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Since early August, the Slovak government has been facing a minor rebellion from entrepreneurs and exporters over the reintroduction of the 7 percent import surcharge. But now that it has decided to grant exemptions, new voices of opposition are rising from foreign trade experts who doubt the legality of the waivers.
Haunted by a 1H97 trade deficit of 32 billion Sk as well as by a 21 billion Sk budget shortfall, the government reintroduced the import surcharge of 7 percent on July 15 in an attempt to fix both problems at once. But the measure is backfiring, as both Slovak and international export-driven companies dependent on imported parts and technology cry foul.
The revolt begins
"The import surcharge wasn't a clever law, and it was prepared and applied too quickly without administrative care," said Darina Rossová, Volkswagen Bratislava's financial department supervisor, adding that the German car-maker, one of the country's largest foreign investors, was on the verge of announcing a two-year, 6.5 billion Sk investment in its Slovak plant when the surcharge was reimposed.
"They didn't think at all of the consequences to the economy and for the state itself," Rossová continued. "The surcharge would cost us 455 million Sk, and would really have hurt our investment capital." Having applied for an exemption from the Finance Ministry on September 4, Rossová was awaiting the verdict. "We still have nothing concrete on paper," she said.
Volkswagen's objections to the surcharge are like those of many companies operating in Slovakia: businesses which import parts and manufacture them into finished products, or which import foreign technology for their domestic operations, are seriously disadvantaged by the law.
Conceding the point, the government announced in early August that it would revise the list of items that are subject to the surcharge, originally 75.9 percent of all imports.
In yet another reverse, the Finance Ministry in early September announced it would be empowered to grant waivers from the duty on a case-by-case basis, and on request only.
Among the companies who have come forward publicly to demand exceptions are Slovglass Poltár, Matador Púchov, Chemosvit Svit, Istrochem Bratislava and Drôtovňa Hlohovec. Steel giant VSŽ Košice has not yet decided, but figures indicate that the surcharge would cost the company 127 million Sk this year alone.
Asked if he thought that the government's surcharge twist dance was evidence of HZDS economic leaders' poor initial planning, HZDS spokesman Vladimír Hagara said that "our driving idea is to produce high-quality goods that can compete on the international market, and to achieve a state where exports surpass imports."
However, he maintained, "we are not retreating from this idea, but nobody says the measures we introduce are permanent."
But Peter Mihók, chairman of the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it is this very impermanence in the regulatory apparatus which is snarling business plans.
"We ended 1996 with no surcharge, then came a 20 percent import deposit rule, and now a 7 percent surcharge," he said. "It is a question of stability - how can you plan even a medium-term strategy for your company when every year you have practically a new legislative framework?" he asked.
Defense at WTO in October
Marta Ružičková, an official with the Economy Ministry's Trade Policy Department, sounded a different alarm regarding the granting of exemptions. She said that the surcharge was prepared in strict accordance with protocols laid down by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The international rules that govern import restriction laws, Ružičková said, "allow for only a few exceptions to be given in each case," not the hundreds that Slovak entrepreneurs are apparently hoping will be granted.
She continued that a Slovak delegation will visit the WTO's Balance of Payments Committee in Geneva in the first week of October.
"[They are] preparing a review of recent events to show that exceptions were only granted in special cases, to industries that are vital to our economy," Ružičková added.
The problem is that the Finance Ministry, trying to correct some of the microeconomic distortions caused by the surcharge, has declared that any firm would be eligible for a waiver if it imports technology or goods used in export-oriented production. "We don't know how many exceptions will be granted," said an official at the ministry. "Requests are still coming in."
Alexandra Valachová, Ružičková's colleague at the Economic Ministry and an expert on WTO policy, said: "It is only my guess, but I think the WTO will not accept the surcharge reduced to any less than 65 percent of imports."
If the Slovak delegation arrives with a sheaf of waivers, Ružičková predicted, "it will be very difficult to explain. I think the Finance Ministry will be very sad."
In the long run, the import surcharge, its alteration and final effect on Slovak companies will provoke less controversy as time goes by: it is scheduled to be gradually phased out and finally eliminated by 1999.
But in the meantime, government officials say, entrepreneurs should take a deep breath and count the problems facing the administration.
"We are a new state," said Ružičková. "Not only must we prepare our own legislation, but we must also make it consistent with Western regulatory structures."
Legislative missteps and bureaucratic tangles are the daily bread of economies in transition, added Valachová, and "if we want to get into the EU and OECD, we have to adapt to the rules."
11. Sep 1997 at 0:00 | Tom Nicholson


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21 Dec B.D.C. is a proud partner of the Retail Party 2019!
The NRF Retail’s Big Show will gather in New York thousands of retailers and partners, for a total of 37,000 attendees from 99 countries, during three days (from the 13th to the 15th of January 2019). B.D.C. is assisting each year and organises Learning Expeditions tailored to its clients’ needs to help them make the most of the event.
This year, B.D.C. is also partnering with French Founders, the world’s leading business community dedicated to French-speaking CEOs, Top Executives, Founders and Investors, with more than 3,500 members in +40 countries. Alongside Microsoft or Content Square, B.D.C. partnered to organise the fourth edition of the Retail Party 2019 in the heart of New York. The event will gather +300 top retailers from 80 international retail companies for a networking night, conferences and demonstrations of retail tech innovations. Key speaker will be Terry J. Lundgren, Former Chairman and CEO at Macy’s, as well as Casper’s founder and COO Neil Parikh.
When? January 14, from 6pm to 9.30pm
Where? 68 floor, 3 World Trade Center, NYC
This event is invite-only and is exclusively welcoming retailers.

domain: news


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Earlier this week, Ihop changed its name back from Ihob - a marketing stunt to promote the company's new burger
Droga5 develops a new campaign for the athletic apparel brand featuring Misty Copland, Natasha Hastings and others.
Droga5 continues "Did You Mean MailChimp" with new online B-to-B spots.
Droga5 continues to feature star reporters in latest campaign.
Darren Aronofsky's striking ads for The New York Times depict the struggles and resolve of journalists
Droga5 tells the stories of photojournalists on the job in latest "The Truth is Hard" ads.


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Netflix (NFLX 2.40%) has been one of the giant growth stocks of the 21st century. It's up almost 27,000% since its IPO in 2002. That's not a Monster Beverage (a stock that is up 65,000% in that time frame), but it's still an incredible run. Netflix has changed the way we watch television. More of us stream it now, with more control over what we watch and when we watch it.
Netflix has always been a distributor of other people's content, including many movies and shows made by Walt Disney (DIS 0.01%), the undisputed king of media content. Six years ago, Netflix made a fateful decision to start producing its own films and TV shows, which made it a direct competitor of Disney. It started in 2013 with one show: House of Cards. Since then, we have seen a deluge of original programming from Netflix, including shows like Stranger Things and movies like Bird Box and Murder Mystery.
Netflix is now spending billions of dollars to create new material for subscribers along with a selection of content from others. Notably, the company is not making much of its original content available for sale on DVD. Do you want to see Bird Box? You have to subscribe to Netflix streaming. (Amazon is doing something similar with Amazon Prime. Do you want to see The Man in the High Castle? You have to subscribe to Amazon Prime.)
This month, the House of Mouse struck back. Disney introduced its own streaming network, Disney+, at a competitive subscription price of roughly $7 a month. Simultaneously, Disney is ending streaming rights for many of its films and shows on the Netflix platform. Do you want to see films from the Star Wars franchise? You have to subscribe to Disney+.
Disney is a mighty mouse
Disney has been around as a company for 96 years. It's the largest film studio in the world (by revenue), and the most profitable. So far in 2019, Disney has produced and distributed the No. 1 movie based on box office receipts, the No. 2 movie, the No. 4 movie, the No. 5 movie, and the No. 6 movie. And it co-produced the No. 3 movie. And the year's not over yet. Upcoming potential blockbusters from the House of Mouse include Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and each is quite likely to be a top 10 grossing film.
|Distributor||Current global box office|
|1.||Avengers: Endgame||Disney||Disney||$2.8 billion|
|2.||The Lion King||Disney||Disney||$1.6 billion|
|3.||Spider-Man: Far From Home||Disney/Sony||Sony||$1.1 billion|
|4.||Captain Marvel||Disney||Disney||$1.1 billion|
|5.||Toy Story 4||Disney||Disney||$1.07 billion|
|7.||Joker||Warner Bros.||Warner Bros.||$950 million|
|8.||Hobbs & Shaw||Universal||Universal||$759 million|
|?||The Rise of Skywalker||Disney||Disney||?|
Consider the nature of all these popular movies. With the exception of Captain Marvel, all these films are sequels or remakes of previous movie franchises. And Captain Marvel is an adaptation of one of Disney's many Marvel comic book properties. Disney has spent billions acquiring the rights to iconic characters. In 2006, Disney spent $7.4 billion buying Pixar and all its film properties. In 2009, Disney spent $4.2 billion acquiring Marvel Entertainment and (almost) all its superheroes. In 2012, the company spent another $4 billion buying the Star Wars universe.
Now Disney routinely churns out billion-dollar epics. We don't have to wonder if The Rise of Skywalker will crack the top 10. It's clear that it will because this movie franchise has a built-in audience. In 2015, The Force Awakens brought in $2 billion in box office receipts. Two years later, the second movie in the trilogy, The Last Jedi, made $1.3 billion at the box office.
Frozen 2 is another billion-dollar property. The original 2013 movie scored $1.27 billion in ticket sales. It's possible the sequel will surpass that. In 2019, Disney can expect to bring in more than $10 billion in box office receipts from its top eight films alone.
The danger for Netflix
Ten years ago, the top 10 blockbuster movies would all end up streaming on Netflix. Now one wonders if any of them will. Disney is moving its content to Disney+. Comcast (the owner of Universal) will be keeping many of its movies and shows for its new streaming service, Peacock. AT&T (the owner of Warner Bros.) will be doing the same thing for its streaming service, WarnerMedia.
The risks for Netflix are obvious. The company spent $12 billion on original content in 2018. It's forecasting that it will spend $15 billion in 2019 and plans on spending more than $17 billion in 2020. That's $44 billion the company is spending on its own content. And yet its value offering for subscribers might actually get worse since that $44 billion in films and TV shows has to replace all the popular content that is disappearing from Netflix.
If the streaming wars result in each film studio streaming its own productions, Netflix is at a severe disadvantage. The company has only been a movie studio for six years. Its library is comparatively tiny. And Netflix owns zero notable film franchises. There's a reason film studios like remakes and sequels: Such movies have built-in audiences and thus reduced financial risk.
Understand that in the movie business, film producers are the risk takers and film distributors are the money makers. This is why Netflix has a market cap of $126 billion. It's always been a distributor of movies and television shows. That's the easy money. But now Netflix is spending billions of dollars creating new content. That's the hard money. You can run up major debts producing movies. You can even go broke doing that -- United Artists was destroyed by a film called Heaven's Gate, and 20th Century Fox was almost bankrupted by Cleopatra.
And the winner is...
Disney is the better buy in this case. The House of Mouse is entering a period of easy money as it starts up a new streaming service for its immense library. Indeed, Disney just acquired Fox's studio, along with its 84 years of film production. Now Disney owns Avatar, The Simpsons, Planet of the Apes, Alien, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and many other highly lucrative franchises. The future is wide open for Disney, and its stock is cheap at 20 times last year's earnings.
The opposite is the case for Netflix. It is entering a period of dangerous risks, where it is spending $44 billion in three years on unknown art projects. And the popularity of its offerings might very well shrink and shrink substantially. Netflix has a dark and scary future, which is not a good place to be with its stock priced at 93 times earnings.


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"Proactive referral, leading to an assessment of the client’s needs, followed by the provision of the most appropriate support, is more likely to lead to better outcomes, as intended by Consumer Duty."
- Christine Husbands, commercial director at RedArc
Data released by AIG Life has shown that by the end of April, customers had sought 53k GP appointments via Smart Health since its launch in August 2019. Alison Esson, propositions manager at AIG Life, told Simons that “It’s always been the most used service, but we expected that because we researched it before we launched our proposition.”
“It’s used across all ages, across all product types, so it’s a very levelling service. It really does help people. The feedback we get is how fantastic it is to get hold of a doctor so quickly,” she continued.
Likewise, Emma Astley, owner of CoverMyBubble, said that “on our first calls we have conversations about these benefits.” She felt that virtual GP services were very valuable since “many families are struggling with their surgeries and wait times to try and grab an appointment for them or their children.”
However, Paul Gambon, sales and marketing director at Medicash, thinks that providers offering virtual GP services as a free and unlimited service can “give the impression these services are inexpensive to offer.” When there’s “significant cost to this service and the dramatic adoption of virtual GPs will mean that changes to the provision are likely to happen going forward.”
“With these risks to the overall sustainability of cover, we expect providers will begin looking to move away from the free, unlimited virtual GP services initiated during the pandemic in favour of offering a fixed number of sessions per customer,” Gambon warned.
Isaac Feiner, owner of Lifepoint Healthcare, agreed that the UK “may just have to get used to the idea of paying for their own healthcare.” He believes that since the system is “somewhat broken,” self-funding healthcare from time to time is one of the ways it will be alleviated.”
Earlier this week, RedArc predicted a surge in proactive referrals for added-value support following the implementation of the Consumer Duty in July. The nurse-led health & wellbeing provider felt that “the wealth of support added to many insurance policies – including for critical illness, mental health and bereavement – will help meet the requirements of the Consumer Duty.”
Christine Husbands, commercial director at RedArc, explained that “when a client is faced with a long list of potential support available to them – often at a time when they’re vulnerable – they don’t know where to start” and that self-referral can lead to people to “self-navigate, and they don’t always fully understand what support entails or what is most appropriate.” Husbands suggested that this can lead to “gaps in the support they should receive.”
Instead, she believes a proactive referral, at the point of claim, is the better option since that’s where we have the opportunity to “triage a client, and give them all the support that’s most appropriate for them.” As such, it’s important to make added-value services accessible to provide the most appropriate support.
Commenting on the recent industry doubts about the sustainability of added-value services, Husbands stressed that there is “no doubt that virtual GP services in the UK protection market have grown in popularity over the last few years but with that growth may come doubts about the sustainability of free and unlimited provision of them.”
“However, it’s important to remember that there are many more added-value services designed to help people suffering from serious illness and in other vulnerable circumstances, and we’d encourage good use and communication of these to ensure they’re utilised as intended. It is this category where we advocate proactive referrals at point of claim to ensure that support is accessed by those who are entitled to it at difficult times for them and their families.
“It is important that a distinction is made between the different types of added-value services and their sustainability. There is a danger that all added-value services are viewed the same – but if GP services become unsustainable, it doesn’t mean that all added value services are,” she concluded.


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Precious Paws- today and every day!
As we complete 18 years and will celebrate our July – August issue which will be our 19th anniversary issue and also our 115th issue, I cannot help but sniff down memory lane- the initial visits to our partners- vets, stores, events, fairs, exhibitions, learning programme etc and what is remarkable the continuous evolution of pet parenting and pet partners to greater heights. Passionate people from respective fields have worked together to make it a better world for pets- diagnostics, health care equipment, grooming, celebrity endorsements,stores where you can find everything that your dear Family Paw-needs, wants and can get pampered with. Pets are family and this is reinforced by our passionate pet parents who want the best for their pets and the industry who comes together for their wellness and wellbeing.
LCatterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, announced that it has invested around $60 million in Drools Pet Food Private Limited. This builds on the firm’s longstanding track record of growing pet food businesses across the world and marks its first foray into the sector in India. The market is expected to grow by approximately 20% annually over the next five years to reach over $1.2 billion in 2028. Founder Fahim Sultan shares, “We believe that partnering with L Catterton will enable us to enhance our position in the market as we continue our journey towards positively impacting the pet food sector. India’s developing pet market continues to mature across metros, as well as Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, and we see many more years of secular growth ahead.”Dr Shashank Sinha, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) further added, “We are thrilled to have secured this funding, which will play a vital role in driving our company’s growth and expansion strategies. With the support of our new partner, we will strengthen our production capabilities, expand our retail footprint, and invest in strategic marketing initiatives. This investment reflects the confidence in our business model and our commitment to providing superlative pet food products to our customers.”
Meanwhile Zigly celebrate its 15 stores across 5 cities and Heads Up for Tails has opened its largest experience centre in Amritsar. So, pamper your paws and join us on our Facebook and Instagram pages to celebrate our Precious Paws- today and every day!


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A historic event has been achieved by Puerto Rican Sofia Jirau, who has become the first Victoria's Secret model with Down Syndrome, an achievement she shared on her social networks.
Love Cloud Collection, Jirau's latest goal
Jirau, 24, is part of the 17 women who make up the new underwear campaign called Love Cloud Collection, so she decided to share the news with pride, in addition to thanking the renowned company for the opportunity they have given her.
"One day I dreamed of it, I worked for it and today it's a dream come true. I can finally tell you my big secret.... I am Victoria's Secret's first model with Down syndrome!" Jirau wrote on Instagram.
"Thank you Victoria's Secret for seeing me as a model who has #NoLimits and making me part of the inclusive Love Cloud Collection campaign. This is just the beginning, now it's formed! Inside and out, there are no limits," she added.
"Love Cloud Collection is a major moment in the brand's evolution, from the cast of incredible women that bring the collection to life, to the incredible inclusive spirit on set, this campaign is an important part of the new Victoria's Secret standard we are creating," Raúl Martinez, Victoria Secret's chief creative director, said in a statement.
A landmark achievement for Jirau, model and entrepreneur
Jirau's story has always been accompanied by her desire to stand out despite her condition and her constant joy, which led her to debut as a model in 2019 and only a year later she would show herself to the world in one of the biggest fashion stages, the New York Fashion Week in the fashion show of costume designer Marisa Santiago.
At the time, the Puerto Rican assured that this was just the beginning of everything.
"When I was little, I looked myself in the mirror and said, 'I'm going to be a model and a businesswoman,'" she told People in 2020.
"I was born for this and I want to show the world that I have everything a model needs to shine," Jirau told her fans on Instagram, who also support her as an entrepreneur of her own line, Alavett, which sells different products such as shirts, wallets, mugs and phone cases.


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The new guidelines expand Denso's targets to all suppliers, including equipment, construction, and distribution suppliers. The previous procurement guidelines targeted only suppliers for parts and materials, including secondary raw materials. The new guidelines also increase the areas suppliers are required to follow from two to five, while adding further requirements in the original two areas of establishing an environmental management system and managing and reducing the use of environmentally hazardous substances.
In addition to these requirements, the new guidelines require that analyses be conducted for the four environmentally hazardous substances subjected to abolition under the European Union (EU) End-of-Life Vehicle Directive - lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium. Each supplier will also be required to develop a system to manage environmentally hazardous substances.
"As a contribution to the sustainable development of society, Denso will continue to promote efforts to reduce adverse environmental effects of business activities at Denso group companies and their suppliers worldwide," said Masatohi Ano, senior managing director of Denso.
"We are targeting 2010 for full implementation of these guidelines."
For more information, visit www.globaldenso.com.
Publication date: 09/11/2006


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PakWheels & Warid successfully concludes the Auto Show 2014
PakWheels.com and Glow by Warid Telecom recently organized the biggest ever Automobile Show in Karachi, featuring a wide range of automobiles in the; Classic, Vintage, Exotic, Luxury, 4X4 and SUV categories. Besides celebrating the latest breakthroughs in Automobile technology, speed, design, elegance, horsepower, travel-comfort, Leather upholstery and beauty, this show also offered many other exciting and fun-filled festivities.
With each passing year, the auto-shows orchestrated annually by PakWheels, in all major cities of Pakistan, are growing in size and popularity. So the recent show in Karachi turned out to be the biggest event of its kind in Pakistan’s history. A large number of participants, from all walks of life, attended and appreciated the show, exhibiting well over 500 cars and trucks.
The highlights of the show included numerous “Classic” masterpieces and “Marvels” from the evolution of automotive engineering. The exhibition was also enriched with a mix of futuristic, elegant and stylish vehicles. The enthusiasts were also seen feasting their eyes on a large variety of sports bikes, while enjoying the first-ever picture gallery and Automobile Art Exhibition arranged at the venue.
The Chairman of PakWheels – Suneel Sarfaraz Munj said:
[pull_quote_center]Family entertainment shows like the Auto Show have always helped revitalize the Metropolis of Karachi, providing the citizens with a refreshingly peaceful retreat and healthy entertainment, to deliver exhilarating new experiences for the youth. Pakwheels remains committed to nurture the pleasure of driving and the spirit of adventure by regularly presenting such magnificent events for the common man. Participants at this auto show have expressed their delight and thrill to see the best of automobile makes & models.[/pull_quote_center]
Once again, to facilitate this bastion of automotive lust in Pakistan this year, Warid Telecom had extended the Platinum Sponsorship for the show, while the global oil company – “Shell” was the Diamond Sponsor. The Gold Sponsor for the event was Mountain Dew, besides Atlas Battery, which won the Silver Sponsorship.
A huge number of families, youth and enthusiast thronged at the festive venue, to witness this awe-inspiring event, where a vast playing area was also dedicated and secured for the kids and families.


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Lightning doesn’t strike twice with S&P 500 stocks. Or does it?
Seven S&P 500 stocks that at least tripled the index’s gain in 2020, including consumer discretionary L Brands (LB), materials company Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and industrial Generac (GNRC), are doing it all again already this year so far, says an Investor’s Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith.
Such powerful repeat performances are especially noteworthy this year, since it’s so unusual. The S&P 500 is up 10.8% this year. Much of the S&P 500’s strength this year is coming from new contributions from sectors left out of the rally in 2020. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) is up more than 27% this year. This S&P 500 sector perked up after lagging in 2020, losing a third of its value.
So seeing some S&P 500 stocks show up again with stellar repeat performances makes them exceptional. And they’re also all backed up with strong profit and revenue growth, unlike other speculative plays in the market.
“The S&P 500 continued its advance, recording three new all-time highs while rising 5.3% thus far in April, encouraged by strong global and national economic reports, a decline in the 10-year yield, as well as a much stronger-than-expected advance in (first-quarter) results,” said Sam Stovall, market strategist at CFRA.
The Biggest S&P 500 Winner … Again: L Brands
Tripling the S&P 500 might be tough this year. It was all the more difficult in 2020 amid a pandemic, but health and beauty retailer L Brands is pulling it off.
Last year, shares of the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer surged 105.2%. That was many times higher than the S&P 500’s 16.3% rise in 2020. Investors jumped into the stock in late 2020, hoping to get in early on a recovery.
And now that recovery is here. And investors keep pouring into the stock, which carries a 91 IBD Composite Rating. Just this year, L Brands’ shares are up 77.2%, easily topping the S&P 500’s 10.8% rise.
Analysts think the company will post adjusted profit of $1.4 billion, or $4.92 a share, in the current fiscal year ended in Jan. 2022. If that happens, it would mark more than 40% EPS growth. That’s strong even in a boom year for S&P 500 profit. Meanwhile, L Brands’ revenue in the current fiscal year is seen jumping more than 14% to $13.6 billion.
Freeport-McMoRan Has Makings Of An S&P 500 Rally
Phoenix-based copper and gold miner Freeport-McMoRan continues to outperform in the S&P 500.
Shares of the Big Cap 20 company this year are already up 43.5%, easily topping the S&P 500. But what’s amazing is that this powerful gain comes just a year following a 98.3% rise in 2020.
But this isn’t simply a speculative play, like GameStop (GME) stock. Solid fundamentals underpin the stock’s powerful move higher. And a strong chart paired with robust sales and profit growth explain Freeport-McMoRan’s perfect 99 IBD Composite Rating.
Profit last year jumped 2,600% to an adjusted $790 million or 54 cents a share. Revenue in 2020 slid 1.4% to $14.2 billion. But this year, analysts are looking for a bumper year. Profit is seen jumping 388% in 2021 to $6.4 billion, or $2.64 a share. Revenue in 2021 is expected to jump 48% to $21 billion.
Industrial-Strength S&P 500 Rallies
The industrial sector of the S&P 500 continues to outperform. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) is up 13.5% this year. That makes it the third-best sector among the 11 in the S&P 500. Keep in mind the sector was also positive in 2020, gaining 8.7% in 2020.
And for an example of a stellar repeat performance, just look at IBD 50 member Deere (DE). Shares of the Moline, Ill.-maker of farm equipment are up 41.5% — just this year alone. And that’s after thrashing the S&P 500’s gain in 2020 by rising 55.3%. As the 95 IBD Composite Rating shows, there’s profit and revenue to back up the gains.
This year, analysts think the company will make an adjusted $16.03 a share. If that’s correct, it would mark an 84% increase in profit. Meanwhile, Deere’s revenue is expected to jump nearly 10% to $41.9 billion.
Also among industrials is generator maker Generac, led by a top-notch CEO and part of the elite Leaderboard list of top stocks. The stock is up 40.1% in 2021 so far. That’s impressive enough, and partly the reason for its high 98 Composite Rating. But that’s coming off a strong 2020 when the stock jumped 126.1%, landing Generac in the S&P 500.
If you’re wondering if some S&P 500 companies can lead in two very different types of investing climates, now you know encore performances are possible.
S&P 500 Repeat Winners
A handful of stocks tripled the S&P 500’s gain this year so far, after doing it in 2020, too
|Company||Symbol||Stock % ch. 2020||% stock ch. 2021||Sector||Composite Rating|
|L Brands||(LB)||105.2%||77.2%||Consumer Discretionary||91|
|Zebra Technologies||(ZBRA)||50.5%||32.6%||Information Technology||92|
Sources: IBD, S&P Global Market Intelligence
Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz
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MarketSmith: Research, Charts, Data And Coaching All In One Place
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Starbucks’ initiative to serve ethically-sourced coffee has officially expanded. The company announced last Thursday that, beginning in spring 2015, Starbucks Canada will serve fair trade certified espresso at all Canadian university and college locations.
This decision coincides with the anniversary of the fair trade pilot program, which started here at the SFU Starbucks location one year ago.
The company also announced that it will open more locations on Canadian university and college campuses, and will also expand previously existing Starbucks. In the last two years, Starbucks Canada has increased its growth and presence on campuses by 50 per cent.
Starbucks says that it has become increasingly aware over the past few years of the need for ethically sourced coffee and has set a goal for all of its coffee to be certified through Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAFE) Practices. As of 2013, 95 per cent of Starbucks coffee was ethically sourced and had garnered the necessary verifications and certifications.
Rossann Williams, president of Starbucks Canada, said in Thursday’s press release, “We care about coffee farmers. We know many of these people personally and importantly, we know long term success is linked with theirs.”
She went on to say, “Ensuring that all Starbucks coffee is ethically sourced is a priority for us and we are proud to offer students a fair trade espresso.”
After being named “Best Campus of the Year” by Fairtrade Canada just last month, SFU’s leadership in utilizing ethically sourced coffee has led other universities and colleges to become active in serving fair trade coffee. Seven other campuses have joined SFU in a movement to make ethically sourced coffee a standard.
Roger Aube, director of Licensed Stores for Starbucks Canada, said in the same release, “We’re excited to build on the incredible success of the fair trade offering at our store at Simon Fraser University and take it country-wide.”
Mark McLaughlin, SFU director of ancillary services, stated, “We are extremely pleased by Starbucks’ announcement to offer fair trade certified espresso in its cafes on Canadian campuses. Students come to our institutions for an exceptional education, and more and more we find that they also come with hopes of changing the world for the better.”
Although Starbucks will offer fair trade certified espresso at all its locations at Canadian universities and colleges, the company will not offer fair trade certified espresso at off-campus locations, and does not have plans to start.


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Will consumers push corporations to place purpose over profit in the post COVID world?
Economies are re-opening across Canada and around the world as we emerge from the first wave of the COVID pandemic. Some regions are opening more slowly than others, primarily because of the number of active coronavirus cases still being reported. While this has proven to be a balance between public health and the need to reignite business on main street and Bay Street, the real success is going to depend on individual behaviours. How will consumers respond? How will you feel about going into a restaurant or a retailer? Marketing strategist Tony Chapman at Tony Chapman Reactions and host of the podcast CHATTER THAN MATTERS says marketers will have to consumer confidence and consumer comfort if they’re going to succeed in the post COVID era.
Tonight, with Jamil Jivani - October 22nd, 2020 - Debate special Jen Gerson - Co-founder of The Line - commentary for Canadians Kaveh Shahrooz - lawyer and Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute
We talk to Joseph Galiwango - Head of the English department at Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute


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Modular cellphone, which can be easily repaired. Compostable packaging. Biodiesel from used oil. Just a few examples of the circular economy, where resources are not wasted any more.
CEEweb together with the Circular Economy Foundation launches a Hungarian online course about circular economy on 21 March, to raise awareness about the characterstics and the business potential of this new model among Hungarian companies. Businesses can also exchange experiences and learn from good practices at the first Circular Hungary 2017 Conference and expo organised on 1 June in Budapest.
See our press release on the topic in Hungarian.


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In September, the chip giant Intel gathered officials at a patch of land near Columbus, Ohio, where it pledged to invest at least $20 billion in two new factories to make semiconductors.
A month later, Micron Technology celebrated a new manufacturing site near Syracuse, N.Y., where the chip company expected to spend $20 billion by the end of the decade and eventually perhaps five times that.
And in December, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company hosted a shindig in Phoenix, where it plans to triple its investment to $40 billion and build a second new factory to create advanced chips.
The pledges are part of an enormous ramp-up in U.S. chip-making plans over the past 18 months, the scale of which has been likened to Cold War-era investments in the Space Race. The boom has implications for global technological leadership and geopolitics, with the United States aiming to prevent China from becoming an advanced power in chips, the slices of silicon that have driven the creation of innovative computing devices like smartphones and virtual-reality goggles.
Today, chips are an essential part of modern life even beyond the tech industry’s creations, from military gear and cars to kitchen appliances and toys.
Across the nation, more than 35 companies have pledged nearly $200 billion for manufacturing projects related to chips since the spring of 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group. The money is set to be spent in 16 states, including Texas, Arizona and New York on 23 new chip factories, the expansion of nine plants, and investments from companies supplying equipment and materials to the industry.
The push is one facet of an industrial policy initiative by the Biden administration, which is dangling at least $76 billion in grants, tax credits and other subsidies to encourage domestic chip production. Along with providing sweeping funding for infrastructure and clean energy, the efforts constitute the largest U.S. investment in manufacturing arguably since World War II, when the federal government unleashed spending on new ships, pipelines and factories to make aluminum and rubber.
“I’ve never seen a tsunami like this,” said Daniel Armbrust, the former chief executive of Sematech, a now-defunct chip consortium formed in 1987 with the Defense Department and funding from member companies.
Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron Technology’s chief executive, at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., in October. The company is building a new manufacturing site nearby.Credit…Kenny Holston for The New York Times
President Biden has staked a prominent part of his economic agenda on stimulating U.S. chip production, but his reasons go beyond the economic benefits. Much of the world’s cutting-edge chips today are made in Taiwan, the island to which China claims territorial rights. That has caused fears that semiconductor supply chains may be disrupted in the event of a conflict — and that the United States will be at a technological disadvantage.
More on China
- A Messy Pivot: As Beijing casts aside many Covid rules after nationwide protests, it is also playing down the threat of the virus. The move comes with its own risks.
- Space Program: Human spaceflight achievements show that China is running a steady space marathon rather than competing in a head-to-head space race with the United States.
- A Test for the Economy: China’s economy is entering a delicate period when it will face unique challenges, amid the prospect of rising Covid cases and wary consumers.
- New Partnerships: A trip by the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia showcased Beijing’s growing ties with several Middle Eastern countries that are longstanding U.S. allies and signaled China’s re-emergence after years of pandemic isolation.
The new U.S. production efforts may correct some of these imbalances, industry executives said — but only up to a point.
The new chip factories would take years to build and might not be able to offer the industry’s most advanced manufacturing technology when they begin operations. Companies could also delay or cancel the projects if they aren’t awarded sufficient subsidies by the White House. And a severe shortage in skills may undercut the boom, as the complex factories need many more engineers than the number of students who are graduating from U.S. colleges and universities.
The bonanza of money on U.S. chip production is “not going to try or succeed in accomplishing self-sufficiency,” said Chris Miller, an associate professor of international history at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the author of a recent book on the chip industry’s battles.
White House officials have argued that the chip-making investments will sharply reduce the proportion of chips needed to be purchased from abroad, improving U.S. economic security. At the TSMC event in December, Mr. Biden also highlighted the potential impact on tech companies like Apple that rely on TSMC for their chip-making needs. He said that “it could be a game changer” as more of these companies “bring more of their supply chain home.”
U.S. companies led chip production for decades starting in the late 1950s. But the country’s share of global production capacity gradually slid to around 12 percent from about 37 percent in 1990, as countries in Asia provided incentives to move manufacturing to those shores.
Today, Taiwan accounts for about 22 percent of total chip production and more than 90 percent of the most advanced chips made, according to industry analysts and the Semiconductor Industry Association.
The new spending is set to improve America’s position. A $50 billion government investment is likely to prompt corporate spending that would take the U.S. share of global production to as much as 14 percent by 2030, according to a Boston Consulting Group study in 2020 that was commissioned by the Semiconductor Industry Association.
“It really does put us in the game for the first time in decades,” said John Neuffer, the association’s president, who added that the estimate may be conservative because Congress approved $76 billion in subsidies in a piece of legislation known as the CHIPS Act.
Still, the ramp-up is unlikely to eliminate U.S. dependence on Taiwan for the most advanced chips. Such chips are the most powerful because they pack the highest number of transistors onto each slice of silicon, and they are often held up a sign of a nation’s technological progress.
Intel long led the race to shrink the number of transistors on a chip, which is usually described in nanometers, or billionths of a meter, with smaller numbers indicating the most cutting-edge production technology. Then TSMC surged ahead in recent years.
But at its Phoenix site, TSMC may not import its most advanced manufacturing technology. The company initially announced that it would produce five-nanometer chips at the Phoenix factory, before saying last month that it would also make four-nanometer chips there by 2024 and build a second factory, which will open in 2026, for three-nanometer chips. It stopped short of discussing further advances.
In contrast, TSMC’s factories in Taiwan at the end of 2022 began producing three-nanometer technology. By 2025, factories in Taiwan will probably start supplying Apple with two-nanometer chips, said Handel Jones, chief executive at International Business Strategies.
TSMC and Apple declined to comment.
Whether other chip companies will bring more advanced technology for cutting-edge chips to their new sites is unclear. Samsung Electronics plans to invest $17 billion in a new factory in Texas but has not disclosed its production technology. Intel is manufacturing chips at roughly seven nanometers, though it has said its U.S. factories will turn out three-nanometer chips by 2024 and even more advanced products soon after that.
The spending boom is also set to reduce, though not erase, U.S. reliance on Asia for other kinds of chips. Domestic factories produce only about 4 percent of the world’s memory chips — which are needed to store data in computers, smartphones and other consumer devices — and Micron’s planned investments could eventually raise that percentage.
But there are still likely to be gaps in a catchall variety of older, simpler chips, which were in such short supply over the past two years that U.S. automakers had to shut down factories and produce partly finished vehicles. TSMC is a major producer of some of these chips, but it is focusing its new investments on more profitable plants for advanced chips.
“We still have a dependency that is not being impacted in any way shape or form,” said Michael Hurlston, chief executive of Synaptics, a Silicon Valley chip designer that relies heavily on TSMC’s older factories in Taiwan.
The chip-making boom is expected to create a jobs bonanza of 40,000 new roles in factories and companies that supply them, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. That would add to about 277,000 U.S. semiconductor industry employees.
But it won’t be easy to fill so many skilled positions. Chip factories typically need technicians to run factory machines and scientists in fields like electrical and chemical engineering. The talent shortage is one of the industry’s toughest challenges, according to recent surveys of executives.
The CHIPS Act contains funding for work force development. The Commerce Department, which is overseeing the doling out of grant money from the CHIPS Act’s funds, has also made it clear that organizations hoping to obtain funding should come up with plans for training and educating workers.
Intel, responding to the issue, plans to invest $100 million to spur training and research at universities, community colleges and other technical educators. Purdue University, which built a new semiconductor laboratory, has set a goal of graduating 1,000 engineers each year and has attracted the chip maker SkyWater Technology to build a $1.8 billion manufacturing plant near its Indiana campus.
Yet training may go only so far, as chip companies compete with other industries that are in dire need of workers.
“We’re going to have to build a semiconductor economy that attracts people when they have a lot of other choices,” Mitch Daniels, who was president of Purdue at the time, said at an event in September.
Since training efforts may take years to bear fruit, industry executives want to make it easier for highly educated foreign workers to obtain visas to work in the United States or stay after they get their degrees. Officials in Washington are aware that comments encouraging more immigration could invite political fire.
But Gina Raimondo, the commerce secretary, was forthright in a speech in November at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Attracting the world’s best scientific minds is “an advantage that is America’s to lose,” she said. “And we’re not going to let that happen.”


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As the days go by, more institutions seem to be unable to resist the allure of the crypto industry. Recently, a US-based retail brokerage giant, E*trade, was seen advertising on Google for the search term “cryptocurrency trading.” Though there was zero mention of cryptocurrency or blockchain in the ad, E*Trade has followed in the steps of other big shots like Coinbase, BitcoinIRA, and Gemini in releasing suggestive cryptocurrency ads.
The Gradual Walk into Cryptocurrency
Robert Paone, an Airswap employee, and crypto Youtuber, confirmed the story about E*Trade. With such a credible personality certifying the news, it eliminates all doubts about E*Trade’s plan to launch its very own digital asset trading. In April, Bloomberg was informed via an anonymous source that E*Trade has set plans in motion that would allow its platform users to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum. The source went further to say that if the launch of the two assets performs excellently, then E*Trade may roll out more currencies in the future.
If the plans of E*Trade materializes, it would mean that more than five million investors would be able to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum on their E*Trade portals. Five million users may be a small number compared to the worldwide adoption some industry optimists visualize but as the saying goes; “Rome was not built in a day.” But one thing is sure, this will renew a lot of interest in cryptocurrencies.
Many firms are now racing down the exciting crypto-asphalt-road and one of them is TD Ameritrade, a worthy rival of E*Trade. TD Ameritrade has already developed a page dedicated to cryptocurrency on its website. The firm reportedly listed BTC and LTC as paper assets (not yet supported) on its Think or Swim trading portal. In addition, TD Ameritrade has gone into partnership with ErisX, a crypto startup.
Bitcoin Price Getting the Push It Needs
A lot of analysts are of one thought regarding the recent endorsements from the mainstream for cryptocurrency, believing that it is the needed ingredient that will catapult the price of Bitcoin to higher heights in years to come. Venture capitalist Jehan Chu, during a chat session with Bloomberg, expressed his expectations for the price of Bitcoin, which he says will be traded at $30,000, a 230% increase from its current prices.
The investor supported his prediction by mentioning the endorsements from JP Morgan, Facebook, Fidelity Investments and many more Silicon Valley and Wall Street giants for the crypto technology, as well as the fact that these companies are fast becoming a part of the industry. In his opinion, these developments will result in faster adoption.


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The group will focus on growing chemical and polymer businesses post-demerger
Chemical Company of Malaysia Bhd (CCM) is working towards building up its capacity in chemicals and polymers production in anticipation of stronger demand from local and regional markets.
According to CCM group managing director Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar, both the group’s chemicals and polymers businesses are growing quite robustly, riding on the positive prospects of, among others, the rubber glove industry as well as the refinery and petrochemical integrated development, or Rapid, project in Pengerang, Johor.
Hence, the group will focus on nurturing the two core businesses once it demerges from its lucrative subsidiary CCM Duopharma Biotech Bhd .
“We are investing in businesses that we know, and what we are trying to do is to nurture our chemicals and polymers businesses so that they could grow larger than where they are at the moment,” Leonard Ariff said at a recent press briefing on CCM’s proposed degearing and demerger exercises.
“At present, both our chemicals and polymers businesses are already operating at very high capacity.
“Both require specific investments in order to improve their performance to get to optimal levels ... some of the expansion can be self-funded, while some others may require some gearing to be added on at a later date,” he notes.
CCM is expected to spend at least RM10mil in capital expenditure this year for its chemicals business, after having spent RM50mil last year.
And without specifying a number, Leonard Ariff says the capex for the group’s polymers business this year is also expected to be substantial, as it needs to “debottleneck” capacity at its plants.
“One of the reasons for the demerger (of CCM from CCM Duopharma) is that we hope a lot more focus will be given to chemicals and polymers because there is huge potential in both the businesses,” Leonard Ariff says.
He points out that the growth of both the chemicals and polymers businesses have been quite steady over the last few years, as product prices have been quite stable.
“These are commodity businesses (which are subject to cyclical fluctuations)... however, they have been able to show encouraging performance even during downcycles,” Leonard Ariff says.
So, what’s more, he notes, now that the industry is in an upcycle, resulting in the group’s chemicals and polymers businesses “growing at a rate slightly above the country’s gross domestic product”.
CCM at present commands about 35% of the chemicals-product market share in Malaysia.
The group’s polymers business also commands quite a “sizeable” market share in the country.
Historically, CCM earns around 40%-50% of its revenue and earnings from its chemicals and polymers units, while its pharmaceuticals business, through CCM Duopharma, contributes more than 50% to the group’s top and bottom lines.
On that note, CCM will likely see its revenue and profit base slashed by more than half once CCM Duopharma ceases to be its subsidiary in a demerger exercise is expected to be completed by January 2018.
Leonard Ariff acknowledges that post-demerger, CCM will become a smaller organisation, with a lower earnings base, but it will also be one with a significantly lower cost base as a result of the group’s degearing exercise that will be taking place concurrently with the demerger exercise.
“Undoubtedly, we will have lower net profit, but our margins will be better, going forward.
‘Suffice to say, our margin definitely be higher than the current 8%-10% post-demerger,” Leonard Ariff says.
Importantly, he notes, CCM will emerge as a company with a lighter balance sheet and lower cost base upon the completion of its ongoing restructuring exercise.
He argues that there are merits to operate on a more nimble scale, as it gives the company the opportunity to enhance its efficiency and ability to respond to market changes.
“We will be able to utilise our resources more effectively and efficiently, and promote strong growth for our chemicals and polymers businesses,” Leonard Ariff explains.
Returning to the black
CCM is among the latest entities under Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) stable to undergo a restructuring exercise.
At present, PNB owns a 70.25% stake in CCM, which, in turn, has a 73.4% stake in CCM Duopharma.
The country’s largest fund manager also has a direct 4% stake in CCM Duopharma.
However, PNB’s direct stake in CCM Duopharma could increase to about 51% post the demerger of the company from CCM via dividend in specie.
This is based on the assumption that PNB does not participate in the upcoming private placement of CCM’s shares.
CCM over the week announced a series of corporate exercises, which included the proposed demerger of CCM Duopharma and proposed degearing exercise through the sale of three parcels of land measuring 70.93 acres in Shah Alam for RM190mil and a private placement of new CCM shares to raise up to RM67.6mil.
Under the proposed restructuring exercise announced on Wednesday, CCM would redistribute its entire 73.37% stake in CCM Duopharma to its shareholders. The move would result in the demerger of the two companies.
And to reflect its reduced size post-demerger, CCM would undertake an exercise to consolidate its shares on the basis of three to one.
Upon the completion of the restructuring exercise, PNB will remain as a major shareholder in CCM, with a stake of 64.29%.
CCM’s demerger and degearing exercises are part of a strategic review which began in 2015, whereby the group merged all its pharmaceutical businesses under the CCM Duopharma umbrella in 2015 and exited the fertiliser business in 2016.
CCM’s fertiliser business was the main culprit of the group’s losses from the financial years ending Dec 31, 2014, through 2016.
“After having solved our P&L (profit and loss) between 2015 and 2016, we are now shifting our attention to strengthening our balance sheet,” Leonard Ariff says, acknowledging that CCM is still carrying a huge debt burden.
He reveals that CCM at present has debts of about RM440mil, of which RM400mil are long-term loans and RM40mil working capital credit.
For that, CCM spends RM21mil annually in interest costs to service its debts.
According to Leonard Ariff, CCM’s aim is to reduce its debts to RM100mil, which would effectively reduce the group’s gearing from the current 0.7 times to 0.6 times.
“While the reduction in gearing ratio appears marginal, the implication on our interest payment is very high... any savings will contribute to our bottom line,” he explains, adding that he expects CCM’s annual interest costs to be cut by 75% post degearing exercise.
Separately, Leonard Ariff points out that CCM could raise gross proceeds of around RM65mil from the sale of its two other identified non-core assets, namely, the Nilai Industrial Land and the group’s 8.45% equity stake in Korea-listed PanGen Biotech Inc.
These will go towards further paring down its debts.
Essentially, the proposed degearing initiative will lighten the balance sheet for CCM, while the demerger exercise will give shareholders direct ownership in both CCM and CCM Duopharma, and participate directly in the growth of the two separate entities.
According to Leonard Ariff, demerging CCM Duopharma from CCM will benefit the pharmaceutical company, as the move allows the pharmaceutical company to expand further without being weighed down by CCM’s debt burden.
“CCM Duopharma has a lot of business proposals and potential to expand, but as long as it is still a part of CCM, it will come to a stage where the company will be bound by the loan covenants at the group side.
“This will limit CCM Duopharma’s ability to borrow to finance its expansion. So, it is better to split the company from CCM,” he explains.
Post-demerger, the free float of CCM Duopharma is expected to increase to about 40% from the present 26%.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, CCM Duopharma saw its net profit increase 21.9% to RM9.56mil, or 3.43 sen per share, from RM7.84mil, or 2.81 sen per share, in the corresponding quarter last year.
During the quarter in review, CCM Duopharma’s revenue rose 55.2% to RM123.31mil from RM79.47mil in the previous corresponding period.
CCM Duopharma attributed its revenue and earnings growth to the supply of insulin pursuant to the commencement of a distribution agreement with a business partner and increased demand from Government hospitals via other tender business.
CCM, on the other hand, returned to the black after three years of chalking up losses.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, the company posted a net profit of RM8.23mil, or 1.81 sen per share, compared with a net loss of RM250,000, or 0.06 sen per share, in the previous corresponding period.
The group said improved sales in all its businesses contributed to its earnings growth.
During the quarter in review, CCM’s revenue rose 40% to RM212.24mil from RM151.53 mil previously.
It said the higher revenue was mainly contributed by increased contributions from the group’s pharmaceuticals and chemicals businesses.
CCM’s shares fell one sen to close at RM1.56 yesterday. Year-to-date, the counter had gained about 77%.
CCM Duopharma shares, on the other hand, fell seven sen to close at RM2.04 yesterday. This represented a year-to-date gain of about 5%.


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High Stakes for the Rich Internet
HTML5, Flash and the future of the rich Internet experience
So what's underneath all of the hype and battle cries? Is HTML5 the answer to our cross-platform, rich Internet prayers? Is Flash dead? Or for that matter, is the Web itself dead, as Wired recently proclaimed? How do apps fit into the mix? And most importantly, what does it all mean for delivering a dynamic, efficient, entertaining, high-performance experience to users?
The Shot Heard Round the Web
The great HTML5–Flash debate of 2010 started in the spring when Steve Jobs unequivocally (or so it seemed) announced that Flash would not be allowed on Apple's mobile devices. At The Wall Street Journal's D8 conference in June, Jobs explained, "Sometimes you just have to pick the things that look like they're going to be the right horses to ride going forward, and Flash looks like a technology that had its day but is really waning, and HTML5 looks like the technology that's really on the ascendancy right now."
Comments like these, and Jobs' open memo, "Thoughts on Flash," sparked an intense and sometimes impassioned debate on the relative merits of Flash and HTML5 — a debate that evidently will be simmering for some time to come.
Apple muddied the waters further in September when it abruptly lifted its restrictions on development tools — including Flash — that can be used to develop iOS applications for the iPhone, iPod and iPad (and presumably Apple TV, if rumors that it will run apps are true). So developers can now use Flash to create games and mobile apps on Apple devices, but Flash is still prohibited on Apple's mobile browser, so Flash-based websites are still left out in the cold. Adobe was "encouraged" by the announcement, and its stock jumped 12 percent on the news. Adobe also expressed its intention to resume development of its Packager for iPhone, a tool in Flash Professional CS5.
30-Second Update: HTML5
Jeremy Keith, in his new book, HTML5 For Web Designers, offers a good brief history of HTML. In a nutshell: In the beginning, there was Hypertext Markup Language, aka HTML, the creation of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web. It governed the way pages looked and linked. Then there was HTML 2.0, published by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Then the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C, took over, revising and updating the standard; they published the official HTML 4.01 specification in 1999. From there we moved on to XHTML 1.0 (at about which time CSS started gaining traction with Web designers to get better control of the presentation of their Web documents). But when the W3C started work on XHTML 2.0, that's when the trouble began.
Unhappy with the direction the specification was going, and concerned about its real usability for Web designers, a group led by Opera, Apple and Mozilla split off and formed the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, WHATWG. This group laid the foundation for HTML5 (explaining some of Apple's fondness for it). Ultimately, W3C adopted WHATWG's progress and got on the HTML5 bandwagon.
As it stands today, while HTML5 code is showing up in some Web pages and is supported to varying degrees by some, but not all, major browsers, there still is no published specification for HTML5, and projections vary widely as to when any of it will become official. The W3C's HTML5 working group expects it will be 2011, at the earliest, for HTML5 to reach "candidate recommendation" status, and that the ratification process could take until 2022(!). But the lack of official status is not likely to stop browser and Web developers from forging ahead and embracing HTML5's eagerly anticipated features.
Five things to love about HTML5
More than previous mark-up specifications, HTML5 separates content from presentation. It leaves many of the stylistic instructions to CSS. And it offers a simpler, more elegant solution to developers in five key areas: scalable graphics, animation, form input, browser-based caches, and multimedia without plugins. It is this last feature in particular that has caused so much stir.
No mere Flash in the pan
Flash is the most widely adopted plugin on the Internet, believed to be active on 99 percent of Web browsers. The reason can be summed up in one two-word word: YouTube. Users around the world depend on Flash for their daily dose of stupid cat videos, and they get to see them no matter what browser or operating system they're using. Everyone watching their favorite TV shows on Hulu is using Flash, too. Jeremy Allaire, who helped develop the Macromedia MX/Flash platform at Macromedia and is currently CEO of Brightcove, puts Flash's share of the online video market at 75 percent. Note that all of this refers to desktop, not mobile, video.
Flash was born as an animation and motion-graphics engine. By the early 2000s, though, it evolved into a full-featured, interactive audiovisual platform running in the browser. Creative Web developers began using Flash elements to add sizzle to their sites, and overachieving developers built (and are still building) whole sites in Flash. And Flash began powering a new generation of highly interactive rich Web applications, arguably ushering the era of Web 2.0. Corporate users, too, recognized the powerful capabilities of Flash for communications and application development. And Flash is integral to the browser-less Adobe Air application development platform.
The bottom line: Flash is a valuable technology that is not going to be eclipsed anytime soon. Adobe is clearly committed to Flash, and continues to develop, extend, and enhance it for a multitude of uses.
So, Flash is a vibrant platform that offers a high degree of rich functionality, some of it best-of-breed. Sites and applications developed with Flash are available to virtually every non-mobile Web user, and likely to be available for most mobile users before long, except for those using Apple products.
HTML5 is an exciting, evolving Web coding language with extensive support from all of the Internet's heavy hitters — Google, Apple, Microsoft (albeit slowly), Mozilla, Opera, and yes, even Adobe. It promises to simplify and speed-up both the Web development and Web browsing experience, has native capability to handle multimedia and rich Internet functionality without external plugins, and has ambitions to be the technology that finally bridges all devices, mobile included.
A number of leading Internet voices argue that it's not an either-or scenario. Flash is the best platform for some applications, and HTML5 for others. But how is a developer to decide what the best technology is for the project that's in front of them? Assuming A) that the technology can perform the desired function and B) that the end product is available on user devices, it gets down to a matter of performance.
The proof is in the performance — if you can measure it
One point of agreement from everyone in the Web world, from technology purveyors to developers to users, is that faster is better. Users are universally impatient, and if you want them to stick with your site or application, it has to be fast.
The problem with Flash-based experiences, though, is that they lack the full transparency required for comprehensive operational measurement and diagnosis.
"You have the ability to detect when there are failures," says Vik Chaudhary, Keynote vice president of product management and corporate development. "You can detect performance problems — for example, the Flash application overall is taking 60 seconds instead of 15 seconds, But you have very limited ability to actually diagnose the failure. With interactive Flash monitoring, you have detection and alerting —'you've got a problem and it's taking 25 percent longer.' But diagnosis is very limited."
"When it comes to a proprietary player like Flash, it's really the Flash player that's running inside your browser that's running that application," Chaudhary explains. "So the testing challenge there is to be able to listen to all the chatter and events that are happening inside that Flash player. It's not an open standard; it's closed. Listening to the events happening in the application, you have to integrate deeply with Flash. That's a big technological challenge."
For example, many Flash applications on websites allow the user to click and manipulate objects or images. It's possible to track where users click, and to measure response times, but it's extremely difficult to know what Flash returns in response to a click, and therefore extremely difficult to diagnose the specifics of any problem that occurs. It is a test and measurement problem inherent with closed technologies.
"I can't think of any tools that are available to analyze the performance of Flash," says Steve Souders, Web performance engineer at Google and author of High Performance Web Sites and Even Faster Web Sites (visit his page at Amazon). "I've talked to people at large companies who have built internal tools, but none of them are published. And so we have all these tools — Firefox Firebug, Safari Web Inspector, Google Speed Tracer — all these tools that give us visibility into the performance of Web pages, and none of them give us any visibility into Flash."
See HTML5 run
Because it's an open technology (with the possible exception of video), HTML5 promises to lend itself to the robust performance monitoring, measurement, and diagnosis that's been available for other open Web technologies. And it is expected that the advances found in HTML5 will, if used judiciously, be a boon to overall page performance.
"There's a lot of wins in HTML5 for performance," Souders says. "There's app cache, local storage — I think those are going to be really big. There's some things, Web Workers, WebSockets, that I think are performance wins — I don't think they're useful for a large number of Web applications, but for the Web applications where they make sense, it's going to be a performance win."
VHS or Betamax?
One of the most anticipated features of HTML5 — and one of the most debated — is the ability to handle audio and video natively in the browser. A few simple lines of code is all it takes to embed A/V files, and, once browsers are updated to handle HTML5, the user would need no special plug-ins to run the files.
As mentioned above, Flash is by far the dominant force in online video. But HTML5 is already making inroads. Vimeo has introduced HTML5 video capability in a new universal player, enabling its videos to be viewed on mobile devices, including those from Apple. And Google has introduced a new, HTML5 mobile version of its site, m.youtube.com, which is promoted as delivering better video with a better interface than Apple's own YouTube app.
The goal, of course, is to arrive at a standard that will operate across all platforms and devices. And that's the problem. It's VHS vs. Betamax all over again, this time between codecs competing to be included in the HTML5 spec.
On one side are the H.264 proponents. H.264 is the dominant video codec on the Web, used by most of the major video sites (and supported by Flash). Apple is leading the push to make H.264 the HTML5 video codec, and Microsoft has thrown its support, perhaps less vocally, behind H.264 as well. Coincidentally, patented technology from both Apple and Microsoft is part of the H.264 codec, so they both have a financial stake in the game.
In the other corner is the open-source WebM project based on Google's open-sourced VP8 codec, supported by Mozilla, Google, Opera, and more than 40 other publishers; Ogg Theora, another open-source codec, has also had the support of Mozilla, Google and Opera. Among the arguments for open-source is freedom from royalty payments, but now even those waters are being muddied. MPEG-LA, which manages patents and royalties for A/V codecs, announced this summer that it will offer a royalty-free H.264 license for sites that offer free video. That still leaves a lot of royalty liability, though, in terms of encoders, decoders, and commercial content.
So it's really difficult to say which way the standard will go. H.264 is the most widely used, but anything with Google behind it has the potential to be a contender. The good news is that, whichever standard wins out, HTML5 will make good on its promise to handle audio and video seamlessly across browsers and devices. A number of demonstration projects show off this capability (see photos).
Mobile: the driver behind the whole debate
It's likely that none of this discussion would be happening if not for the whirlwind ascendancy of mobile as an Internet access point. If we were just dealing with the desktop, the problems wouldn't be so complicated, the technologies so critical, or the stakes so high. The huge and still largely untapped mobile market is driving the train.
Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker puts the tipping point when mobile will overtake the desktop Internet at sometime around 2014. This summer, George Colony, Forrester Research CEO, advised his fellow chief executives, "As CEO, start pushing your CIO and CMO toward App Internet. The Web was just a warm-up."
The "App Internet" will likely migrate back to the desktop as apps become blockbusters or indispensable productivity tools, but for now, it's a mobile phenomenon. And therein lies the all-too-familiar problem: rather than developing for a desktop that involves a few major operating systems and a handful of browsers, mobile brings in a number of additional, disparate operating systems and browsers, and literally scores of form factors for displays.
In many ways, native apps only perpetuate the problem. Today, for a marketer to cover the bulk of the smartphone universe requires building and maintaining an iPhone app, an Android app, and a Blackberry app — three different OSs, with Flash maybe or maybe not thrown into the mix. That's why a cross-platform solution is so sought after.
"In Asia, something like 18 percent of e-commerce on popular websites is done over mobile," Souders points out. "And for Amazon, it's something like 2 percent. For some reason, in the U.S., mobile users who are primarily going to U.S. websites are not doing a lot of e-commerce. How can those companies build an engaging experience to close that gap?"
"If you go down the path of, 'I have to build a native application for every mobile device that I'm targeting,' it's going to take years to close that gap," Souders continues. "I think if you build a mobile Web app that makes it easy and compelling for users to engage with your website and makes it easy for them to conduct e-commerce, we could close that gap a lot quicker. And so I think the way to do that is to build mobile Web apps as opposed to native apps."
The question is not really if HTML5 will become standard, but when. Technologies develop rapidly these days, and once the major issues are worked out, particularly the video codec, and browsers are updated, widespread adoption could happen quickly. There is optimism that HTML5 will move us closer to a unified standard and a solid cross-platform foundation for rich Internet experiences. But the reality of technology evolution, with powerful competing stakeholders vying for dominance, suggests that unified, universal standards will remain elusive.
"There's a holy grail of 'code it once, and run it on any device or any platform, any browser, any desktop, any mobile phone,'" says Chaudhary. "And my prediction is, it'll never happen. There will always be a tower of Babel, where there will be multiple technologies used by website owners depending on the industry and the skills of the development team. And as a result, building a great user experience becomes all that much harder. And it increases the need for user interface designers, architects, and testers to be the ones who really ensure that the experience works really well. And that will continue to be a challenge as it has been for the past 20 or 30 years."
Chaudhary concludes with a most diplomatic characterization of the rich Internet technology future. "I predict Adobe Flash will continue to be a strong standard," he says. "As will the open Web technologies, as will the new mobile technologies."


text: More jobs, extra care needed as high-definition technology reveals the naked truth The advent of high-definition television is a boon to makeup artists and cosmetic companies specialising in subtle makeup techniques and products as actors and presenters ditch their old-fashioned pan-stick. Makeup for television programmes has traditionally been applied heavily, but the quality of high-definition cameras means dark or heavy makeup now stands out. The new service has brought job opportunities to hundreds of makeup artists in the city. 'It's not only the makeup,' said Why Chan Choi-yuk, chief artiste image supervisor at TVB. 'Since every mistake will become very obvious on high-definition broadcasts, we spend a lot of time checking whether the colour tone on the artiste's ears and neck echoes the one on the face.' Ms Chan said the team was growing bigger. 'Last year we had 22 makeup artists, but we have hired another eight in the last two months and we will be taking in more,' she said. 'Especially in big productions like TVB's anniversary show, we need a lot of part-time artists.' More care also has to be taken with extras and minor characters. Ms Chan said the team started preparing for high-definition broadcasting last March. 'We gave training for makeup artists and also provided short tutorials for artistes who need to take part in outdoor, non-drama programmes,' she said. Cosmetics for high-definition broadcasts are usually manufactured in Japan and Europe, according to Karen Tse Yuk-chun, of local professional makeup supplier May's Company. They cost up to double the price of conventional ones, depending on the brand and volume. 'We can't tolerate pancake makeup anymore. Everyone is turning to natural and lightweight makeup,' said May Cheung Suk-mei, an artist who worked at TVB and ATV for 23 years and is now a makeup trainer. 'We have to make artistes look as if they aren't wearing any makeup.' Another veteran, Tommy Chan, who has been handling makeup for cinema and television for 20 years, agreed. 'Cosmetics such as loose powder and lightweight foundations with natural tones are common.' But unlike customers who are spending lots of money replacing their old televisions with new, high-definition ones, makeup artists are making a saving from digital broadcasting. 'The technique is all about getting the makeup as thin as possible,' Ms Cheung said. 'It helps to save us a lot, such as skin foundation, which we consume 50 per cent less than before.' High-definition technology is also forcing actors to change their ways. Wong Cho-lam, who appears as computer technician Lau Wah in TVB's sitcom Best Selling Secrets, the channel's first drama broadcast in the high-definition format, said the service had changed his habits. 'I now go to the beauty salon for facials three times a month,' he said. 'I used to go only when I was on holiday. And now I use more skincare products to prevent acne.' He said he no longer stayed up late so as to avoid looking tired on camera. The high-definition camera never lies, so male actors have to show up clean - without their stubble. Wong said: 'We shave every day because we can't hide it with foundation any more.'


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The Gym Group
The Gym Group, which runs a chain of low-cost gyms, is turning to data analytics technology to support its expansion plans.
Operating from 160 sites, the company relies heavily on information technology to keep its overheads low, allowing it to offer gym membership for an average of £18 a month.
The small cap listed company has replaced its finance and human resources (HR) systems with cloud-based services, giving it the ability to analyse business performance.
The technology is critical to The Gym Group’s plans to expand its services by hiring part-time personal trainers to work with clients, in what it describes as a significant change to its business model.
Emma Castledine, group reporting manager at The Gym Group, said last year the company reached the point where it was no longer able to expand due to the limitations of its existing finance and human resources software.
“We got to the state of being a very rapid growth business, so our current finance platforms were going to restrain our business strategy. We needed something not only suitable for our business today, but something that would also be suitable in five years plus,” she told Computer Weekly.
The Gym Group has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2007, by building no-frills gyms in former shops and office buildings and offering low-cost membership and 24/7 access.
The company grew by 140% in 2017 when it took over 13 gyms from competitor easyGym in a £25m deal. It aims to add a further 15 to 20 gyms each year.
The Gym Group had relied on Sage200 accounting software to run its accounts, but the software, designed for small companies, was limited in scope and did not offer the data analysis capabilities The Gym Group was looking for, said Castledine.
It used iTrent payroll and HR software, provided by MHR in Nottingham, to manage its database of employees. “It is a good product, but internally we were not extracting the most from it,” she said.
The Gym Group set out to replace its financial software, but saw it made sense to bring finance and HR together in a single cloud service, said Castledine.
After evaluating a range of software, the company began deploying Workday’s cloud HR and financial software in January 2018.
Castledine hired Deloitte as an implementation partner to manage the project. Deloitte used a team of developers in India, which carried out the programming in a series of sprints using agile development methodology.
“Deloitte’s methodology in terms of test planning was very good and robust,” she said.
“For most significant implementations, a major change so close to go-live would spell disaster and panic, but we were able to fully integrate new sites and employees in the Workday platform in days”
Emma Castledine, The Gym Group
The company acquired its portfolio of gyms from easyGym just a week before the Workday go-live date.
“For most significant implementations, a major change so close to go-live would spell disaster and panic, but we were able to fully integrate new sites and employees in the Workday platform in days,” she said.
The project went live, on schedule, in July 2018.
Without the new software in place, Castledine said the former easyGym staff would have had to fill in time sheets on a different IT system, which would not be great for employees or the business.
One important part of the project was integrating The Gym Group’s membership database into Workday.
The group originally started with custom-designed software to store its membership data, which includes details such as members’ access PINs, the gym they use and how often they use it.
Two years ago, it switched to Clubware, software developed by an Australian company for fitness centres to manage billing, class booking and to provide detailed reports about how members use the gym.
The company is using Workday’s Studio software, which is capable of pulling data from diverse applications into Workday software, to merge and analyse data about its members from its Clubware membership management system and financial data provided by its direct debit collection agencies.
“For the first time we are able to generate revenue on a member-by-member basis. It’s very smart from an accounting point of view. We can see revenues member by member and gym by gym,” said Castledine.
Emma Castledine, The Gym Group
For example, the company’s HR team has used the software to create a dashboard that allows managers to analyse and model their team’s expenses.
“We are only just starting to generate this rich source of data,” said Castledine. “Reports are easy to put together. I can pick a gym and create a chart on it very quickly.”
The business case for the project was not about reducing costs, but about enabling the company to respond more quickly and to continue to grow.
“For a high-growth business like ours, it’s not about reducing heads. It’s about being able to deliver on strategy and be as flexible as we can,” she said.
The project will make it possible for the gym chain to hire a larger number of part-time trainers – a key part of its strategy to introduce a new business model – without increasing administration overheads.
The company has held trials of the new model at nine sites and recently tested the administrative processing associated with Workday at a further four sites.
“This is a significant change to our business model, but we are confident that it will be a key part of our operations for the next 10 years,” the company reported.
It plans to introduce the new model in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The Gym Group also plans to introduce an app that will offer members digital services such as instructional videos, fitness challenges and the ability to track workouts.
It also plans to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) software in areas where it can increase operational efficiency, along with advanced data modelling and analytics to support decision-making in a number of areas of the business.
Castledine advises businesses embarking on transformation projects not to be afraid to go for easy wins.
“Where it is a big transformation, it’s about not being afraid to acknowledge some of the basics. For finance, it can approve financial entries much more efficiently, which means our system of financial control is much better,” she said.
Read more about data analytics
- The CIO of Aeroporti di Roma describes how the city’s main airport is using data analytics technology to reduce delays and queue times, securing it an industry award for customer service.
- Organisations are increasingly reliant on unlocking the data held within IT systems to gain insight into how to better connect with customers, drive innovation and improve efficiency.
- Enterprises need to figure out the business problems they are trying to solve and foster a data-driven culture to benefit from data analytics.


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The rivalry between
Apple and Google goes beyond just competing for new customers and turning them into loyal users. Every time one has the chance to prevent or delay the other from keeping its customers on par with the latest features offered via a service, they immediately take it.
That’s the main reason YouTube TV users on Android and iOS don’t have the same features, although they’re using the same service provided by
Google. One of the useful features that YouTube TV users on Android have been using for a long time is picture-in-picture.
A similar feature is not available to iOS users to this day, and word is that it won’t be released this week or the next. However,
The Verge reports that YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan confirmed that picture-in-picture is finally coming to YouTube TV users on iOS.
While Mohan hasn’t been able to provide an ETA, he did say that we iPhone and iPad users should expect the feature to drop “in the next few months.” But that’s not the only new improvement coming to YouTube TV. It looks like Google has opened the gates to its realm for iOS users to get through.
According to the same report,
YouTube TV for iOS will also be getting support for surround sound, something that has very limited availability at the moment. More importantly, YouTube TV will receive an update to its interface, which will include changes to library and guide.
Granted, the last part of the upcoming changes is aimed at all YouTube TV users, regardless of platform, it’s still baffling that it takes such a long time to bring Android and iOS users (and vice-versa) on par feature-wise. Here is hoping that at least picture-in-picture will be dropping sooner rather than later.


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OnePlus 6T already tagged in promo banner as Amazon Exclusive
Well, well, well, just when the OnePlus 6T official press renders leaked out in their full glory, and the phone even got sized up with the OP6, now comes a truly official name confirmation in the form of an... Amazon banner ad, of all things possible.
Yep, the OnePlus 6T is already in the "notify me" pre-pre-order stage over at Amazon India, and apparently, the phone would be exclusive to Amazon there, no Flipkart shenanigans this time.
In addition, Amazon is listing the new affordable USB-C Bullets earbuds as "Coming soon" there. Does that mean that the jack-less Bullets won't ship in the OnePlus 6T box? That would be a shame, but we'll totally understand the move. USB-C ear buds are few and far between still, after all, and OnePlus might want to milk the occasion for what it's worth.
Thanks for the tip, Aman!


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New gym will boost town centre footfall
Published on Wednesday, 8th March 2017
Fitness fans in Nuneaton will soon welcome a new gym to the town centre.
NBBC has worked in partnership with The Ropewalk Shopping Centre to secure a deal with the UK’s leading gym operator and transform three empty units in the shopping centre adjacent to New Look.
PureGym provides low-cost, flexible and high-quality fitness facilities. The new site will open up fitness to the local community, as well as attracting more people to the town centre and creating new jobs. Users of the gym will enjoy two hours free parking at The Ropewalk, keeping down the cost of fitness and boosting town centre footfall.
Speaking about the new gym, Tony Wilkes, Manager of The Ropewalk, said:
“It’s exciting news that a major national company is keen to expand its operations in Nuneaton, it’s a positive reflection of the reputation and the development of the town centre. We’ve worked in partnership with the Council to make this happen, we’ve been creative and flexible to secure the right result.”
Dennis Harvey, Leader of the Council said:
“This is another exciting opportunity for the town, I am delighted that we have been able to attract such a successful national company to The Ropewalk. As a Council and as a Heart town, we are absolutely committed to raising standards of fitness so it is fantastic that Nuneaton residents will have access to another gym.”
It is anticipated that PureGym will take up occupation within Ropewalk in late Summer 2017.
- More articles in the news archive


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Last month, a Bloomberg report covered by MobileSyrup suggested that starting in October, Apple’s iPhone 14 would be manufactured in India. October is still a week away, though it seems the manufacturing has already begun.
The Cupertino, California-based company made the announcement today, Monday, September 26th, via Bloomberg, roughly three weeks after unveiling the new iPhone 14 lineup.
Initially, India-based manufacturing plants only assembled Apple’s iPhone SE, but have progressed to assemble other Apple devices too, including the iPhone 13, with Foxconn being the main supplier in the nation for the iPhone 13, and Wistron responsible for the iPhone SE. Normally, manufacturing doesn’t start taking place in the same calendar year as the device’s release. This makes the iPhone 14 the first smartphone to have its production shifted from China to India in mere weeks.
“We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” an Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg.
The devices are being manufactured in Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility near the city of Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
People familiar with the matter say that resolve in supply chain issues sped up the transition of manufacturing from China to India, quoting that Apple is seeking alternatives to China due to its pandemic-related lockdowns and clashes with the US government. “India is now an attractive location for manufacturing as it offers better labour cost structure while Apple is looking to reduce geopolitical risks,” said Jeff Pu, an analyst at Haitong International Securities, in a statement given to Bloomberg.
It is worth noting that Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility in India will manufacture the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models, while the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are still being exclusively manufactured in China. The Indian factory is reported to make roughly five percent of the total monthly iPhone manufacturing volume, which translates to about five percent of the total iPhone volume.
Image credit: Shutterstock


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Home > News > Michael Weiner Joins Panel at NanoCommerce 2004
October 5th, 2004
Michael Weiner Joins Panel at NanoCommerce 2004
Biophan Technologies, Inc. announced that CEO Michael Weiner will be among leading nanotech industry figures at a panel discussion on the convergence of nanotechnology and biotechnology, to be held at the NanoCommerce 2004 in Chicago from October 4-7, 2004.
Oxford Instruments Asylum Research Introduces the MFP-3D InfinityTM AFM Featuring Powerful New Capabilities and Stunning High Performance April 18th, 2014
High-temperature plasmonics eyed for solar, computer innovation April 17th, 2014
INSCX™ exchange to present Exchange trade reporting mechanism for engineered nanomaterials (NMs) to UK regulation agencies, insurers and upstream/downstream users April 17th, 2014
Transparent Conductive Films and Sensors Are Hot Segments in Printed Electronics: Start-ups in these fields show above-average momentum, while companies working on emissive displays such as OLED are fading, Lux Research says April 17th, 2014


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Kangdexin Composite Material Group has partnered with Royal Philips for glasses-free 3D display technology for China, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Through the agreement, both companies will cooperate to develop, license and make available their IP in the field of glasses-free 3D display technology, such as TVs, tablets, mobile phones and laptops.
Additionally, the partnership further enables KDX to develop 3D display technology and market its products in China before Philips concludes new 3D display technology licenses with other companies targeting the Chinese market.
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(Image / IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
By David Isaac, World Israel News -
Israel’s corona numbers continued to head in the right direction on Thursday with Israel’s corona czar says that the country can move forward with its exit strategy from the lockdown.
The number of daily confirmed cases announced on Thursday was 1,994. The goal the government has set for itself — 2,000 daily cases or lower and an R-nought of 0.8 has been achieved, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, Israel’s corona czar, told Army Radio on Thursday.
R-nought is a mathematical term showing how contagious a disease is — 0.8 indicates less than one additional person is infected per carrier.
“My position is that it is certainly possible at the beginning of the week to take the first step of loosening,” the restrictions, Gamzu said.
Israel has developed a multistage exit strategy, broken into roughly two-week increments, that would take the country fully out of lockdown by the end of January 2021. However, economic and political pressures might lead to a faster pullout, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is resisting, noting that an early exit after the first wave is what led to a particularly severe second wave for Israel.
Gamzu also sent a message to the public not to become complacent.
“We want to make sure that this is a continuing trend and not a one-time figure,” Gamzu said. “I say to all the people of Israel… I want to see continued observance of the rules. That is why the issue of gatherings and masks is so important, because it helped us reach a coefficient of infection of 0.8.”
In the expectation of a loosening of the restrictions on the economy, Israel’s Association of Fashion and Commercial and Catering Chains, which includes 400 chain stores and tens of thousands of commercial stores, cancelled a planned “revolt” set for this coming Sunday, in which thousands of stores were to open around the country regardless of what the government decided.
They decided to halt the “revolt” for the time being after a conversation on Wednesday night with representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, Channel 13 reports.


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Lawn mowing app GreenPal launches in The Woodlands
Nashville-based GreenPal, an app that connects homeowners with local, vetted lawn care professionals, launched this month in the Woodlands.
Co-founder Gene Caballero said the free app has been successful in the Greater Houston market and is beneficial for both homeowners and business owners.
"It's free for both the homeowner and the vendor to use," Caballero said. "Homeowners get bids from different lawn vendors in the area. There's been a lot of interest in this area."
The app can be downloaded through Android phones or iPhones. Homeowners can schedule their lawn services through the app as well as pay for services and compare service prices. To learn more about GreenPal, visit www.yourgreenpal.com/tx/the-woodlands-lawn-care


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© 2021 MJH Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical Technology. All rights reserved.
© 2021 MJH Life Sciences™ and Pharmaceutical Technology. All rights reserved.
June 11, 2021
Roambee has acquired Modum, a Swiss pharma last mile-focused cold chain monitoring player, expanding its cold chain visibility capabilities.
June 08, 2021
The agency issued two final and two draft guidance documents to help identify and trace drug products in the supply chain.
June 03, 2021
Eight companies representing the pharmaceutical supply chain have joined a newly founded non-profit membership association, Alliance to Zero, aimed at facilitating the transition of the pharma sector to comply with net-zero emissions.
May 20, 2021
USP worked with a patient advocacy group and a purchasing organization to create a predictive model for improving supply chain resilience for critical pediatric oncology drugs.
May 15, 2021
Supply-chain visibility systems are proving their worth in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and may see broader use in the future.
May 03, 2021
Breakthroughs in analytics and alternatives to traditional freeze drying promise to reshape biological development and the cold chain.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has made great strides in implementing serialization technologies, while technology developers are enabling more open access to real-time transportation data.
April 23, 2021
Executives that participated in the CPhI post-pandemic survey are predicting a push for repatriation of manufacturing globally.
April 21, 2021
CalAmp's new sensor for cold-chain applications provides visibility for shipping vaccines.
April 19, 2021
Drug product security requires anti-counterfeiting techniques such as authentication throughout the supply chain.


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Norway’s largest business newspaper, Dagens Næringsliv (DN), picks up Synergy SKY's hockey stick growth.
The article is focusing on the success Synergy SKY has had with the introduction of the new product portfolio. Synergy SKY is one of many companies started by ex-Tandberg employees who are doing well.
Read the full article here (Norwegian only)
“Something happens to people’s mood when they have to wait for 15 minutes to get a video meeting started”