Image: Diverse Stock Photos (Flickr)

Analyst Believes Tech and Innovation are Severely Oversold

 

On Tuesday, it was reported that Cathie Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF experienced the highest amount of inflows since May of 2021. The fund returned over 10% during the week despite the Fed raising rates and guiding expectations toward continued increases. Does this mark the turnaround in the performance of innovative companies? JP Morgan’s Marko Kolanovic seems to think so.

According to a research note published on Thursday (March 17) from Marko
Kolanovic, the market segment is cheap. The thoughts of the Global Head of Macro Quantitative and Derivatives Research for the investment bank are particularly noteworthy as his recent track record in related sectors is excellent. For example, Kolanovic warned
investors in 2021 about the bubble in innovation stocks, the potential for a commodity supercycle, and even geopolitical risks in 2022. These are eye-opening credentials, considering the AARK Innovation Fund is now down more than 50%, oil is up over 50%, and an unexpected war broke out in Europe.

Here’s Why

As we step into Spring 2022, we find many innovative tech stocks that had rocketed during the pandemic, now well off their highs – some more than 80% below their peak. Stocks that investors were tripping over themselves to buy as they marched higher in late 2020 and 2021 while their businesses caught investor attention are sitting at levels Kolanovic sees as an early turning point.

In his note he indicates that he believes the sell-off overshot to the downside and a turning point will come, even though risks remain in the stock market in general, “Markets may anticipate these turning points sooner, and we think it is time to start adding risk in many areas that overshot on the downside year-to-date,” Kolanovic said.

 

What’s Included in Forecast

JPM’s quant and derivatives head believes some of the collapse has been liquidity-driven. Beaten down sectors like biotech, emerging markets, innovation, and tech were all mentioned as providing opportunities. He pointed out that many of these market segments are trading at “all-time valuation lows (including previous recessions and periods of much higher interest rates).”

Kolanovic expects “great opportunities in high-beta, beaten-down segments that include innovation, tech, biotech, emerging markets.” While investors have been focusing their concerns on inflation and a potential recession, he doesn’t believe the US is headed toward a recession – though he’s not ruling out one in Europe or a further slowdown in the US.

The caution here is that investors need to do their homework, look at professional research and know
the company.  Investors shouldn’t indiscriminately buy beaten-down tech stocks, he cautioned, as “not all assets are cheap” amid rising interest rates and a slowing US economy. “While the commodity supercycle will persist,” the strategist said, “the correction in bubble sectors is now likely finished, and geopolitical risk will likely start abating in a few weeks’ time (while a comprehensive resolution may take a few months),” Kolanovic wrote.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading

Cathie Wood is Even More Positive About Innovative Companies with Global Turmoil

Cathie Wood Thinks if There is No Blood in Your Street, You Should Move

Michael Burry’s Public Investments in SPACs, Prisons, and Electric Hogs

IRA Investments and Small Cap Stocks

 

Sources

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-17/jpmorgan-s-kolanovic-says-market-bubble-corrections-almost-done-l0va2ffi

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/17/jpmorgans-kolanovic-says-its-time-for-investors-to-start-adding-back-risk-.html

 

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  Image: Diverse Stock Photos (Flickr)

Analyst Believes Tech and Innovation are Severely Oversold

 

On Tuesday, it was reported that Cathie Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF experienced the highest amount of inflows since May of 2021. The fund returned over 10% during the week despite the Fed raising rates and guiding expectations toward continued increases. Does this mark the turnaround in the performance of innovative companies? JP Morgan’s Marko Kolanovic seems to think so.

According to a research note published on Thursday (March 17) from Marko
Kolanovic, the market segment is cheap. The thoughts of the Global Head of Macro Quantitative and Derivatives Research for the investment bank are particularly noteworthy as his recent track record in related sectors is excellent. For example, Kolanovic warned
investors in 2021 about the bubble in innovation stocks, the potential for a commodity supercycle, and even geopolitical risks in 2022. These are eye-opening credentials, considering the AARK Innovation Fund is now down more than 50%, oil is up over 50%, and an unexpected war broke out in Europe.

Here’s Why

As we step into Spring 2022, we find many innovative tech stocks that had rocketed during the pandemic, now well off their highs – some more than 80% below their peak. Stocks that investors were tripping over themselves to buy as they marched higher in late 2020 and 2021 while their businesses caught investor attention are sitting at levels Kolanovic sees as an early turning point.

In his note he indicates that he believes the sell-off overshot to the downside and a turning point will come, even though risks remain in the stock market in general, “Markets may anticipate these turning points sooner, and we think it is time to start adding risk in many areas that overshot on the downside year-to-date,” Kolanovic said.

 

What’s Included in Forecast

JPM’s quant and derivatives head believes some of the collapse has been liquidity-driven. Beaten down sectors like biotech, emerging markets, innovation, and tech were all mentioned as providing opportunities. He pointed out that many of these market segments are trading at “all-time valuation lows (including previous recessions and periods of much higher interest rates).”

Kolanovic expects “great opportunities in high-beta, beaten-down segments that include innovation, tech, biotech, emerging markets.” While investors have been focusing their concerns on inflation and a potential recession, he doesn’t believe the US is headed toward a recession – though he’s not ruling out one in Europe or a further slowdown in the US.

The caution here is that investors need to do their homework, look at professional research and know
the company.  Investors shouldn’t indiscriminately buy beaten-down tech stocks, he cautioned, as “not all assets are cheap” amid rising interest rates and a slowing US economy. “While the commodity supercycle will persist,” the strategist said, “the correction in bubble sectors is now likely finished, and geopolitical risk will likely start abating in a few weeks’ time (while a comprehensive resolution may take a few months),” Kolanovic wrote.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading

Cathie Wood is Even More Positive About Innovative Companies with Global Turmoil

Cathie Wood Thinks if There is No Blood in Your Street, You Should Move

Michael Burry’s Public Investments in SPACs, Prisons, and Electric Hogs

IRA Investments and Small Cap Stocks

 

Sources

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-17/jpmorgan-s-kolanovic-says-market-bubble-corrections-almost-done-l0va2ffi

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/17/jpmorgans-kolanovic-says-its-time-for-investors-to-start-adding-back-risk-.html

 

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When it Comes to AI, Can We Ditch the Datasets?

 

Adam Zewe | MIT
News Office

 

Huge amounts of data are needed to train machine-learning models to perform image classification tasks, such as identifying damage in satellite photos following a natural disaster. However, these data are not always easy to come by. Datasets may cost millions of dollars to generate, if usable data exist in the first place, and even the best datasets often contain biases that negatively impact a model’s performance.

To circumvent some of the problems presented by datasets, MIT researchers developed a method for training a machine learning model that, rather than using a dataset, uses a special type of machine-learning model to generate extremely realistic synthetic data that can train another model for downstream vision tasks.

Their results show that a contrastive representation learning model trained using only these synthetic data is able to learn visual representations that rival or even outperform those learned from real data.

This special machine-learning model, known as a generative model, requires far less memory to store or share than a dataset. Using synthetic data also has the potential to sidestep some concerns around privacy and usage rights that limit how some real data can be distributed. A generative model could also be edited to remove certain attributes, like race or gender, which could address some biases that exist in traditional datasets.

“We knew that this method should eventually work; we just needed to wait for these generative models to get better and better. But we were especially pleased when we showed that this method sometimes does even better than the real thing,” says Ali Jahanian, a research scientist in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and lead author of the paper.

Jahanian wrote the paper with CSAIL grad students Xavier Puig and Yonglong Tian, and senior author Phillip Isola, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The research will be presented at the International Conference on Learning Representations.

 

Generating Synthetic Data

Once a generative model has been trained on real data, it can generate synthetic data that are so realistic they are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. The training process involves showing the generative model millions of images that contain objects in a particular class (like cars or cats), and then it learns what a car or cat looks like so it can generate similar objects.

Essentially by flipping a switch, researchers can use a pre-trained generative model to output a steady stream of unique, realistic images that are based on those in the model’s training dataset, Jahanian says.

But generative models are even more useful because they learn how to transform the underlying data on which they are trained, he says. If the model is trained on images of cars, it can “imagine” how a car would look in different situations — situations it did not see during training — and then output images that show the car in unique poses, colors, or sizes.

Having multiple views of the same image is important for a technique called contrastive learning, where a machine-learning model is shown many unlabeled images to learn which pairs are similar or different.

The researchers connected a pretrained generative model to a contrastive learning model in a way that allowed the two models to work together automatically. The contrastive learner could tell the generative model to produce different views of an object, and then learn to identify that object from multiple angles, Jahanian explains.

“This was like connecting two building blocks. Because the generative model can give us different views of the same thing, it can help the contrastive method to learn better representations,” he says.

 

Even Better Than the Real Thing

The researchers compared their method to several other image classification models that were trained using real data and found that their method performed as well, and sometimes better, than the other models.

One advantage of using a generative model is that it can, in theory, create an infinite number of samples. So, the researchers also studied how the number of samples influenced the model’s performance. They found that, in some instances, generating larger numbers of unique samples led to additional improvements.

“The cool thing about these generative models is that someone else trained them for you. You can find them in online repositories, so everyone can use them. And you don’t need to intervene in the model to get good representations,” Jahanian says.

But he cautions that there are some limitations to using generative models. In some cases, these models can reveal source data, which can pose privacy risks, and they could amplify biases in the datasets they are trained on if they aren’t properly audited.

He and his collaborators plan to address those limitations in future work. Another area they want to explore is using this technique to generate corner cases that could improve machine learning models. Corner cases often can’t be learned from real data. For instance, if researchers are training a computer vision model for a self-driving car, real data wouldn’t contain examples of a dog and his owner running down a highway, so the model would never learn what to do in this situation. Generating that corner case data synthetically could improve the performance of machine learning models in some high-stakes situations.

The researchers also want to continue improving generative models so they can compose images that are even more sophisticated, he says.

 

This research was supported, in part, by the MIT-IBM
Watson AI Lab, the United States Air Force Research Laboratory, and the United
States Air Force Artificial Intelligence Accelerator.

Suggested Reading

Preparing Investors for the Artificial Intelligence Revolution

The Most Effective Artificial Intelligence Will Never Exist in the Cloud

EV Inflation Outpacing Traditional Cars

Nancy Pelosi’s Coattail Investors Get an Update

 

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  Image: Genoa Roofs, Shocking Wonder (Flickr)

Publisher Embraces Technology that Allows Travel Experiences Regardless of Global Restrictions

 

Vacation travelers have been kept home the past few years, and from the looks of things, if a world tour was on their bucket list, they are likely to remain frustrated. However, technology has an answer to this frustration, and a 22-year-old company has worked with its partner to develop a solution. The company is a subscription-based travel company that sees the opportunity to embrace technology, as they did with the internet back when founded – and in a way that allows them to broaden customer base and serve current users better.

Travelzoo (TZOO) is a US based company that has published “real-world” travel and entertainment packages since 1998. Since then, management has successfully grown and navigated through a changing world. The most recent addition to their travel deals is metaverse based, this puts them at the forefront of metaverse-travel access.

The announcement by the company yesterday (March 14) that they have created a metaverse division and plan to launch Travelzoo META in a few weeks adds an entirely new and exciting dimension to its business. Travelzoo
META is a paid subscription-based service that provides members with exclusive access to metaverse travel and unique metaverse vacation experiences.

 

 

About the Meta Division

Travelzoo has been building a team of Metaverse travel experience scouts in collaboration with a business partner. Similar to its other travel services, TZOO doesn’t plan to produce or organize the experiences, they will be the conduit that allows subscribers access to unique travel experiences.

“We believe that Metaverse spaces and its future destinations provide completely new and different experiences that consumers want to see,” said Holger Bartel, Global CEO of Travelzoo. “The Metaverse is disruptive and abundant with lucrative opportunities for innovative companies that are willing to be the first movers.”

The build-out of the new business is expected to be funded from annual membership fees to be paid by Travelzoo META members.

About Travelzoo

Travelzoo boasts 30 million members throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America, as well as millions of website users. It has provided for decades what it considers the best travel, entertainment, and local deals available from various companies that advertise through Travelzoo’s service. Most of the company’s revenue is derived from North America.

One of the four research analysts that publishes reports on TZOO is Mike
Kupinski, Director of Research – Senior Research Analyst, Media & Entertainment at Noble Capital Markets. Mr. Kupinski’s most
recent report on Travelzoo was published on March 4, 2022. The report titled Why
Investors Should Not Look In The Rearview Mirror includes a price target and earnings numbers, along with the analyst’s current rating.

The new META division is in addition to the ongoing real-world travel and entertainment deals the company publishes. 

Travelzoo plans to host an investor conference call at the end of April to provide an update.

Take-Away

As new technology becomes available, successful companies pivot, adapt, and find creative ways to recognize where they can add more value. While businesses are looking for ways to enhance their own businesses with new technology, the late April conference call planned by Travelzoo is on my to-do list. 

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading

Why the Metaverse Matters

What Does this Blockchain Crypto-Asset Stuff Have to do With the Metaverse?

Why Web3 is a True Collaboration Between Young and Old

Workcations Add a New class of Traveller (Aug 2020)

 

Sources

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/travelzoo-creates-metaverse-division-301501692.html

https://channelchek.vercel.app/companies/TZOO/research-report/3364

 

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Image Credit: Genies 

Why Robert Iger is Putting His Money and Time in the Metaverse

 

Robert Iger is arguably Disney’s (DIS) greatest leader since Walt Disney himself. While Iger is in his 70s after his contract with Disney ran out in 2021, no one expected him to remain idle. It was rumored the former Disney CEO was lobbying President Biden to be named U.S. Ambassador to China. People can now stop speculating because he has set a new direction, and the path makes as much sense as it is surprising. For the next scene of his life, the former “Mouse House” boss is backing a start-up that celebrities and others use to create avatars for the metaverse.

Mr. Iger was chief executive of Disney from 2005 until early 2020 and continued as executive chairman after that until late last year. According to a press release from Genies, a private start-up, Iger invested in and joined Genies’ board of directors. This is one of five small tech companies he has recently backed.

 

About Genies

A 29-year-old by the name of Akash Nigam founded Genies in 2017. The company, which has been able to raise $100 million in funding, has developed tools for making virtual characters, clothing, and accessories backed by nonfungible tokens. Genies now has over 100 employees. NFTs are considered an integral part of what many see as the next iteration of the web, an expected technological growth dubbed Web 3.0 or Web3.

Genies now operates an NFT marketplace where users can sell their primary creations or secondary collection for a 5% fee. In 2021 the company signed partnerships with Universal Music Group NV and Warner Music Group Corp. Artists associated with these labels include Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and Cardi B.

“We believe that avatar ecosystems are going to be the mobile apps of web3. An ambitious vision calls for rare mindshare and I can’t think of a better creative and product thinker than Bob to collaborate with in bringing this all to reality,” said Akash Nigam, CEO of Genies.

 

Iger’s Thoughts

The 71-year-old Mr. Iger, met with about two dozen start-up executives before making his investments and becoming one of five directors on Genies’ board, according to the Wall Street Journal. “I’ve always been drawn to the intersection between technology and art, and Genies provides unique and compelling opportunities to harness the power of that combination to enable new forms of creativity, expression and communication,” said Bob Iger. “After spending the last few months getting to know Akash and learning more about Genies, I am very excited about his vision and how it will be fulfilled, and I look forward to working with the entire team.”

Iger said he was attracted to Genies because he believes the ability for anyone to easily create and sell virtual goods be key to the metaverse business and alter the entertainment industry. The freedom to use existing intellectual property, for example, customizing a Mickey Mouse avatar, was particularly appealing.

NFTs are a lucrative component of the metaverse. They serve to certify ownership of unique virtual goods through blockchain technology. While still in its infancy, NFT’s popularity has grown over the past year. Collectors are buying characters, clothing for the characters, artwork, and more; often using cryptocurrency. There has been massive growth in the business, $17 billion in 2021 up from less than $100 million in 2020.

Take-Away

The metaverse has gotten a huge vote of confidence from the addition of a former CEO of an entertainment giant. Growth in the business and ancillary businesses is almost beyond comparison.

As with most new technologies, growth related to “web3” is almost assured. But discovering which companies have better products, better plans, comfortable financial positions, and superior marketing is not assured. This is why Channelchek is a sponsor of NobleCon18. This is the 18th year Noble Capital Markets will be inspiring investors of all levels with the latest innovations, actionable ideas, and live presentations from the companies’ CEOs. There is no cost for investors, here
is more information.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading

Walmart’s Metaverse, NFT, and Crypto Plans

Attend Paris Hilton’s Metaverse NYE Party

COLA Increases for Seniors in 2022 Will Likely Top $68 Billion

NFTs Explained, What They Are, Why the Excitement

Sources

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bob-iger-former-disney-ceo-invests-and-joins-genies-board-of-directors-301501537.html

https://variety.com/exec/robert-iger/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-walt-disney-robert-iger-heads-to-the-metaverse-11647259201

https://nonfungible.com/news/corporate/yearly-nft-market-report-2021

 

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Monday, March 14, 2022

Information Services (III)
Post Call Commentary and Updated Models

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 70 of the top 100 enterprises in the world, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Well Positioned for 2022. ISG posted record performance in 2021 and is well positioned for a continuation into 2022, in our view. The ISG NEXT model is growing revenue, clients, and higher profitability and trends continue to move in ISG’s favor as companies adapt to all things digital.

Russia/Ukraine.  While ISG does not have operations or people in Ukraine, its clients do and depending on how the situation unfolds, it could become a headwind. We note revenue from operations in Germany accounted for 55% of overall European business. If the conflict begins to widen, it could begin to have a greater impact on ISG …

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Friday, March 11, 2022

Information Services (III)
Strong 4Q Gives ISG More Momentum for 2022

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 70 of the top 100 enterprises in the world, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Record 4Q21 Results: ISG’s management announced record 4Q revenue of $69.6 million, up 5% year-over-year and exceeding consensus of $67.96 million and our estimate of $68 million. Net Income was reported at $3.6 million, or an EPS of $0.07, versus $1.4 million or $0.03 last year. Adjusted EPS was at $0.10 and adjusted EBITDA was at a record $10.2 million (11% over last year). We forecasted Net Income to be $4.3 million, EPS of $0.08, adjusted EPS of $0.11, and adjusted EBITDA of $9.3 million. Consensus estimate for EPS was $0.06.

Continuing Momentum into 2022: The quarter highlights the continuation of the momentum across ISG’s markets.  Enterprises are powering through the headwinds of the ongoing pandemic, inflation, and supply chain disruptions through ramping up investments into the digital and cloud technologies, both being specialties of ISG …

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Friday, March 11, 2022

Comtech (CMTL)
Near-Term Bumps Obscuring Long-term Potential

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of products, systems, and services for advanced communications solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Telecommunications Transmission, Mobile Data Communications, and RF Microwave Amplifiers. The Telecommunications Transmission segment provides satellite earth station equipment and systems, over-the-horizon microwave systems, and forward error correction technology, which are used in various commercial and government applications, including backhaul of wireless and cellular traffic, broadcasting (including HDTV), IP-based communications traffic, long distance telephony, and secure defense applications. The Mobile Data Communications segment provides mobile satellite transceivers, and computers and satellite earth station network gateways and associated installation, training, and maintenance services; supplies and operates satellite packet data networks, including arranging and providing satellite capacity; and offers microsatellites and related components. The RF Microwave Amplifiers segment designs, develops, manufactures, and markets satellite earth station traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTA) and broadband amplifiers. Its amplifiers are used in broadcast and broadband satellite communication; defense applications, such as telecommunications systems and electronic warfare systems; and commercial applications comprising oncology treatment systems, as well as to amplify signals carrying voice, video, or data for air-to-satellite-to-ground communications. The company serves satellite systems integrators, wireless and other communication service providers, broadcasters, defense contractors, military, governments, and oil companies. Comtech markets its products through independent representatives and value-added resellers. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

2Q22 Results. Revenue of $120.4 million, down 25.4% y-o-y, but was up 3.1% sequentially. We had forecast $125 million, same as consensus. Adjusted EBITDA was $9.8 million, or an 8.1% margin, down from $18.1 million and 11.2% last year. GAAP loss was $23.5 million, or $0.89 per share versus net income of $4.2 million, or $0.17 per share in 2Q21. Non GAAP EPS loss was $0.03 versus Non-GAAP EPS of $0.27 last year. We had forecast a GAAP loss of $3.5 million, or $0.13 per share.

More Bumps in the Road.  The operating environment continues to be challenging. The latest is Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. Not only is this pushing out a major troposcatter contract with the Ukraine, but other governments around the world are moving to purchasing war making equipment rather than Comtech’s products …

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Comtech Partners with RapidSOS to Provide Life-Saving Data to 911 Agencies Across the United States

Research, News, and Market Data on Comtech Telecommunications

 

New partnership and “RapidSOS Ready” certification leverage Comtech as a source of critical, integrated data for 911 first responders via its proprietary SmartResponse™ situational awareness platform

MELVILLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar. 7, 2022– 
March 7, 2022— 
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL), a leading global provider of next-generation 911 emergency systems and secure wireless communications technologies, announced today, that its new SmartResponse™ solution is now designated “RapidSOS Ready.” RapidSOS is an emergency-response data platform that securely links life-saving data directly to emergency service providers and first responders.

SmartResponse™ is a cloud-native solution that combines the most accurate location data with caller information, live traffic, weather, routing, POIs, and DOT camera feeds in a single Common Operating Picture (“COP”). It is GIS data agnostic and can interface with any call handling or CAD platform through its use of flexible application programming interfaces (“APIs”). SmartResponse™ is designed to meet the demanding needs of today’s emergency communication centers, empowering communication professionals with accurate information, resulting in improved response times and performance.

“Together, 
Comtech and RapidSOS will provide innovative solutions that emergency responders need to address events in real time, with actionable data that significantly improves situational awareness, and therefore decision-making and subsequent outcomes,” said  Michael Porcelain, CEO and President of 
Comtech. “In addition, more broadly, linking the SmartResponse™ and RapidSOS platforms will enable public safety agencies to seamlessly coordinate emergency responses and share critical data across jurisdictional boundaries. I’m excited by Comtech’s opportunity to contribute further to emergency response and public safety as a trusted partner.”

“Comtech’s SmartResponse™ solution is a life-saving technology and innovation to public safety,” said  Jessica Reed, Vice President of 
Strategy and Global Partners at RapidSOS. “Working to transform emergency response requires a partnership approach, and we continuously look for industry leaders such as 
Comtech to join the RapidSOS partner network. With this partnership, 
Comtech joins the RapidSOS Ready community of GovTech and public safety software companies that deliver their product offerings through the RapidSOS Portal to unify public safety tools and resources onto one platform. Today, telecommunicators in the 
U.S. and around the world often are forced to rely just on the limited information a 911 phone call can provide, resulting in dispatching delays and first responders arriving on the scene under-informed. However, the Comtech SmartResponse™ integration will provide 911 caller location information quickly, consistently, and accurately. Along with caller location data, the Comtech SmartResponse™ solution is providing additional data, e.g., crash notification information provided by SiriusXM Connected Vehicles and video footage, to better equip call takers and first responders.”

The RapidSOS and Comtech’s SmartResponse™ solution will become available to Emergency Communication Centers with access to SmartResponse™ in 2022. To learn more about how your ECC can leverage this solution, visit: https://www.comtech.com/emergency-suite.html

About RapidSOS

In partnership with public safety, RapidSOS has created the world’s first emergency response data platform that securely links life-saving data from over 400 million connected devices directly to emergency services and first responders. Through its platform, RapidSOS provides intelligent data that supports over 5,200 plus Emergency Communications Centers worldwide, across 165 million emergency calls annually. Together with its RapidSOS Ready emergency community, RapidSOS is supporting first responders in saving millions of lives annually. To learn more about RapidSOS technology that’s creating life-saving connections, visit www.rapidsos.com.

About Comtech

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. is a leading global provider of next-generation 911 emergency systems and secure wireless communications technologies to commercial and government customers around the world. Headquartered in 
Melville, New York and with a passion for customer success, 
Comtech designs, produces and markets advanced and secure wireless solutions. For more information, please visit www.comtechtel.com (and preview its new web site at www.comtech.com).

Certain information in this press release contains statements that are forward-looking in nature and involve certain significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from such forward-looking information. The Company’s 
Securities and Exchange Commission filings identify many such risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by the risks and uncertainties described in such 
Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Comtech Trusted Location:
800-557-5869
ent-sales@comtechtel.com

Comtech Investor Relations:
631-962-7005
investors@comtech.com

Source: 
Comtech Telecommunications Corp.

How to Help Humans Understand Robots

 

Adam Zewe | MIT
News Office

Scientists who study human-robot interaction often focus on understanding human intentions from a robot’s perspective, so the robot learns to cooperate with people more effectively. But human-robot interaction is a two-way street, and the human also needs to learn how the robot behaves.

Thanks to decades of cognitive science and educational psychology research, scientists have a pretty good handle on how humans learn new concepts. So, researchers at MIT and Harvard University collaborated to apply well-established theories of human concept learning to challenges in human-robot interaction.

They examined past studies that focused on humans trying to teach robots new behaviors. The researchers identified opportunities where these studies could have incorporated elements from two complementary cognitive science theories into their methodologies. They used examples from these works to show how the theories can help humans form conceptual models of robots more quickly, accurately, and flexibly, which could improve their understanding of a robot’s behavior.

Humans who build more accurate mental models of a robot are often better collaborators, which is especially important when humans and robots work together in high-stakes situations like manufacturing and health care, says Serena Booth, a graduate student in the Interactive Robotics Group of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and lead author of the paper.

“Whether or not we try to help people build conceptual models of robots, they will build them anyway. And those conceptual models could be wrong. This can put people in serious danger. It is important that we use everything we can to give that person the best mental model they can build,” says Booth.

Booth and her advisor, Julie Shah, an MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics and the director of the Interactive Robotics Group, co-authored this paper in collaboration with researchers from Harvard. Elena Glassman ’08, MNG ’11, PhD ’16, an assistant professor of computer science at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, with expertise in theories of learning and human-computer interaction, was the primary advisor on the project. Harvard co-authors also include graduate student Sanjana Sharma and research assistant Sarah Chung. The research will be presented at the IEEE Conference on Human-Robot Interaction.

 

A Theoretical Approach

The researchers analyzed 35 research papers on human-robot teaching using two key theories. The “analogical transfer theory” suggests that humans learn by analogy. When a human interacts with a new domain or concept, they implicitly look for something familiar they can use to understand the new entity.

The “variation theory of learning” argues that strategic variation can reveal concepts that might be difficult for a person to discern otherwise. It suggests that humans go through a four-step process when they interact with a new concept: repetition, contrast, generalization, and variation.

While many research papers incorporated partial elements of one theory, this was most likely due to happenstance, Booth says. Had the researchers consulted these theories at the outset of their work, they may have been able to design more effective experiments.

For instance, when teaching humans to interact with a robot, researchers often show people many examples of the robot performing the same task. But for people to build an accurate mental model of that robot, variation theory suggests that they need to see an array of examples of the robot performing the task in different environments, and they also need to see it make mistakes.

“It is very rare in the human-robot interaction literature because it is counterintuitive, but people also need to see negative examples to understand what the robot is not,” Booth says.

These cognitive science theories could also improve physical robot design. If a robotic arm resembles a human arm but moves in ways that are different from human motion, people will struggle to build accurate mental models of the robot, Booth explains. As suggested by analogical transfer theory, because people map what they know — a human arm — to the robotic arm, if the movement doesn’t match, people can be confused and have difficulty learning to interact with the robot.

 

Enhancing Explanations

Booth and her collaborators also studied how theories of human-concept learning could improve the explanations that seek to help people build trust in unfamiliar, new robots.

“In explainability, we have a really big problem of confirmation bias. There are not usually standards around what an explanation is and how a person should use it. As researchers, we often design an explanation method, it looks good to us, and we ship it,” she says.

Instead, they suggest that researchers use theories from human concept learning to think about how people will use explanations, which are often generated by robots to clearly communicate the policies they use to make decisions. By providing a curriculum that helps the user understand what an explanation method means and when to use it, but also where it does not apply, they will develop a stronger understanding of a robot’s behavior, Booth says.

Based on their analysis, they make a number of recommendations about how research on human-robot teaching can be improved. For one, they suggest that researchers incorporate analogical transfer theory by guiding people to make appropriate comparisons when they learn to work with a new robot. Providing guidance can ensure that people use fitting analogies so they aren’t surprised or confused by the robot’s actions, Booth says.

They also suggest that including positive and negative examples of robot behavior, and exposing users to how strategic variations of parameters in a robot’s “policy” affect its behavior, eventually across strategically varied environments, can help humans learn better and faster. The robot’s policy is a mathematical function that assigns probabilities to each action the robot can take.

“We’ve been running user studies for years, but we’ve been shooting from the hip in terms of our own intuition as far as what would or would not be helpful to show the human. The next step would be to be more rigorous about grounding this work in theories of human cognition,” Glassman says.

Now that this initial literature review using cognitive science theories is complete, Booth plans to test their recommendations by rebuilding some of the experiments she studied and seeing if the theories actually improve human learning.

 

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Comtech Partners with RapidSOS to Provide Life-Saving Data to 911 Agencies Across the United States

Research, News, and Market Data on Comtech Telecommunications

 

New partnership and “RapidSOS Ready” certification leverage Comtech as a source of critical, integrated data for 911 first responders via its proprietary SmartResponse™ situational awareness platform

MELVILLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar. 7, 2022– 
March 7, 2022— 
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL), a leading global provider of next-generation 911 emergency systems and secure wireless communications technologies, announced today, that its new SmartResponse™ solution is now designated “RapidSOS Ready.” RapidSOS is an emergency-response data platform that securely links life-saving data directly to emergency service providers and first responders.

SmartResponse™ is a cloud-native solution that combines the most accurate location data with caller information, live traffic, weather, routing, POIs, and DOT camera feeds in a single Common Operating Picture (“COP”). It is GIS data agnostic and can interface with any call handling or CAD platform through its use of flexible application programming interfaces (“APIs”). SmartResponse™ is designed to meet the demanding needs of today’s emergency communication centers, empowering communication professionals with accurate information, resulting in improved response times and performance.

“Together, 
Comtech and RapidSOS will provide innovative solutions that emergency responders need to address events in real time, with actionable data that significantly improves situational awareness, and therefore decision-making and subsequent outcomes,” said  Michael Porcelain, CEO and President of 
Comtech. “In addition, more broadly, linking the SmartResponse™ and RapidSOS platforms will enable public safety agencies to seamlessly coordinate emergency responses and share critical data across jurisdictional boundaries. I’m excited by Comtech’s opportunity to contribute further to emergency response and public safety as a trusted partner.”

“Comtech’s SmartResponse™ solution is a life-saving technology and innovation to public safety,” said  Jessica Reed, Vice President of 
Strategy and Global Partners at RapidSOS. “Working to transform emergency response requires a partnership approach, and we continuously look for industry leaders such as 
Comtech to join the RapidSOS partner network. With this partnership, 
Comtech joins the RapidSOS Ready community of GovTech and public safety software companies that deliver their product offerings through the RapidSOS Portal to unify public safety tools and resources onto one platform. Today, telecommunicators in the 
U.S. and around the world often are forced to rely just on the limited information a 911 phone call can provide, resulting in dispatching delays and first responders arriving on the scene under-informed. However, the Comtech SmartResponse™ integration will provide 911 caller location information quickly, consistently, and accurately. Along with caller location data, the Comtech SmartResponse™ solution is providing additional data, e.g., crash notification information provided by SiriusXM Connected Vehicles and video footage, to better equip call takers and first responders.”

The RapidSOS and Comtech’s SmartResponse™ solution will become available to Emergency Communication Centers with access to SmartResponse™ in 2022. To learn more about how your ECC can leverage this solution, visit: https://www.comtech.com/emergency-suite.html

About RapidSOS

In partnership with public safety, RapidSOS has created the world’s first emergency response data platform that securely links life-saving data from over 400 million connected devices directly to emergency services and first responders. Through its platform, RapidSOS provides intelligent data that supports over 5,200 plus Emergency Communications Centers worldwide, across 165 million emergency calls annually. Together with its RapidSOS Ready emergency community, RapidSOS is supporting first responders in saving millions of lives annually. To learn more about RapidSOS technology that’s creating life-saving connections, visit www.rapidsos.com.

About Comtech

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. is a leading global provider of next-generation 911 emergency systems and secure wireless communications technologies to commercial and government customers around the world. Headquartered in 
Melville, New York and with a passion for customer success, 
Comtech designs, produces and markets advanced and secure wireless solutions. For more information, please visit www.comtechtel.com (and preview its new web site at www.comtech.com).

Certain information in this press release contains statements that are forward-looking in nature and involve certain significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from such forward-looking information. The Company’s 
Securities and Exchange Commission filings identify many such risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by the risks and uncertainties described in such 
Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Comtech Trusted Location:
800-557-5869
ent-sales@comtechtel.com

Comtech Investor Relations:
631-962-7005
investors@comtech.com

Source: 
Comtech Telecommunications Corp.

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Intelligence, Information Warfare, Cyber Warfare, Electronic Warfare – What they are and How Russia is Using them in Ukraine

 

Though the Russian military has shown some interesting technological innovations in recent years, it’s not clear whether it has mastered this new way of conducting warfare.  information warfare, cyber warfare, and the interactions and integration electronic warfare capabilities.

Russia has one of the most capable and technological militaries on the planet. They have advanced intelligence, information warfare, cyber warfare and electronic warfare capabilities.

 

This article was republished with permission from  The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of  Justin Pelletier, Professor of Practice of Computing Security, Rochester Institute of Technology.

 

Russia has used these technologies in recent years in combat in Syria and the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, and is using them in its current invasion of Ukraine. The terms “intelligence,” “information,” “cyber” and “electronic” denote distinct but overlapping fields. As a cybersecurity professor of practice, I can explain what they are and how Russia is using them in Ukraine.

Intelligence and Counterintelligence in the Information Age

The role of intelligence is to gain insight about the enemy’s activity. The role of counterintelligence is to blind the enemy or distort his view. Automation in intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance – key functions of intelligence in warfare – has become a common practice for modern militaries.

Intelligence services collect vast amounts of data from open-source intelligence (OSINT) – information collected from news, social media and other publicly available sources – as well as secret sources, and use artificial intelligence to analyze the information.

Russia has reportedly progressed faster at integrating AI in intelligence systems than the U.S. expected them to. It’s impossible to know what information Russia has collected, but its access to OSINT, spy satellites, operatives in Ukraine, powerful computers and experienced analysts makes it likely that Russia has extensive intelligence about Ukraine’s military and political situation.

Information and Disinformation

Information warfare is the battle waged in the news media and on social media to bolster popular support; persuade and induce the sympathy of potential allies; and simultaneously spread confusion, uncertainty and distrust in the enemy’s population.

Russia has used and is likely to continue to use cyber operations to subvert the Ukrainian government. For example, in the weeks leading up to both the 2014 and 2022 invasions, Ukrainian soldiers were targeted with disinformation designed to sow confusion and disorder in the event of an attack.

Russian messaging about “liberating” portions of Ukraine is the disinformation most likely aimed at an international audience, and I expect attempts to legitimize Russia’s actions will continue.

There is an ongoing contest to control the narrative about what is happening in Ukraine. Russia is running an active disinformation campaign and I expect it is using AI to find and generate content at a rapid rate.

Some information circulating on social media, like this video purporting to show Russian bombers over Ukraine, has been proven to be fake. This underscores how difficult it is to be certain of the truth with a high volume of fast-changing information in an emotionally charged, high-stakes situation like warfare.

Cyber Warfare

Cyber warfare entails infiltrating and disrupting the enemy’s computer systems. This includes generating denial of service attacks to block access to websites, breaking into computer systems to steal or destroy data, and taking control of computer systems to disrupt critical infrastructure like power grids.

U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies reported on Feb. 23, 2022 that hackers based in Russia had unleashed a powerful new type of malware against targets in Ukraine. The attacks appear to have been targeted at Ukrainian government and telecommunications facilities, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and involve the theft and destruction of data.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was preceded by several weeks of cyberattacks, including an attack that posted a fake ransomware note and then destroyed data. These attacks were part of a multi-year campaign of cyber warfare against Ukraine, which included attacks on portions of the country’s power grid.

A rapid response team of cybersecurity experts in the European Union has mobilized to assist Ukraine in defending against cyberattacks by detecting when attacks are occurring. The Ukrainian government has also called on the Ukrainian hacker community to help defend the country, by protecting computer systems that control critical infrastructure like the power grid.

Electronic Warfare

Electronic warfare describes efforts to disrupt or misdirect the enemy’s electronic systems like radar and communications networks. It can include blocking radio signals, remotely destroying computer circuits and spoofing GPS signals to disrupt navigation.

Russia has a long history of controlling the electromagnetic spectrum. Because of Russia’s advanced electronic warfare capabilities, its force may be able to take down the internet and cell towers using a range of techniques.

Russia has used systems that interfere with the signal reception from satellites in eastern Ukraine. These systems can be used to block communications and disrupt control of drones.

 

Mastering New Technologies

The old game of spycraft has taken on new technologies, but I think it is useful to remember that the ability to win wars during revolutions in military affairs is generally determined by the ability to integrate new technologies into a country’s military and intelligence operations.

Though the Russian military has shown some interesting technological innovations in recent years, it’s not clear whether it has mastered this new way of conducting warfare.

 

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Thursday, March 03, 2022

Blackboxstocks Inc. (BLBX)
A Disruptive Fintech: Initiating Coverage on Blackboxstocks, Inc.

Blackboxstocks, Inc. is a financial technology and social media hybrid platform offering real-time proprietary analytics and news for stock and options traders of all levels. Our web-based software employs “predictive technology” enhanced by artificial intelligence to find volatility and unusual market activity that may result in the rapid change in the price of a stock or option. Blackbox continuously scans the NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, CBOE, and all other options markets, analyzing over 10,000 stocks and up to 1,500,000 options contracts multiple times per second. We provide our users with a fully interactive social media platform that is integrated into our dashboard, enabling our users to exchange information and ideas quickly and efficiently through a common network. We recently introduced a live audio/screenshare feature that allows our members to broadcast on their own channels to share trade strategies and market insight within the Blackbox community. Blackbox is a SaaS company with a growing base of users that spans 42 countries; current subscription fees are $99.97 per month or $959.00 annually. For more information, go to: www.blackboxstocks.com

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Initiation. We are initiating research coverage on Blackboxstocks, Inc.. Blackboxstocks combines a market scanner with a social media platform and educational tools for investors. We believe the unique combination, with significant organic growth opportunities, presents investors with a favorable risk/reward opportunity.


Blackbox System.  The Blackbox System is a unique and disruptive financial technology platform. The web-based software employs “predictive technology” enhanced by artificial intelligence to find volatility and unusual market activity in over 10,000 stocks and 1.5 million options contracts that may result in the rapid change in the price of a stock or option …

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.