What’s happening:
A Raytheon-Boeing 727; courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
United Tech & Raytheon are bunking up
United Technologies, has agreed to a Merger with Raytheon Co, creating a new company worth about $121 billion US, in what would be the aerospace & defense industries largest merger.
This deal would reshape the marketplace in a big way; United Technologies primarily provides commercial aircraft manufacturers with electronics & communication equipment, whereas Raytheon primarily supplies the U.S. Government with military equipment, i.e. missile tech, cyber-security.
What this means
Currently the defense contract industry is booming, much of it driven by the Trump administrations higher spending in U.S. Defense. However, it’s projected to slow down.
This merger will allow Raytheon to expand into commercial aviation, and United Technologies to reduce exposure to commercial aerospace clients, amid projections that international trade protectionism will suppress economic growth in the industry.
Furthermore, the deal will put pressure on both General Electric, one of United Technologies main competitors, to seek scale, and push other defense contractors, like Boeing or Lockheed Martin, to expand their commercial businesses.
How will it affect me?
If you invest in Defense Contractors, congratulations, you’ll do well this year. If you’re a freelancer, it means there will be lots of cyber security contracts available. Capitalize.
What’s new in town?
Koho launches a Premium Account Scheme
Koho - a Toronto FinTech company who raised $8 million last year from a Desmaris-backed investment fund - has built upon their free re-loadable visa-card service targeted at young millenials tired of traditional banking by offering a $9 / month premium account scheme. This new Premium account offers 2% cashback on restaurants, groceries and transportation, offers free foreign exchange transactions, and one free foreign ATM withdrawal per month.
Is it worth it?
If you frequently preform foreign transactions with your Koho card, it may be worth considering the upgrade - but Stack, their main competitor in Canadian re-loadable pre-paid cards (ain’t that a mouthful), offers this on their free account. Furthermore, if you are doing many FX transactions, it may be fruitful instead to consider a TransferWise account.
The second group this premium account would suit are those who spend more than $450 per month on any of the cashback categories, as the bonus 2% would make the premium account pay for itself.
Otherwise, stick with the standard account. It’s a great alternative to traditional banking, and will suit most users purposes.