Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits. I’m also the  portfolio manager of the Thematic Growth Portfolio at Fabian Wealth Strategies, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk as we'll as FabianWealth.com for more on my Thematic Growth Portfolio.

The Internet has led to many revolutions over the last few years and that’s particularly true in how we communicate and collaborate. It’s also shattered existing business models — just ask Barnes & Noble, Circuit City and practically any print newspaper you can still find. It’s also given rise to a number of freedoms - freedom of expression, freedom of information and so on. 

One of the potential drawbacks of explosive demand for connectivity and consumers desire for anytime, anywhere access is privacy. In other words, as we continue to shift toward an increasing digital society, there are concerns over privacy and your freedoms.

Joining me to talk on these issues as well as talk more about the Global Network Initiative (GNI) is Susan Morgan, the initiative’s executive director. As Executive Director, Susan is responsible for continuing to make GNI a leading voice in defending and promoting freedom of expression and privacy in the information and communications technology industry worldwide. With backers ranging from Google, Facebook, and Microsoft to Websense and Yahoo, GNI is in the thick of it.

Susan and I also talk about the once secret NSA surveillance programs that former contractor Edward Snowden allegedly leaked. As Susan points out, even the fiercest critics and staunchest defenders of national security surveillance seem to agree -  more transparency from the U.S. government is required.

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits and portfolio manager of the Thematic Growth Portfolio at Fabian Wealth Strategies, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk as we'll as FabianWealth.com for more on my Thematic Growth Portfolio.

I think it’s very fair to say the start to the stock market in 2014 has caught many by surprise with its sharp move lower in late January. I talked all about with you last week when I shared my PowerTalk conversation with Lou Dobbs with you.

We’ve seen some life in the stock market since then and even though the stock market may snap back on a technical basis, economic and industry growth concerns remain and that combination will make for a more challenging stock market in 2014 compared to 2013. The strong stock market in 2013 meant it was hard for investors to go wrong, but as we are seeing 2014 is setting up to be a very different stock market….more of a stock pickers market. 

Joining me on PowerTalk this week to discuss the recent pullback in the stock market and where it is likely to head both near-term and longer term is my good friend Keith Bliss. Keith is a Senior Vice President at Cuttone & Company, the floor broker with the largest operation at the New York Stock Exchange. I've known Keith for many years now and this is the kind of conversation that he and I have on a more than periodic basis. It’s an inside baseball conversation about the stock market and I think you’ll find it very timely.

As Keith points out, investors will be dealing will volatility in the stock market as the Federal Reserve continues to taper its stimulative QE efforts. Alongside that…economic data, corporate commentary and other tea leaves will determine the direction of the stock market. After talking with Keith, I think you will be more than surprised by what he has to say.

That said, we both agree there are pockets of opportunity to be had -- pain points such as cyber security and the current drought situation as well as opportunities, such as the intersection of mobile, the Internet and computing that is reshaping industries and business models around us. Keith and I also discuss a looming pain point in the US  - this increasingly older US population that is looking like it will not have enough retirement savings to last its golden years. Data from a number of sources reveals 44% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, the average 401K balance is only 64,000 and the payroll to population ratio in January was just 42%. 

Make no mistake, there will be some long-term pain felt. The question you should be asking yourself is how do YOU profit from it?

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits and portfolio manager of the Thematic Growth Portfolio at Fabian Wealth Strategies, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk as we'll as FabianWealth.com for more on my Thematic Growth Portfolio.

It’s been a rough time of late - questions are being raised about growth prospects, both for the global economy and the stock market. We’ve had more companies issue negative outlooks than we have had in some time while the latest round of economic data has been weaker than expected. All of this has taken a toll on the major stock market indices leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average down over a 1,000 points from where it was just two weeks ago. Also down big are the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index. At times like these I’m looking at investment opportunities that solve looming pain points be it in cybersecurity, drought, or other areas. You can sit back and be frustrated or you can look at the situation with the glass half full and look for opportunities that will bring you long-term profits. 

Joining me today on PowerTalk is a person who really needs little to no introduction. He’s an anchor on Fox Business as well as a New York Times best-selling author. That’s right, today I’m talking with Loud Dobbs! 

Many of you know him from Lou Dobbs Tonight,  where he dissects the latest on politics, the economy, business and other topics. We’ll be touching on a number of those topics on PowerTalk today as well Lou’s new book - Upheaval. 

With the tag line “winning back the country with knowledge that empowers, ideas that matter and solutions that work” you know it’s going to not only be a timely read, but since its from Lou Dobbs it’s a great one as well. Full of facts and figures that will probably surprise you and challenge at least some of the conventional thinking that you’ve been programmed to believe. 

It was a pleasure talking with Lou, he’s both a gentlemen and a scholar. More importantly, his viewpoint is similar to the one I was talking about a little while ago — not just the glass half full, but one that looks for answers and solutions to the problems we face….solutions to the coming upheaval.

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits and portfolio manager of the Thematic Growth Portfolio at Fabian Wealth Strategies, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk as we'll as FabianWealth.com for more on my Thematic Growth Portfolio

Every so often there are key words and phrases that get big play around the media and before you know it they are in use almost everywhere. Irrational exuberance, outside the box, deliverables, skill set, metric, multitasking, bandwidth, selfie, spyware and a more than a few others.

I’m sure over the last few years, you’ve heard those words and phrases time and time again… so much so that the meaning behind those words became dulled if not lost. 

There’s another term that has been gaining in popularity over the last year or so and believe you me, it is one that will impact your very life — big data. 

I know you’ve heard those two words before — big data —  term before and it’s been used by companies like Cisco (CSCO), Facebook (FB), Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), IBM (IBM) and others. In this age where more and more things are connected, monitored and captured, what is big data? How is it used? What does it mean for business and for the consumer? How will it change things?

These are the questions we need to understand and joining me today on PowerTalk to sort through all of it is Arnab Gupta, Founder and CEO of Opera Solutions. As Arnab points out, it’s not just you and me that are just figuring out what big data is, companies are in the same boat - they know they need to spend on it and they are, but how do they get value from it? How do companies use it to make better decisions, work more productively, and take better actions? How does a company go from spending on big data to making it a competitive advantage for their business?

Arnab and I not only discuss all of this, but he shares how he thinks big data will force companies like Oracle, IBM SAP and others to expand and change their capabilities lest they risk becoming the next Kodak. 

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk.

Throughout this would be US economic recovery, job creation has not matched what it has been in prior recoveries. In fact, we’ve seen more people dropping out of the labor force, while companies complain they can’t find the kind of workers they need. At the same time, there have been two structural shifts in the economy - the migration to online businesses, which is only accelerating given the adoption rates of smartphones and tablets, but also the slow death of domestic manufacturing. Let’s face it folks, that is a long-term recipe for disaster for the American middle class when it comes to jobs and incomes. It’s not like it was when I was a kid and a family could support itself with one parent working a middle management job.

While many businesses and entrepreneurs are using the online world to enhance their businesses and profits, few are also setting out to return manufacturing and jobs to the US. One such company that is is American Love Affair, an e-tailer that deals exclusively in goods made here in the US. If you’ve listened to my PowerTalks with Abe’s Market about its online business model and Motorola Mobility about how and why it’s building its Moto X smartphone here in the US, then you’ll get exactly what American Love Affair founder and CEO Noelle Nguyun is doing. 

Noelle and I also talk about why she founded the company and how she can compete with not only some of the bigger retail companies  — The Gap (GPS), JC Penny (JCP), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Macy’s (M) and others—  but also with the growing online behemoth that is Amazon (AMZN). It’s a great conversation on many levels and it will have you seeing the opportunity and ability to not only save but  return both manufacturing and jobs here to the US.

Welcome to another edition of PowerTalk. I’m your host Chris Versace, editor of the investment newsletter PowerTrend Profits, and these are my 1-1 conversations with the movers and shakers in the business world that take you behind the scenes and in the know. Be sure to check out ChrisVersace.com for more on PowerTrends and past editions of PowerTalk.

Ever since we started PowerTalk, I’ve spoken with a number of companies that are benefitting from the shift toward mobile as well as the productivity driver that is connectivity. Being able to share information is a driving force in this connected and increasingly mobile world, not only for the enterprise market, but also for the consumer. We’re seeing companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG), Dropbox, Box, and others bring collaboration services to market, but it also raises security concerns, particularly for the business community. On the consumer side, companies like Snapchat and Glide along with Facebook’s (FB) Instagram and Twitter’s (TWTR) Vine applications are riding the transition from voice and text to video and video chat. 

Imagine if there was one company that did all of this? And it worked no matter where your data was stored and no matter what device — Apple (AAPL) iPhone, Google (GOOG) Android or Microsoft Windows — powered smartphone or tablet. Well there is and it’s called Moxtra. In many ways, Moxtra is set to do to collaboration what Blackberry (BBRY) first did for email.

Joining me today on PowerTalk is Subrah Iyar is the former co-founder and CEO of WebEx Communications, which he founded, served as Chairman & CEO through its IPO and 2007 acquisition by Cisco Systems (CSCO) for $3.2 billion. Today, Subrah and I are talking about his latest company, Moxtra, a technology company focusing on productivity and collaboration solutions.