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- Apple has announced that it will open a new U.S. campus and add 20,000 jobs, to both existing locations and the new one, over the next five years.
- The company will announce later this year where it plans to locate its new campus, which will initially house customer technical support.
- Apple also announced moves related to the U.S. tax law reform, namely paying $38 billion in taxes on overseas profits.
Although Apple's decision to open a new campus at first might sound similar to Amazon's announcement last year that it is opening a second headquarters (HQ2), there are a lot of differences between the two scenarios. First, Apple outright said the new campus will be a tech support location — not a second headquarters — making it operationally similar to the supply chain and tech support campus in Austin, TX.
Second, the new Apple campus sounds like it will not come close in scope to HQ2; Amazon plans to hire up to 50,000 new employees at its massive, undisclosed new location, whereas only a portion of Apple's 20,000 new employees over the next five years will be hired for the new site.
Third, the types of jobs being promised are in a completely different pay range and therefore brings different economic benefits to the cities where facilities will be located. U.S. tech support job salaries vary by company, but they average about $30,000-$45,000 a year (based on widely-referenced averages from Glassdoor, Indeed.com and Salary.com), whereas Amazon claims the average HQ2 employee will be compensated more than $100,000 annually.
Fourth, and perhaps most notably, Apple did not copy Amazon's bold and unprecedented move of creating a bidding war by soliciting proposals and controversial incentives from cities interested in housing the new location. That being said, even though Apple did not solicit such bids and incentives, cities might choose to voluntarily offer them. In the past, Apple has received millions in tax breaks for its U.S. facilities, including those in Mesa, AZ, Reno, NV, Maiden, NC and Waukee, IA.
Despite the differences, one huge similarity joins the two new campus announcements: Job creation is a big deal for cities, especially when it comes from big-name tech and retail companies such as Apple and Amazon. Offering non-traditional or tech-forward jobs can revitalize cities, especially those that may have been hit by the loss of traditional manufacturing businesses.
Typically, large corporations also bring investments in infrastructure and transportation, and often also green operations. Apple, for example, notes in its press release that the new campus, like all of its U.S. facilities — offices, retail stores and data centers — will be powered by 100% renewable energy sources.
Apple's $38 billion in repatriation tax payments is also getting a lot of attention. It's the first company of its size to announce such a move directly in response to the newly reworked U.S. tax law. Previously, companies often found ways to skirt paying taxes on offshore cash reserves.
With the three announced moves, Apple touts itself as investing in America and supporting the U.S. economy. It could, at least temporarily, stave off criticism that it has received for years regarding its heavy use of overseas production. The company also is increasing its domestic manufacturing partner and supplier fund from $1 billion to $5 billion, which indicates it intends to do more domestic sourcing for its products.


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When the digital dust settles from the battle over e-book pricing between Amazon, Apple (AAPL), publishers and the Justice Department, much of it will end up in the aisles of small independent booksellers like Green Apple Books in San Francisco.
“I’m not worried about this bookstore going out of business one or two years from now, but I wouldn’t necessarily open a new bookstore today either,” said owner Kevin Ryan. He says the federal antitrust lawsuit to stop Apple and major book publishers from keeping e-book prices high, and Amazon’s subsequent vow to lower its prices, can’t be good news for the mom-and-pop bookstores struggling to weather a sea change in the publishing business.
“This impacts us directly for the first time,” Ryan said, adding that until now he could sell e-books for the same price as Amazon, offering his customers both print and digital books as the latter continue to gain traction among readers. The recent developments threaten that, he said, “because for the first time ever, we can’t offer our customers the same price they’d get at Amazon. Now we have nothing except loyalty to keep people coming in.”
Booksellers were already an endangered species as their paper-loving clientele turned increasingly to reading books on digital devices like Amazon’s Kindle, the Nook from Barnes & Noble and Apple’s iPad. The demise last year of the Borders chain provided a bit of relief, as sellers suddenly saw new faces in their stores. But lately, things have turned dark again, starting with Google’s (GOOG) recent decision to stop supplying e-books to privately owned bookstores like Books Inc. in Palo Alto, where manager Tanya Landsberger says about 10 percent of their sales are e-books sold through their website.
The lawsuit and Amazon price cuts complicate matters even more because stores will be left with only print products and relatively expensive e-books, assuming they can find a new supplier to replace Google.
Google “gave us eight months to figure out what to do,” she said, “but at this point we don’t know where our e-books will come from. And now the lawsuit is like adding salt to the wound.”
Booksellers like Landsberger worry that the feds’ decision to go after Apple and its publishing partners effectively clears the path for online retailer Amazon, which uses a different sales model, to monopolize the e-book space, driving customers to buy its Kindles, but eventually raising its prices without any competitive headwinds to dissuade them.
“By allowing Amazon to resume selling most titles at a loss, the Department of Justice will basically prevent traditional bookstores from trying to enter the e-book market, at the same time it drives trade out of those stores and into the proprietary world of the Kindle,” author Scott Turow wrote on the Authors Guild’s website. “Today’s low Kindle book prices will last only as long as it takes Amazon to re-establish its monopoly.”
Apple and the publishers defended their pricing policies, saying they are needed to weaken the book-selling dominance of Amazon, which controls 60 percent of the e-book market.
Shortly after the Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it was suing five major publishers and Apple on price-fixing charges, Amazon announced plans to push down prices on e-books. The price of some major titles could fall to $9.99 or less from $14.99, saving voracious readers a bundle.
But publishers and booksellers argue that any victory for consumers will be short-lived, and that the ultimate effect of the antitrust suit will be to exchange a perceived monopoly for a real one.
“If the DOJ wins, it will be an unmitigated disaster for the e-book industry and very probably for authors who will lose a big chunk of their royalties. Amazon will be the big winner and will use e-books as a loss leader to lure new customers,” Hut Landon, executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, said in an email Friday.
Doris Moskowitz, owner of Moe’s Books in Berkeley, said the latest developments are simply more blows to the already battered and shrinking world of independent book vendors. Over the years, she said, sales of e-books and e-commerce have hurt both the small bookstores and the overall commerce of printed books.
“Between Google, Amazon and Apple, these are all bullies. And they are going to do what they can to maintain what they can,” said Moskowitz. “They have gutted independents.”
Mercury News wire services contributed to this report. Contact Patrick May at pmay@mercurynews or follow him on Twitter at patmaymerc.
Developments in a case against Apple and book publishers over e-book pricing:
April 11: Justice Department and 15 states sue Apple and major book publishers, accusing them of conspiring to raise e-book prices. The government announces settlement with three of the publishers: Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. The two publishers named in the case are Holtzbrinck Publishers, doing business as Macmillan, and Penguin Publishing, doing business as Penguin Group.
April 13: Apple denies charges and says the company has instead fostered innovation and competition by introducing its iBookstore in 2010. The company insists customers have benefited from e-books that are more interactive and engaging.
Source: The Associated Press

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Follow the FT’s reports from Paris Fashion Week. Read more
© The Financial Times Ltd 2016 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
Yesterday the New York Times/IHT ran an op-ed by Rhonda Garelick, a professor of English and the performing arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, entitled “High Fascism” that, well, drew some interesting, if broad, parallels between high fashion and fascism, specifically in terms of body image and its tendency towards “what to wear now” dictatorship. Read more
This fashion week has been aflood with more rumours than India after the monsoon. First there was the stream of gossip about who will get the Dior job (one last suggestion: two names that haven’t been part of the conversation at all — Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler. They’re young, have a jones for French couture shapes, but a way to make them jazzy, are fluent in the worlds of twitter and youtube, and have no hang-ups about working with businessmen. But that’s just me.) And now we have the “is Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton making the royal wedding dress?” tsunami. Read more
There were no invitations, just emails (a lot of journalists said they weren’t going to come, sometimes because they were Jewish – I actually got asked about this, but though I was horrified by what John said, I keep my personal politics out of my professional life – and sometimes because they figured the brand wasn’t going to be active much longer); the venue changed, to a private hotel particulier on Avenue Foch; there were only about six models, who changed a few times; and I couldn’t really see any retailers. Read more
Sometimes it’s hard not to think all the charges people make about fashion being out of touch with reality are justified. Here, for example, is an employee at Celine wiping the runway free of scuff marks as everyone comes in pre-show. Can you say “Sisyphus,” anyone?
On the other hand, they are paying her, and thus helping support the economy.
Even by the standards of that most flamboyant of industries, it has been a rollercoaster of a week.
The precipitous downfall of Christian Dior designer John Galliano began with his arrest on February 24 for allegedly hurling anti-Semitic abuse in a Parisian bar, followed by the release of video footage of him slurring “I love Hitler” and an expression of “disgust” by actress Natalie Portman, the face of the Miss Dior Cherie fragrance. It culminated in his being fired this week as artistic director of Dior. One of the industry’s most lauded creative forces has been summoned before a tribunal in France for alleged public abuse, and now faces the threat of up to six months in jail.
Sidney Toledano, ceo of Dior, just got up in a black suit and black tie before the show and made this statement; here it is in full: Read more
John Galliano has gotten tired of letting everyone else (my good self included) tell their version of his story, and decided to release a statement via solicitors Harbottle & Lewis. Here it is: Read more
Yet another one of Bernard Arnault’s designers is leaving his empire, although at least this time it’s not under a cloud. Read more
There’s been a lot of talk, runway-side, about whether or not the Dior show can happen; a lot of protests vs publicity risk assessment. Here’s what I think: yes. They just need to be smart about how they do it.
if I were the Dior folks, for example, instead of emptiness to replace the usual John bow, I’d send the entire atelier – all the designers and assistants and seamstresses that actually make a collection happen – out onto the runway at the end of the show. Then the story becomes about preserving jobs, and supporting the workers that are left dealing with what Galliano wrought, and that runway full of blameless people becomes the picture that goes ’round the world, and Dior becomes the brand that cares for employees. Read more
Christian Dior has dismissed for John Galliano, its star designer, for professional misconduct over the scandal surrounding alleged anti-Semitic comments he made. Read more
WWD is reporting that Oscar winner Natalie Portman – aka the official face of Miss Dior Cherie — has officially disassociated herself from John Galliano. They quote a statement from Ms Portman saying: Read more
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Celente – This Is How Bad It Has Gotten For Main Street America
Celente – This Is How Bad It Has Gotten For Main Street America from King World News
This is how bad it has gotten for Main Street America.
October 21 (King World News) – Gerald Celente: One in every five businesses operating last January has stopped doing business entirely, according to Womply, a business services website that estimates most of those idle businesses have closed permanently.
Of 6,325 small businesses surveyed by business network website Alignable, 40 percent reported being at risk of failure before 2020 is over.
Bank loans are the principal source of funding for small business. In July, 70 percent of senior loan officers told a U.S. Federal Reserve survey they had tightened requirements for loans to small businesses – the highest number since 2008’s fourth quarter at the depths of the Great Recession.
In contrast, despite high-profile bankruptcies of corporate icons such as JC Penney and Hertz, fewer large businesses have failed than during the Great Recession…
Large businesses have a greater range of financial resources open to them, including the bond and equity markets and an array of aid programs from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
During the first nine months of this year, corporations issued $1.9 trillion worth of bonded debt, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, $800 billion more than the same period in 2019.
Through September this year, companies have issued $185.4 billion in new equity offerings, in contrast to $111 billion during the first three quarters of 2019.
The loss of small businesses turns off two key economic engines.
First, as they grow, small businesses typically provide more jobs than large, established companies. The loss of small enterprises costs the economy the main source of future jobs and robs existing businesses of an incentive to compete for good workers, depressing wages and perks. That can limit workers’ lifetime earning power.


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Is your workwear making you look LAZY? Fashion psychologist reveals the four office clothing personalities - and which one is the perfect fit for your job
- Fashion psychologist Professor Carolyn Mair lifts the lid on secret outfit signals
- She says a casual outfit can make an employee seem like a bit of a maverick
- But go too formal and your attire could seem incongruous in the workplace
- Formal wear signals that you're business savvy and makes you seem confident
With the end of summer looming, thoughts are turning to our back-to-work wardrobes.
And whether you work in a stuffy office, classroom or trendy studio space, what you wear to work each day can speak volumes about your personality.
Now London-based fashion psychologist Professor Carolyn Mair has lifted the lid on the secret signals your outfits could be sending to colleagues - from confidence and ambition to your bank balance.
Professor Mair - author of The Psychology of Fashion - spoke to office specialists at printerland.co.uk who have conducted new research into office dress codes, how they affect performance or how you're seen in the workplace.
Here, she reveals the outfits that can make you look unambitious, maverick, business-savvy - and the ones that ooze spending power.
Professor Carolyn Mair has lifted the lid on the secret signals your outfits could be sending - and she says a casual outfit (file photo) can be a risky business as it could signal you're a maverick. This is despite 53 per cent of UK workers having no formal uniform
Some 53 per cent of UK office workers say they no longer have a formal uniform, opting instead for jeans, t-shirts and running shoes.
But according to Professor Mair, going casual can be a risk business for senior managers as it 'flattens out any organisational hierarchy'.
She said: 'It depends very much on the type of business. In the creative industries this style of clothing is typical to enhance creativity without the restriction of formal clothing.
'Leaders and managers in the creative industries are likely to wear similar clothes to their subordinates which flattens out any organisational hierarchy.
'If a manager in finance or insurance wore a t-shirt, jeans and running shoes, they would be considered inappropriately dressed, even maverick.
'Leaders in these industries are expected to lead by example and their staff are expected to follow rules. Dress down Fridays are an exception, but even on Fridays, most city workers wouldn't wear a t-shirt, jeans, and running shoes.'
Conversely, opting for casual workwear as a lower-ranking employee can be a major 'no-no' in some industries - especially for City workers.
According to Professor Carolyn Mair, a smart casual outfit like this one (file photo) might make you seem unambitious because workers should dress for the job they aspire to
Describing her views on smart casual clothing, Professor Mair said: 'In an organisation where the management wears suits, a subordinate wearing business casual might seem less ambitious.
'If we are to believe the adage "dress for the job you want, not for the job you have", we need to dress in a style similar to those in the job we aspire to.
'We are drawn to people who are like us and what better way to appear like someone than to dress like them. Those already in the position we aspire to are likely to see us more as peers than subordinates if we appear to be like them.'
Professor Carolyn Mair says a formal/ corporate outfit (file photo) signals that you're business savvy and can make the wearer appear more 'competent and professional'
'Some professionals in a range of jobs like to wear a suit and tie as it makes them feel more professional,' says Professor Mair.
'Although there aren't many studies on this, wearing a suit has been found to make the wearer appear more professional and competent.
'The power of belief is strong so if the wearer believes that the suit will make them appear more competent and professional, they may well behave in that way.'
But what about lower-ranking employees? 'This would be seen as inappropriate in creative jobs, but necessary in others,' says Professor Mair.
'In jobs where workers can choose what they wear, and managers dress casually, a subordinate wearing a suit and tie could be perceived as trying to look more senior than their role.
'There is also a risk that management might perceive them as not understanding the culture of the organisation or their role.'
According to Professor Carolyn Mair, a designer outfit (file photo) will give the wearer an air of 'style and class' while signalling spending power
'A business manager or leader wearing a beautiful and well-fitting suit or appropriate fashion brand will give off an air of style and class which may set him or her apart from subordinates,' says Professor Mair. 'This may be the reason for choosing to wear such clothes.
'What we wear is part of our identity, it allows us to show who we are to others. Wearing luxury says we have spending power.
'In some situations (for example, working in social services, for a charity or NGO) this could be considered insensitive, in others (like working in the fashion industry), it would be considered exactly right.'
What colour should you wear to work?
There's a whole section of psychology dedicated to the effects that different colours have on us, so the colours of your clothes could potentially make a big difference in how you feel and how you're seen in the workplace.
Blue: Be trusted
Blue is considered to be the safest colour and is generally liked equally by men and women. It has conservative connotations that can make you seem more trustworthy!
Red: Get noticed
Red is the obvious popular choice here as it stands out and provokes strong emotions. It's most often associated with excitement, aggression, and assertiveness.
Green: Appear dependable
Green is usually associated most with dependability, and it's generally recognised as the colour of emotional balance.
Navy: Seem professional/authoritative
Navies and greys are the best choice if you're looking to put across a professional image. This is unsurprising as they're two of the most popular suit colours.
Black: Look sophisticated
Black is generally the best colour to opt for if you want to seem sophisticated, but be wary of overdoing it and looking morbid instead.
Yellow: Seem friendly
Yellow is typically thought of as a friendly and cheery colour, but it's also got associations to anger, frustration, and cowardice. Yellow accessories might be a smarter choice than full outfits.
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A pile of zucchini and squash is seen after it was discarded by a farmer on April 1, 2020 in Florida City, Florida. Many South Florida farmers are saying that the coronavirus pandemic has caused them to have to throw crops away due to less demand for produce in stores and restaurants. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
One of the nation’s largest pork processing facilities is shutting down indefinitely after over 230 employees tested positive for COVID-19, bolstering concerns about food supply chain problems that have left farmers, food banks, grocery stores, and agricultural and food service workers scrambling to keep crops harvested, shelves stocked, and people fed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sioux Falls, South Dakota facility accounts for up to 5% of U.S. pork production and employs about 3,700 people—who will receive at least two weeks pay during the shutdown—according to Smithfield Foods.
The company’s president and CEO Kenneth Sullivan announced the closure in a statement Sunday:
The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running. These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation’s livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 cases are now ubiquitous across our country. The virus is afflicting communities everywhere. The agriculture and food sectors have not been immune. Numerous plants across the country have COVID-19 positive employees. We have continued to run our facilities for one reason: to sustain our nation’s food supply during this pandemic. We believe it is our obligation to help feed the country, now more than ever. We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not, even in the face of COVID-19.
Smithfield, as Sullivan noted, is not alone in temporarily shuttering a meat processing facility in response to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases among employees. As CNN reported, Tyson Foods suspended operations at a pork plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa and JBS USA plans to reopen a beef plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania on April 16 after a two-week shutdown.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted Monday that “animal agriculture and factory farms are utterly unsustainable as a means of feeding humans.” The Intercept co-founder, who is vegan and has reported on animal rights and the agriculture industry, also highlighted growing alarm about antibiotic-resistant bacteria and zoonotic viruses like the novel coronavirus.
Zoonotic viruses & antibiotic-resistant bacteria demonstrate how dangerous this industry is. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1249438409925550088 …


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Trade between Africa and China surpassed $200 billion this year, strengthening China’s position as Africa’s biggest trade partner, a position it has now held since 2009. Less than 15 years ago, the corresponding value was a modest $10 billion. This statistic demonstrates the growing pulling power that Africa holds for foreign investors. Beyond trade relationships, investors increasingly look at African consumers and see immense opportunity to invest locally. For African companies, this presents a special chance to climb the food chain of global competitiveness.
After all, many of China’s present national champions began life as local partners in joint ventures with Japanese or Western operators. They successfully navigated the path from being local tour guides to competing on the forefront of many global industries. Similar windows of opportunity are opening across Africa today. A decade ago, most of China’s economic activity in Africa was situated at the level of government contracts (mostly delivered through state-owned enterprises) or haphazard imports from small-scale entrepreneurs. Today the ‘middle corporate’ sector is gaining traction. For example, Chinese special economic zones have been set up as far apart as Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa in joint cooperation with local firms, and Chinese factories are going up in many more nations. The Chinese are not the only ones in the mix − Indian, Brazilian, Israeli, and Western companies are setting up shop, too.
How can African companies capitalize on this opportunity? The key is to shift priorities away from short-term profits and towards longer-term autonomy by creating institutional memory and integrating around customer needs.
Create institutional memory. Foreign operators bring with them processes, operating models, and organizational cultures. The better the local partner can internalize (and adapt) these best practices to their business model, the greater the chance of autonomous success. Best practice transfer happens across all layers of the organization: people, technology systems, compensation, working practices, etc. A metrics dashboard should be used to track progress across all these layers.
Seek integration. By orienting towards greater control and value chain integration, local partners signal to the external market and, more importantly, their managers and staff that they want to be leaders and not followers. This helps with a process of self-selection amongst both investors and employees, leaving those that are willing to be pushed outside their comfort zone and have patience for a longer-term game.
It may seem that pursuing this strategy puts local firms at odds with the foreign partners they work with. But there are many reasons why this is a short-sighted view:
- Competition grows the market. Foreign operators who breed independent local competitors often find that the local firms choose to grow the market in areas of non-consumption, rather than competing head-on.
- Strong local partners are better at customer innovation. They understand customer needs better and may help the foreign operator garner unique insights that can be deployed elsewhere.
- A reputation for sustainable partner development has its rewards. Governments and other local companies will prefer foreign partners with a track record of leaving strong domestic partners.
Today, most of Africa’s local partner firms have not positioned themselves to be able to stand on both feet following joint ventures with foreign operators. Some macro factors contribute to this, including the absence of effective government regulation or coordinating capacity through associations. Nevertheless, many African companies can do much more. There is a new Africa gold rush underway, and the local firms that can build successful partnerships will find the path to success.


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Disney has tied up with 9Apps, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, to host more than 300 new mobile games from its gaming catalogue.
Some of the games that will be showcased by 9Apps will include Out Thought Bubbles, Mickey Cup, Minnie Cake Factory, Toy Story: Smash It and many more.
The collaboration is a result of 9Apps’ Top Developer Program, which is an initiative to promote an ecosystem for digital content developers to reach out to their target audience.
In the previous quarter, 9Apps had launched a 20 million dollar program to help budding Indian startup developers with specially designed solutions. 9Apps is one of the most popular Android app marketplaces and has more than 250 million active users.
It generates over 800 million app distributions every month and 26 million app downloads every single day.
Disney, 9Apps tie-up to offer 300 mobile games in India


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The UK service sector expanded faster last month than at any time in the past two years, a survey has revealed.
The service sector is having to pay its staff more
Companies also raised their prices at the fastest rate for a similar period, the study found.
Consumer spending on hotels, restaurants and personal services all showed "notable improvement" in April according to the research.
The results will have been closely examined by the Bank of England in making interest rate decisions.
The finding are another indicator of revival of the UK economy.
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply / RBS survey also reported a growth in new business - implying that demand for services will continue to grow in the coming months.
An index measuring business investment also improved, offering hope that an increase in future business activity may be on the cards.
"A number of companies added that investments in new business facilities would underpin higher activity in one year's time," the report said.
Chief economist at RBS Group, Andrew McLaughlin, said the data suggested the UK economy was on course for higher GDP in the second quarter of the year.
While the prices being charged by service providers hit an almost two-year high, their costs were the highest for 17 months - caused mainly by surging energy costs and increased wages.
The report follows a study released last week showing manufacturing confidence had enjoyed a strong upturn during April, with the index of future business expectations hitting its highest level since November 2004.


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Bunnings is a major household hardware retailer with 377 trading locations and over 44,000 staff.
100% Renewable Electricity Commitment by 2030
Bunnings has committed to powering its operations with 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
Power Purchase Agreement
Bunnings has announced that it has signed a renewable power purchase agreement, with full details to be released in early 2022.
As of June 30 2021, Bunnings had 85 onsite solar units across its network.
Company Pollution Information
Bunnings ranked the equivalent of #55 on the list of largest electricity users in Australia in 2018-19.
Note: Given Bunnings reports to the National Greenhouse Emissions Reporting Scheme under parent company Wesfarmers, this equivalent ranking has been extrapolated from Bunnings’ most recently reported emissions figures.
Click to copy the text below and follow the link to this company's Facebook page. Then paste on their wall or comment on a photo.


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Construction Machinery [HC] nuclear crisis triggered by the earthquake in Japan, the haze is from the people's vision slowly disappeared, but the Japanese economy and its global impact on related industries will continue, construction machinery industry is no exception.
For many years behind the development of our core components, supporting medium-sized hydraulic excavator heavy dependence on imports, mostly Japanese products. The Japanese earthquake on China's supply of the hydraulic system have an impact, thereby affecting the whole market.
Japan earthquake highlights the contradiction between demand and supply of hydraulic parts
Underdevelopment of domestic hydraulic parts, hydraulic parts import capacity is limited, affecting and restricting our whole business development. In recent years, although major foreign supplier of hydraulic components continuously increase capacity, but the Chinese market continues to maintain high growth, a shortage situation has not been thoroughly improved.
Excavator sales in China in 2010 reached 16.5 million units, up 74.5% in 2011 quarter, the domestic excavator more than 70,000 units sold, an increase of 60%. Such rapid gains excavator market, the demand for supporting hydraulic components can be imagined.
China hydraulic excavator products mainly from Japan, Korea, Germany, which support Japanese hydraulic components accounting for over 70%, mainly from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, KYB and Nabtesco. With China's construction machinery market, a substantial increase of production capacity, hydraulic supply and demand have become increasingly prominent. 2011, to meet market demand in China, three in fiscal year 2011 business plan will be made which can be increased by 20%. Since the earthquake in Japan, the Japanese manufacturer of hydraulic components have much concern.
It is understood that all the hydraulic parts Kawasaki factory in Kobe, west, away from the earthquake-hit far, the impact of their production small earthquake. However, the production of Kawasaki hydraulic damage to the upstream supplier is currently unknown; Kawasaki and KYB2011 addition of new capacity is expected in full production year, an earthquake or will affect its annual expansion plans.
News from all sides, the Japanese production of hydraulic components directly affected by the smaller, but limited power, parts shortages and logistics problems is bound to bring some degree of indirect influence, KYB has said is facing a shortage of oil seal. With the power of Japan after the earthquake, the gradual recovery of logistics, production will resume. However, the construction machinery industry of China and Japan, both competitors have a partner, no doubt, the supply of hydraulic parts in Japan will give priority to the Japanese construction machinery business to be purchased. At present Japan has started reconstruction work, the demand for construction machinery and equipment will significantly increase will squeeze out part of the hydraulic pressure supply. Even Chinese companies to invest in South Korea will focus on hydraulic parts supplier, increased its production capacity is very limited.


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We’re thrilled to announce a dynamic collaboration that’s sure to rev up your weekend plans!
Big changes are in the air about our the friends of Art by Bex. One of the most well renowned classic car specialist auctioneers, formerly Silverstone Auctions have undergone a rebrand. Drumroll, please! They’ve embraced a new identity as Iconic Auctioneers, a name that perfectly encapsulates their legacy and vision.
The talented artist Bex from Art by Bex has been working alongside Silverstone Auctions for years. You may have seen Bex’s LIVE artistry at events like Silverstone Classic and have caught a glimpse of her bespoke artworks auctioned at the UK’s largest Classic Motor Show at the NEC.
But that’s not all – Silverstone Festival (formally know as Silverstone Classic) is the fresh new name for the famous event that we’ve all come to love. And speaking of transformations, Art by Bex has also undergone a stunning rebrand with an incredible new website and a refined, refreshing brand look that’s bound to captivate.
Are you ready to be wowed? Iconic Auctioneers will be dazzling visitors to the Silverstone Festival with their array of prestigious cars up for auction throughout the weekend. What’s more, Bex will be teaming up with Iconic Auctioneers, painting LIVE at the event. It’s a chance to see Bex’s artistic magic in action and dive into conversations about cars and art.
Steady yourself. While the specifics of Bex’s weekend masterpiece remain a mystery, one thing’s for certain – she’ll be there to connect with followers and fans, sharing insights into her creative process and discussing the fascinating projects she’s currently working on behind the scenes. Don’t miss your chance to meet Bex and witness her creativity up close.
Make sure to go up to the Mezzanine and immerse yourself in the captivating world of Art by Bex at Iconic Auctioneers’ this weekend at Silverstone Festival.
The blend of artistry and automotive excellence promises an unforgettable experience that car aficionados and art enthusiasts alike won’t want to miss.


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In a significant move by Kentucky legislators, a bill aiming to regulate the sale and use of kratom has received unanimous support from a state House committee. Kratom, an herbal substance known for its opioid-like and stimulant effects, is currently legal and widely available across the United States, including in gas stations and convenience stores.
House Bill 293, championed by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, proposes tighter regulations on kratom within Kentucky without imposing a total ban. The bill emerges as a compromise amidst divided opinions on kratom’s benefits and risks. While some advocate for its ban due to potential addiction and health risks, others argue for its positive effects on conditions such as anxiety, pain, and PTSD.
Key provisions of the bill include restricting kratom sales to individuals over 21, mandating clear labeling on kratom products to specify ingredients, recommended serving sizes, distributor information, and a disclaimer regarding the treatment of medical conditions. Violations of the law would result in fines, emphasizing the bill’s role as a consumer protection measure.
This legislative effort mirrors a similar approach taken by Kentucky to regulate delta-8 last year. With the Department of Public Health poised to administer the law upon approval, the bill now awaits the full endorsement of the House of Representatives.
Kratom, derived from the tropical tree Mitragyna speciosa in Southeast Asia, has been a subject of controversy in the U.S., where it is legal but considered a “drug of concern” by the DEA. Despite its legal status, the FDA warns against its use for opioid addiction treatment due to unproven efficacy and potential health risks.
For more details on this developing story, read the full article on the Louisville Courier Journal.


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KOTA BARU: Jewellery shops here have experienced an increase in business after the price of gold dropped by almost 10% since last week.
The price for the 916 gold is said to have dropped to RM380 per 2.7gm, from RM420 per 2.7gm previously.
A survey by Bernama found people patronising the jewellery shops as early as 9am, some even waiting along the five-foot way for the shops to open.
An assistant at the Kedai Emas Wan Hassan Wan Omar, Wan Ahmad Salihan Wan Mohd Zaki, 18, said there was a rush to buy gold after news of the drop in price was reported in the media.
“Our shop is now open until 7pm, from 5.30pm normally,” he added.
Rozilawati Sallehuddin, 41, said she considered buying gold as an investment.
"When the price goes up, we can sell it. Sometimes, the price can double," she added.
Nik Mahani Nik Abdullah, 55, said she preferred buying Kelantan gold because it was unique and of better quality.
She said she normally looks for new designs to buy.
"If I don't like the designs that are available, I will get a custom-made one. Although it is more expensive, it is worth it. The satisfaction is there," she added. - Bernama
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Foursquare’s latest round of financing leaves one question unanswered: What’s the mobile startup’s valuation?
The company announced this morning that it has raised $41 million in debt, some of which can be converted into equity. The move gives Foursquare more capital to play with as it grows its business.
But as WSJ’s Spencer Ante points out, raising debt instead of equity is unusual for tech startups as the move allows Foursquare to avoid the challenge of getting investors to place a value on the company. The valuation of tech startups has been a hot debate ever since Facebook Inc.’s botched public offering took place almost a year ago. Here’s more from Ante:
“Foursquare has been trying to raise capital since last winter, but had a hard time convincing investors that it was worth at least $760 million, the valuation that Spark Capital conferred on the company early in 2012 when the firm bought stock from Foursquare’s employees, people familiar with the matter said at the time.”
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Shares of high-flying food stock Annie’s Inc. slump in wake of a Barron’s article that pans the mac-and-cheese maker’s pricey share price.
The publication thinks it’ll be tough for Annie’s to expand beyond the categories it’s already in and that it may be hard to win over mainstream customers since their products cost more than similar entries, like Kraft Foods Group’s non-organic macaroni and cheese.
Barron’s Andrew Bary reported:
The company has built a following among affluent parents who want tasty products for their young kids that are free of artificial colors or preservatives. Many come in bunny shapes (hence the ticker symbol BNNY). Most of what Annie’s sells is either certified organic or uses some organic ingredients.
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The easy money’s been made in Walt Disney.
Shares in the Mouse House were up about 42% this year through Friday’s close, and that’s enough for Caris analyst David Miller, who cut the shares to “average” from “above average” (the firm has a five-tier rating system: buy, above average, average, below average, and sell).
“The case is certainly there for DIS shares being fully valued by the equity markets at this time,” Miller wrote.
A year ago, when Disney was around $33, Miller raised the stock to buy, arguing it was undervalued, and that buyers then were essentially getting big chunks of the company, like, for example, ABC and the movie studios, for free.
While Facebook has fallen well below its IPO price, valuation metrics still show the stock is pretty expensive.
The stock tumbled sharply immediately after the opening bell this morning and hasn’t recovered. At last glance shares were down 12% to $33.83, and seem to have found a floor in the $33 to $34 range.
That is well below the $38 level the stock priced at late Thursday night, a black eye for many involved in the company’s highly anticipated public offering.
The share swoon may prompt some bargain hunters to pick up shares on the cheap. But the stock may not be as cheap as it appears. Facebook shares are trading at 57 times projected earnings for the next 12 months, according to FactSet Research (and forget about the trailing 12-month earnings PE; that’s at 73.50.) This is a much richer valuation than other tech titans, suggesting the stock price remains too high relative to projected earnings, and could fall further.
Price-to-earnings ratios are calculated by taking a stock’s price and dividing it by the company’s earnings per share.
For instance, Google trades at a forward P/E multiple of 14, meaning one Facebook share is more than four times as expensive as a share of Google. Apple’s forward P/E is 11.6 and Microsoft is 10.8. Cisco Systems trades at a forward P/E of 9 and Dell is at 7.1.
“We find Facebook’s current valuation unappealing,” said BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield.
Finally, a Facebook skeptic.
Facebook’s valuation is “significantly overpriced” when compared to other tech giants, says Brian Hamilton, chief executive at Sageworks, a firm that analyses privately-held companies. Last week, Facebook set the price range for initial public offering at $28 to $35 a share, targeting a valuation as rich as $96 billion. That would be a record debut for an American company.
“”This is a rich valuation and exposes investors to downside risk,” Hamilton says.
For instance, when Microsoft went public, its valuation was over $500 million and its trailing annual sales were $140 million, a multiple of about 4, he says. The average valuation of a tech company in recent years has been around four to ten times its trailing sales figures, Hamilton says. By comparison, Facebook is asking for 25 times sales.
“Facebook is significantly overpriced and this is clear by looking at the price of the company relative to either sales or earnings,” Hamilton says. “Investing in the Facebook IPO may turn out to be a great investment, but right now, the stock is clearly not a bargain.”
This just in: Facebook did not cure cancer.
You might be confused on that point, given the hype surrounding the company’s IPO filing. You might think a company whose major contribution to the world has been giving people new and creative ways to loaf at work wouldn’t be such a market darling, but then you wouldn’t really understand the market.
Facebook is new (relatively.) It’s shiny (sort of.) Forget that the teen crowd may already be moving on to Twitter(after, ahem, leaving MySpace for Facebook, but we digress.) The investment banks have got the hottest of hot things — a high-tech start-up that most investors recognize by name, but can’t analyze its real growth prospects — and they’re gonna flog it for all it’s worth.
When this thing hits, Facebook’s market cap could be anywhere from $75 billion to $100 billion. That’d put the company somewhere just above Bank of America on the S&P 500 (number 34 by market cap) and Qualcomm (number 27), according to S&P data.
Now, the hype around Facebook may push its market cap into that stratosphere, but the numbers don’t get it there. In 2011, Facebook earned $1 billion on $3.71 billion in sales. (Nice margins, Zuck.)
But by those numbers, Facebook’s a relative piker. Going by net, Facebook would rank number 197 on the S&P 500, just behind Lincoln National’s $1.003 billion, according to data from S&P. Going by sales, it ranks number 392, just behind DR Horton’s $3.755 billion.
By net, 197. By sales, 392. By market cap, 34, or maybe 27. You do the math.
We’re eagerly awaiting Facebook’s IPO papers, which are expected sometime this week. Everyone wants to know exactly how profitable the social network is, how fast revenues are growing and what the company’s valuation will be.
All this begs the question: should the general, mom-and-pop investor consider investing in Facebook when it eventually begins trading? Buying an IPO can be a dicey prospect for the retail investor. Case in point is LinkedIn. The company’s stock soared as high as $122.70 on its first trading day, but hasn’t sniffed that level since.
This suggests many folks who bought the stock during the first few days of trading were buying high and then watched the losses pile up.
The buying and selling frenzy that occurs once high-profile companies go public can make or break investors. According to data compiled by SigFig, a portfolio management tracking service, more than 1/5 of people who bought Groupon on the day it IPO’d ended up dumping the stock on the same day. The percentage is more pronounced for companies like Pandora and Zynga.
The lesson is tread carefully when considering these high-profile names.
Many market observers have said Facebook could experience the same success Google achieved when it went public in 2004. MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulburt isn’t so sure.
Here’s a mini-market paradox: Chevron is up $1.52, or 1.4%, to $105.54. At the same time, rival ExxonMobil is down 33 cents, or 0.3%, at $79.52.
Often these two giants move in the same direction, but always at the same pace. The bigger ExxonMobil has performed better in the stock market, despite Chevron’s recent comparable earnings strength.
Chevron trades about 8 times forward 12 month earnings and sports a dividend yield of nearly 3%. ExxonMobil trades at a bit more than 9 times forward 12 month earnings and has a less-generous dividend yield of 2.4%.
One of the most convincing cases often made by the stock-market bulls is that stocks are super cheap, with interest rates at rock bottom and the S&P 500 trading at just 13 times forecast earnings for the 2011. But the market may not be as cheap as it appears — and it could get a lot cheaper, according to a note today from Morgan Stanley equity strategist Adam Parker.
First, Mr. Parker shoots all kinds of holes in the market-is-cheap theory. For one thing, the market is only slightly cheaper today than its average forward P/E of 13.6, dating back to 1976.
And the market isn’t cheap at all using other ratios, such as price-to-sales (1.4x, compared with a long-term average of 1.1x), price-to-book (2.3x compared with a long-term average of 2.2x) or price-to-trailing earnings (16.1x compared with a long-term average of 17.8x).
MarketBeat looks under the hood of Wall Street each day, finding market-moving news, analyzing trends and highlighting noteworthy commentary from the best blogs and research. MarketBeat is updated frequently throughout the day, helping investors stay on top of what’s happening in the markets. Lead writers Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo spearhead the MarketBeat team, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Have a comment? Write to email@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Here For America initiative today released Hoosiers Building More Cars Than Ever, state economic impact study. The report shows that international automakers' annual production* in Indiana has more than doubled since 2009.
Hoosiers built 905,000 vehicles in 2015 across four facilities: AM General, LLC (Mercedes-Benz), Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, Inc. Other findings in the report show international automakers in Indiana are…
- creating 113,400 local jobs
- directly employing nearly 11,000 Hoosiers
- purchasing $12.8 billion from U.S. suppliers
- contributing $13.03 billion to Indiana's Gross State Product
- generating $1.1 billion in state taxes
- contributing $1.7 billion to federal revenues
Indiana-produced vehicles include: the Honda Civic Hybrid, Civic Natural Gas, and Civic Sedan; the Mercedes-Benz R-class; the Subaru Legacy, Outback, and Tribeca; and the Toyota Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Sequoia, and Sienna. Indiana is also home to 186 international auto dealers who sold a collective 90,093 vehicles in 2015.
Download the report to learn more… Hoosiers Building More Cars Than Ever
* Vehicles are made, built, or manufactured in the United States using domestic and globally sourced parts.
Here For America tells the story of international automakers and dealers, their ever-growing impact on the U.S. economy, and the benefits they provide to local communities. To follow along, visit www.hereforamerica.com and follow Here For America on Twitter and Facebook.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/international-automakers-created-over-100000-american-jobs-in-indiana-300371680.html
SOURCE Here For America


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Now that Apple has actually formally announced the existence of a dedicated media occasion next week, permit the extreme conjecture start. We’ve been anticipating the invites to arrive for rather some time, with the basic agreement being that Tim Chef will certainly join his exec team again in San Francisco to present the globe to the future of the iPad. As part of that intro, Apple is heavily expected to reveal the second-generation iPad Air, which will of program function a plethora of updated as well as brand-new parts in its equipment DNA, including this 2GB Elpida RAM chip, if the current leaks are to be thought.
The dripped image, coming politeness of Mandarin social networking website Weibo, claims to reveal a relatively respectable top quality picture of an Elpida 2GB RAM component, with the speculation connected to the photo proposing that this will certainly be the exact same component that will ultimately deliver with the future announced iPad Air 2.
We have actually currently had the enjoyment of reviewing a number of pre-announcement records stating that Apple will certainly certainly be upgrading the RAM in the next-generation iPad Air. Considering this dripped module is very a lot the same to the present 1GB version that resides in the initial iPad Air, presumably to make good sense to think that this will certainly be Apple’s decided on instructions.
The possibility of a full-sized iPad with updated memory will likely be something that customers in the tablet room have been yearning to hear. Apple originally consisted of 1GB of RAM with the third-generation iPad, as well as made the inner decision to stick to that configuration for the iPad 4 and also initial iPad Air, greater than likely in an effort to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum. Nonetheless, with the launch of iOS 8 and the powerful attributes had within, the time might be ideal to improve the memory provided with any kind of new iPad.
In addition to the boosted RAM, the second-generation iPad Air is anticipated to profit from a cpu upgrade, a small aesthetic overhaul and also the incorporation of the business’s Touch ID biometric sensor that enables users to confirm with the touch of a finger. A variety of records are additionally suggesting that the event on October 16 will likewise include a new iPad mini along with upgraded Mac minis as well as Retina-ready 27-inch iMacs.
Keep tuned. It could possibly be a pricey month for Apple lovers.
You may likewise such as to have a look at:
- It’s Official: Apple Sends Welcomes For iPad/ Mac Event On October 16th
You could follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep on your own upgraded on all the current from Microsoft, Google, Apple as well as the web.


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The App Store over the years has won customer trust for secure apps since each app goes through an approval process. However, in the recent past there have been many cases where users’ data has been compromised due to the app developers server being hacked or not using enough security measures.
It was recently revealed that the popular Starbucks app for iOS stores user names, email address and passwords in clear text. This valuable information could easily be accessed by connecting your smartphone with the app installed to a computer. While this is not the same as recent Snapchat security breach that happened last week. It does raise some concerns over app developers commitment to keep their users’ data secure.
Starbucks spokeswoman in a statement to PCMag said, “While we are aware of this report, there is no known impact to our customers,”. Customers who often buy from Starbucks enjoy the connivence of customising their order and paying online through the application.
According to a report, Starbucks mobile app is the most used mobile payment application in the U.S. While it does provide ease of use, customers have repeatedly complained about the app not remembering passwords and often losing all information of gift cards.
Apple has set a number of guidelines for app developer to follow to have their apps approved for sale on the App Store. The recent security breaches and inadequate measures for protecting users data may soon become a huge concern for Apple.
In coming months it won’t be surprising for Apple to start rejecting applications that don’t comply with strict security measures for apps that store sensitive user information. It will be interesting to see if Apple improves its guidelines for developers to develop more secure apps for its audience.
by Starbucks Coffee Company
The Starbucks® app for iPhone® is a fast and easy way to pay for your order and earn rewards – no wallet necessary. Discover what songs are playing in our stores, and take the sound of Starbucks with you. Short on time? Customize, pay, and pick up your order from a nearby store, without waiting in line (at participating stores).
• Pay: Use your phone to pay at 7,000 U.S. company-operated Starbucks® stores and 2,500 Target and Safeway Starbucks® locations in the U.S.
• Mobile Order & Pay: Customize and place your order, and pick up from a nearby store without waiting in line.
• Music: Discover what songs are playing in our stores.
• Card: Check your Starbucks Card balance, reload your Card, view your transaction history and transfer balances between Cards.
• Tipping: Leave a digital tip on purchases made with the app at company-operated Starbucks® stores.
• Rewards: Track your Stars and redeem your Rewards and custom offers with the My Starbucks Rewards® loyalty program.
• Gift: Send eGifts to friends.
• Store Locator: Find the stores nearest you, directions, hours and amenities.


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Campbell’s Chunky soup brand and the Coaching Association of Canada have teamed up to honour Canada’s coaches with a new campaign that asks athletes, parents and community members to nominate coaches for the Chunky MVC title: Most Valuable Coach.
The company will accept entries at Chunky.ca/MVC until late January, when four finalists will be chosen. TSN, Campbell’s media partner, will then create spots featuring the finalists and ask consumers to vote for a winner online.
As mentioned by David Allard, a Sr. Brand Manager at Campbell’s:
“We wanted something that was going to allow us to connect with consumers,” he said. “Coaches play an important role for a lot of consumers, and often they are the unrecognized heroes behind the sport.”
“Everyone seems to have a story of coach who inspired them,” he added, noting that the coaching initiative is an evolution of Campbell’s past sponsorship of grassroots sports programs, as well as big leagues like the NHL, the NFL and the most recently the CFL.
The initiative should also remind consumers of the soup’s nutritional value, he said. “Chunky is known for being a hearty soup,” said Allard. “Its relationship with sports reinforces that it is hearty as a product.”
I think this is a very smart move and I congratulate Campbell’s for identifying the tribes that exist in communities across the country. By infusing Tribal Elements into their marketing strategy, Campbell’s has found an effective way to connect with and support these tribes. The next step is for Campbell’s to seriously consider developing a Tribal Strategy.


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Six finalists named for Startup Challenge
The St. Louis County Economic Council on Wednesday announced the six startup finalists for its annual Startup Challenge and the companies are as diverse as the budding startup ecosystem here in St. Louis.
Finalist companies include iNOVOTEC Animal Care, an agtech startup that monitors and analyzes pH levels and temperatures in dairy cows and beef cattle; Juristat, a startup that develops data analytics for lawyers and judges; Observable Networks, an enterprise network security and management startup; Triflare, a clothing startup focusing on active wear for triathletes; Tunespeak, a musician-to-fan loyalty platform; and Young Inventions, which created the Sinek System, a kitchen appliance that allows consumers to enjoy fresh craft beer.
“(The finalists) are really interesting because of the diversity,” said Travis Sheridan, committee chair for the Startup Challenge and programs administrator for Helix Center Biotech Incubator. “We only have one biotech company on the list, which we’ve had a lot of in the past, and a couple tech companies. So it’s showing that St. Louis is trending in the right direction in the startup community.”
The companies were whittled down from a group of 30 and will next have to make a 20-minute pitch to a panel of judges next month.
In October, one of those startups will walk way with $50,000 in funding along with free office space at an incubator and other pertinent services.
The second and third place winners will also receive funding — $30,000 and $20,000 respectively — and a similar package of services.
The Startup Challenge annually hands out $100,000 in funding and is sponsored by Edward Jones.
The challenge culminates Oct. 3 with an event and announcement of winners.
Last year’s winners included medical device makers MediBeacon and Retectix, and iLer Brands, a maker of an electric scoreboard used for home basketball poles.
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, is criticizing a report claiming that milk from cows injected with the genetically engineered rBST is safe for the cows and the consumer. The report was written by paid consultants from rBST companies, including Monsanto.
According to Epstein, rBST has about 20 toxic effects on cows including mastitis, and the pus from the mastitis infection along with the antibiotics used to treat it end up in our milk. He also says that some of the hormone ends up in the milk and is absorbed by the human body. He claims that rBST milk is chemically and nutritionally different than natural milk. Click here for more details on the report and Epstein's comments.
If you consume dairy products, buy organic or at least rBST free. Boycott companies still allowing the use of genefically modified bovine growth hormone such as: Dreyer's, Breyer's, Edy's, Nestle, Haagen-Dazs, Klondike, and Good Humor. Better yet look for dairy-free options made from coconut milk, rice, almonds, or organic (GE-free) soy.


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In Honda’s video announcement from the EICMA show in Milan there’s no mention of Nicky Hayden or Honda’s 2016 WSBK team. Maybe that’s because the team was testing at Aragon, we’re not sure. So here’s a video from Nicky Hayden’s first ride aboard his new weapon. The press release for Honda’s 2016 race teams is below, as is the video announcement from EICMA.
In the 2015 season, Honda participated in eight classes in six categories of Motorcycle World Championship racing, and the Dakar 2015. In the FIM Trial World Championship Series, Toni Bou achieved an unprecedented 9th consecutive championship title. Tim Gajser won his first championship in the FIM Motocross World Championship Series MX2 class, as did Danny Kent in the MotoGP FIM Road Racing World Championship Series Moto3 class.
Honda’s 2016 Participation in Motorcycle World Championship Racing
Honda aims to win back the MotoGP class title, with double-world champion (2013 / 2014) Marc Márquez, and 11-year MotoGP class veteran Dani Pedrosa riding for Honda’s factory team on 2016 RC213V factory machines. With Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), and Jack Miller (MARC VDS Racing Team) and Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) also riding 2016 RC213Vs, Honda aims to win the “Triple Crown”; the riders’, constructors’, and team titles.
Victorious in the 2015 season, Honda will compete in the Moto3 class with 2016 model NSF250RW factory machines. Eleven riders, including Enea Bastianini (3rd in 2015 season) and Niccolò Antonelli (4th in 2015 season) will aim to give Honda its third consecutive championship title.
Honda World Superbike Team, supported by Honda Motor Europe Ltd. (Honda’s European regional headquarters), will compete in the series with 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden and 2014 World Supersport Champion Michael van der Mark riding CBR1000RR machines.
The Honda World Superbike Team, supported by Honda Motor Europe Ltd., will compete in the Supersport series with Kyle Smith riding the CBR600RR machine.
In its fourth year after returning to the Dakar, Honda’s factory team “Team HRC,” armed with the 2016 CRF450 Rally factory machines, will once again be represented by ace rider Joan Barreda and Dakar 2015 runner-up Paulo Goncalves, joined by Michael Metge, Paolo Ceci and Ricky Brabec. Team HRC is out to win Honda’s first title in 27 years, since its Paris Dakar victory in 1988.
AMA Super Cross
Honda’s factory team “Team Honda HRC” will aim for a more successful season in 2016, with Cole Seely, winner of 1 race prix in his rookie year, and Trey Canard, winner of 2 races despite fighting injuries, riding CRF450Rs to challenge for the title.
Trial World Championship
Honda aims to claim an unprecedented 11th consecutive constructors’ title and 10th consecutive riders’ title, with nine-time consecutive champion Toni Bou, 21-year WCT veteran Takahisa Fujinami, and this season rising star Jaime Busto riding COTA4RT factory machines for Honda’s factory team, “Repsol Honda Team.”
In the MXGP class, Honda just missed out on taking the title this year, with Gautier Paulin finishing 2nd in the 2015 season, and Evgeny Bobryshev ranked 3rd. In 2016, Paulin and Bobryshev will continue to represent Honda’s factory team, “Team HRC”. 2015 MX2 World Champion Tim Gajser will join the premier class, racing for Team Honda Gariboldi Racing. All three riders will aim to win the championship on the 2016 CRF450RW factory machine. HRC rider Kei Yamamoto will ride a CRF450R to compete in the class for Team Assomotor Honda.
In the MX2 class, Honda aims to defend its 2015 title with 19 year old Jorge Zaragoza racing for the championship team, Team Honda Gariboldi Racing, on a factory machine CRF250RW.


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A typical branch of The Cheesecake Factory generated 7% more sales in the first 27 days of April than in the same period of 2019, while the sister concept North Italia generated an 8% increase in sales. compositions.
Those numbers may be similar to the same-store sales that competing casual chains posted for the start of the second quarter, but the refined-casual pair of concepts stood out in a number of ways. The leaders of the parent company of the brands could just as easily have asked themselves these questions:
What work crisis?
According to parent company founder and CEO David Overton, employee retention for the Cheesecake brand was higher in the first quarter than the chain had seen in the pre-pandemic times.
And it’s not as if recruiting has been walking barefoot on broken glass than it is for other operators, President David Gordon has suggested. “We are 96% of the workforce before COVID,” he told financial analysts on Wednesday. âSo I don’t think we have as much catching up to do as there are competitors in our space.â
He cited Cheesecake culture as the main reason for the chain’s experiments to attract and retain staff members, without listing the key attributes. But Gordon added that the company has invested in sophisticated analytical tools to determine the salaries that turn candidates’ heads in a given market. âWe have always paid a competitive salary,â he said.
Gordon also pointed out that Cheesecake decided at the start of the pandemic to keep all of its managers despite the closure of dining rooms and a rapid drop in sales.
What is the decline in offsite business?
About 60% of the Cheesecake-brand chain-wide seats are back in use, the result of the easing of on-site dining restrictions in a number of states. Many full-service chains have reported an erosion in their take-out and delivery sales as customers choose to dine again.
But Cheesecake said during its analyst call that offsite sales may have increased as seats and tables were brought back into service. One analyst specifically asked if this was indeed the case, but did not get a direct response from executives.
âFor us, the point is, it’s been extremely consistent,â CFO Matt Clark said of the company’s offsite operations. On an annualized basis, âWe were right around that $ 4 million per unit markâ during the first 27 days of April.
This compares to a pre-COVID volume of around $ 1.8 million per unit.
However, they allowed the percentage of total unit sales generated by takeout and delivery to rise from 43% to around 33%, as total store revenues climbed. At the rates recorded in April, average unit volumes would reach $ 11.6 million on an annualized basis.
What inflationary concerns?
Chains of all kinds have recently expressed concerns about a possible rise in food prices. As competition for labor is also likely to drive up costs and drive up menu prices, inflation is emerging as a major concern.
Cheesecake expects the costs of its products to increase by about 2%, with prices locked in for about 75% of its supplies, Clark said.
What loss of additional sales?
It’s practically a gospel that restaurant patrons aren’t as likely to order dessert to go or deliver as when they dine there. This is not true for Cheesecake, said Gordon. Desserts are as likely to be included in a take out order as they are in a catering tab.
What a slump in the middle of the week?
Cheesecake’s busiest selling season is arguably the Friday dinner to Sunday brunch time, executives said on the analyst call. When a jurisdiction eases restrictions on dining room capacity, that’s when a cheesecake is likely to feel the benefits of putting more seats to use, they explained.
But there have been surprising changes in the brand’s dining habits, according to Clark. âThe greatest growth we have had per time slot is [in] mid-afternoon, âhe said. âLunch is actually a bit stronger than dinner.
He added, “From a comp perspective, we’re seeing a disproportionate proportion mid-week.”


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The collaboration is fuelled by the desire to develop open-source standards that simplify security design for hardware developers and enhance the security of IoT devices.
May 15, 2020 by Luke James
Today, it is easier than ever before to produce counterfeit products. And in the world of industrial equipment, it represents a ticking time bomb for manufacturers who face significant harm from the growth of knock-off equipment.
April 19, 2020 by Luke James
There were strong concerns regarding whether the merger between Infineon and Cypress Semiconductor would actually go through after an announcement that the transaction would be subjected to a U.S. national security review.
March 10, 2020 by Hana Othman


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There's something about fall — with its back-to-school, new-start feeling — that compels many of us to revisit our plans to diet, and sometimes those plans involve fads.
Even celebrities who can afford the best personal trainers, nutritionists, doctors, therapists and private chefs are susceptible to diet gimmicks. And when "Hunger Games" star
"Women across America are weight-crazed, but women in L.A. are probably more so," says Paulette Lambert, director of nutrition at the California Health & Longevity Institute, a medical and fitness center in Westlake Village.
"My patients who fly in to New York from L.A. are so different from my usual patients," says Dr. Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, assistant clinical professor at
"Diet fads seem to cycle back around about once every 10 or 12 years. Long enough for people to try a fad diet, see that it doesn't work, forget that it doesn't work, then try it all over again. Sometimes these diets are just repackages with different names," Lambert says.
Here, experts share warnings about some fads and weight-loss treatments.
The potato diet
If a diet sounds too wacky to make sense (here's looking at you, baby food diet,
Dr. Adrienne Youdim, medical director of the Center for
Besides, Lambert says, eating 1,200 calories' worth of potatoes per day or 1,200 calories in a well-rounded diet would lead to the same weight loss.
Juicing and cleanses
"Juicing is everywhere right now, which I don't like, because juicing is high in sugar and increases insulin levels," Lambert says.
Fitness expert Harley Pasternak, who's worked with
"People lose weight when they go off gluten because it cuts out a lot of junk food," Lambert says. "But there's a lot of gluten-free junk food out there too." Many gluten-free versions of foods that normally contain wheat tend to be high in sugar, low in fiber.
It's fine to cut out cookies, cakes, pasta and pizza — all of which normally contain gluten, Lambert says.
HCG and other injections
"The HCG shot is back up again," says Lambert, who mainly credits the weight loss that people report on the HCG regimen to the 500-calories-a-day diet that often accompanies it.
HCG is human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone produced during pregnancy, Alexiades-Armenakas says. The hormone is sometimes used (or is merely claimed to be used) in injections to help weight loss.
According to the
"FDA-approved uses for prescription HCG products include female fertility and select hormonal treatment in males, and the FDA has not approved prescription HCG for any other uses, including weight loss," FDA spokeswoman Christopher Kelly says. "FDA has received reports of HCG injections for weight-loss associated with pulmonary embolism, depression, cerebrovascular issues,
Other injections used to lose weight can be problematic too. In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to six U.S. medical spas saying they were making false and misleading claims about injections they said eliminated fat. The overall safety of such so-called lipodissolve products is unknown, the FDA says.
Often "you don't know what they use in those injections, and you can have significant


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Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Friday that the government will establish a $10 billion credit facility to lend money to businesses under stress as a result of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
Morneau said the money will flow to the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada, both Crown-owned entitles, to help companies access cash and keep exporting to markets abroad at a time when COVID-19 is dramatically affecting the functioning of the economy.
Morneau said this sort of credit facility was an effective tool during the 2008 financial crisis and will be again now.
Morneau made the announcement alongside the governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, who simultaneously announced yet another cut to the bank rate — which will lower the cost of borrowing for individuals and businesses alike. The Bank of Canada is cutting its overnight rate target by half a percentage point to 0.75 per cent.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the government will flow money directly to Canadians to help stimulate an economy that is sputtering due to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
Morneau said that a “significant fiscal package” will be announced sometime next week. He said that Ottawa will also consider extending the deadline to file taxes beyond April 30.
“The government of Canada is putting in place fiscal stimulus measures, major measures, which will be announced next week to stabilize our economy, to support our businesses and to protect Canadians during this difficult period,” Morneau said.
An increasing number of Canadians are being forced to work from home as more people test positive for the coronavirus. Trudeau said the government will help people financially to ensure they can pay their rents or mortgages and put food on the table.
“We are looking at ways to help Canadians directly, yes,” Trudeau said.
“Our focus right now is on ensuring Canadians have the resources and the money to not have to stress about rent and groceries and child care and elder care when they’re worried about their health,” Trudeau said.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has tanked in recent days as investors panic over the state of the economy, with disrupted supply chains and workers facing unprecedented restrictions on where and when they can work.


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Don’t miss out on all of NerdWallet’s highly anticipated 2016 Black Friday ad leaks this season. Visit regularly for tips and announcements about the best holiday deals from your favorite retailers. Black Friday is Nov. 25.
Stage kicks off its in-store sale at noon Thanksgiving Day, offering doorbusters through 1 a.m. Friday. The first 75 customers in line on Thursday will get a scratch-off card for a chance to win a $100 gift card. The doorbuster sale starts up again at 6 a.m. on Black Friday and extends to 10 p.m., and other discounts last through the weekend.
Stage 2016 Black Friday deals
The 2016 Stage Black Friday ad is here! Take a look at the highlights from its 48-page ad below.
The retailer’s Bright Friday bargains include:
- 50% off select toys.
- $49.99 Skullcandy Hesh 2 wireless headphones (after $20 rebate)(regularly $99.99).
- $19.99 for a Sharper Image virtual reality headset (regularly $60, $29.99 Saturday-Sunday).
- $49.99 for select electronics, including tablets and drones.
- 60% off Bluetooth gifts, including headphones and speakers.
- 60% off women’s boots.
- $7.99 for Bella kitchen electrics, including a slow cooker and a waffle maker (after $12 rebate).
- 50% off cold-weather accessories for women.
Many of the department store’s standout savings require a mail-in rebate, so be sure to read through all the details.
Stage 2015 Black Friday deals
Stage revealed its 2015 Black Friday deals in a hefty 54-page ad. It featured discounts on name-brand goods from practically every category, including shoes, electronics, apparel, jewelry, kitchen items and more.
The department store chain — which also operates under the names Bealls, Peebles, Goody’s and Palais Royal — opened at 2 p.m. last Thanksgiving and closed at 1 a.m. on Black Friday. The stores reopened at 6 a.m. Friday and stayed open until 10 p.m. The sale lasted through Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.
Here’s a look back at some of the best deals, including some impressive doorbuster prices that ended at 5 p.m. Friday:
- $9.99 for select Bella small kitchen appliances — including toasters, waffle makers, griddles, slow cookers and coffee makers (regularly $50) — with a $10 mail-in rebate coupon; $39.99 after 5 p.m. Friday.
- $19.99 for women’s Rampage boots (regularly $70 to $80); $39.99-$49.99 after 5 p.m. Friday.
- $19.99 Fila athletic shoes for the whole family (regularly $60 to $65); $39.99 after 5 p.m. Friday.
- $96.99 for Beats headphones (regularly $169.99); $149.99 after 5 p.m. Friday.
- 50% off men’s Columbia jackets (regularly $45-$220); $29.99-$149.99 after 5 p.m. Friday.
Check out our full list of 2016 ad leaks for up-to-date deal news from a wide range of retailers.
Shopping Dealfinder Newsletter
Get the best deals on Black Friday and beyond!


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The saga of car leases expiring during the coronavirus pandemic has ensnared the likes of Jenna Figueroa.
Forced to work from her home in Southern California and driving less, she said she planned to share her husband’s car and return her leased Kia Sportage SUV. The week before the lease was set to end on April 11, Figueroa said, she called the dealership from which she leased the car to schedule a time to drop it off.
“They told me they didn’t have any spaces available because their lot is full,’’ said Figueroa, 34, who works for a hotel management company in Orange County. “They told me the only way I could do a lease return was if I leased a new car. They literally told me that was the only option I had.”
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So, Figueroa called Kia Motors Finance and a representative told her the dealership must take the car back and agreed to call the dealership on her behalf.
“When (the representative) came back on the phone with me, she said the (dealership) manager hung up on her so she didn’t know what to do,’’ said Figueroa, who provided copies of her email correspondence with the dealership and said she called two other Kia dealerships that refused to accept her lease return.
Robert Starr, an attorney in Los Angeles who represents consumers against the car industry, said the onus is on the finance company and he would argue that refusing to accept the lease return is not legal.
“When the lease is up, if the consumer says, ‘I want to return my car,’ and they say, ‘We won’t take it back,’ they’re absolutely breaching the contract,” Starr said. It’s a flimsy excuse for lenders to say, “that the dealerships can’t take it back,” he said.
Kia did not reply to requests for comment sent by email to James Bell, director of corporate communications and social media at Kia Motors America.
Figueroa is one of 10 people interviewed by USA TODAY who said auto dealers and finance companies have made it difficult, if not impossible, to return leased cars during the coronavirus crisis. Several of those interviewed said dealers and finance companies, usually the manufacturers’ in-house lending arms, pressured them to accept lease extensions or to lease new cars.
With an average of 340,000 car leases set to expire each month as the economy struggles during the coronavirus crisis, industry experts told USA TODAY that automakers and their in-house finance companies have shifted the burden onto consumers by pushing for lease extensions or new leases.
Grudgingly, Figueroa said, she has kept her car insurance – at a cost of about $122 a month – for the leased Kia SUV she doesn’t want but fears she is liable for. She said Kia of Irvine has tentatively agreed to take her car back May 1 and she has received no written confirmation that a $14.95 daily late return fee will be waived.
“My husband and I have joked I should be billing them to store their car,’’ she said.
Jared Allen, a spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), said turning in leased vehicles has “indeed been a difficult process for many consumers in those states that have placed severe restrictions – and in some cases, outright prohibitions – on dealership sales operations.”
“Many leasing companies have tried to work with consumers on lease extensions or other options in light of the pandemic,” added Allen, vice president of communications for NADA, “but of course an extension is not always the best option for every consumer.”
BMW, Volkswagen and Lexus – the other automakers and their finance companies, cited in this story – did not immediately respond to requests for comment from USA Today.
‘You should be less selfish’
Pablo de Miranda, a software engineer San Jose, Calif., said the lease on his BMW expires later this month and he was told a free one-month lease extension was his only option when he spoke by phone last month to a BMW dealership employee. Miranda said he asked if BMW would reimburse him for car registration and insurance, typical costs associated with a lease extension.
The dealership employee “said BMW has nothing to do with the registration and insurance,’’ recalled Miranda, 38. “I told her in this case I didn’t want an extension. She replied to me: ‘Do you know we are in a pandemic? You should be less selfish and think about what’s going on in the country!’ ”
Miranda also provided copies of phone messages showing a BMW dealership employee asking if Miranda would like to come to the dealership and pick out a new vehicle but later said the dealership could not take back his 2017 BMW X3 sDrive.
About one-third of vehicles sold in the United States are leased and there are about 13 million active leases, according to Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com, an online resource for automotive information. She said about 4.1 million leases are expected to expire this year, or an average of about 340,000 per month.
“There’s a reason they’ll take your phone call if you want to extend your lease,’’ said David Bentson, who is founder and principal of Precision Automotive Group in the Chicago area and has worked in the auto industry for more than 20 years. “It’s because it’s in their best interest for you to hold onto that car and continue to pay for it.’’
As of the first week of April, new vehicle sales were down 67% from a year ago and used-vehicle sales were down 64% from a year ago, according to Cox Automotive, the parent company of Kelley Blue Book. Plummeting sales have coincided with a drop in the value of off-lease cars, vehicles that have reached the end of their lease contract, according to industry experts.
Anthony Basich, who is managing director at carlease.com and began working in the car industry more than 20 years ago, said lease extensions give automakers and lenders time for the economy to rebound and for the leased cars to regain value before they are returned and resold.
Basich said the lease extensions are “an empty gesture because you’re still paying for registration, you’re still paying for your insurance and your (monthly) payment hasn’t changed.” (Some lenders have offered deferred payments on the leases.)
“The reality is car dealers are always just pulling crap on people and trying to get away with what they can,’’ said Hal Rosner, an attorney in San Diego who represents consumers against the car industry. “It’s just the nature of the business.’’
‘I don’t want this car’
Michael Cordes of Mount Laurel, N.J., said his lease on a 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan ended Friday, April 10, and the car has been sitting in the street since he bought his wife a Volvo six weeks ago. His efforts to return the Tiguan to a Volkswagen dealership intensifed after the pandemic hit, according to Cordes.
“We called the dealership and they said call Volkswagen and they’ll set something up for you,’’ said Cordes, 39, who works for a loan assistance program. “So we called Volkswagen and they’re like, ‘You need to call your dealership and set something up there.’ ’’
The back-and-forth has continued to no avail, according to Cordes, who said he still is paying for insurance on the leased Tiguan. “We don’t want anything happen to the vehicle while it’s sitting in our possession,’’ he said.
Kristen Huntley of Mar Vista, Calif. said she got caught in a back-and-forth between VW Credit and the dealership in nearby Santa Monica where he leased her 2016 e-Golf.
“When you call customer service, they immediately offer you a lease extension,’’ she said. “Then I had to articulate multiple times, ‘Listen, I have another car. I don’t want this car.’ ”
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After trying to arrange a drop-off from the dealership, Huntley received an email from the general manager, Tammy Weaver.
“We are currently not accepting lease returns as our sales and leasing dept is completely closed and we do not have staff to process that lease return,’’ Weaver wrote in an email provided by Huntley.
On Monday, Huntley said, she arranged to drop the car off at a Volkswagen in Alahambra, more than 20 miles from her house. Two days later, she got a voicemail from a VW Credit supervisor who said she was calling “to assist customers who need assistance with returning her vehicles.’’
On Thursday, she received a voicemail from another VW Credit supervisor saying, “I’m reaching out because we recently had a new process put into place. … I was calling to see if anybody had been in touch with you about picking up the car.”
Too late for Huntley, 46, a senior director of product for Disney+, who said before the email from VW arrived, “How can you be three weeks into this thing and have no idea what to do?”
According to Mason Trullinger, vice president of residual risk at Credit Union Leasing of America, problems stem from “the whole leasing ecosystem.”
“It’s just kind of on ice right now,’’ Trullinger said, “but we are already seeing things start to improve.”
Due to federal and state guidelines during the pandemic, many dealerships have kept open service departments to perform what is considered “essential” business and closed their sales department. Several consumers who spoke to USA TODAY said dealership employees told them they were unequipped to take leased car returns until the sales departments reopened.
Upon being returned to a dealership, many off-lease vehicles are transported to car auctions. The auctions have shifted almost exclusively online because of social distancing guidelines, and there has been a significant drop in sales and an increased overflow of vehicles at some dealerships.
Social distancing also has shut down some third-party inspection companies that typically handle pre-return inspections for leased cars.
“The whole ecosystem relies on people,’’ said Michael Sin, co-creator of leasehackr.com, who added, “I think most people have been OK with the lease extensions, to keep their existing cars, rather than to enter a new 36-month lease during these times.”
Earlier this month, Janet Barone of Ontario, New York told USA TODAY that she and her husband thought it was “incredible’’ when Lexus Financial sales rep offered to extend the lease on their 2016 Lexus NX by six months and waive payments for April and May.
“The only thing she asked me is, ‘Will you buy or lease another Lexus from us after this?’ ” said Barone, 69. ‘And I said, ‘Oh, absolutely.’ Not that we will, but they don’t know that.”
Shortly after an interview with USA TODAY, Barone said, Lexus Financial called and informed her the monthly payments of $269 for April and May would be deferred, not waived.
But Barone said the revised terms, which include the same monthly payments on the original lease, is better than having to lease another car. She said she would have needed another car because her husband drives their van for work.
Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, said he thinks extended leases might make sense for consumers who will need some form of transportation when their original lease expires.
“Car dealers aren’t doing it out of the goodness of their heart,’’ Rheingold said. “They’re doing it because they understand what their bottom line is, and they understand what their businesses model is and they understand they want to keep their consumers on good terms because people who lease often lease again. There’s a lot of incentives for them to work with consumers to make it work.’’
But Miranda, the software engineer from San Jose who said he has been unable to return his leased BMW, is not among the satisfied customers. He recently posted a tweet directed at California attorney general Xavier Becerra suggesting it is time for an investigation.
Tips for leased car consumers
If your car lease is set to expire during the coronavirus pandemic, you will have options and potential roadblocks. Hal Rosner, an attorney who has testified before Congress about the car industry, offered some of the following advice:
- If an auto dealership tries to block your attempt to return the car, summarize in a letter and/or email what has happened. Send the letter and/or email to the auto dealership and finance company stating the lease has expired and you no longer are responsible for the car. Keep a copy of the correspondence.
- If you accept a lease extension, ask that the monthly payments be cut in half. Do not be afraid to negotiate. “Really, the consumer is holding the cards,” Rosner said.
- If the dealership says no one is available to conduct an inspection of the car before it is returned, take photographs and video of the interior and exterior of the car in case you’re charged fees for wear and tear beyond reasonable use.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Josh Peter on Twitter: @joshlpeter11.
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/16/coronavirus-lease-car-returns-tough-lenders-refuse-accept-autos/5120328002/


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Monday, November 26, 2012
An editorial opinion
I had to tell my family our plans. I traveled to my hometown in Minnesota for the holiday and the mood was festive. As I finished washing the dishes from Thanksgiving dinner, my sister Gretchen threw me a nervous glance. “We are going to the Mall of America for Black Friday,” I finally announced. Our mother paled and raised her eyebrows. My journalistic curiosity had drowned out my aversion to malls, even though it was Mall of America, one of the largest malls in the world, a sprawling city-within-a-city. I was willing to jump into what could be an extended nightmare of screaming kids, tourists and overpriced merchandise. My sister saw regret on my face. “It will be fun,” she persuaded. Our mother’s silence demonstrated she was …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Start planning your Black Friday shopping now.
The Thanksgiving tradition of flipping through the Black Friday newspaper circulars won’t be quite the same this year as many national retailers have already released their Black Friday ads online. Here are just a handful of the circulars, previews and deals you can find online today: Walmart Target Michaels AC Moore Kohls Best Buy Toys R Us Sports Authority Modells Dick’s Sporting Goods Macys This list is just a sampling of the many online circulars and specials. To search for more, check out these sites for Black Friday sales or check each individual business: The Black Friday BF Ads
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The retail giant has already released its Black Friday sale circular online.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Shoppers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts will have to wait until after Thanksgiving to take advantage of Black Friday sales at retail giant Walmart. Walmart locations across the rest of the country will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. But in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Blue Laws prohibit the store from opening that early in those two states. Instead, Walmart will open at 1 am, which is also the time many other retailers, including Target, plan to open for business on Black Friday. Shoppers don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to find out about the Black Friday sales at Walmart, though. The company already has released its circular for the sale. For more ads, check out this site called Black Friday Ads. The sales for a number of …
Thursday, November 24, 2011
A roundup of Newport and Middletown Black Friday deals.
Store Deal Wish 20% off all day; Open early at 9 a.m. RaNew Salon 20% off all gift cards Music Box 7 to 8:30 a.m. 40% off entire stock 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. 30% off entire stock 12 to 11 p.m. 20% off entire stock Doorbuster sales from 12 to 9 p.m. include 40% off all Webkinz, Angry Birds, and Lil’ Kinz from 12 to 2 p.m., 40% off all Melissa & Doug and Sports Collectibles from 2 to 4 p.m., 40% off all Mattel, Hasbro, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Barbie, Star Wars, Transformers, BeyBlades, and Games from 4 to 6 p.m., and 40% off all regularly priced CD’s and DVD’s from 6 to 9 p.m. Life is Good 20% off entire store; free gifts with purchase of $50 and $100; extended hours opening at 8 a.m. Onne Van Der Wal Gallery 25 to 70% off entire store through …


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The onset of Covid-19 pandemic led to rise in demand for the health and fitness wearables, including smartwatches. Like in 2019, American technology giant Apple and South Korean electronics maker Samsung dominated the smartwatch segment for iOS and Android smartphones, respectively. While Apple continued its monopoly in smartwatches for the iPhone segment, Chinese smartphone maker OPPO with its Google WearOS powered Watch series emerged as a solid alternative to Samsung’s Tizen OS powered smartwatches.
Of the many launches this year, Business Standard lists the best five smartwatches that stood out in 2020:
Apple Watch Series 6