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Last year, Nintendo released the latest Game Freak-developed Pokémon role-playing games for the Nintendo DS, Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 – both of which have sold over seven million units. As you can see in the above table, which was compiled from Nintendo’s various financial reports over the last year, older Pokémon games for the Nintendo DS are still selling well, especially considering all of them were released over two years ago. The next installments in the main Pokémon series, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, are scheduled to release later this year, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
Nintendo has revealed that you will be able to transfer your old Flipnote Studio animations on Nintendo DS to Flipnote Studio 3D on the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has already announced that the Flipnote Studio community for Nintendo DSi on Hatena will go offline on May 31st. It is now recommending claiming and transferring your animations to the new Flipnote community. You can read more about how to perform this transfer, right here.
Earlier today, Nintendo’s financial results from last fiscal year led us to believe that the Nintendo DS hardware would no longer be sold for the current year. However, Nintendo UK have stated that they will be continuing to sell DS hardware – although this is not indicative as to whether the console will be coming to a halt later this year.
“Nintendo will continue to sell Nintendo DS Hardware but is not revealing a unit sales forecast at this time.”
– Nintendo UK
It looks like the Nintendo DS production could be on hold for good. According to Nintendo’s financial results for the current fiscal year its sales forecast for DS software titles is a bold 10 million, but hardware sales have drawn a blank – quite literally.
The DS has had a fantastic production run, with sales of over 153 million units and software sales of over 933 million, after its launch in Japan and North America in 2004. In fact, it’s seen some of the best shift in software sales, with New Super Mario Bros. at 30 million and Mario Kart DS following at 23.3 million units. And the DS has ended on a last high with sales of Pokemon White and Black 2 reaching 7.81 million. As it stands, Nintendo has yet to provide official confirmation of its DS hardware production.
Published by Namco Bandai Games, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch launched in the West earlier this year, exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It was, however, ‘too difficult‘ to localize the Nintendo DS version, titled Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madōshi, which saw release in 2010 – but only in Japan.
Apparently, a Namco Bandai Games executive stated that his company wasn’t opposed to the idea of bringing the PlayStation 3 version of the role-playing game to Nintendo’s latest handheld console. Would you like to play Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch on your Nintendo 3DS? Or do you wish the game would instead come to Wii U? Let us know in the comments.
Nintendo designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto told CNN.com that he feels people will get more familiar with the Wii U and they’ll eventually understand its concept. Not unlike the Nintendo DS, people interact with two screens while playing Wii U games. At first, according to Miyamoto, people were skeptical of the Nintendo DS, because they couldn’t imagine playing video games while focusing on two screens at the same time. When skeptics actually played on the dual-screen handheld and spent some time on it, they understood its concept and ultimately enjoyed it. Similarly, Miyamoto hopes and thinks that people will get used to playing on Wii U.
“There was a period when we first released the Nintendo DS that people would say there’s no way people can look at two screens at once. I almost feel like, as people get more familiar with Wii U and these touchscreen interfaces, that there is going to come a point where they feel like ‘I can’t do everything I want to do if I don’t have a second screen’.”
“I feel a device like Wii U, with its ability to continue to offer new features and that network connection and the connection to the TV and the interface, really makes it feel that it’s more than just a game machine, but something that offers a lot of practical use and practical purpose in the living room. I look at it as being a very useful device that can do many different things and therefore really seems to be the device that’s ideal to have in the living room.”
With the success of LEGO City Undercover on the Wii U, LEGO fans may be itching to play a new IP by this summer and that’s where LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey enters. Set in a fantasy world sporting eight animal tribes, foes battle it out to claim control of ‘Chi’ – a powerful element which is a both a source of life and ultimate destruction. In Laval’s Journey, you play as a warrior (Laval) and, along with a band of allies, must fight for justice in Chima.
So far, details are scarce on the action-adventure game developed by TT Games, but it’s set to release for both the Nintendo 3DS and DS in the coming summer months. Will you be adding it to your collection?


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The failure of Lehman Brothers financial services firm in September 2008 sent shockwaves through the global economy and led to the worst recession since the 1930s. Sales and leases of new vehicles plummeted as consumers tightened their purse strings. Now that the 3-year leases on those vehicles are ending, analysts are predicting a severe shortage of late-model used cars and trucks.
NADA Guide analyst Jonathan Banks says it’s a trend that isn’t likely to change in the near future and warns that returns of leased vehicles will be especially low beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.
For example, in 2008, 146,000 leased BMWs were returned to dealerships. This year, only 90,000 will be returned.
The shortage of used vehicles is expected to push prices to within a few thousand dollars of the price of many new cars in some cases. As a result, more consumers are expected to purchase their leased vehicles instead of turning them in for new replacement models, which will only exacerbate the problem.
As the U.S. economy struggles to rebound, many dealers depend on used vehicle sales to make up for the sluggish new car market. With prices of used vehicles increasing, they may now have to rethink that strategy.
One such dealer, Dorian Boyland, said he has been forced to buy used vehicles at auctions in order to supplement his inventory of certified trade-ins and lease returns.
According to BMW Group Financial Services vice president of sales and marketing Shaun Bugbee, having an ample supply of late-model vehicles is an essential component of any dealer’s leasing strategy. Bugbee said, “It’s extremely important that our dealers have a good supply of used vehicles.”
Many dealers are now selling older vehicles with high mileage that would once have been sold at wholesale.
According to the NADA Guide, used vehicle inventories will decrease by five percent this year. Inventories are also expected to fall another four percent in 2012.
Consulting firm ALG, which specializes in automotive residual values, expects the trend to continue into 2013. They predict that used vehicle inventories won’t return to pre-recession levels until 2017 at the earliest. The company’s director of residual value solutions Eric Lyman said he expects to see used vehicle values peak in January of 2012.
Toyota Financial Services’ national risk manager Greg Russell concurs. He said, “It may be a decade until we return to the supply of used vehicles we once had.”

domain: news


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Steve Isaf, president and founder of Interra International, was elected USMEF chairman. Based in Atlanta, Interra International is a multinational food trading and distribution company that exports proteins to more than 80 countries. Isaf has served five years on the USMEF executive committee and is a past chairman of the USMEF exporter committee. In a dynamic and enthusiastic address to USMEF members, Isaf challenged everyone in attendance to make the commitment necessary to take the organization to new heights. Borrowing a theme from the Wynonna Judd song “Attitude,” Isaf said, “I truly believe we can choose to win or lose.”
Isaf founded Interra International in 2000, but his history with USMEF goes back nearly two additional decades.
“I have been in this industry for 32 years, and began attending USMEF meetings in 1981,” he explained. “The reason I got involved with USMEF and have supported the organization all these years is that we need the opportunity to be better represented in the international marketplace. As a small business, Interra didn’t have all the resources necessary to succeed. So being part of USMEF has really enabled us to grow markets and find new customers. It’s also given us a point where we can come together with other stakeholders to work on key issues that impact our industry.”
Isaf praised the work of outgoing USMEF Chairman Danita Rodibaugh, stating that his plans for the coming year are consistent with the path she established.
“I have to give compliments to Danita, who really started a process of engagement and issues processing,” Isaf said. “We’re going to work very hard to bring everyone together and try to achieve even better results than we currently have. The U.S. meat industry is extremely successful around the world – but just like every other industry, if we rest on our laurels we will wake up one day and find that we have fallen behind.”
Leann Saunders of Castle Rock, Colo., will serve as USMEF vice-chair. Saunders is president of IMI Global, Inc. Founded in 1995, IMI Global provides comprehensive, web-based applications for livestock verification and identification, as well as a range of livestock-related consulting services.
Roel Andriessen, senior vice president of international sales for Tyson Foods, is USMEF secretary-treasurer. Andriessen just completed a three-year term on the USMEF executive committee. He also chaired the USMEF exporter committee the past three years.
The USMEF board approved four resolutions at Friday’s meeting:
- Encouraging USDA to establish a technical veterinary team available to travel in foreign regions to assist trading partners in understanding regulations and resolving regulatory, technical and food safety issues.
- Urging the U.S. government to include market access for U.S. lamb as a priority when negotiating agreements.
- Supporting efforts to improve the U.S. government’s system for engaging importing countries to resolve red meat access issues by enhancing communication and coordination among the agencies responsible for agricultural trade.
- A resolution calling for USMEF to support efforts to enact trade terms and protocol that will allow commercially viable beef trade and to ensure that terms of trade meet industry expectations.
USMEF members also received a detailed analysis of the impact of this year’s drought on the U.S. beef and pork industries from Dr. Chris Hurt, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. He explained that drought creates havoc in the market because livestock producers don’t have sufficient time to adjust production. But despite these current difficulties, he urged producers to take a long-term outlook.
“Don’t panic about grain prices in the peak of a drought,” Hurt said.
In an informative panel discussion, USMEF staff explained the opportunities created by newly implemented free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Moderated by Jagels, the panel consisted of South Korea Director Jihae Yang, South America representative Jessica Julca and Gerardo Rodriguez, director of trade development for Central America and the Dominican Republic.
The next USMEF board of directors meeting is scheduled for May 22-24 in Washington, D.C.


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Software Stay informed with the latest insights, news, resources and products in Software to improve your manufacturing career and operations. software, software manufacturing, controls and
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Grinding & Deburring Stay informed with the latest insights, news, resources and products in Grinding & Deburring to improve your manufacturing career and operations. grinding, deburring,
Practical Machinist wanted to simplify your quest by providing you with a list of the best-selling machining books of 2019 according to our community. All the books in this list are a must-have, so we strongly encourage you to add them to your machine shop library, if you don’t have them already.
U.S. manufacturers cut 12,000 jobs in December, with job losses spread across industries.
Siemens Digital Industries Software, Plano, Texas has released Siemens’ NX for manufacturing software, an end-to-end solution for part manufacturing.
Boeing Co. today reported a fourth-quarter loss and its first full-year loss since 1997 as the financial impact of the 737 Max crisis expanded.
In 2020, Liebherr will be celebrating 50 years of manufacturing its products in North America. With its 50th anniversary theme “United by Success,” the manufacturer says it remains focused on its commitment to U.S. customers.
Kennametal Inc. has announced two changes to its executive leadership team. These leadership moves are designed to drive profitable growth and continue to advance the company's strategy and transformation, according to a Kennametal statement.
Manufacturers must avoid costly machine errors that cause catastrophic damage to both machine tools and expensive workpieces. Even a minor error in, say, a titanium aerospace component can be a major expense.
When former General Electric Co. chief Jack Welch died this week at 84, it was as if a legend had departed. He was the CEO who had transformed an aging industrial concern into a vibrant giant. But it's also a cautionary tale.


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Four brothers targeted Amazon in alleged $19 million fraud scheme
The New York brothers were arrested and charged Wednesday.
Ben Fox RubinFormer senior reporter
Ben Fox Rubin was a senior reporter for CNET News in Manhattan, reporting on Amazon, e-commerce and mobile payments. He previously worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and got his start at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Four brothers from New York state were arrested and charged by federal authorities Wednesday in an alleged scheme to overcharge
for wholesale orders and pocket $19 million in the process.
From 2017 to 2019, the brothers allegedly ran a wholesale business that exploited Amazon's vendor systems to send the e-commerce giant significantly more stuff than it agreed to buy and then charge the company a lot more money. For instance, in August 2018 Amazon agreed to buy from the brothers 12 canisters of a disinfectant spray for $94.03 per pack. Instead, they manipulated the vendor system to send 7,000 toothbrushes for $94.03 each and invoiced the company about $658,210.
They repeated this process over and over again, and attempted to defraud Amazon to the tune of about $32 million, according to the Department of Justice, which announced the arrests Wednesday. They netted $19 million.
According to the indictment, the brothers also allegedly gloated about their scheme in messages to each other on WhatsApp. At one point, one defendant wrote to his brothers, "I'm so in the mood to fuck Amazon" and asked, "Did anyone try to overship and make a million profit in a week?"
The arrests are part of Amazon's stepped-up efforts to fight against scammers who try to defraud its businesses and customers. The company in June started its Counterfeit Crimes Unit to sue alleged counterfeiters, and it's spent the past few years suing other alleged scammers who have targeted its e-book business and its Alexa customers.
The four brothers are Yoel Abraham, 28, of Suffern; Heshl Abraham, 32, of Spring Valley; Zishe Abraham, 30, of Spring Valley; and Shmuel Abraham, 24, of Airmont. They were each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
"While our proactive controls ensure the vast majority of sellers in our store are honest entrepreneurs, fraudsters attempt to violate our policies, victimize our customers, and damage our store," Cristina Posa, associate general counsel and director of the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit, said in a statement Wednesday night, "and we look forward to working with law enforcement agencies to hold these bad actors accountable for their illegal activities."
Watch this: Bezos questioned on stolen goods sold on Amazon


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While paywalls are becoming increasingly more popular among news websites, most consumers still aren’t willing to pay for their online news.
In fact, a recent survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism reveals that only 20% of Americans pay for digital news, and of those that do, the majority subscribe to only one brand.
This begs the question—which news outlets are audiences willing to pay for?
Using data from FIPP and CeleraOne, this graphic looks at the most popular news websites across the globe, based on their total number of paid subscriptions.
*Note: This report relies on publicly available data, and should not be considered an exhaustive list.
With 7.5 million subscriptions, The New York Times (NYT) takes the top spot on the list. 2020 was an exceptionally strong year for the outlet—by Q3 2020, the NYT had generated the same amount of revenue from digital subscriptions as it had for the entire year of 2019.
The Times is the most popular by a landslide—it has over double the number of subscriptions than the second outlet on the list, The Washington Post. Yet, while WaPo is no match for NYT, it still boasts a strong following, with approximately 3 million paid subscriptions as of Q4 2020.
Japanese outlet Nikkei ranks number one among the non-English news websites. It’s the largest business newspaper in Japan, mainly focusing on markets and finance, but also covering politics, sports, and health.
Most of the websites on this list stem from traditional media. Because of this, they’ve had years to establish themselves as trusted sources, and win over loyal readers.
Interestingly, more than half of the outlets included in this ranking are at least 100 years old.
Yet, undeterred by these well-established outlets, a few scrappy websites made the cut despite a shorter history. Four out of the 38 websites are less than 20 years old.
The Athletic is the newest outlet to make the ranking. Established in 2016, the outlet’s target demographic is die-hard sports fans who miss the days of in-depth, quality sports writing.
Amidst the global pandemic, issues involving misinformation and fake news have helped reaffirm the important role that trusted news sources play in the dissemination of public information.
With this in mind, it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for digital media consumption. With paywalls becoming increasingly more common, will consumers jump on board and eventually be more willing to pay for their news?
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When it comes to social networks, Meta is the dominant player, with a combined total of 7.5 billion MAUs across its four platforms.
Currently, there are over 4.5 billion people around the world who use some form of social media—about 57% of the global population.
Yet, while social media’s audience is widespread and diverse, just a handful of companies control a majority of the world’s most popular social media platforms. Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, owns four of the five most widely used platforms.
This graphic highlights the biggest social networks across the globe, measured by their monthly active users (MAUs).
Note: We’ll be using terms like “social network” and “social platform” interchangeably to refer to various messaging, video, and image-sharing platforms that have social attributes built in.
To measure each platform’s MAUs, we dug into various sources, including the most recent company SEC filings, and quarterly earnings reports.
A majority of Meta’s user base comes from its most popular platform, Facebook—the social media giant currently has around 2.9 billion MAUs worldwide.
Where in the world are Facebook users located? The platform’s biggest user base comes from India, with an audience size of almost 350 million. Its second-largest user base is the United States, with 193.9 million users, while Indonesia comes in third with 142.5 million.
But Facebook isn’t the only social giant in Meta’s network of platforms. WhatsApp has approximately 2 billion MAUs, making it Meta’s second-largest platform, and the third-largest social network overall.
Like Facebook, a significant number of WhatsApp users are located in India, with roughly 390 million users. Brazil has a large portion of WhatsApp users as well, with an audience size of 108 million.
Meta currently dominates the social network landscape, with a combined total of 7.5 billion MAUs across all four of its platforms. However, a few other companies also hit the one billion MAU mark across all their platforms on the list:
After Meta, Tencent has the second-highest reach thanks to its three platforms—WeChat, Qzone, and QQ. Of the three, WeChat is currently the most popular. On average, WeChat users send about 45 billion messages a day.
Third on the list is Alphabet, thanks to its one platform, YouTube. Founded in 2005, this video streaming platform currently has over 50 million content creators, who share approximately 500 hours of video content every minute.
Close behind Alphabet is Bytedance, with a combined 1.6 billion MAUs across its two platforms—Douyin and its international counterpart TikTok. While the apps share a lot of similarities, they function as completely separate entities, with different registration, content policies, and regulations.
While social media networks often transcend country borders, it’s worth noting that the online realm does not completely escape the constraints and regulations of our physical world.
Since 2009, Facebook has been banned in China for not complying with censorship rules. Facebook was also blocked in Iran and Syria around the same time and has been blocked sporadically since.
In 2020, the Trump administration tried to enact a similar ban against TikTok, but the order was blocked by a federal judge and eventually revoked by the Biden administration a year later.
Despite various bans and roadblocks, it’s clear that social media platforms have seeped into the lives (and onto the screens) of users across the globe. And as internet access worldwide continues to grow, so too will the number of social media users.
Central bank digital currencies are on the horizon. What do 65 central banks representing 91% of global GDP think about them?
In the late 1600s, the introduction of bank notes changed the financial system forever. Fast forward to today, and another monumental change is expected to occur through central bank digital currencies (CBDC).
A CBDC adopts certain characteristics of everyday paper or coin currencies and cryptocurrency. It is expected to provide central banks and the monetary systems they govern a step towards modernizing.
But what exactly are CBDCs and how do they differ from money we use today?
To better understand a CBDC, it helps to first understand the taxonomy of money and its overlapping properties.
For example, the properties of cash are that it’s accessible, physical and digital, central bank issued, and token-based. Here’s how the taxonomy of money breaks down:
In essence, digital currency is the electronic form of banknotes that exists today. Therefore, it’s viewed by some as a modern and efficient version of the cash you hold in your wallet or purse.
On the other hand, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are a store of value like gold that is secured by encryption. Cryptocurrencies are privately owned and fueled by blockchain technology, compared to digital currencies which do not use decentralized ledgers or blockchain technology.
Digital currencies are issued by a central bank, and therefore, are backed by the full power of a government. According to the Bank for International Settlements, over 20% of central banks surveyed say they have legal authority in issuing a CBDC. Almost 10% more said laws are currently being changed to allow for it.
As more central banks issue digital currencies, there’s likely to be favorability between them. This is similar to how a few currencies like the U.S. dollar and Euro dominate the currency landscape.
There are several positives regarding the issuance of a CBDC over other currencies.
First, the cost of retail payments in the U.S. is estimated to be between 0.5% and 0.9% of the country’s $20 trillion in GDP. Digital currencies can flow much more effectively between parties, helping reduce these transaction fees.
Second, large chunks of the global population are still considered unbanked. In this case, a CBDC opens avenues for people to access the global financial system without a bank. Even today, 6% of Americans do not have a single bank account.
Other motivations for a CBDC include:
An example of payments efficiency can be seen during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when some Americans failed to receive their stimulus check. Altogether, some $2 billion in funds have gone unclaimed. A functioning rollout of a CBDC and a more direct relationship with citizens would minimize such a problem.
Although widespread adoption of CBDCs is still far away, research and experiments are making notable strides forward:
The U.K. central bank is less optimistic about a rolling out a CBDC in the near future. The proposed digital currency—dubbed “Britcoin”—is unlikely to arrive until at least 2025.
Wherever you look, technology is disrupting finance and upending the status quo.
This can be seen through the rising market value of fintech firms, which in some cases are trumping traditional financial institutions in value. It is also evident in the rapid rise of Bitcoin to a $1 trillion market cap, making it the fastest asset to do so.
With the rollout of central bank digital currencies on the horizon, the next disruption of financial systems is already beginning.
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Copyright © 2021 Visual Capitalist


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GambleAware publishes new gaming and gambling research
The GambleAware commissioned report explores links between video game 'loot boxes' and problem gambling.
- The report consolidates evidence for the structural and psychological similarities between gambling and gaming, and also established that links between loot box purchasing and ‘problem gambling’ (PGSI 8+) have been robustly verified in around a dozen studies.
- The report found that around 5% of loot box purchasers perhaps generate around half of industry loot box revenue, with almost a third of them falling into the ‘problem gambler’ (PGSI 8+) category.
- The research found that younger males, and those with a lower educational attainment are more likely to purchase loot boxes.
- The report suggests clearly labelled and enforceable age ratings for loot box games, full disclosure of odds, spending limits and prices in real currency.
2 April 2021: GambleAware has today published a report completed by the University of Plymouth and the University of Wolverhampton into gaming and gambling. The research was funded by GambleAware to explore any links between video game ‘loot boxes’ and problem gambling, as well as identifying any particular demographics more likely to engage with these features.
Loot boxes are purchasable video game features which offer randomised rewards. They are widely recognised as being similar to gambling and are set to be considered in the forthcoming Gambling Act Review. The report states that 93% of children in the UK play video games, and that up to 40% of these have opened loot boxes.
When completing the report, the researchers found robust evidence that loot boxes are structurally and psychologically akin to gambling. The review of evidence also confirms that for surveys investigating relationships between loot box engagement and problem gambling, 12 of 13 publications have established unambiguous positive correlations: the higher the level of involvement in loot boxes, the higher the score on a measure of problem gambling.
At the end of 2020, the UK loot box market was estimated to be worth £700m. Analysis of self-report spend data from 7,771 loot box purchasers found that around 5% of them generate around half of industry loot box revenues. A third of these gamers were found to fall into the ‘problem gambler’ category (PGSI 8+) establishing a significant correlation between loot box expenditure and problem gambling scores. The researchers’ brief screen of around 14,000 gamers found that young men are more likely to open loot boxes, with those of a younger age and lower educational attainment also more likely to engage with these features.
In addition, interviews with UK loot box purchasers showed that motivations for purchase are complex, and embedded within a network of personal, social and gameplay factors. Loot boxes are just one type of ‘psychological nudge’ used to encourage purchase, working alongside other techniques such as in game currencies and the ‘fear of missing out’ on limited time offers. The interviews also highlight that the digital assets in loot boxes often have real-world and/or psychological value. This suggests that loot boxes could be regulated under existing gambling legislation.
Based on these findings the researchers have suggested a number of policies to prevent gambling harms associated with loot boxes:
- Clear definitions of loot boxes
- Game labelling and enforceable age ratings
- Full disclosure of odds presented in an easily understood manner
- Spending limits and prices shown in real currency
- These changes could be instated via new regulations or changes to existing gambling laws.
Dr James Close, Senior Research Fellow, University of Plymouth, said: “Our work has established that engagement with loot boxes is associated with problem gambling behaviours, with players encouraged to purchase through psychological techniques such as ‘fear of missing out’. We have also demonstrated that at-risk individuals, such as problem gamblers, gamers, and young people, make disproportionate contributions to loot box revenues.
“We have made a number of policy suggestions to better manage these risks to vulnerable people, although broader consumer protections may also be required.”
Zoë Osmond, CEO of GambleAware, said: “This research is part of GambleAware’s continued commitment to protect children, adolescents and young people from gambling harms. The research has revealed that a high number of children who play video games also purchase loot boxes and we are increasingly concerned that gambling is now part of everyday life for children and young people.
“GambleAware funded this research to highlight concerns around loot boxes and problem gambling, ahead of the upcoming Gambling Act Review. It is now for politicians to review this research, as well as the evidence of other organisations, and decide what legislative and regulatory changes are needed to address these concerns.”
 The PGSI is the most widely used measure of problem gambling in Great Britain. It consists of nine items and each item is assessed on a four point scale: never, sometimes, most of the time, almost always. The criteria for PGSI classification as a ‘problem gambler’ is a score within the range of between 8 and 27.


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To hear Federal Reserve officials, politicians and mainstream financial media pundits tell it – there is no inflation.
In fact, the consumer price index remains “stubbornly low” according to those who view rising prices as an economic good. But inflation defined correctly is rampant. In fact, it is at all-time record levels.
Strictly speaking, inflation is an increasing money supply, and by that measure, it hs set records for five straight months.
Last month, year-over-year growth in the money supply (as measured by TMS) came in at 37.56%. That was up 36.92% from July’s record rate. In comparison, the August 2019 increase in the money supply was a paltry 1.86%.
As measured by M2, the money supply grew by 23.23% in August, nearly the same rate as July’s record of 23.29%.
The “true” or Rothbard-Salerno money supply measure (TMS)—is the metric developed by economists Murray Rothbard and Joseph Salerno, and is designed to provide a better measure of money supply fluctuations than M2. This measure of the money supply differs from M2 in that it includes Treasury deposits at the Fed (and excludes short-time deposits, traveler’s checks, and retail money funds).
Money supply growth has never been higher. The only period that came close was the stagflationary period of the 1970s.
The overall M2 total money supply in August was $18.3 trillion and the TMS total was $18.5 trillion. M2 has increased by $2.9 trillion since January. The corresponding increase in TMS was $4.3 trillion. According to the Mises Wire, the TMS total has done something new over the past two months — it has grown to become larger than the M2 total. This is largely being fueled by the immense growth in US Treasury deposits at the Fed, which are factored into TMS, but not M2.
As Ryan McMaken explained in an article on the Mises Wire, this massive growth in the money supply comes in the wake of unprecedented quantitative easing, central bank asset purchases, and various stimulus packages.
The central bank continues to engage in a wide variety of unprecedented efforts to ‘stimulate’ the economy and provide income to unemployed workers and to provide liquidity to financial institutions. Moreover, as government revenues have fallen considerably, Congress has turned to unprecedented amounts of borrowing. But in order to keep interest rates low, the Fed has been buying up trillions of dollars in assets—including government debt. This has fueled new money creation.”
After initial balance sheet growth in 2019 as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, relaunched QE (although it refused to call it that), and engaged in repo operations to rescue the stock market and shore up a rickety financial system, total Fed assets surged as it responded to the economic distress caused by government shutdowns in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fed’s balance sheet has grown by over 600% from its previous high during the period immediately preceding the 2008 financial crisis. Total assets had declined slightly from the early-June peak but have grown again in recent weeks.
While this record inflationary binge by the Fed has not manifested in significant price inflation as measured by CPI – yet – it has shown up in asset prices – particularly equities. There is no other reason to see record stock market valuations in the midst of a massive economic contraction.
So, why does the mainstream insist there is no inflation? Because it has shifted the definition. It now defines inflation as one symptom of actual inflation. In a nutshell, increases in the price level are not inflation. They are caused by inflation. The government altered the definition to suit its purposes. The common definition used today is nothing more than government propaganda.
So, why does the government want to define inflation as rising prices? Peter Schiff explained in a podcast.
Then it can pretend that it doesn’t cause it. If the government accepts the definition of inflation as an expansion of the supply of money, well everybody knows who is expanding the supply of money. It’s the Fed. So, when you have an accurate definition of inflation, then you know exactly who’s to blame. But if the government can fool people into believing that an effect of inflation is inflation, well then they can blame it on whoever is raising the prices.”
Even if the inflationary policies never lead to rampant price inflation, they still have negative effects on the economy longterm. They blow up asset bubbles that eventually pop, taking the broader economy down with them. Despite what the pundits tell us, there is inflation – lots of it. And it will not likely end well for Main Street America.
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The Burger & Beer Joint restaurant chain is scheduled to open later this year at Frank Theatres CineBowl & Grille west of Delray Beach.
The opening is one of 16 planned nationwide as part of a joint-venture agreement between Boca Raton-based B&B Franchise Group and Jupiter-based Frank Entertainment, owner of CineBowl.
CineBowl, at 14775 Lyons Road, features movie theaters with reclining chairs, dining and bowling.
Burger & Beer also is expected to open in a CineBowl to be built at the Abacoa development in Jupiter in the first quarter of 2017.
"We are confident this new partnership will deliver an unprecedented entertainment experience for our guests," said Bruce Frank, CEO of Frank Theatres, in a statement.
Burger & Beer now has five freestanding restaurants in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The chain also has locations in Sarasota and Puerto Rico.


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Video report by Carole Green
The UK has officially entered into the largest recession on record according to new figures out on Wednesday.
The coronavirus crisis has caused the economy to shrink by more than 20% between April and June according to the Office For National Statistics.
It's the result of a drop in household spending- as shops were shut, factories closed and construction cancelled due to lockdown.
Important sectors in Wales like manufacturing, the creative industries, tourism and hospitality have all been hit hard.
One of the sectors most severely affected by lockdown has been the Creative industries - which include arts and live events. On Tuesday night, venues across Wales lit up red to symbolise the industry going into red alert, as they joined a nationwide call to action over job losses.
Campaigners say almost 60,000 people in Wales are at risk of losing their jobs in the next few weeks, as the furlough scheme comes to an end.


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- Site Admin
Prices rising as lawmakers weigh how to proceed on infrastructure plan
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
WASHINGTON (SBG) — From French fries to fish to fruit, the price you pay for just about everything now is going up. The Consumer Price Index has leaped to the highest levels since 2008, an increase of 4.2% over the last 12 months.
As more Americans get vaccinated and restaurants and retail reopen, economists say many are eager to spend, with businesses struggling to keep up with demand, therefore raising prices, though some economists say the big picture is important to consider since the numbers are compared to the same month a year ago.
“If we just go back in time, in April 2020 and think about what was happening in the economy then, that was the worst month of the COVID collapse,” said Josh Bivens, the director of Research at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
Still, if you’re planning a vacation now, expect to spend 10% more on airfare.
In the market for a new car? Good luck — fewer are getting built due to supply shortages, which means the cost of used cars are way up. The average price now is $25,463, the highest ever.
The numbers are giving new ammunition to Republicans who are opposed to President Joe Biden’s priorities, including a $2.3 trillion infrastructure package, central to a high-level discussion at the White House Wednesday.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the top two leaders in the House and Senate, with both sides expressing optimism about the meeting and reaching a deal. Still, Republicans are staunchly opposed to the price tag.
“The idea of spending more trillions of dollars into this economy when you have a supply constraint is actually the reverse of what you want to do,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at the White House after the meeting wrapped up.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear raising taxes to pay for the plan is off the table.
“We’re not interested in reopening the 2017 tax bill. That’s our red line,” he said.
Some others blame rising prices on he latest round of coronavirus relief money.
“So now we have people with a lot of additional money they’re spending all that money it’s causing prices to rise rapidly,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Democrats meanwhile, are hoping to go big, and insist raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans is the best way to cover the cost.
“If we’re gonna be competitive with china we do need an infrastructure investment, a serious infrastructure investment,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
Weighing investment with inflation has now become a key concern in Washington.
This post is published on cbsaustin.com, Our only aim is to sahre it with right duience


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Ryan Reynolds-Backed Firm MNTN Teams With David Lynch To Do a Super Bowl Commercial
by Frankie Karrer
2 Min Read
Too Busy to Keep Up with the Latest Marketing News? We’ve Got You Covered.
5 Min Read
As we come to the end of 2020, there is a lot to cover in digital marketing news. To make it easier for you to keep on top of the most important stories, we compiled a list of the most interesting headlines from this week.
In digital marketing news, many sources are recognizing ways that the tumultuous situation this year will affect the marketing industry going forward. Ad Age believes that while it’s true that things may have changed forever, there are ways marketers can update their strategies to better fit current consumer patterns. According to Unruly, 85% of customers are looking for brands to solve their problems, and there are a few ways brands can adapt in order to navigate this new normal. One of these is recognizing the changes in how customers progress through life changes. Many people are making different purchasing decisions than they would have before the pandemic, including investing in home-office furniture and technology, or buying at-home workout equipment. They also are changing their at-home habits and playing more video games and consuming more streaming TV. Marketers who address these changes are more likely to successfully convert their customers as we enter the upcoming year.
And speaking of streaming TV, this week Connected TV marketing has also been making waves this week as brands continue planning their ad budgets for the future. And according to the Drum, if 2020 was the year of Connected TV, 2021 will be the year of Connected TV advertising. More consumers than ever are streaming their favorite content on free ad-supported platforms. In fact, a study from Unruly found that 73% of consumers would rather watch TV shows for free with ads than pay for a subscription. And with sources like MarTechSeries expounding the benefits of combining performance-based marketing with the power of Connected TV, it’s no wonder that many brands are looking to add this channel to their marketing mixes in the upcoming year.
Here are the rest of the marketing headlines that caught our eye this week.
Reaching consumers during pandemic-driven life transitions – The COVID-19 crisis has upended Americans’ life and career paths, both now and into the future. As a result, marketers need to rethink their strategies, messaging, and targeting tactics when trying to reach consumers entering and exiting various life stages or life transitions.
Seven Digital Marketing Trends For 2021 – Goodbye and good riddance to 2020. The global pandemic had an impact on every business. From a digital marketing standpoint, what will 2021 bring? Several digital marketing leaders shared their thoughts on coming trends.
Get Ready For 2021: Digital Marketing Trends – 2021 will be an interesting year in digital marketing as brands adjust to COVID-19 and adjust their messaging accordingly. Here are some advancements that you should look out for and consider implementing as part of your overall marketing strategy.
2021 outlook for digital marketing agencies: the future is bright – The ability to prove the value they’re creating for clients is contributing to agencies’ resilience in 2020 and a positive outlook for next year.
3 Digital Marketing Trends to Come in 2021 – With 2020 almost in the rearview mirror, it’s time to predict what next year holds. Here are three big industry predictions, based on all that went down this year and overall trends we’re already seeing.
Samsung service measures combined impact of linear TV and streaming campaigns – Samsung has launched a new service intended to help advertisers better engage target audiences, regardless of how they watch TV, by measuring the combined impact of linear and streaming advertising campaigns.
If 2020 was the year of CTV, 2021 will be the year of CTV advertising – After Connected TV’s breakthrough 2020, The Drum columnist and head of strategic partnerships at Publica explores how the CTV advertising market is likely to mature in 2021.
From The Experts: Media And Advertising In 2021 – This year has seen a lot of ups and downs – with a global pandemic and recession and viewers migrating to at-home entertainment. Forbes asks some experts about what we should expect for 2021.
Double Results From Your Ad Campaign and Apply to CTV – Performance-based marketing is broad enough to be embedded in any hyped marketing approach and flexible enough to meet the most specific goals, so why not apply it to Connected TV?
11 Mobile Marketing Trends That Will Dominate Early 2021 – As customers increasingly turn to their smart devices to connect with their favorite brands, companies must monitor trends in mobile marketing to stay current and competitive.
Mobile Advertising Outlook 2021 – Insider Intelligence Trends, Forecasts & Statistics – 2020 is a reminder that making predictions is filled with uncertainties. Insider and eMarketer try again this year to predict some major stories in mobile advertising in 2021.
Brand advertisers control the last line of defence against in-app pirates – It will take more than app-store takedowns to counter the boom in pirate streaming apps – content owners also need to hit the lucrative advertising revenues of apps already operating on millions of phones.
Tastemade feasts on shoppable video as mobile viewership grows – Mobile video this year has become much more shoppable as brands and retailers seek to drive direct sales from audiences, a shift that reflects how the pandemic has accelerated a longer-term shift in shopping habits from homebound consumers.
Twitter doubles down on brand safety as it selects DoubleVerify and IAS – Twitter has selected DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science (IAS) as it’s preferred partners for providing independent reporting on the context in which ads appear on Twitter.
That’s it for the roundup this week, next week we’ll be back with another list of what’s making news in marketing.
Subscribe to the report Apple, Amazon, NBC and more use to get their CTV news.


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Conan Exiles sets sales records for Funcom
New survival game becomes fastest and best selling title in company history
Funcom announced today that Conan Exiles, the recently launched open world survival game, is now both the best-selling and fastest-selling game in the company’s history.
Conan Exiles has now surpassed Funcom’s previous record-holder, the 2008 MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, which sold 1.4 million units by the time it went free-to-play three years after its initial release. Kicking off Early Access in January 2017 with full launch in May 2018, Conan Exiles broke this record in less than half that time.
After the first DLC, The Imperial East, Funcom also announced that Jewel of the West, the second DLC for Conan Exiles, will be launching in early August. The downloadable content introduces new Aquilonia-themed building pieces, weapons, armor, furniture, and more.
Conan Exiles launched in May for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.


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In November 2018, California experienced devastating fires that roared through parts of the state. The city of Paradise was one of the most affected by the massive Camp Fire, and residents are still picking up the pieces of its destruction. Artist Shane Grammer, who once hailed from nearby Chico, is using his creative abilities to find beauty among the ashes. On December 31, he began painting murals on parts of the Paradise community ravaged by flames. “[I wanted to] paint something that brought hope in the middle of complete destruction,” Grammer wrote on Instagram.
The woman who won the bidding at the auction decided to go through with the purchase. The partially shredded work has been given a new title, Love is in the Bin, and it was authenticated by Banksy's authentication body Pest Control. Sotheby released a statement that said "Banksy didn't destroy an artwork in the auction, he created one," and called it "the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction."
Une imposante tête d’éléphant en déco mur métal design ! Installez ce pachyderme à vos murs avec notre sculpture métal contemporaine réalisée à la main ! Les dimensions de cette décoration murale métal sont 45 cm x 52 cm (version L) et 75 x 90 cm (version XL). Cet éléphant noir en déco métal design est en livraison gratuite en France Métropolitaine et Belgique.


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In mid-November, you may not be too concerned with the workplace injury risks that accompany winter weather.
Cybersecurity isn't just for personal accounts and private data like Social Security numbers and credit card information, and factory managers need to be aware of the threats their companies face.
The novel coronavirus took its toll on the U.S. manufacturing sector and the broader economy in 2020. As the end of the year approaches, there are still many hurdles that need to be cleared.
Just about every workplace in almost any industry is likely to see a huge surge in requests for time off as the holiday season approaches.
When you run a manufacturing facility, you likely know that your workers are only as effective as the tools they are provided with to get the job done on an ongoing basis.
There are many places in a factory where a careless mistake can lead to safety risk for workers, but there may not be any one area where this is more true than the space around your production line.
In the manufacturing industry, you should always strive to ensure your workforce operates at its utmost capacity.
Across the U.S., coverage of the COVID crisis has largely quieted down from the fever pitch it was at just a few months ago.
As a manufacturing company, one of the biggest concerns you should have on an ongoing basis is the efficiency of your procurement processes.
In manufacturing and other industrial settings, companies often encounter an old, all-too-familiar problem: They're running out of square footage, and expanding isn't a feasible option.
A forklift is almost certainly going to be an invaluable tool in at least one part of your manufacturing facility, if not several or more.
When you are just starting out at a manufacturing company, or your firm brings someone else aboard, it's important to be as professional and open with these new people as you can.
Managers in any business need their teams to work as a cohesive unit and generally lift each other up to achieve collective and individual goals.
In almost every factory, the production machines that churn out your products are the lifeblood of your organization, as much a part of efficiency as a well-trained staff.
One of the biggest challenges manufacturing companies face these days is the twin goal of being able to attract and retain talent on an ongoing basis.
There has been a lot of attention paid to the manufacturing skills gap in recent years, as businesses in the sector need workers to meet demand, but often have difficulty finding qualified candidates.
As manager of a manufacturing facility, you likely have a lot on your plate, but perhaps the most important is being able to ensure your operations remain as efficient as possible on an ongoing basis.
In your manufacturing facility, you have likely put a lot of effort into making sure the factory floor is as safe for your employees as possible, but you need to ask yourself a simple question.
As a manufacturing company, you certainly want to make sure your employees are as safe as possible at all times when they're in your facility.
When you manage a manufacturing facility, the safety of your workers and security of your products, equipment and more should be your utmost concern.


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Starting with the 2013 model year, the Toyota Avalon Limited will offer in-console Qi wireless charging for all mobile devices that are Qi-enabled.
Read This Article
At the 2012 Toyota Camry debut last year, a fellow journalist asked if he needed to turn in his car enthusiast "card." Why?
The Toyota Corolla may not sell a lot of car magazines if it were to be featured on the cover, but that's just fine with Toyota, as long as it keeps rolling off dealer lots as it has for years.
The 2014 Toyota Highlander has begun production in the U.S., bringing Toyota's Indiana investment to $4.2 billion.


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This Tuesday, 343 Industries announced a delay to Halo Infinite: their latest instalment in the blockbuster Halo series. Expectedly, the news was met with mixed reactions. While some fans were disheartened to hear their favourite game will not be released this year, a surprising majority took to social media to offer support.
In their official post, 343 cited COVID-19 among the reasons for delay. Like most other industries, the video game industry has had to adapt overnight to a whole new world. What was once a more social, interconnected, in-person artistic venture, game development has been forced online. Teams have had to be trained for months on new tools and workflows. This inevitably cost the entire industry precious time.
As the holidays loom, a game of chicken has begun between PlayStation and Xbox. Neither company has set a firm release date or price of their new consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X, respectively.) What was formerly a launch title for Xbox Series X will now be released at an unknown date in 2021. There is no indication if this means Q1 or Q4.
At their recent Xbox Games Showcase, an 8-minute Halo Infinite gameplay demo was shown off. Despite sitting at over 5 million views and 164,000 likes on YouTube (with a positive like ratio), viewers were quick to criticize the graphics and art-style of the game. The consensus was that the game looked “plastic-y” and “unfinished”. While 343 acknowledged the demo was an older build, they took the feedback to heart and are dedicated to improving the title before release. The “polish” phase of game design typically takes place near the end, so this may hint that the game isn’t as close to being finished as everyone expected. In his statement, Chris Lee, studio head of 343 on Halo Infinite, didn’t acknowledge the negative demo reception as a cause for delay, but it can safely be assumed that it was another issue on a larger pile.
As the world adapts to a global pandemic and working from home, more and more delays are inevitable. Cyberpunk 2077 was initially releasing April 16, 2020, but has been delayed to November 19 (this could be another reason 343 was cautious to release a competing game at the same time). Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 recently posted a similar statement to Halo, delaying their game to 2021. With no end in sight to a very different way of living, keeping expectations in check and having empathy for the real people behind the games is the best thing we can do.


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The new iPhone 3.0 software is out for existing users and it is good. The internet moves faster. You can cut and paste. You can turn the phone sideways to type email (finally) and there's a neat voice recorder now included that allows you to leave a tape recorder at home. It all works seamlessly, like many Apple products, and all of a sudden I'm not hearing so much about the Palm Pre anymore.
The new software, combined with a Mobile Me account from Apple, allows you to track where your phone is at any time. You can even have it display a message and/or beep to help you find it.
If need be, you can even wipe its data remotely, removing all your emails and sensitive information.
This was a brilliant addition.
But here's the thing, there's a new iPhone coming this week and it does everything better.
The battery lasts longer. The camera is sharper and autofocuses. It also takes video, which the current phone does not. AT&T is making it harder on current users by widening the window for available plan discounts to get the new phone for as low as $199 (16 gig version) if they re-up for two years.
Now, users whose contracts won't expire for three more months are eligible.
If you're thinking of jumping and getting a new iPhone, the new version is $199 or $299 (32 gigs). The current iPhone is now $99, and with the new software, it does everything better than any other smart phone out there -- except the new iPhone 3GS.
And one of the biggest bugaboos about the current model is battery strength. It ain't good. The new model improves on that -- greatly.
So what are you guys going to do? Stand pat, enjoy the new software and wait on the next iPhone revision, which would probably be more of a quantum leap than this; or go grab a 3G-S now?


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In late February 2014, the House proposed two bills which are designed to ensure that small business owners get a bigger chunk of government contracts, which, in an ideal world, will lead to growth and a stronger economy. But is it everything it’s supposed to be?
Bolstered by Chairman of the House Small Business Committee Sam Graves, the two legislative pieces are taking aim at government contracting, hopefully making them more feasible for small businesses and leading to an increase in government contracting as a whole. Named the Greater Opportunities for Small Business Act, it’s taking aim at the current contracting statistics and citing a goal of 25 percent (up from the current 23 percent goal).
When this Act is enforced, annual government spending for small businesses will go up by nearly $10 billion. On the other hand, Graves’ other piece, the Contracting Data and Bundling Accountability Act, will enforce more transparency when it comes to bundling contracts. In other words, when combining a number of small contracts (a common government practice), the process will be more accessible to the many small businesses which depend on these sources of funding. According to Barbara Kasoff, President and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy, “Both of these bills together go a long way to create a more level playing field for small business owners.”
The Critics’ Stance
On the surface, this seems like a win-win scenario, but critics are wary. Some claim that this is a “better in theory” approach and there might be opportunities brushed under the rug. For example, one adviser for American Express OPEN, Lourdes Martin-Rosa, says the government has been talking about upping small business spending goals for “years.” Instead of shooting for 25 percent out of the gate, “I want to see them reach the 23 percent and then talk about 25 percent.”
If you’re a small business owner, does this seem too good to be true? It’s true that for at least the past seven years, the government has largely missed the mark, not even coming close to the 23 percent goal; this has hurt small business valuation, putting more financial pressure on small business owners. However, 2012 was a close year, with a record nearly $90 billion (22.3 percent) in small business spending for the year, but it’s possible that that close call spurned the government to shoot for the stars. Small businesses will have to wait until July 2014 to see if the goal was made for 2014.
A History Of Struggles
In addition to small business contracting goals, government agencies have also fallen short of their procurement for “set-aside programs.” An example is women-owned businesses, which haven’t succeeded in the goal set by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to earmark five percent of procurement dollars for contractors in this realm. Even so, Martin-Rosa sees the future as bright and has high hopes for the 2013 goal being reached.
As for 2014? She thinks it will be a hallmark year for small government contracts and businesses alike. Last year, contracts were slowed due to Capitol Hill brinkmanship issues, but the clogs should be cleared for 2014. Plus, lawmakers are coming around, as evidenced by the bipartisan spending bill, and will help bolster small contracts, too. Whether or not 2014 has what it takes is anyone’s guess, but Martin-Rosa thinks it will be a record-breaking year and sees the wheels being greased from all sides, which will ultimately lead to not more jobs, but more localized spending and efforts around the country.


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Prohibition themed Italian restaurant coming to Destin
A new restaurant concept is coming to Destin and it’s sure to capture the attention of foodies in the Northwest Florida area. Divieto Ristorante, an Italian-American fusion restaurant with a 1920s Prohibition theme is scheduled to open in the Destin Commons this fall.
“We are very excited,” said Heather Ruiz, Senior Director of Marketing & Leasing for the Destin Commons. “It is going to be a pretty extensive build-out and will include two outdoor patios, with gorgeous interior of black, gold and white tile and a really cool 1920s New York Italian vibe.”
Divieto Ristorante, has three other locations in South Florida, Ruiz said but this will be the first on the Florida panhandle.
The new Italian-American restaurant offers more than 70 signature dishes including pasta, pizza, salads, soups, steaks and a full bar. When it comes to unique dining concepts, however, Divieto Ristorante’s popular dish, Ruota Di Parmigiano, brings a whole new spin on creative plating.
“What they do is they serve up a table-sized cheesy pasta in a giant cheese wheel,” said Ruiz. “They bring out a parmesan cheese wheel then they bring out the hot pasta and it melts directly into it – it’s an epic dish.”
Ruiz said that the new restaurant will be located where La Famiglia and formerly the Hard Rock used to be.
“They are slotted to open in the September-October time-frame,” Ruiz said. “It all depends on construction permitting and weather but construction should start in the next six to 10 weeks.”


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Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Jelani Aliyu, MFR, has said that the recently approved Nigeria Automotive Policy will provide a better operating environment for auto industry players in the country and engender the Industry’s growth.
The DG made this remark in a paper presented at the West Africa Automotive Show (WAAS) held in Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to the Director General, who was represented at the event by a Deputy Director of the Council, Segun Omisore,
“The federal government has recently approved the new Auto policy 2023 to 2033, the objectives of the new policy include, among others; the provision of a legal framework for the development of a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Nigeria.
“Create an environment that allows existing Assembly Plants to survive, grow and attract other original equipment manufacturers, and local content…
Source: Thisday Newspaper


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April 15, 2020 update regarding COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)
COVID-19 update for businesses
- New restrictions and guidance from the Nevada Health Response in relation to the Governor’s latest directive on:
- Publicly accessible sporting and recreation facilities that encourage social congregation (such as golf courses);
- Showrooms for the sale of goods at essential businesses;
- Places of worship;
- Real estate showings; and
- In-home beauty services.
- Updated alcohol sale guidelines for restaurants, breweries, wineries, and distilleries.
- New guidance for grocery stores and other retail businesses providing safety standards for employees and customers.
14th COVID-19-related death reported in Washoe County
The Regional Information Center is reporting that an additional Washoe County resident has died from COVID-19. The deceased was a male in his 70s. It is being investigated if the deceased had underlying health conditions. This is the 14th COVID-19-related death in Washoe County.
Washoe County surpassed 100 recoveries and sits at 103. There were 17 additional positive cases of COVID-19 reported.
- Total COVID-19 cases in Washoe County: 549 (+17 from 4/14)
- Deaths: 14 (+1)
- Recoveries: 103 (+11)
- Active cases: 432 (+5)
- Currently hospitalized: 32 (-2)
- Cases who have discharged from hospital: 41 (+0)
DETR announces call center vendor, reiterates new method for online filing system
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), will open a new Unemployment Insurance (UI) call center today to help assist claimants with general questions related to the unemployment insurance filing process. The agency is partnering with global customer service provider Alorica to manage the inquiries and anticipates that Alorica staff scope may change based on needed support. The call center will answer a newly established general question toll-free hotline: 800-603-9671. Operation hours will mirror the state’s current expanded UI call center hours of Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.


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Couple opens new distillery in Reidville
The pleasant aroma of sweet corn mash wafts through the streets of downtown Reidville.
In a small brick building built in the 1800s at the corner of Main Street and Gaston Drive, two distillers are busy making their new, legal Sugar Tit Moonshine.
Bob and Kat Jordan moved from Florida to Greer in 2009. That was the same year the state decided to amend its rules for micro-distilleries. The couple followed Bob's job as a wind turbine designer for General Electric Co. to the Upstate and were captivated by the local history and culture.
“We just fell in love with this town,” Kat Jordan said. “We originally bought this building sight unseen with the intention of putting an antique store here... But as you can see, those plans have changed.”
The Jordans said they were having dinner with a friend a few years ago when the friend produced a jar of homemade spirits. The beverage was from a family recipe that was handed down over the years somewhere in Sugar Tit, an unincorporated community around the junction of highways 101 and 296 near Greer.
“I tasted it and was like, that's Sugar Tit Moonshine!” Bob Jordan said.
Jordan said he began crafting a brand, using a sketch of his wife as the “poster girl.” The couple began selling merchandise two years before they made the decision to brew liquor.
“People started asking us for the moonshine,” Bob Jordan said. “That's when I decided to start pursuing the licensing… You could say it's a retirement venture.”
The Jordans have obtained their licensing from federal and state agencies, including the S.C. Department of Revenue, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and Spartanburg County.
They said the process was long and expensive, but looking back, they believe they made the right decision.
“We're looking for a distributor,” Bob Jordan said. “Right now, customers can buy it right here in the store. As demand picks up, we will extend our hours.”
The Jordans have a pure corn whiskey. In the next few weeks, they will unveil their first fruit varieties—pineapple and apple pie. They also are planning on a peach cobbler flavor and “Plum Crazy,” which is a mix of plum and raspberry.
Each bottle is sold in a 750 milliliter mini jug, a throwback to the clay jugs used in the old days.
The couple is allowed to sell only three jugs per customer each day.
They plan to have tastings at their store, but they are not licensed to sell food.
Inside the shop is a display case of items they found while renovating the building, which has served a variety of uses over the years. The building has been an apothecary and country store. The display case features glass buttons, marbles, coins, an old pipe and other artifacts.
“You come in here and it's like getting a history lesson and a science lesson at the same time,” Kat Jordan said.
For more information, visit: www.sugartitmoonshine.com.


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News agency Bloomberg has been in contact with sources who indicate that Apple is developing a ChatGPT-like tool, currently known as “Ajax,” although some have already started calling it “AppleGPT.”
The name Ajax is said to be based on the fact that Apple’s chatbot is building a language model developed using the machine learning framework Jax, which was developed by Google. There is currently no information available about Apple’s plans or which of its products the company may potentially integrate Ajax/AppleGPT into.
According to Bloomberg, Apple’s software chief, Craig Federighi, and John Giannandrea, who was previously in charge of machine learning for Apple’s digital assistant Siri, are leading the Ajax/AppleGPT project. This may suggest that Apple’s potential chatbot is intended to make Siri a little smarter and better.
A source contacted by Bloomberg states that Apple plans to unveil Ajax/AppleGPT sometime next year. Until then, speculation about Apple’s chatbot endeavor is likely to continue.


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WhatsApp has announced that it is ending support for BlackBerry – including BlackBerry 10, and other mobile platforms without many users – at the end of 2016.
“As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use,” said WhatsApp.
By the end of 2016, it will end support for WhatsApp Messenger on the following mobile platforms:
- BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10
- Nokia S40
- Nokia Symbian S60
- Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
- Windows Phone 7.1
“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” said WhatsApp.
If you use one of these affected mobile devices, WhatsApp recommends upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.


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GM Partners With Lyft to the Tune of $500 Million
General Motors just took another major step forward in its drive to realize it vision of self-driving rental car fleets, to the tune of a $500 million. On January 4th, the ride-sharing company Lyft announced a $1 billion funding round, half of which was picked up by GM, creating a very strong partnership between the two.
Incorporation Is a Beautiful Thing: Check out the new 2017 LaCrosse, which borrows from the Avenir concept
This is all in hopes that, eventually, Lyft and GM will together create a web of autonomous vehicle fleets to challenge others that are working on autonomous cars (i.e. Google, Tesla, etc.) as well as other car-hailing apps (i.e. Uber).
“There’s software that powers the self driving car, software that connects the consumer, lots of different elements that we’ll plug in together and provide the ultimate experience.” Lyft President John Zimmer said to Forbes.
Planning for the Futures: Will there be another, shorter Chevy crossover?
That sounds great, but based on all that is going on, GM and Lyft should probably hurry with their joint self-driving venture, as Ford and Google gear up for their own autonomous driving partnership, letting Ford skip ahead several steps in its own autonomous-driving program. Additionally, other car companies are clamoring to produce their own self-driving vehicles, with Nissan promising self-driving cars in the next 4 years, Kia revealing its own autonomous plans at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and Tesla rapidly improving its Autopilot system.
News Source: Forbes


text: AP Business Writer MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Mexico's assembly-for-export plants, clustered along the U.S. border and representing one of the country's main industries, have lost several factories to Central America and China. Despite signs the Mexican economy is beginning to recover after a yearlong recession, the maquiladora industry will likely take some time to pick up again, Economy Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters Monday. Derbez didn't give exact numbers, but he said many maquiladora factories have moved to China. Others have moved to different parts of Asia and Central America, where salaries can be a $1 less per hour. In a positive sign for the Mexican government's plans to develop highways and jobs in remote southern Mexico and tie the region to the economies of Central America, between six and eight maquiladora plants have recently moved to southern states like Chiapas, Derbez said. Maquiladoras were among the hardest hit during Mexico's recession. Many closed or laid off thousands of workers along Mexico's northern border. Mexican workers can make as much as $3 an hour along the border, and the rising wages have forced many companies to look to cheaper countries _ particularly China. Derbez said falling transportation and shipping costs worldwide have outweighed Mexico's advantage of being next door to the world's most prosperous economy. To offset the loss, Mexico is trying to attract high-tech and other skilled jobs to the border, promising to help train workers and improve highways and railroads between Mexico and the United States. "The advantage shouldn't be lost because of bad infrastructure," Derbez said. But businesses' main concern is Mexico's lack of long-term fiscal policy that helps industries plan for the future. President Vicente Fox attempted to push a fiscal policy that initially called for imposing a 15 percent sales tax on food and medicine _ both aren't taxed. The plan met resistance from voters and the Congress, but a watered-down version taxing luxury items was approved. Derbez said Fox's government is looking at ways to create a more comprehensive fiscal policy. Mexico is also combating its crime problem by arresting major drug lords and assigning more police to fight highway robberies. Recent efforts have reduced the number of highway robberies by 50 percent, Derbez said. In regard to China, which Mexico has criticized both for flooding the Mexican market with cheap goods and protecting its industries with subsidies, Derbez said officials are looking for ways in which the countries could cooperate. He encouraged China and other Asian countries to invest in Mexico, helping build plants and taking advantage of the country's proximity to the United States.


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Windows Marketplace for Mobile will be extended to older versions of Microsoft's handset operating system, after initially being announced for a yet-to-arrive upgrade.
By the end of 2009, the application store will be accessible using Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1, Microsoft said on Tuesday at its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans.
Windows Marketplace for Mobile was announced in February alongside Windows Mobile 6.5, with both expected to arrive in autumn 2009. The application store, a rival to Apple's iPhone App Store, Nokia's Ovi Store and the Android Market, was initially usable only on Windows Mobile 6.5 phones.
According to a blog post from Microsoft mobile platform executive Todd Brix, extending the application store's availability to handsets that are already in existence "means that developers will have an opportunity to reach more than 30 million Windows Mobile devices".
Brix also wrote that business users would get a special category in the application store, the Windows Marketplace Business Center. This category will include enterprise-focused applications from companies including Avanade UK, Formotus, Ilium Software, Pyxis Mobile and WebIS.
Developers will be able to submit their Marketplace applications to Microsoft from 27 July. The company will also launch a developer contest on that date.


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If most of your advertising budget is spent on newspaper and magazine ads, probably not. That is if JupiterResearch, an independent firm providing research to the online industry, is right.
According to one of its recent reports, published last week, “Media Consumption Patterns: Online Vies with TV As Primary Medium,” online users spend as much time online as they spend watching TV, while users under the age of 35 spend more time online than on TV.
The press release also points out a mind-boggling fact about advertising spendings:
Despite this trend, however, advertisers continue to spend disproportionately on print, with newspapers garnering nearly three times the expenditure of online. Money spent on television advertising remains the clear leader among the marketing mix with advertisers spending four times as much on TV advertising as all online advertising.
For JupiterResearch Analysts, the medium of the future for advertisers could be social networking websites. That is if used properly.
So while online social networks might seem like the ideal mix of media and communications, advertisers must use them appropriately. Brand advertisers should rely on sponsorships, widgets, or branded microsites within the networks.
“Sponsoring personal-page themes and widgets that entertain or offer exclusive access to content also makes sense for reaching potential brand advocates,” said Emily Riley, Analyst at JupiterResearch. “But it takes a light touch. Marketing can’t be so intrusive that it risks creating negative brand associations.”
Obviously, the report is targeted to companies (and not higher ed institutions), but it definitely confirms the need to rethink some marketing and advertising tactics and start spending more time and money online.
What do you think? Is it just wishful thinking? Anybody spending more money online than offline when it comes to marketing to prospective students? Post a comment!


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Double Fine announces rhythm arcade game Dropchord for PC, Mac and iOS
Supports upcoming hi-tech Leap motion controller.
Psychonauts and Brutal Legend developer Double Fine has announced a new "music-driven score challenge game" entitled Dropchord due later this year on PC, Mac and iOS.
Developed by the key members who worked on Kinect Party, this shiny, abstract rhythm arcade game seems like a surprising move from the developer that's known for quirky, cartoony fare, but it's not as surprising as the fact that it will not only support the upcoming motion sensing Leap controller, but actually debut on Leap Motion's app store, Airspace, before anywhere else.
For those unfamiliar with Leap, it's basically a motion sensing camera that's supposedly at least 200 times more accurate than Kinect. I interviewed Leap Motion's CEO Michael Buckwald last summer.
"The Leap Motion Controller is the world's most accurate 3-D motion control device," said president and COO of Leap Motion Andy Miller. "It allows people to play Dropchord on their computer entirely by moving their hands and fingers in the air."
Double Fine must be pretty far along with Dropchord as it's showing it off in a mere two days at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. It will also be playable at PAX East in Boston later this month.


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For the fourth consecutive year, the Coca-Cola Happy Energy Tour dazzled Bulgarian music fans in 2013 with performances from the country’s hottest pop, R&B, rap and dance artists. More than 130,000 teens -- over 25 percent of Bulgaria’s teen population -- attended the six-city concert tour, which wrapped in September.
What began as a summer music concert in 2010 has expanded into a major Coca-Cola asset. The six-month program includes Coca-Cola sampling drives, shopper promotions and social media campaigns.
An energized social media fan base has played a key role in building the program’s profile and following. A Facebook fan page today boasts more than 139,000 “likes”, 85 percent of which are teens.
The program has grown in popularity thanks to its ability to connect with global Coca-Cola campaigns, including a partnership with pop star Taio Cruz in 2011, the London 2012 Olympic Games and the “Share a Coke” activation.
A highlight of this year’s tour was a special Happy Energy Tour song written collectively by more than 1,000 brand fans during a two-week digital campaign. The track became a monster summer hit.
“This engaging and cool approach sums up the spirit of the Coca-Cola Happy Energy Tour, the most attractive, highly anticipated and widely shared teen music asset in Bulgaria,” says Gergana Fakalieva, Marketing Activation Manager, Coca-Cola Bulgaria.
A media partnership with City TV & Radio drew broad coverage for the 2013 tour, including a live broadcast of the final four-hour concert. And more than 500 “golden tickets” were up for grabs in an innovative treasure hunt. Fans could win the VIP passes by scanning QR codes found on Coca-Cola bottles, online and on the hit TV music show “Hot Spot.”
“The tour’s immense growth year-on-year paints a promising picture for future editions,” says Vassil Tzvetanov, marketing manager, Coca-Cola Bulgaria.
More on Journey
- 4 Fun, Little-Known Facts About Fanta
- 'Blizzard' of Taste: How Fresca Lived Up to Its Tagline, Literally, for 1967 Debut in New York
- Coke’s Strategic Evolution Supports World Health Organization’s Daily Added Sugar Recommendations
- WATCH: Vince Staples Stars in New Sprite Music Video and TV Spot
- Find Your Match: Coca-Cola Freestyle Food Pairings Make Your Meals Pop


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Should I go on a cruise?
CDC recommends that all travelers defer all cruise ship travel worldwide. Recent reports of COVID-19 on cruise ships highlight the risk of infection to cruise ship passengers and crew. Like many other viruses, COVID-19 appears to spread more easily between people in close quarters aboard ships.
See also: Traveling


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Qualcomm Announces its Entry into Server Chip Market
Qualcomm, after excelling in the market of smartphone processors and cellular chips, is aiming to target the data centre markets with new server chips based on ARM technology. Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf revealed during a meeting with financial analysts that the firm is working on chips for the data centre. However, he didn’t give away any specific product details.
This means that Qualcomm will join the already established companies like AMD, AppliedMicro and Cavium, which manufacture chips based on ARM Holdings’ 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture. The company stayed quiet on important questions, such as how many cores, how fast will they work and when they will be available?
He did say, however, that the market for ARM server processors could be worth $15bn by 2020 and that Qualcomm plans to capture a piece of it. Qualcomm sees big opportunities with the Internet of Things (IoT) and views it as the next logical step from the mobile era in that wearable technology and all those connected gadgets will be gathering enormous quantities of data that need to collect in a data centre.
Qualcomm is the world leader in ARM chips for smartphones with around 58 percent revenue share, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. In fact, the Chinese government has accused it of having a monopoly in the region, despite local competition from the likes of Allwinner, MediaTek, and Rockchip.
Mollenkopf did not reveal as when Qualcomm will bring a server chip to the market, but he stressed on the fact that it would take time for the company to build this new business.


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Kositchek's offers to pay for parking in downtown Lansing
A Lansing clothing shop is offering free parking to its customers after the city recently changed its parking system.
Kositchek's, located in downtown Lansing says they will pay for the customer's parking when they stop in.
Lansing recently switched its parking system from meters to pay stations.
Now to accommodate this change, the menswear shop is asking customers to give their license plate and zone number to the store's front desk, that way their parking will be paid for during this transitional period.


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Emaar Properties' revenue from sale of apartments more than doubled last year, offseting a sharp drop in sales of commercial units that is struggling to recover three years after the emirate's property market collapse.
The builder of the world's tallest tower generated a revenue of 2.5 billion dirhams ($680.64 million) from sales of condominiums last year, compared with 1.1 billion dirhams in 2011, a detailed earnings statement released on Monday showed.
However, income from sale of commercial units, plots and others dropped significantly to 682.2 million dirhams compared with 2.7 billion dirhams in the prior-year.
Emaar is one of the better performing companies in Dubai's real estate sector with its focus on retail and hospitality segments helping it see through the emirate's real estate crash which resulted in a 50 percent slump in prices.
Dubai itself has witnessed a gradual recovery in its property market largely buoyed by return of speculative buyers in the home sales segment.
Emaar's revenue from villa sales in 2012 also dropped slightly to 937.1 million dirhams from 958.7 million dirhams. Overall revenue was nearly flat at 8.2 billion dirhams from 8.1 billion dirhams in 2011.
The company posted a 28 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit in January, missing analysts' forecasts, as costs soared amid revival of stalled projects in the emirate.
The report also said Emaar received outstanding receivables of 326.3 million dirhams from troubled affiliate Amlak last year for which debit notes were issued. The developer is still owed 243 million dirhams by Amlak, down from 595 million dirhams in 2011.
Emaar shares have risen 44.5 percent year-to-date outperforming the wider Dubai benchmark, which is up 16.8 percent in the same period. The stock was down 1.6 percent as at 0715 GMT on Monday.
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72 percent of marketers plan to increase their budgets for first party date.
Global average programmatic spend reaches 82 percent by 2022.
Programmatic advertising does not work by itself.
Social networks have been involved in many complaints from users and mainly from world governments, who accuse them of not protecting the privacy of their consumers and stealing data for their benefit. It is the viral case of a woman who claims that Facebook “the thorn” and shows what she called “shocking evidence” in a video on TikTok.
There are many cases of people who think and argue that social networks spin them by presenting advertising for specific products that they talk to their acquaintances or the simple fact of looking for them on the internet. In the world of marketing this kind of strategies It is called programmatic advertising, which is the use of advanced technology for media buying, and digital advertising, which uses data and algorithms to strategically display automated ads to users, based on different aspects such as their histories and buying behavior. .
It is estimated that 72 percent of marketers plan to increase their budgets for first party dating, You cannot be left behind and you should know why programmatic advertising caused such a stir and why you should consider it to boost your digital ads.
According hubspot datathe global average programmatic spend is expected to reach 82 percent during 2022. SHowever, and given these growth data, programmatic advertising, despite its benefits and technological advances, does not work on its own, since like any other strategy, it requires greater analysis of the ads and marketing efforts. marketing to develop the right messages to the right people.
Through a video on TikTok a woman shared what for her is an accusation against the social network Facebook.
The situation comes after years of debate, when TikTok user @tanya_moxie insisted that her social media apps are secretly spying on her.
“I know my phone is listening to me,” he claimed in a TikTok video.
“Tegan and I were talking about how our currents and exes were obsessed with our feet. Right after my sister and I got together for a pedicure and talked about how many men have a foot fetish,” she wrote over a photo of an ad for a pair of life-size silicone female feet sold on Amazon.
@tanya_moxie I know my phone is listening to me 😂 😂#creepy #creepypasta #pedicure #toes #feet #like #sees it #foot #sisters #Facebook #listen #spying #fyp ♬ Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) – howlingindicator
Social media users have debated for years whether Facebook and Instagram are listening in on their conversations. However, these claims have never been proven beyond rumors and anecdotes such as that of the Internet user.
After that recording, another user on the same social network denied the woman’s claims, and Morten Rand Hendriksen shared his hack to prove that the social media app doesn’t secretly listen to its users.
In a video he told his viewers to look for to a friend or family member and agree to only talk about a specific product or service each time they are together.
“Keep your phones close enough to you that if Facebook is listening through the microphones, they can pick up your conversation. During the trial period, you should also avoid interacting with any websites or social media posts related to your chosen topic,” she says.
It also explains that during that test they can’t like on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or anywhere else that mentions something to do with the product.
“What you’ll find is that as long as you’re just talking about it, the product doesn’t appear in the ads,” he adds.
Given these debates, experts say that while Facebook collects massive amounts of data from its users, it is highly unlikely that the company will secretly record hundreds of millions of people, mainly because it is not necessary.
It knows enough about its users from browsing data and profile information to target people with ads that are so specific that people insist the app must be waiting for them.
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has repeatedly denied these claims in the past, reiterating that it bases the ads you see on your interests and profile information. So in an earlier statement, a spokesperson said “Facebook doesn’t use your phone’s microphone to report ads or change what you see in News Feed.”
Bard has his worst critic at Google: his employees
Flash fans show their anger at DC for continuing with Ezra Miller as the protagonist
Ingests Trident gum wrapper and brand positions itself


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Gold saw its weakest third-quarter global demand since 2009 as inflows of the metal into the gold-backed exchange-traded funds slowed, and tax and regulatory changes hurt demand from India, according to a report released by the World Gold Council early Thursday.
Worldwide gold demand fell 9% in the third quarter of this year from the same quarter a year ago, to total 915 metric tons, the report said.
While ETFs saw positive inflows, at 18.9 metric tons, the size of the inflows were down 87% from the 144.3 metric-ton influx seen in the third quarter of 2016, data showed.
During that period in 2016, “gold rallied strongly after the surprise result of the British referendum and in anticipation of a contested U.S. election, and ETF inflows followed suit,” Juan Carlos Artigas director of investment research at the World Gold Council, told MarketWatch.
In contrast, during the third quarter of this year, “the gold market was pulled in different directions: Geopolitical uncertainty was a tailwind for gold, but higher interest rates and a stronger dollar were headwinds, especially for U.S. investors.”
In the U.S. and abroad, “a bullish stock market is capturing a lot of investor flows,” though there are “still concerns about the sustainability of this trend,” as “uncertainty remains high,” said Artigas, who recommends that investors allocate gold to their portfolios given that it has been a source for returns, it is an “effective” diversifier and a source of liquidity.
Meanwhile, a recovery for Indian jewelry demand in the first half of the year was “derailed” in the third quarter by “regulatory intervention,” with the introduction of the 3% Goods and Services Tax at the beginning of July, the WGC report said.
Gold demand for jewelry from India sank 25% for the third quarter to 114.9 metric tons, compared to the same time a year earlier, while Chinese gold jewelry demand climbed by 13% year on year to 159.3 metric tons — leading to a 3% decline in worldwide gold jewelry demand to 478.7 metric tons.
Many Indian gold consumers made their gold purchases in the second quarter in anticipation of the GST, leaving demand “a little flat” at the beginning of July, the WGC report said. The jewelry trade also struggled with the new tax system, with “smaller, unorganized retailers facing difficulties, though large, organized retailers were better equipped to deal with the transition to the new tax system.”
Looking further ahead, however, Artigas said the GST “represents a radical step forward for India’s economy,” so while it “could present short-term challenges to the gold industry, we believe it will boost the economy and make the gold industry more transparent to the benefit of gold buyers.”
“This should support India’s gold demand, which we expect to be between 650-750 [metric tons] in 2017, rising to 850-950 [metric tons] by 2020,” he said.
In the U.S., gold saw its strongest third-quarter jewelry demand since the third quarter of 2012, and year-to-date domestic jewelry demand rose 4% to a seven-year high of 76.8 metric tons, according to the WGC report.
Meanwhile, global investment demand for the yellow metal dropped by 28% year on year to 241.2 metric tons, following the sharp slowdown in ETF inflows.
Year-on-year global bar and coin demand, which is part of the total investment demand, climbed by 17% to 222.3 metric tons as India’s bar and coin demand fell 23%, but China’s jumped by 57%.
Globally, official gold reserves climbed by 25% in the third quarter year on year, with Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan “remaining dominant buyers, accounting for over 90% of the total,” according to the WGC report.
Gold futures for December delivery US:GCZ7 climbed $7.90, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,283.70 an ounce Wednesday, its highest finish in nearly three weeks.


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Google prepares for major fall event today, October 4. Google plays show and tell with it’s goodies, for your viewing and buying pleasure. Let’s see what the Google Pixel event in San Francisco has to offer.
The main events are Pixel and Pixel XL. These will replace Google’s Nexus smartphone system. The Pixel has a 5-inch sreen. Pixel XL will have a 5.5 inch screen. Both include the Snapdragon 821 processor, 4 GB of Ram, 12-megapixel cameras, and fingerprint scanners. Phone maker HTC will manufacture them. The costs should start around $650. But Google will offer financing.
The rest of the items aren’t exactly mid-cards. Google Home will promote revolutionary device Google Home. With this home device, you can ask for today’s weather or turn the lights on. It will play your playlists. Google Home plays your videos on your TV. It boasts of the bass that Amazon Echo allegedly lacks. Speaking of which, it’s already stiff competition for Amazon’s Echo. It will sell for $129. That’s $50 less than the full-size Echo. Chromecast Ultra’s expected to be introduced and go on sale for $69. Look for a Google Wi-fi router to be introduced for around $129. Of course, expect surprises. Google Pixel event in San Francisco will start at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific today, October 4, 2016.
Here is a disclaimer. These are just expectations. So if Google announces something totally different, don’t blame us. I want surprises in this conference. It makes things interesting. You know, the holiday shopping season is fairly close. You don’t want to hear that. But it’s close. So having the conference in October is good strategy. Some of these products and services look good. Others I can do without. After the conference come the cliffhangers. Will Pixel and Pixel XL outsell Apple iPhone 7? Will Google Home be too much competition for Amazon Echo? How well will a Google Wi-fi router sell? Will there be any surprises?


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Greenyard has revealed its results for the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year, with sales coming in at €1.149bn, double-digit growth of 11.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.
According to the Belgium-based group, growth was mainly driven by faster-than-expected organic growth in a large number of its commercial relationships, with a focus on margin improvement and profitability, as well as a positive Covid-19 impact on volumes within the fresh segment.
Indeed, this volume increase in fresh generated more than €100m from extra sales, with the strong increase in volumes sold mainly thanks to the further strengthening of a large number of Greenyard’s long-term commercial relationships, in addition to a positive Covid-19 impact on volumes in a period when out-of-home consumption of fruits and vegetables was replaced by at-home consumption.
Overall, fresh sales increased in the opening quarter from €849.4m last year to €959m, an increase of 12.9 per cent.
The long fresh segment also grew steadily during the quarter, Greenyard said, despite the loss of volumes in the foodservice and industry customer segment due to Covid-19, with sales up from €181.9m last year to €190.3m, a rise of 4.6 per cent.
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