Out Fox The $treet

Verizon completes the AOL merger that distracted investors on the valuation of the stock. The domestic pricing wars are starting to lose steam. Verizon provides the best valuation the stock has offered in several years. With the closing of the AOL (NYSE: AOL ) deal, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ ) can now move forward. While AT&T (NYSE: T ) is surging to new highs building off the April surge in the stock, Verizon is down after going forward with AOL. Part of this is due to some excitement building for the DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV ) merger, but the market appears to be overlooking Verizon now. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Verizon agreed to purchase AOL for $4.4 billion in cash. The deal adds debt to an already large debt load. AOL doesn't appear to add the exciting assets suggested by the press release with the company offering limited growth. At this point, any deal adding debt isn't appealing, but the materiality of the deal doesn't adjust a breakout forecast for Verizon's stock. The validity of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ ) purchasing AOL (NYSE: AOL ) is very much a debate, but the one part missing from those discussions is the use of cash for the deal. One of the biggest concerns with an investment in Verizon is the debt load created from the transaction with Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD ). The basis of the AOL deal is better sculpted on whether it is worth the cash. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

It's rare to see a technology company, much less one involved in advertising, to so predominantly display a focus on scientists. In the case of  Rocket Fuel ( NASDAQ: FUEL     )  , the ad tech firm that recently had a spectacular IPO focuses on using artificial intelligence, or AI, and big data to drive predictive modeling and automated decision-making. In essence, the company believes that sophisticated machines can optimize business outcomes for advertisers as the digital world moves at the speed of light. The company focuses on programmatic buying via real-time bidding, or RTB. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long FUEL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Another quarterly report and another major sell-off of Millennial Media ( MM ) . Investors not reading the report would probably suspect that the leading independent mobile advertising company released earnings that didn't meet estimates. The nearly 19% loss on top of an 8% loss on the day earnings were released undoubtedly must have been due to extremely negative numbers. The sell-off was actually caused by a couple of factors, including the surprise merger of the second leading independent mobile ad network and revenue numbers that missed estimates. Considering the general weakness in the sector, it actually doesn't take much to send ad technology stocks down these days. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long MM. Please read the disclaimer page for more details. 

Interesting to see  Facebook (FB) announce reaching 1B active users today and releasing this ad. If the company got to that many users without major ad spending, why start now? Is this a sign that Facebook is starting to lose users regardless of the announcement today? Its not like I need to be reminded to use a chair. If I want to connect with somebody, I'll use Facebook or maybe just pick up my smartphone. Either way, just doesn't seem like Facebook will be the lasting service for connecting with people. Just as AOL (AOL) and MySpace were in the past, Facebook is in the process of succumbing to more interesting methods. For now, it has some possibility of keeping users via its Instagram service. Either way, should the company be worth $47B? Let me know what you think of the commercial. Disclosure: Short FB. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.