacco companies are acting immorally since that market would exist with or without them. We live in a free country (ha) where you're free to consume certain unhealthy products. I doubt very many people would say that an investment in Coca Cola is immoral because of the consequences to your body from drinking the stuff. People understand Coke is bad for you but consume it anyway because it brings them happiness. Same goes for cigarettes in my opinion.
Disclaimer: I hold no shares in any tobacco companies.
Interesting little tidbit storylet about 'Spark Health' promoting AI via the 'Nabla Co-pilot' to our general practice and specialist doctors.
http://www.spark.co.nz/online/large-...ing-healthcare
How does Nabla AI work?
Nabla captures the audio from your microphone and transcribes it live using a HIPAA-compliant speech-to-text system. Nabla then generates a note from this transcript using a combination of in-house natural language algorithms and Large Language Model (LLMs).
Nabla appears to be private equity funded US start up, which after the early 2024 funding round had a projected market value of $180m. Nabla's AI started to be developed on ChatGPT, but has now shifted to open source LLMs. For customers, Nabla Co-pilot has a single plan: Pro at $US119.00 per month.
Freeing up medical professional from spending so much time on writing case notes sounds like a really good idea. It sounds good for Nabla, having Spark promoting them. But I am not sure how Spark itself makes money from this. Anyone care to speculate? Perhaps the Nabla AI is installed in one of Spark's datacentres?
SNOOPY
If you follow the thread above the connection is SPK pays a good dividend and if you are chasing a good dividend then maybe have a look at a tobacco company.
When mobile phones were first introduced, there were several sceptics suggesting that mobile phone companies were the 1980s equivalent of tobacco companies of the 1950s. They suggested that the radio waves from mobile phones were going to lead to neurological problems and/or male sterility problems down the track. The phone companies generally replied "not proven" (rather than a definitive not so.)