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FLD - You Have A Decision To Make By The End Of October 2025
Do you continue the financial charades to keep the stock price up for maybe another 6 to 8 months, or do you do what is necessary to make F5 a world class Security Firm.
There are many of us that were RIFd over the last many years that would like to come back and make F5 a world class Security Firm.
Wait longer than 10 days and it will be beyond the timeline to make F5 a world class Security Firm.
Instead of wasting M's on Total Wireless and other cr-p brands, why are we not focusing on Verizon and that brand's problems! We have no prioirtiy in this company.
What will Exxon do now that Guyana wants LNG and gas to shore. 2026 will be the year that the Guyana miracles turns sour….
They just buy competitors and destroy the brand.
https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/siete-foods-pepsico-21105726.php
That’s interesting is that Oracle now brands itself as “OCI AI Infrastructure” and calls itself a “real AI company.”
But Oracle has no proprietary AI models (unlike Meta, Google, or Microsoft) and no in-house chips (Meta has, Microsoft soon will, Google and AWS already do).
So Oracle is effectively a reseller of other companies’ hardware and models, with much thinner margins.
How can a firm like that credibly call itself an AI company? Pure marketing.
But only if you are in AI. Dell’s basically shifting from PCs to an AI server growth story... Aiming for $20B++++ in AI server sales this year... plus services and financing in the mix so it looks good as a plan... I'd buy the stock but I am unsure if I want to continue working here since what I do does not benefit from most of this. We'll see how things play out but I think that stock $$$ will keep going up. Not a financial advisor and I typically fu-k up my predictions tho.
Did Nvidia sell 10% stake at 0.01 per share ? No it's products are solid. This is betting the entire farm. Short term excellent but long term foolishness. Tell me I am wrong.
Did we hear Stephen correctly say HS brand wins, no more Blue Medicare?
What's next?
Does anyone have any idea what they will be doing with owned brands?
Just kidding…
https://english.aawsat.com/business/5195303-sas-opens-riyadh-hub-pledges-1bn-boost-ai-growth
Confucius say: software revenue from oil $$ counts the same as from domestic $$.
Confucius also say: no Saudi visits to HQ in June
What say you?
What’s the real strategy here?
Some of these apps just seem so advanced compared to what we have.
I think the timing of the October announcement is telling. I think they are trying to insulate the stock price ahead of the Q3 earnings release.
What steps can the new CEO take to stop losing subscribers? What can be done to reverse something that's been going on for a while?
And that’s not going to happen with this leadership. It really feels like they’ve completely lost touch with reality. The world is changing fast, but Chevron is moving forward on pure inertia, as if nothing around us is shifting. They’re doing this reorg like it’s business as usual, but it’s not. These decisions can have serious long-term consequences, not just for the company but for the many people who’ll be left without jobs. It’s frustrating watching leadership pretend everything is going according to plan, while there’s no real plan grounded in reality.
There’s a clear distinction between being fluent in English and demonstrating wisdom and sound decision-making. The leader being promoted in this company is knows how to say the right corporate things at the right time, but often lacks depth in judgment. When you look at the initiatives they champion and where they focus their efforts, it becomes apparent that many are driven more by smooth talk than by substance.
I have been telling that he is not a great CEO, we need someone with a backbone to make big changes.
"IBM’s CEO is all about cutting out the things IBM used to be good at in favor pumping up the stock price. It’s a matter of time until he does the same to Red Hat"
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1o40uvk/red_hat_will_begin_to_integrate_even_further_into/
To effectively control and reduce operational expenses (OPEX), companies can implement the following strategies:
Conduct Comprehensive Spend Assessments: Analyze spending patterns and cost centers to identify areas for cost reduction.
Utilize Data-Driven Insights: Implement advanced analytics tools to gain actionable insights and benchmarks for cost-saving strategies.
Negotiate Better Terms: Regularly evaluate vendor contracts and negotiate better terms with suppliers to secure volume discounts.
Strengthen Supplier Relationships: Build and maintain strong relationships with key suppliers to enhance collaboration and mutual cost-saving goals.
Develop Category-Specific Strategies: Create tailored strategies for high-impact categories, focusing on cost drivers and market conditions.
Optimize Across Categories: Identify synergies across different categories to leverage buying power and reduce costs on a holistic level.
Implement Procurement Technology: Adopt e-procurement platforms and spend analysis tools to streamline processes and enhance cost control.
By applying these strategies, companies can not only control their OPEX but also drive value and ensure long-term sustainability.
https://www.golimelight.com/blog/opex-planning
When NS shutdown the Roanoke, VA shops back in mid 2020 and the classification hump, I knew it wasn't going to be good...and honestly it was a mistake for them to leave!
All that's been happening are random cost-cutting and chaos. I honestly don't see much of a future here anymore.
In yesterday's global town hall, Ramon did not give a categorical yes or no when asked about the question of selling Quaker. His answer went around in circles. I hope we keep Quaker, it is a good brand with the right marketing support.
Barron's:
Oracle is riding the AI wave like a rocket, with the stock up 373% in 3 years, a reported $300 billion dollar OpenAI contract, and a backlog exploding to $455 billion dollars.
Larry Ellison, 81 and still in attack mode, is turning Oracle into the supplier of choice for AI builders, not a rival. The playbook is simple: data plus compute equals destiny. The company is loading up on capacity and customers, while Ellison pursues strategic side quests that protect the core, from the TikTok USA bid to deep ties with Skydance and Paramount.
The bill is massive. Oracle is taking on more than 90B dollars in long-term debt, sold 18B dollars in bonds in September, and could see gross margins fall from about 72 percent to about 52 percent by 2029 even as revenue soars.
If OpenAI and a few whales deliver, Ellison’s biggest bet becomes his legacy, with scale lifting profits over time. If contracts wobble or capex drags, customer concentration plus leverage becomes the plot twist. Translation: Oracle is trading margin now for AI dominance later, and Wall Street is watching.
Source:
https://www.barrons.com/articles/larry-ellison-oracle-56e03912
Barron's:
Genius or Cliff Dive (Larry Ellison’s $300 billion dollar AI Power Play)
Oracle is riding the AI wave like a rocket, with the stock up 373% in 3 years, a reported $300B dollar OpenAI contract, and a backlog exploding to 455B dollars.
Larry Ellison, 81 and still in attack mode, is turning Oracle into the supplier of choice for AI builders, not a rival. The playbook is simple: data plus compute equals destiny. The company is loading up on capacity and customers, while Ellison pursues strategic side quests that protect the core, from the TikTok USA bid to deep ties with Skydance and Paramount.
The bill is massive. Oracle is taking on more than 90B dollars in long-term debt, sold 18B dollars in bonds in September, and could see gross margins fall from about 72 percent to about 52 percent by 2029 even as revenue soars.
If OpenAI and a few whales deliver, Ellison’s biggest bet becomes his legacy, with scale lifting profits over time. If contracts wobble or capex drags, customer concentration plus leverage becomes the plot twist. Translation: Oracle is trading margin now for AI dominance later, and Wall Street is watching.
Source:
https://www.barrons.com/articles/larry-ellison-oracle-56e03912
Dear customers and employees, without an exit plan you surrender your future into the hands of a shifty roster of job-hopping executives who are planning their own future. Not yours.
The recent bump in Fossil’s stock price? Yeah, that’s pretty much the result of all those cost-cutting moves kicked off a few years back — nothing new or magical happening.
The new management’s just cashing in on that, adding a few “extra steps” cooked up by those golden, high-priced consultants who’ve basically become part of the furniture at this point.
But here’s the real question: what’s gonna be left of this group once the dust settles? What about its legacy — those once-iconic brands? Competitors are already rubbing their hands; they know they’ll scoop up what we’re letting slip away.
And now the latest “big idea”? A Distributor-Led Model in Italy.
Seriously? You think the license partners — a couple of which have their HQs right there — are thrilled about this move? Hard to say how Italian key accounts will react once they find out who’s taking over the distribution.
Word is, there’s some mixed feedback in the market about this new setup — not everyone seems excited about it. Let’s hope the execution proves everyone wrong.
Fossil’s changing fast — maybe too fast. Guess we’ll see soon enough what the numbers have to say.
Could Penny have sc--wed this firm up any more if she was trying? I would doubt it. She probably needs to pull a George Costanza and do the opposite of every single instinct she has ever had. If she did that the firm would probably soar. Penny is a minnow swimming with sharks. Sorry, Penny, you are in over your head. You just need to admit it and step down.
LL must’ve asked Mike this question at least three times; each time he gave a garbled 3-minute response with no clear message. Something about being safe and selling assets was mentioned. How revolutionary. “Doing better”. Idk.
If our leader can’t articulate a strategy, how are we supposed to execute?
I’ve noticed how 3M is moving more into high-tech areas like advanced materials, semiconductors, and healthcare innovation. It makes me wonder if some of our older divisions are starting to lose relevance.
From my point of view, a few areas that might be showing their age include:
1. Office Supplies (Post-it, Scotch)
2. Automotive Aftermarket
3. Personal Safety Equipment
4. Home Improvement / DIY
5. Traditional Industrial Abrasives
These are still strong brands, but growth feels limited compared to newer opportunities. Maybe it’s time to streamline and invest more in technology-driven sectors.
What do others think — are we holding onto too many legacy businesses, or do these still have a strong place in 3M?
Fortune
‘Our chapters will work for any enterprise’: Honeywell’s AI chiefs share the strategies that helped the firm mature its AI efforts
“Every function and every strategic business unit is now using gen AI,” Sheila Jordan, the company’s chief digital technology officer, told Fortune. · Fortune · Illustration by Simon Landrein
Sage Lazzaro
Tue, October 7, 2025 at 4:45 AM EDT 5 min read
In this article:
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At technology and manufacturing company Honeywell, generative AI is everywhere.
“Every function and every strategic business unit is now using gen AI,” Sheila Jordan, the company’s chief digital technology officer, who oversees AI integration internally within the organization, told Fortune. “And the other thing I’m super proud of is that we have it available to all 100,000 employees,”
The company built its own “Honeywell GPT,” which helps employees draft and edit emails, summarize technical documents, translate content, and brainstorm ideas. Employees also use Red, a virtual assistant that serves as a central resource for accessing company information around IT, finance, HR, and the firm’s policy library. Engineers are coding with AI, and the company is reimagining its varied products and services with new generative AI–powered offerings. Overall, the company has 24 generative AI initiatives in production and 12 more on the way, compared with 16 a year ago.
As companies across different business sectors incorporate AI into their operations, an emerging set of best practices reveals a variety of approaches, from decentralized, experimentation-driven cultures to tightly choreographed strategies that can scale across an organization. Honeywell, which ranked at No. 17 in the Fortune AIQ 50 list of Fortune 500 companies with the most “mature” AI capabilities, is a case study in how to excel by taking the latter approach.
Jordan and CTO Suresh Venkatarayalu, who oversees AI product efforts, believe the company’s success in maturing its AI capabilities directly stems from its “six-chapter AI framework.” Along with the organization’s top-down approach to AI, adhering to the framework has allowed them to focus on efforts with immediate impact in order to kick off the flywheel effect.
“What are the use cases? And can I measure and track them?” said Venkatarayalu, describing how the company zeroes in on impact. “In fact, tomorrow we have a meeting with Sheila and the CFO looking at the 2026 road map and to ask me the real question: ‘Could we track it to the P&L?’ And we should track it to the P&L. That’s the way it’s set up.”
The six-point strategy
In the fast-moving world of AI, it can be difficult to prioritize, stay on track, and resist trying to do everything at once. That’s why Honeywell’s leadership created a six-chapter framework in early 2024 to guide the organization’s AI efforts and keep it focused strictly on use cases it believes will truly move the needle.
“We could get distracted by the long, long, long tail and all the noise and all the things people might want to do, but we have a whole program to prioritize those things that are going to move the needle in business value, both on productivity and growth and innovation,” said Jordan, adding that the organization “would have been confused and lost” without the framework and clarity from her and Venkatarayalu about which generative AI capabilities were fit for implementation.
The first chapter of the framework is about the tools—such as Red and Honeywell GPT—designed to assist employees in their everyday workflows. Then there’s chapter two, focused on the use of generative AI for engineering. Chapter three is how the firm “thinks about cognitive automation,” Jordan said, specifically how it’s using different LLMs (large language models) from Azure, Google, AWS, and others for specific use cases. Next, chapter four is all about generative AI in the commercial applications they purchase and use, like Salesforce and other platforms. Chapter five centers on the company’s own products and services. And lastly, chapter six focuses on sales effectiveness.
“I think our chapters will work for any enterprise,” said Venkatarayalu. “It’s productivity, it’s growth, and it’s margins.”
Chasing the flywheel effect
Jordan said the fact that the technology can be applied to so many use cases is one of the biggest challenges to overcome, so it helps to start with ones that have the biggest immediate impact. That way, those early successes can drive the effort forward.
For example, she said early work with GitHub and Copilot were the “first movers” and delivered the value they thought it would, which started the AI efforts off on a strong note.
“If it works, the flywheel takes off. If it doesn’t work, it dies its death, right? So I wanted the flywheel effect where we could do something and show the organization the value of gen AI,” she said.
This means going in with a business case and value proposition in mind, but being open to value coming through in a different way than assumed, she said.
“We could say [the value] was going to be productivity, but in reality, it was a sales effectiveness play. We got a higher conversion from something. So I would just say to stay super open to the business benefits, because they can morph based upon your customer and partner interactions,” Jordan added.
The top-down approach
Another key element to keeping the organization on target and adhering to its AI framework is its top-down approach.
The company has 65 business units, and Venkatarayalu pointed to how other companies start with a lot of proof of concepts, letting business units pursue their own strategies and democratizing the AI efforts. But not Honeywell, which he said is “predominantly top-down-driven” when it comes to AI.
“I think this company looks at use cases first, value second,” he said. “And once we believe—along with our CEO and chairman and the business unit leaders—[that a use case will deliver value], we drive that. I think that’s a very different [mindset] than many of my peers.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Facts, short interview excerpts, and a forward-looking analysis of how he may lead (some AI, some custom):
Dan Schulman
Career highlights
Key Accomplishments:
Customer 1st
At PayPal he implemented Customer Choice so users could pick how they pay. He noted that the day it was announced, the stock fell 9 percent, yet two years later PayPal reported 70 million incremental customers and lower service calls.
Profit Driven
He is associated with a measurable approach to employee financial health. PayPal introduced the Net Disposable Income metric and moved hourly and entry-level U.S. employees from roughly 4 to 6 percent NDI in 2019 toward mid-teens by 2021, with a goal of at least 20 percent.
Crisis Response
During the 2018-19 U.S. government shutdown, he initiated up to 500 dollar, interest-free advances to furloughed federal workers, committing up to 25 million dollars.
Telecom Expertise
Schulman has prior P&L leadership in wireless at Virgin Mobile and Sprint’s prepaid unit, which gives him domain context for Verizon’s mobility and broadband markets.
Some interview excerpts:
Let's predict how he will lead at Verizon (guessing, but still):
Customer-first offers, simpler choices
Expect emphasis on plan clarity, fewer gotchas, and tools that increase perceived value without price-only competition. This mirrors his “customer champion” approach that traded short-term margin for long-term engagement at PayPal.
Cost to serve and digital self-service
His own language points to lowering cost to serve. Look for pushes in app experience, proactive care, and churn-reduction through analytics so service costs fall while NPS rises.
Growth (bundling + ecosystem expansion)
At PayPal he broadened the platform with new features and Honey’s path-to-purchase data. At Verizon, comparable logic could show up as smarter bundles across mobility, home internet, and perks that deepen engagement rather than discounting alone.
Capital Mgmt
Telecom is capital intensive. Expect tighter capital allocation guardrails that tie spend to measurable growth in market share and cash generation, consistent with his opening memo themes and the company’s reiterated 2025 guidance.
Workforce
His record suggests a belief that better employee economics and inclusion improve outcomes. While Verizon’s footprint and labor mix differ from PayPal’s, watch for selective moves that support frontline productivity and retention.
Telecom operator basics + fiber execution
Schulman inherits a network built during Vestberg’s 5G push and a pending 20 billion dollar Frontier acquisition aimed at fiber expansion. Expect a pragmatic focus on fiber passings, broadband adds, and unit economics while integrating the deal if it closes as planned.
Purpose/Pragmatism
He is outspoken about acting on values. In a regulated, politically scrutinized sector, expect careful calibration so purpose initiatives remain tied to customer trust and operating results.
What to watch in the first 12 months
You can use Google to find this:
Getting rid of Value, asap
According to a McKenzie report. The Mars corridor, Nakika, and Stones will be on extreme production declines and operational issues within the next 5 years…
What’s the inside perspective?
Every major player has its own network group, but Intel plans to get rid of it...
His plan is revealed...
https://seekingalpha.com/news/4501768-3m-evaluating-selling-billions-of-assets-in-industrials-business---report
It’s ChatGPT compiled summary, but a good refresher and reminder we can adopt.
Knowledge Control & Asymmetry
• Document selectively: Provide training and documentation, but keep it high-level. Leave out context, dependencies, or nuances only you know.
• Use tacit knowledge: Emphasize things that require “experience” (judgment calls, historical context, relationships with regulators/vendors). GCC hires can’t easily replicate this.
• Avoid “one-click transfer”: Break down processes into multiple steps when explaining, making them look more complex.
Strategic Friction in Rollouts
• Ask clarifying questions: In transition meetings, phrase them as risk concerns:
• “How will GCC handle regulatory nuances in [X country]?”
• “What’s the fallback if response times slip due to time zone?”
This slows decisions without looking obstructive.
• Introduce dependencies: Link tasks to other teams or tools so that “handoffs” look harder.
• Highlight local compliance: Bring up data residency, export control, union agreements, or contractual obligations. These almost always slow offshoring.
Delay Through “Support”
• Over-offer help: Volunteer to be the bridge/trainer. This keeps you in the loop and drags timelines (“transition can’t close until full training is done”).
• Pace knowledge transfer: Train slowly, highlight “complexities,” extend timelines by needing “extra validation.”
• Audit their output: Position yourself as QC for GCC work. This makes you gatekeeper of quality and creates rework cycles.
Expose Hidden Costs (Quietly)
• Track errors: Maintain a private log of GCC mistakes, delays, and escalations. Present data neutrally, never emotionally.
• Escalate risk neutrally: Instead of “GCC can’t do this,” say:
• “We saw 30% rework rate—might suggest a phased approach instead of full shift.”
• Highlight stakeholder pushback: Collect subtle dissatisfaction from clients/customers, frame as “feedback.”
Protect Your Position
• Brand yourself as irreplaceable: Be the person who knows the workarounds when GCC fails.
• Shift to cross-functional roles: Move into strategy, supplier relations, or customer-facing projects—roles harder to offshore.
• Stay visible to leadership: Share concise insights or risk notes with senior managers, so they see you as thoughtful, not resistant.
Long-Game Career Hedge
• Upskill in automation/AI: Many GCCs are execution shops, not innovation hubs. Becoming the automation SME makes you future-proof.
• Build network outside: Quietly explore trading, analytics, or industrial strategy roles—industries less prone to full-scale offshoring.
• Stay neutral in tone: Never sound anti-GCC in writing; instead, frame everything as “risk management” or “ensuring smooth transition.”