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Bipartisan support is building for allowing small businesses to use Internet platforms to raise capital from large numbers of individual investors through “crowdfunding.”
This concept already is being used to raise contributions for films, books and other ideas that don’t offer a return on investment, other than a T-shirt or some other perk. More than 500,000 projects have been funded through crowdfunding websites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter, according to Sherwood Neiss, an entrepreneur in Miami Beach, Fla., who co-founded FLAVORx, a company that makes medicines taste better.
Current Securities and Exchange Commission rules, however, make it difficult for businesses to raise money through crowdfunding. Neiss and other small business advocates want the SEC to provide a crowdfunding exemption to its registration requirements.
They’ve won support from President Barack Obama, who endorsed crowdfunding in his jobs plan as a way to help entrepreneurs. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., introduced legislation this month that would direct the SEC to provide a crowdfunding exemption for small businesses that are trying to raise up to $5 million. Individual investments would be limited to $10,000 or 10 percent of an investor’s income.
McHenry said his bill would allow everyday investors to connect with entrepreneurs.
“In today’s fast-paced world of information and innovation, all Americans, rather than just banks and venture capitalists, should be able to invest in the next Google or Apple,” he said.
James Childs, partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, said the proposed $10,000 limit and 10 percent of income caps are reasonable metrics to ensure an adequate level of investor protection.
Childs said under the current regulatory landscape, anyone who chooses to use crowdfunding to sell securities may be doing so in violation of applicable securities laws, which could give investors a rescission right – the right to force the company to buy back their securities – and create problems for the company with respect to any future financing or an ultimate sale of the business.
“The currently proposed crowdfunding exemption would resolve this existing disconnect between the law and the objectives of crowdfunding and thereby permit non-accredited investors to participate in the potential returns offered by start-ups and make it easier for entrepreneurs to secure start-up capital,” he said.
Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, said she was “pleasantly surprised” that Obama included crowdfunding in his jobs plan, and hopes the president will continue pushing it.
“I think small business owners need new sources of capital,” Kerrigan said, noting that credit is still tight.
“Legalizing crowdfunding would be a great breakthrough for the entrepreneurial sector,” Kerrigan said.
At a Sept. 15 hearing on McHenry’s bill, Meredith Cross, director of the SEC’s division of corporate finance acknowledged crowdfunding’s potential. But, she added, “an exemption from registration and the investor protections provided thereby also would present an enticing opportunity for the unscrupulous to engage in fraudulent activities that could undermine investor confidence.”
Katharine Musso, a partner at Jones Walker Waechter Poitevent Carrère & Denègre LLP, said in the absence of some type of regulatory oversight, it is inevitable that “fraudsters” will take advantage of this trend.
“This is not to say that there aren’t legitimate players in the market just that criminals will always fill an unregulated market with fraud,” she said.
Florida entrepreneur Neiss said the “crowd” aspect of crowdfunding offers strong protections against fraud.
“Opening the funding process to the general public adds transparent and trust signaling,” he said. “It’s much harder for fraud to occur when the whole world is watching on an open and transparent platform, especially with credibility and performance ratings that are visible to the community.”
email@example.com | (205) 443-5636 firstname.lastname@example.org


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A slowdown for smartphones in China put the squeeze on earnings for South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.
A business software outsourcing startup based in Milpitas, California, plans to open a tech center in Louisiana this summer.
Although new rules allow greater use of technology on an airplane, passengers aren't taking advantage of it, a new study shows.
The Federal Trade Commission slapped T-Mobile with a lawsuit Tuesday, alleging the telecoms company took in hundreds of millions of dollars by making bogus charges for spam messages.
Anthony Noto was named Twitter's new CFO on Tuesday.
The founder of dating app Tinder has been suspended over claims that he stripped a co-founder of her title and called her a whore.
What sounds like something from a work of fiction is something real you can read in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which explains how and why Facebook used nearly 700,000 news feeds and manipulated them in the name of research to study "emotional contagion through social networks."
LeVar Burton says his "Reading Rainbow" fundraising effort is getting a generous boost in matching funds from Seth MacFarlane.
Here's a closer look at the Supreme Court's ruling on Aereo and what it means for the future of TV over the Internet.
New Mexico regulators have said no to a temporary operating permit for ride-sharing company Uber Technologies.
GoPro has climbed mountaintops and dived to ocean bottoms. Now it's headed someplace adventurous: Wall Street.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has issued a cease-and-desist demand to a mobile app called Monkey Parking, which allows people to auction off public parking spaces that they're using to other nearby drivers.
Shares of Adobe shot higher in after-hours trading after the company announced better-than-expected second quarter results.
Alibaba is providing more information about its partnership structure and financials ahead of its planned initial public offering of stock.
Priceline announced a deal with OpenTable that would let itself do for restaurant reservations much what it does for hotel bookings.

domain: news


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Iceland has added melt-in-the-middle chocolate puddings to its vegan range.
According to a press release, the new No Moo Chocolate Melt in the Middle Puddings “are rich and spongy with an oozing chocolate centre and will ensure that all sweet-toothed shoppers can get their chocolate fix.”
The desserts join Iceland’s existing popular plant-based range, which consists of a variety of vegan meat products, including No Chick Chicken Strips, No Cheese Pizzas, and “cult favorite” the No Bull Burger. Iceland’s foray into vegan food all started with the latter, which was a big hit among consumers, inspiring the chain to add even more meat-free options to its freezers.
Neil Nugent, Iceland’s head chef and food development manager, said to the Guardian last year, “we had tremendous success with the No Bull Burger and it’s clear our customers want more from us.”
“In creating this range, we have embraced the nation’s love for alternative plant-based foods in an innovative and exciting way,” he continued. “The growth of the vegan food market in the UK has been rapid, with 56% of adults now saying that they are adopting vegan behaviour when conducting their supermarket shop.”
Iceland isn’t the only supermarket chain increasing its vegan options. In the last 12 months, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrison’s have all launched new plant-based products, as demand from consumers increases.
According to Sainsbury’s, 91 percent of consumers in the UK are now actively trying to reduce their meat consumption, for environmental, health, and ethical reasons. In response to this data, the chain has moved some of its vegan meat products into the meat counter in 20 stores across the country.
Tesco has also recognized a shift in consumer habits and has launched a number of new products in a bid to cater to rising demand.
“We are seeing a new kind of shopper – more conscious of their own health and the environment and perfectly happy to make dietary changes such as becoming vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian to achieve those aims,” said the chain’s director of plant-based innovation Derek Sarno.
Iceland’s new melt in the middle puddings will be available in-store and online from April 8.


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A smartphone dedicated to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is slated to be available by September this year.
The team behind the smartphone is from Surat, Gujarat and is lead by Ammeet Desai. The company has been running a smartphone OEM in China for the last 6 years.
The SMART NAMO range will include high end Android phones as well as feature phones later on. “The phones will initially be manufactured in Shenzhen, China but the company has already submitted an application to the Gujarat government to set up an assembly line in the state. They hope to do this by the end of 2013,” Ammeet Desai told NextBigWhat.
The company came up with the idea to dedicate a phone to a leader after they saw many companies in China commemorating leaders with products such as watches and memorabilia of national leaders.
Apart from being from Gujarat, the reason they picked Narendra Modi is that they were impressed by the work of the leader and also the output in terms of economy of the state.
Although the phone will run on stock Android with very little customizations, the smartphones will come preloaded with apps pertaining to BJP, Narendra Modi and India Vision. The company says it will provide users the ability to download wallpapers, themes and custom ROMs from its website.
The company is also planning to approach Narendra Modi and launch a signature edition of the phone, which will be auctioned off on eBay and the proceeds will go to charity.
The company has already signed deals with service centers nationwide for after sales and tech support and will also be offering a replacement warranty. Apart from launching the phone in India the company is also planning on launching an NRI edition for the UK and US markets.
Apart from just smartphones, the company also plans to launch Android tablets and laptops.
According to the SMART NAMO website, the smartphone will have a 5-inch Corning Gorilla Glass 2 display. It will run on Android and will be powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Mediatek chipset. The phone will support dual-SIM functionality and have a 13-megapixel rear camera and will be available in four variants, with different storage and RAM options.
It’s nice to see Android go – well – mainstream. But isn’t this taking the personality cult a little too far (oh, and we can sense the whole bunch of jokes this might inspire already, like whether the phone will have a RSS reader or not!)?
Then, again, this is not the first time we are hearing about phones dedicated to specific people or purposes. Do you recall the Rajnikanth Phone, the Art of Living tablet or the Bhakti Sagar Phone? Will the Namo phone also fade away into memory or will it leave an everlasting impression?


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Nationwide issues £60 apology but not everyone seems to be eligible ‘Ruined Christmas!’
Nationwide issues warning about 'cash trapping' at ATMs
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Over the past few weeks Nationwide customers have been slammed by online banking and payment delays or errors on three separate occasions. In an attempt to correct their wrongs, Nationwide has issued a £60 apology to those that have been affected, but many have complained that this is simply not enough.
While the compensation was not widely publicised, angry customers took to social media to share their frustration at receiving so little for such a big inconvenience.
Callan Kerr was one such customer, tweeting: “@AskNationwide £60 apology for ruining Christmas? Leaving me stranded at the checkout whilst not getting access to my own money? £60? An absolute disgrace, and I can safely bet £60 I’m not the only one.”(sic)
It appears some customers who had been greatly affected had not received the apology at all.
Twitter user Sophie Crote shared: “I was affected by this as I was also unable to receive my money that was to feed my children!”
In December, customers were dismayed to find out that they could not receive or transfer funds the week before Christmas.
This created havoc for those doing their Christmas dinner shopping, expecting their Christmas bonuses or trying to pay bills.
Again on Tuesday January 4, inbound payments were delayed and while January is known as a financially difficult month, this issue made it impossible for some to pay their normal direct debits and standing orders.
Nationwide has taken full responsibility of these issues, stating on their website: “We understand the inconvenience these delays caused for our members. We take complete ownership for this, and we’re very sorry.”
They continue to note that the affected members will receive “a payment to cover any charges or inconvenience incurred”.
Nationwide has reported that those who were affected should receive a letter and text message, if they have provided a mobile number to the building society, with further information on the payment.
They also advised customers to log into their internet banking or banking app and double check that any direct debits or standing orders they were due to pay have gone through.
Customers who note a missing payment are advised to contact the company they owe and explain the situation.
Source: Read Full Article


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Wine Festival nears in Naperville
By SUBURBAN LIFE MEDIA
To celebrate the vineyard harvest, oenophiles need not travel to Napa, but only as far as Naperville for its Wine Festival embracing wine, beer, spirits and cuisine this weekend. A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit the Naperville Area Humane Society.
Music, plus food by area restaurants and wine seminars are part of the 11th annual event, presented by Calamos Investments and Continental Audi of Naperville.
Festivities are set at CityGate Centre, I-88 and Route 59.
The event runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, and 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. Admission costs $29 in advance or $35 at the door, which includes souvenir wine glass, 12 tastings and a pint of beer among the perks. Special tickets for designated drivers cost $10.
For details, visit napervillewinefestival.com.
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- Mystery Diner: The Bank Restaurant capitalizes on fresh fare
- Soul singer Jesse Dee to star at FitzGerald's in Berwyn
- Reunion announced for Lyons Township 1970s graduates
- Peter Lipari to conduct West Suburban Symphony in Westmont
- Live at the Zoo promises 'wild' time at Cosley Zoo in Wheaton
- Beethoven to power season launch by Elgin Symphony Orchestra
- Chef Shangri-La to stage Fong Music Fest in North Riverside with Elvis and eight bands


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Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren were spotted in a BMW 750i over the weekend. The new BMW 750 must be an upgrade from their older BMW 5 series.
Anne Hathaway and her husband were spotted driving around Los Angeles in a BMW i3 recently. Can’t say I’m a fan of the looks of this new electric ride but when you’re a celebrity and automakers just give you loaner cars (to bring free public relations and marketing) why not take it for a spin.
First Ali Larter upgrades her Mercedes-Benz CLS and now she has a BMW X5. Ali was spotted filling up her X5 at a gas station in Los Angeles earlier this week.
Reese Witherspoon and her husband, Jim Toth already have more cars than the average person would ever know what to do with but that doesn’t stop them from adding to their collection. They were recently spotted in their latest addition, a BMW Alpina B7, at a gym in Los Angeles. I guess if you have as much money as these two do, it only makes sense to go for the big boy when you’re looking at a 7 Series!
For someone that constantly travels and see’s beautiful things everyday, you’d think he could take a half-decent photo but like many other automotive photographers, he can’t seem to fit the whole car in the shot. But lets forget about that for the time being and instead congratulate Apolo Ohno for having such a sweet daily whip!


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Nepal’s rice production is thinning even as its population grows. Overall food imports in the country, which is otherwise agriculture based, have risen sharply at a time when Kathmandu is battling several economic challenges amid the Covid 19 pandemic.
Between 2015 and 2020, imports of agriculture products have gone up by a whopping 65 per cent. A chunk of the foreign exchange reserves is now being directed to foot the country’s food import bill. According to Nepali Times, the Himalayan nation’s population has more than tripled from 9.4 million to almost 30 million in the last 60 years but paddy productivity has doubled from 1.8 tonnes per hectare to 3.8.
Analysts said that crop sizes have shrunk amid urbanization but lower agriculture yields are also due to an exodus of labour force.
“Nepal is less and less able to feed itself. Educated people are giving up farming for salaried jobs or migrating overseas, leading to falling production,” the news organization said. Labour shortage is something that is hitting Nepal, which is also susceptible to natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes. Employment growth in the farm sector, especially for the noncash crop segments such as paddy, has almost remained negative.
The International Labour Organisation in a report earlier noted that paddy is the most labour-intensive, and a shift away from other crops like wheat and maize would have an adverse effect on labour absorption.
While a large proportion of agro products, including rice, is imported from India, Nepal has been sourcing from faraway countries as well. Brazil, Australia and even Argentina apart from several other southeast Asian nations have been regularly exporting food items to Nepal. While Paraguay and Brazil supplies soyabean oil, Australia provides a part of the total lentil requirement.
The food import bill has also increased with improved purchasing power among Nepalis. “Often food imports go up when overall living standards improve. In Nepal for example, many are now opting for high quality Basmati or other premium quality rice and other food stuff,” an analyst told India Narrative.
However, concerns for Nepalese policymakers are now growing as the country’s foreign exchange is depleting rapidly with inflow of remittances slowing. That apart, the arrival of tourists had also come to a halt due to the pandemic. The Sher Bahadur Deuba government is now looking to carve out ways to attract tourists into the country.
The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)


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Rebellion has announced a brand new series of digital-only 2000AD collections for 2021
Digital Comics News
Including web comics and titles release for tablets.
New digital comics from Keith Page, available to read for free
You’ll baa-lieve a sheep can fly!
Check out this post apocalyptic tale, a telling reflection on our strange times…
Happy Birthday to Aces Weekly – and congratulations to all those who bring it out way!
Life imitates art…
Edward Taylor’s quirky take on Godzilla has proven a great success
Voting in the 2020 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards, focused largely on US comic titles closes this week.
More free online festival plans unveiled!
Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle’s Davy secret agent finds new outlets for her mayhem!


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Foshan Carro Electrical Co.,Ltd Joined The Intersoalr North America 2016 Successfully.
Foshan Carro Electrical Co.,Ltd have complete successed in 2016 China Brand Exhibition in Brazil on Aug.23th to 25th. This exhibition leaded Carro brand into South America market, also promoted South America economy and trade communication, and get a lot.
This Brazil exhibition was based on solar, create green new energy, build green new environment was exhibition slogan, attracted many buyer came to visit. Our company with the help of this exhibition, laid the foundation of exploiting South America, also lead Carro brand into America market.
As a export brand in Shunde, Foshan Carro Electrical has been famous and good sell in all the courtries in Middle east. With the idea: Open a better life, New guide of energy popularize, Our products ceiling fan has be the most attention products in oversea market, especially this exhibition has been attracted lots of buyer from all over the world attention.
The years of 2016 is a special year for Foshan Carro Electrical Co.,Ltd to development strategy of globalization. Foshan Carro combine target market what they need and remould and level up to the products, make Foshan Carro real suit for foreign household appliances market, open a new, healthy and save energy home experience for many family all over the world.


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Weather Croatia Holidays Itineraries Activities in Croatia Croatian for Travellers Map of Croatia Festivals in Croatia Beaches Clubs Events in Croatia Getting to Croatia Flights to Croatia from the UK &. The lucky bastard lets the girls suck his cock and balls alternately and seems to enjoy watching the babes touch themselves too. The dude knew he lucked out with both women, and as they were walking home his mind was already wandering at all the fun he'd get to have with them when they arrive home.
As he explained to Jefferson, much of what he wrote was in response to the dangers of radical French thought. ??How often do we edit an event so that we end up being an innocent or hapless victim of someone else's wrongdoing. And you normally do not check out a site or browse on your phone without a particular function in mind.
East Midlands Airport We pride ourselves on keeping you connected to other forms of transport - and that even includes planes. Win Blogs Charity News Latest Headlines London News London Close Up Sports News Entertainment News Business News Weird News Traffic and Travel Weather Hatton Garden Heist Party Conferences The News Explained Tube Strike Travel News Podcasts LBC Podcasts Mobile Apps Why Subscribe. I shopped for tridents at the local dive shops but all I could find were flimsy plastic and steel tips and not the Posiden.


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Ola hires Infosys ex-CFO Rajiv Bansal to head finance
26 Nov 2015
Taxi hailing service Ola has fortified its finance team by hiring the former chief financial officer of Infosys Ltd, Rajiv Bansal, in the same position.
Bansal replaces Mitesh Shah, who will now lead the strategic finance initiatives in the new CFO's team. Ola, owned by ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, said in a statement on Wednesday.
''[Bansal] brings with him a wealth of experience from his long tenure at Infosys. Rajiv's understanding and expertise in the finance domain is extremely valuable for us at this juncture of growth. His experience of being at the helm of finance for one of India's most respected companies will help us in adopting best practices and in realising our mission of building mobility for a billion people,'' said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and chief executive of Ola.
Bansal, in the statement, said, ''...As one of India's most valuable start-ups, it carries with it a mighty responsibility of setting an example on corporate governance and best practices in finance. I am thoroughly excited about coming onboard with this amazing team to co-create yet another globally admired company out of India.''
Bansal had stepped down from Infosys, India's second-largest software exporter by sales, last month, citing his desire to explore new options. He was appointed CFO of Infosys in 2012, when the company was going through a management shake-up, amid a string of senior executive resignations.
Bansal, who has spent more than two decades at Infosys in various roles, including head of finance, remains an advisor to its chief executive officer Vishal Sikka until the end of this year. His appointment at Ola is effective January.
Bansal's appointment at Ola comes as the company, India's third-most valuable start-up, is in the process of overhauling its senior leadership and is looking to hire a new product chief, engineering head and general counsel.
Ola, which connects drivers to prospective riders using its technology platform, battles for leadership in India's fast-growing taxi services market with US-based Uber Technologies.
The company, which is present in more than 100 cities in India offering on-demand cab and auto-rickshaw services, has to have a strong leadership in place as it invests heavily to expand into new cities and create new products to maintain its lead over Uber.
Earlier this month, it raised $500 million from new and existing investors, including Baillie Gifford, China's largest taxi-hailing service Didi Kuaidi and Japan's SoftBank Corp.
Over the last one year, Ola has been investing in new businesses, sometimes closely tracking the model followed by Uber in other markets, including setting up a leasing unit that buys cars for its drivers, a food delivery service called Ola Café and an independent grocery ordering app Ola Store.
It is also testing shuttle bus services in some cities.


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Tesla’s long-standing policy of keeping its North American charging network closed to outsiders appears poised to change in the near future, as the company is reportedly preparing to allow other electric vehicles to use its Superchargers. With more and more Model S and Model X vehicles being sold in North America, Tesla has come under pressure to open up its charging network. However, doing so would likely require the company to shoulder much of the financial burden, given that Supercharger fees are billed in proportion to a vehicle’s battery capacity.
The 2020 election campaign was fought largely on the issue of climate change, and it is clear that concern about global warming has led to a gradual and widespread shift in consumer behavior towards electric vehicles (EVs). In anticipation of this trend, the White House recently announced that it would open 7,500 chargers to any EV with the combined charging system (CCS), the standard broadly used in the U.S. This will provide more options for drivers who want to own an EV and help accelerate adoption of EVs overall.
If Tesla follows through with plans to offer a home charging station that can handle the high power demands of its upcoming Model 3 sedan, it could herald a sea change in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United States. With enough juice to take down even the largest Wall Street institutions, Tesla’s new home charger would provide consumers with quick and convenient access to an unlimited number of chargers. This could lead to a proliferation of electric vehicles across the country, drastically reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and paving the way for future clean energy technologies.
Tesla is currently installing a new type of supercharger that can charge a car’s battery at up to 500 miles per hour. This could make it much easier for Tesla owners to travel long distances.
With Tesla expanding its Supercharger network, it is likely to cause a shift in the way people charge their electric vehicles. Previously, EV charging could be done at home or at public charging stations. With Tesla opening up more Superchargers, people will need to travel farther distances to charge their vehicles and this could lead to less support for electric vehicle adoption in the United States. Additionally, there could be an increase in gas-powered car sales as EV drivers take longer trips to charge their cars. This could have major implications for climate change since gas-powered cars produce far more greenhouse gases than EVs
Tesla may be using the new federal money to improve its already impressive network of charging stations, but it’s already clear that the company is looking beyond its traditional rivals. With its new funding, Tesla has placed itself at the forefront of electric car technology and shown that it’s not afraid to take risks.


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Japanese food and beverage giant Kirin Holdings has announced that it is implementing a fourth round of price hikes within the past 12 months in order to cope with current ‘difficult’ conditions, including production cost increases.
Confectionary giant Mondelez believes that inflation affecting cocoa and sugar, as well as ongoing political tensions in the Middle East are major challenges that it will need to overcome this year, despite having announced ‘record’ profits fror 2023.
Food and beverage giant Unilever India has tweaked several of its products and stepped up innovation in order to combat cost hikes for commodities such as milk, although it now believes situation is stabilising
Frozen foods, canned foods and bakery products have emerged as the most popular food categories amongst APAC consumers amidst rising inflation and food cost increases, driven by common themes of affordability, shelf-life and convenience.
Carlsberg Malaysia has retained a cautionary outlook for the company’s overall growth citing concerns over inflationary and taxation pressures, despite announcing year-on-year growth of over 200% in net profits in its Q3FY2022.
Major Australian supermarkets have been urged to refocus their pricing, product and e-commerce strategies to fulfil consumer demands for affordable products and convenient shopping, as inflation rockets.
Unilever’s major subsidiary in India Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has highlighted a renewed focus on its tea and health foods portfolios in order to counter continuing inflation challenges faced in the country.
High food inflation in India is “credit negative” for the wider economy, hurting government finances and making it difficult for the country’s central bank to deal with monetary policy, according to Moody’s.
China's food and beverage industry continues to be a focus of long
term investment hopes for the multinationals, but as demands on
both ingredients and commodities put pressures on food prices a
report by Deloitte Touche stresses...


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Pfeffer concluded that her dealership, Bob Frahm Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac, of Albion, Mich., should continue doing business with Reynolds and Reynolds Co., its longtime dealership management system vendor.
Turpin, dealer principal at Turpin Pontiac-Buick-GMC Ltd., of Ottawa, ended his nearly 30-year relationship with Reynolds and stayed with GM's Integrated Dealer Management System program by switching to a GM-endorsed vendor.
They are among 400 dealers who must decide by Thursday, July 31. The dealers were forced to choose after Reynolds sued GM in a contractual dispute, then pulled out of the Integrated Dealer Management System program in February.
"We're all under a crunch to cut our expenses, and the Reynolds program isn't the cheapest one out there by any stretch," Pfeffer, the dealership's controller, says. "But they do offer, I think, the most value, the most significant software and stuff out there."
Why Turpin is switching to a new vendor
Cuts IT costs nearly in half
Remains in GMís Integrated Dealer Management System program
Likes deep integration between Quorum-supplied system and GM
Why Bob Frahm is sticking with Reynolds
Believes Reynolds has the best dealership software available
Wants to maintain 20-year relationship with Reynolds
Can re-evaluate business with Reynolds in 3 years
A GM houseTurpin, whose father opened a Chevrolet dealership in 1954, wanted to remain in the GM Integrated Dealer Management System program. "We've always been true-blue GM, and we've always had Reynolds," Turpin says. "They are expensive, but it's a strong system."
But when Reynolds backed out of the GM program, Turpin was dismayed.
"Being a true believer of General Motors and of what IDMS was bringing to the table for all dealers of all sizes, I had to look at the whole situation," he says. He switched his Pontiac-Buick-GMC and Turpin Saturn-Saab stores to Quorum Information Technologies Inc. "It wasn't out of spite for Reynolds, but it was out of fear for how important is a GM dealer going to be to Reynolds if they had to sue to get out of IDMS."
Turpin was concerned that the integration between his dealership management system and GM's system would suffer. That integration affects the ability to pass data back and forth quickly between dealer and factory systems.
"That was the biggest part that scared me. If they are out of IDMS, what kind of integration points am I going to have? What kind of contact am I going to have with the factory?" Turpin says.
He says he will cut his information technology costs almost in half by switching to a Quorum system. "You've got to look at every penny these days. When I can cut my IT costs in half, it's a considerable amount of money," Turpin says.
The count so farAs of Wednesday, July 23, more than 40 percent of the 400 GM dealers had made a decision. Of those, about 90 percent decided to remain with Reynolds, said Tom Schwartz, a Reynolds spokesman. The GM dealers leaving Reynolds have been primarily smaller, single-point dealers, he said.
Almost half of the 400 dealers have made a decision, Marty Raymond, GM's director of global retail programs, said Thursday, July 24. Of those, 23 percent are staying with the GM program through a new vendor and 77 percent are staying with Reynolds, he said.
"Balancing the pain of change with the desire to keep the benefits of" the GM program, Raymond said, "we thought that we would get north of 20 percent that would switch" to a new vendor.
GM has endorsed Quorum, AutoSoft International Inc., Arkona Inc. and ADP Dealer Services as Integrated Dealer Management System vendors. Dealers like the GM program for its flexibility of month-to-month contracts, the 30 days' notice to cancel the contract, value pricing negotiated by GM and no price increases through 2012.
Dealers who choose to leave Reynolds will have six months to convert to whatever system they choose.
"It wasn't our decision alone because we're in the middle of a buy-sell," Pfeffer says. "We were happy that they did decide to stay with Reynolds."
The Frahm dealership's decision to remain with Reynolds came after extensive research by the dealership and its potential new owners — and some arm-twisting by GM.
"We got a lot of letters and a follow-up phone call from GM, which I have to admit surprised me a little bit," Pfeffer says. "But they always explained our options and that we didn't have to stay with the IDMS program. But they'd love us to remain."
The dealership's nearly 20-year history with Reynolds played into the decision. The Frahm dealership now has a three-year contract with Reynolds, she says, "So if they change their products, we'll be able to re-evaluate that in three years."


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Binance.US, the American franchise of the global crypto exchange Binance, will buy up remaining assets from the now-bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital as part of a newly announced and surprising deal.The deal between the two companies values Voyager at about $1bn, and means that Binance.US will make a deposit of $10m, and reimburse Voyager for certain expenses up to $15 million, Reuters reported on Monday.In total, the purchase price comprises $20 million, in addition to repayments to Voyager's customers.As noted in a Forbes article also published on Monday, the deal would essentially allow Binance.US to spend $20m for the right to acquire 3.5m customer accounts from Voyager. It will then be up to Binance.US to do what it can to keep the customers and their assets on the platform following the takeover.The $1bn valuation for Voyager is, in other words, not the amount paid by Binance.US, but instead a number made up largely by Voyager liabilities to its clients.Voyager has said that it will seek approval from the Bankruptcy Court to proceed with the proposed deal with Binance.US. This is expected to happen at a hearing scheduled for January 5, 2023.According to unnamed sources that Forbes spoke with, Binance.US is expected to receive the funds around March next year.Voyager users to be transferred to BinanceIn addition to early media reports, the deal was also commented on directly by Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder.Writing on Twitter, Shroder said that Voyager users will be able to access their crypto directly from Binance.US’s platform once the deal goes through.“We hope our selection brings to an end a painful bankruptcy process which saw customers unfairly dragged into it at no fault of their own. Our goal is simple: return users their cryptocurrency on the fastest timeline possible,” Shroder added in a follow-up tweet.Surprising announcementThe announcement of Binance.US’ takeover bid of Voyager comes at a surprise for the crypto community, given the lingering uncertainty in the crypto market at the moment. In particular, this has affected Binance’s global crypto exchange, which in recent days has seen billions of dollars in customer withdrawals.Despite this, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has in TV interviews insisted that his company is in a “strong financial position.” He has also said that no amount of customer withdrawals can threaten the exchange, since all customer deposits are “held one-to-one.”With the takeover bid of Voyager now announced to the public, Binance and Binance.US could perhaps come out stronger, potentially helping restore some order in the market.
© CoinJoker 2019 | All Rights Reserved.


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The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) has released the results of the September edition of its WFSGI Covid-19 Impact Survey, a monthly report conducted among manufacturers as well as retailers and brands across the sporting goods sector to explore the effects of the pandemic on their businesses. It indicates, among other things, that the industry has overcome the supply chain disruption caused by the epidemic, with 40 percent of the respondents saying that it is not an issue for them. The market situation remains challenging, nevertheless, as 75 percent of all the respondents see their business as being impacted by the coronavirus. This is 10 percentage points more than in the July survey, where the index was it its lowest level.
Among the sporting goods manufacturing companies, only 20 percent are experiencing no decline in their orders, but nearly 70 percent of the respondents are facing a decrease in orders from Europe – a larger percentage than in the previous monthly survey. Orders from Africa and the Middle East are also declining, while for all other regions, the respondents said that the decrease has slowed down.
More than 30 percent of the manufacturers are still facing shortages of materials, with production bottlenecks being indicated as the main reason for the shortages by 40 percent of respondents. Material shortages are now due mainly to shipments being withheld at borders, while the closure of suppliers’ factories is less of an issue than before.
Meanwhile, labor shortages have continued to decline for three months in a row. However, around 7 percent of the manufacturing companies are reporting that their business has been affected by the absence of employees infected with Covid-19, which is higher than the average ratio of the past six months. This adds to the fact that 20 percent of the suppliers mentioned the issue of employees who are taking care of infected family members, a percentage that is now back to April levels, while it was down to zero in July.
The outlook for the coming months is mixed among the suppliers and, as WFSGI noted, generally more pessimistic than in the July survey. The majority expect to resume 20 percent of their usual business, but 7 percent still expect to see no rebound at all. Regarding the time needed for a full recovery, 60 percent of manufacturers think it will take more than a year, up from 45 percent in the previous monthly survey.
For the sporting goods brands and retailers that participated in the September survey, online sales again emerged as the favorite option to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. Among the other options, keeping minimum inventory is gaining in popularity.
When asked about the emerging market trends after the pandemic, 70 percent of respondents pointed to environmentally friendly products. As for the leading sports activities after the first wave of the pandemic, outdoor activities were again at the top of the list. Interestingly, all the other sports (running, basketball, football, baseball, walking, cycling, swimming) showed decreasing numbers. Outdoor sports were the only ones that showed an increase.
A new edition of the survey is already online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P2CP3CX. The WFSGI invites all interested sporting goods companies, even non-members of the WFSGI, to participate. The survey is anonymous, as no individual or company data are requested.


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European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Wojciech Wiewiórowski has called for a ban on targeted advertising to better protect individuals. In a released statement, Wiewiórowski suggested the move as part of the largest reform to digital services in around two decades.
The Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act seek to provide a safe and transparent online environment, and the EDPS believes there should be “additional measures” to protect individuals online.
Wiewiórowski said he “welcomes” the European Commission’s proposal that seeks to “promote fair and open digital markets” and the “fair processing of personal data” by regulating large online platforms acting as gatekeepers. However, the EDPS says that legislators should consider including a ban on online targeted advertising that relies on “pervasive tracking” and “restrict the categories of data that can be processed for such advertising methods”.
A complete ban would be a major blow to internet giants like Google and Facebook who rely heavily on targeted advertising for revenue. Tech giants are seen to be holding too much power over user data and wielding tools such as targeted advertising for their own means with impunity.


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IBD Stock Evaluation
- Apple inventory was forming consolidation with purchase level of 183.04
- Current retreat in shares created a deal with with new entry at 176.25
- Aggressive entry out there after bullish bounce off the 21-day line
Business Group Rating
* Not real-time information. All information proven was captured at
1:10PM EDT on
Apple (AAPL) is the IBD Stock Of The Day as the buyer electronics large prepares to unveil its iPhone 14 smartphones and different units at a product launch subsequent month. In the meantime, Apple inventory has set a brand new, decrease purchase level amid the latest market pullback.
In afternoon buying and selling on the inventory market at this time, Apple inventory rose a fraction to 167.53.
Apple inventory has been climbing since its better-than-expected report for the June quarter. Robust iPhone gross sales and companies income drove the corporate’s outperformance in its fiscal third quarter, which ended June 25.
Subsequent up for the Cupertino, Calif.-based firm is its fall product launch occasion, scheduled for Sept. 7. Apple despatched out invites for the occasion to the media and analysts on Tuesday. Along with the iPhone 14 sequence handsets, Apple is more likely to introduce new smartwatches on the occasion, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 wearables.
Apple Stock Kinds Deal with
Apple inventory is in a 34-week consolidation sample with a purchase level of 183.04, based on IBD MarketSmith charts. That purchase level is 10 cents above the inventory’s all-time excessive of 182.94 reached on Jan. 4, primarily based on IBD buying and selling tips.
Nonetheless, with a latest retreat within the shares, Apple inventory has fashioned a deal with with a brand new purchase level of 176.25.
Aggressive traders additionally may have picked up Apple inventory after a bullish bounce off its 21-day line.
In a constructive improvement, the relative energy line for Apple inventory has been hitting new highs because it outperforms the S&P 500. The motion is highlighted with a blue dot on a weekly chart on MarketSmith.
Apple Ups iPhone 14 Orders
On Tuesday, Susquehanna Monetary Group analyst Mehdi Hosseini mentioned Apple has elevated its iPhone 14 construct plans for the December quarter. Apple has confidence in elevated iPhone gross sales due to market-share beneficial properties, particularly in China, he mentioned in a be aware to shoppers.
Apple now plans to supply about 100 million iPhone 14 handsets within the second half of the calendar 12 months, up from its prior goal of 88 million, Hosseini mentioned. The brand new manufacturing goal is above the 91 million iPhone 13 items inbuilt the identical interval final 12 months, he mentioned.
Apple inventory has an IBD Composite Score of 91 out of 99, based on IBD Stock Checkup. IBD’s Composite Score is a mix of key elementary and technical metrics to assist traders gauge a inventory’s strengths. One of the best progress shares have a Composite Score of 90 or higher.
Observe Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for extra tales on shopper know-how, software program and semiconductor shares.
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Android Beam feature – the NFC based transfer file system – was killed by Google with the introduction of Android 10. Google came up with a replacement, but companies aren’t still happy with it. For that reason, some of them are bringing up their own alternatives. A strong one surfacing from China by the hands of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. Now, Samsung is preping to release its own alternative called Quick Share at the Unpacked event for the Galaxy S20 and Z Flip phones.
The feature will work in a similar way to AirDrop, it allows users to share files with nearby phones. There are some restrictions, but we can say that Samsung’s alternative is Cloud Based. You’ll be able to upload a multimedia file to the Samsung Cloud and stream it to a Samsung SmartThings device.
Samsung Quick Drop Has Sharing Limit.
There are some heavy restrictions in the feature. The files are capped at 1GB each, and you can transfer only 2GB per day.
Furthermore, it is unclear if files shared with other Samsung phones nearby will also go through the Cloud. It seems unlikely since it could eat into your data allowance. Moreover, it doesn’t make much sense to limit the sharing only to nearby devices. After all, Samsung already provides a feature that serves this purpose.
Samsung’s Link Share has similar limitations – up to 1GB files, up to a 2GB a day – and it just gives you a link you can paste into any chat app. Once you click in the link you can find and download the file. Apparently, Quick Share will be a feature that simplifies this process.
The search giant is working on Nearby Sharing to replace Android Beam. The feature will be integrated into the Google Play Services and will work offline. So, it won’t be a part of Android itself and will require Google’s GMS ecosystem to work. That’s the strong reason that explains why Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi teamed up to develop their own standard. The market may become a little fragmented with multiple competing standards, but that seems to be a tendency now. Let’s see how this plays out.


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The ending of Spain's much-hyped 'Plan2000E' sales incentive programme is throwing the car industry back to 2009 when plunging sales were putting dealers on tenterhooks.
Leading manufacturers' federation Anfac last night warned a 24% fall in July car sales supported its prediction that sales will fall 30% in the second half of 2010 if the government does not introduce new aid initiatives. It added it hopes to meet with industry minister Miguel Sebastian in September to coax the government to introduce new incentives.
Indeed, July marked a reversal in the fortunes of the Spanish auto market, Europe's third largest, as it was the first month in 10 that sales fell. The reversal was attributed to the Plan2000E removal and a rise in sales tax which triggered a 46% decline in passenger car sales to 41,863 units, according to importers' federation Ganvam.
Adding spice to a heady cocktail, Ganvam said July was traditionally the best-performing sales month and that last month's tally was similar to that recorded in 1995.
And as Spain continues to reel under one of its worse recessions in decades, auto sales are likely to fall even further, the importers' group added.


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Blueberries may help improve attention in children, says study
Primary school children could show better attention by consuming flavonoid-rich blueberries, following a study conducted by the University of Reading.
In a paper published in Food & Function, a group of 7-10 year olds who consumed a drink containing wild blueberries or a matched placebo and were tested on their speed and accuracy in completing an executive task function on a computer.
The double blind trial found that the children who consumed the flavonoid-rich blueberry drink had 9% quicker reaction times on the test without any sacrifice of accuracy. In particular, the effect was more noticeable as the tests got harder.
Professor Claire Williams, a neuroscience professor at the University of Reading said:
"This is the first time that we have seen the positive impact that flavonoids can have on the executive function of children. We designed this double blind trial especially to test how flavonoids would impact on attention in young people as it's an area of cognitive performance that hasn't been measured before.
Publication date: 10/16/2017
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Due to space limitations, registration is required to attend the event. Requests to register should be sent by email to firstname.lastname@example.org and will be processed in the order in which they are received.
The company invites those interested in listening to the live webcast, to visit the Investor Relations section of the Perrigo Web site at www.perrigo.com beginning at 8 a.m. Those planning to listen should access the Web site before the meeting to install any necessary software.
Perrigo also announced that Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph C. Papa will present at the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, (Jan. 13) at the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco.
Interested parties can access the presentation, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. here (8 a.m. PST). those interested in listening to the live webcast or a replay of the presentation, may visit the Investor Relations section of the Perrigo Web site at www.perrigo.com. A replay will be available for 14 days after the event.
Representatives of Kalamazoo-based medical technologies company Stryker Corp. were also expected to present Monday at the conference, which is scheduled for Jan. 13-16 and is considered one of the largest and most informative healthcare investment symposiums in the industry.
Perrigo continues to be the largest manufacturer of over-the-counter and generic pharmaceutical products sold by retailers under those retailers' labels. The company is now headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, but has its operational based in Allegan. It has about 9,100 employees worldwide, including 3,600 are in Michigan, primarily in the Allegan and Holland area


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Last week marked another watershed moment in the climate crisis, as Canada experienced historic wildfires that severely impacted air quality in the northeastern U.S., with New York City experiencing its worst air quality on record. Climate disasters like these are becoming more frequent: this year, the US alone has experienced 9 official climate disasters, each costing over $1 billion and together causing the deaths of 99 people. These events warn us of a disturbing new normal if we don’t urgently reduce CO2 emissions through the energy transition.
Renewable energy has been identified as a crucial solution to reducing CO2 emissions globally. For years, this transition has been facilitated by government subsidies that encouraged large developers to expand solar and wind generation. However, the adoption of renewable energy goes beyond generation. To fully take advantage of renewables, we must change the way energy is distributed, managed, balanced, traded, and consumed. In this transition, consumers will be essential to making this change possible.
Renewables present new challenges
Renewables could provide almost 20% of global power generation in 2027, indicating significant progress toward a greener future. However, this also signals a surge in electricity demand — presenting a challenge for existing electrical grids and utility companies. Renewables produce intermittent and variable energy, meaning supply might not always match demand.
Existing grids struggle to handle increasing volumes of distributed devices, resulting in increased costs, and more system failures and blackouts as demand rises. To address this, we need a flexible, resilient, and dynamically managed grid to handle millions of energy assets worldwide in real time. Consumer flexibility, where consumers actively change their usage patterns, such as charging electric vehicles during periods of wind energy abundance rather than peak early evening hours, will play a vital role. Utilities must empower consumers to participate in these efforts. But how can utilities, which have notoriously low levels of consumer trust, get customers to engage?
Rebuilding trust through tech
Utilities face an uphill battle in convincing customers to embrace new products and initiatives, but there are proven paths to forge stronger connections with customers. Operations that prioritize consumers’ best interests are essential to developing customer confidence, leading to increased engagement. All-in-one technology platforms, like Kraken, can help address these concerns.
These platforms streamline utility operations, replacing disjointed legacy systems and providing a unified customer experience. They offer comprehensive access to customer data, including energy usage and communication history. Customer service teams can efficiently handle all customer issues without transferring customers between departments. Simultaneously, these platforms enable smart device management, allowing customers to set preferences and easily manage their accounts online.
It turns out that customers can tell the difference. When utilities embrace consumer-centered tech, workplaces become “action-orientated, data-driven, forward-thinking, collaborative, and agile,” and customer satisfaction scores soar.
Consumers are key to flexibility
When customers trust their utilities, they’re willing to embrace flexibility. This past winter, the UK’s National Grid Energy System Operator ran a demand flexibility program, incentivizing customers to reduce electricity usage during constraint times instead of relying on coal generation to meet peak demand. Consumers participated through their energy providers and responded enthusiastically. Approximately 1.6 million businesses and households partook, receiving millions in payments from their utilities and saving over 3,300MWh — enough energy to power almost 10 million homes.
As electrification of transportation and heating accelerates and more consumers adopt smart technologies in their homes, our electricity demand will grow and managing these devices will become crucial. Left unmanaged, extra demand will lead to higher grid management costs, and consumer energy rates. New consumer-centric products, like Kraken’s Smart Flex intelligent demand platform, can help utilities manage these assets.
Smart Flex automatically optimizes connected home devices to achieve consumer objectives, like making sure your EV is charged when you need it, while prioritizing the cheapest, greenest times to charge. This approach helps balance the grid and saves customers money. Globally, over 50,000 assets are on this tariff growing by 25% each month since its launch in January 2022 — showing that consumers are embracing management and optimization of their assets by their utilities.
This mobilization builds grid resilience and a cleaner future. Equipped with the right technology, utilities can treat consumers as partners in the energy transition, developing trust that can be parlayed into transformative engagement. Consumer participation enables utilities to leverage technology to enhance flexibility, create grid resilience and accelerate the journey to net zero — ultimately, reducing the likelihood of catastrophic climate disasters.


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October 2017, an unusual day. The sales manager of a large express company, as in previous years, intends to apply for more corrugated cartons to cope with the double 11.
At this time, he found something unusual. On the material application page, the unit price of corrugated boxes rose by more than two. The manager has witnessed a lot of changes, expansion of outlets, alternation of colleagues and performance, but the price of corrugated boxes has not changed in the past few years.
At the same time, there were a few unusual things that were enough to make him remember this October.
Nine Dragons Paper Co., Ltd., a paper giant from Dongguan, has raised prices four times last month (cow cardboard, corrugated paper, and whiteboard paper).
Another paper giant, Huayin Technology, also announced this news. Behind them, there are large and small mills that are "outside".
Followed by the announcement of Zhongtong and Yunda price increases. Shen Tong took the opportunity to say that "we may also increase." After that, Yuantong suddenly became involved in the rumors - some people said that like the previous companies, Yuantong also increased the guide price for franchisees.
Zhongtong and Yunda claimed that this matter has nothing to do with the rise in paper prices. However, their franchisees may not like this argument, and every inch of paper purchased by the franchisee must be self-purchased (the vast majority of the aforementioned company's business comes from franchisees).
The sales manager of the Express Company is not expected to like it. If the quota has not changed, he will not be able to get the same number of boxes, and it is very likely that he will not be able to hold double 11.
This storm of price increases continues to this day and the express company is the undisputed victim. At the same time, courier companies may hold another identity - conniving at the rise of paper prices - not only because of their demand for this exuberant, but also because of long-standing indifference to environmental protection, and recycling in cartons On the matter. Now they will pay a price for this.
Why paper prices soar
Today, various parties have reached consensus on why paper prices have risen. The earliest date can be traced back to the "Water Pollution Control Plan" issued by the State Council in 2015. The decree requires that all production projects that do not meet the national industrial policy and have a serious environmental impact must be closed down by the end of 2016.
The environmental protection management of this project is unprecedented, but the cost is the increase in the cost of papermaking. In papermaking provinces such as Hebei, Shandong, and Fujian, only a small part of the paper mills on the market started. At certain times, some of their production lines are not allowed to open because of environmental protection.
In August 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a new edition of the “Imported Waste Management Catalog”, in which the unsorted waste paper was adjusted from import restrictions to import bans, further changing the supply and demand relationship in the market. Not long after the publication of the Catalogue for the Administration of Imported Wastes, Luoyang Zhigui had a strange phenomenon in which someone could not buy paper at a high price.
“No one thought that it would rise so violently that it even caused a paper shortage. Downstream companies have money to buy paper.” Zhu Yong, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Paper Chamber of Commerce, analyzed, “Of course, overall price increases are human factors. As a result of the combined effects of environmental factors and environmental factors, the current situation has been created.
Many people are very clear that the price of paper has risen so fast that it is almost a price for a day, but the supply side has limited exports, and that “stocking” is the obvious means of making money in this price increase.
With the unremitting efforts of these people and paper mills, paper prices have soared. The highest price of waste paper has reached 2,500 yuan/ton, which is even higher than the price of scrap iron or steel scrap.
No one is willing to sign a long-term contract. "We report prices once a week." A sales manager at Nine Dragons Paper stated that "old customers can give a little price discount, but they should also base on the latest prices in the market." "Nine Dragon Paper's share price rose from 2016 to 2017, and it has risen continuously for more than 8 months. It has more than tripled.
Courier company material costs soared
Today's express/Express companies that have already been listed have a rapid increase in revenue after 2015, and they will take a new step every year. The construction of these new steps is inseparable from the corrugated cartons that are used to package express delivery.
The financial data from listed companies can prove at any time that companies are expanding material costs every year, and the fact that the gross profit margin does not rise, or the growth rate of gross profit margin is far below the revenue growth rate.
The investment in the cost of these cartons cannot be categorized as investment. It belongs to the value-added behavior of enterprises providing express services, but under the premise of constant price in the consumer market, it becomes a heavy burden. For example, SF Express, which emphasizes direct operation and pursues a unified packaging, showed to the outside world in its 2016 financial report how astronomical figures are for each year's expenditures.


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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced legal settlements with Easy Military Travel and USA Service Finance LLC, as well as their principal owner, Brandon Edmiston. These companies provided financing for airline tickets to military members and their families.
In the settlement documents, the CFPB states these companies misrepresented the cost of credit, failed to provide consumers full information about the true cost of financing airline tickets through the companies and gave out fraudulent information to service members when trying to sell them financial products. The CFPB specifically states the companies charged consumers hidden fees and failed to notify borrowers of the true cost of credit and the interest rates of loans they provided.
The consent orders issued late last month against Easy Military Travel, USA Service Finance LLC and Edmiston require them to provide restitution to service members and their families who paid the hidden finance charges, and prohibits them from conducting some future military-targeted business.
The government ordered Easy Military Travel and Edmiston to pay restitution of about $3,468,224 to those impacted by the unlawful practices, while those who were impacted by USA Service Finance will receive more than $54,000.
If you have a current loan product with either Easy Military Travel or USA Service Finance, you should be given a credit to your outstanding balance. If you no longer have an outstanding loan with either company, you will be issued a payment for the settlement amount.
For more details, contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or your command's legal department.
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(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc’s <AMZN.O> video game live-streaming platform Twitch said on Thursday that top computer gamer Ninja has returned to its platform, more than a year after switching to Microsoft Corp’s <MSFT.O> live-streaming service Mixer.
Tyler Blevins, known to millions as Ninja, rose to stardom playing battle-royale phenomenon “Fortnite” and is one of the world’s most-followed computer gamer.
Microsoft bought Mixer in 2016 hoping to rope in millions of paying subscribers looking to watch live streams of their favorite gamers playing popular games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.
The videogame industry has largely benefited amid the COVID-19 pandemic as people played more games while staying at home and bought virtual in-game content across platforms, pushing June sales up 26% to $1.2 billion. It is the highest June spend in over a decade, according to research firm NPD.
Mixer, which had booked Ninja last year, has struggled to leave the shadow of market leader Twitch despite online streaming viewership booming under coronavirus lockdowns. Microsoft’s Xbox division made the decision to close down the live-streaming service in June this year.
Ninja, who has over 15 million followers on Twitch, kicked off his stream today with the “Fall Guys” game.
Last year, Blevins was paid $1 million to promote Electronic Arts Inc’s <EA.O> Apex Legends, a move that helped the videogame maker add 10 million sign-ups in the first three days, Reuters reported. (https://reut.rs/2DNS42V)
The gamer had previously streamed himself playing alongside celebrities such as rappers Drake and Travis Scott, has sponsorship deals with Red Bull and Uber Eats and often appears on Instagram and Twitter alongside soccer players Neymar Jr and Harry Kane.
(Reporting by Neha Malara in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)


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Huawei launched its All-scenario Intelligent Connectivity Solutions recently.
The solutions include intelligent distributed access solutions for homes, campus networks, premium private lines, and cloud network solutions for enterprises.
The launching took place during the sixth Ultra-Broadband Forum 2020 hosted by the UN Broadband Commission and Huawei recently, said a press release on Saturday.
Huawei executive director and chairman of the investment review board David Wang launched the Huawei’s all-scenario intelligent connectivity solutions for home and enterprise scenarios.
He also delivered the keynote speech titled Building intelligent connectivity for an intelligent world.
‘Through continuous investment in 5G, optical network, and IPv6 enhanced innovation, we launched our all-scenario intelligent connectivity solutions that will make ultra-broadband networks greener and more efficient, and create a more intelligent world,’ said David Wang in his speech.
UBBF is a global flagship event for the ICT industry.
In this year’s event, guests from China Mobile, FTTH Council Europe, TechUK, Ernst & Young Advisory Limited, IPv6 Forum, SAMENA Telecommunications Council, and Omdia delivered speeches.
For more information about the four scenario-specific solutions, consumers are requested to visit:
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Until now we have seen a bunch of leaks and rumors shows Oppo Find X device will have 90% screen-to-body ratio. In fact we also familiar with its specifications. We have shared device ‘About Phone’ screenshot in our Telegram channel confirms the device key-specs. However, until now we have not seen any attention from the company itself on those leaks and rumors. But, the new teaser has been spotted on the company’s official Weibo account confirms some interesting details about the Oppo’s upcoming device.
First spotted by the ITHome, Oppo has shared an image on its official Weibo account shows the device itself in the image. Its likely to have a promotional banner. Now, one thing is confirmed here that device will have the design like recently released Vivo NEX device. I guess the design is not new for anyone. No doubt, the technology is new, but we already have seen Vivo NEX device which has that pop-up tray for front camera to feature 90% screen-to-body ratio.
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If we talk about the image, the company is asking us a question. Well, Oppo has not unveiled the ratio. But, it confirms the device will have more than or at least 90% screen-to-body ratio. Earlier we have seen some leaked images of this device that was pointing out the same. So, if we sum all of the leaks and rumors, we can say the device will have a similar design to Vivo NEX.
Another thing is the TV ad being spotted on different social websites. The TV ad shows the same design as Oppo Find X which is shown in the teaser image above. The highly reduced bezels, no notch and selfie camera on the front. But, wait for the rear part of this phone in this ad. Probably the device has the glass design on the rear side. Right now, it is hard to say anything. Let me know what you see in the video.
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At one time, the share price exceeded 50,000 won, but it is barely keeping in the early 10,000 won range.
This event is Webzen. According to the Korea Exchange on the 31st메이저사이트, it closed at 13,800 won on the 28th after recording the intraday high of 53,000 won on April 9, 2021. If you bought the stock at the peak two years and three months ago, the loss rate is 72.56%. On the 26th, it fell to 13,000 won, a new 52-week low. The securities industry sees the lack of new games and slowing performance as factors for the decline.
First generation game company… “More than 3 new titles released in the second half”Founded in 2000, Webzen is a first-generation game company celebrating its 23rd anniversary this year. It has ‘Mu’ and ‘ R2’ , which are popular on PC and mobile game platforms. Currently, he is working hard on developing three or more new games, including MMORPG (multiplayer role-playing game) and subculture game (mania target game/collective RPG ). In the game publishing sector, we are continuing development and cooperation with partners in China and Japan. What will be the business plan for the second half? On the 31st, a person from Webzen said, “We will release more than three new games,” and replied, “It is not our own game development, but a business structure in which we publish what we made with our partners.” Currently, the games released on the market are ‘Mu Monarch’ and ‘Ragnadol’. It is also developing a subculture game targeting Japan with the goal of releasing it next year. As for future technology businesses such as blockchain and AI (artificial intelligence) businesses, it is in a position to jump in based on marketability.Performance is stable. After recording 176 billion won in sales and 51.7 billion won in operating profit on a consolidated basis in 2019, it recorded sales of 242.1 billion won and operating profit of 83 billion won last year. In three years, they grew by 37.56% and 60.54%, respectively. The operating margin last year was 34.28%, and the year-end dividend was 370 won. As of the first quarter, cash and cash equivalents stood at 500 billion won. It is 17.7 billion won more than the market cap (482.3 billion won) on the 30th. Real estate assets are 45 billion won.
“Undervalued than asset value… Time to buy from a long-term perspectiveThe total number of shares is 34,950,884, and the largest shareholder is Kim Byeong-gwan, former chairman of the board of directors, and two others holding 27.80% (9,717,662 shares). China Fungame International Limited holds 20.45% (7,148,252 shares) as the second largest shareholder. Treasury shares are high at 15.69% (5,484,069 shares).Oh Dong-hwan, a researcher at Samsung Securities, predicted, “The second quarter sales will be KRW 41.9 billion (down 11.8% from the previous quarter) and operating profit will be KRW 6.7 billion (down 31.7%), 24.1% below market expectations.” He added, “As expectations for short-term earnings were not high, the impact on stock prices will be limited.” He also explained, “It is worth looking forward to the box office success of ‘Mu Monarch’ developed by Kingnet in China.”“Considering that we are generating operating profit from our existing games and that we expect an earnings rebound with the release of new titles in the second half of the year, the current share price is excessively undervalued,” he judged. In particular , he insisted, “It is the right time to invest from a long-term perspective, as the market capitalization is less than the asset value (cash and financial assets), and new IP (intellectual property) and self-developed works based on Mu IP are scheduled to be released from next year.” This year’s performance was expected to be somewhat sluggish with sales of 191 billion won and operating profit of 36 billion won.


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TOKYO -- Having opted out of the blockbuster, 15-country RCEP trade deal, India has now set its sights on Africa, a market where it believes it can leverage its geographic strengths to boost exports.
New Delhi has determined it has more to gain by going it alone rather than join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, but as member nations such as China, Japan and South Korea begin cutting tariffs with each other, there are fears that India will become an isolated island in an increasingly interconnected Asia.
India has made a calculated move to shift its focus from multilateral trade to protectionism. The U.N. projects that the country's population will reach the 1.5 billion mark by 2030, surpassing that of China's and making it the largest nation in the world. By opting out of RCEP, the view is that local companies can gradually capture massive domestic demand, and if they can become more competitive, may even export.
So where can India export? Africa, replies one Indian diplomat. Domestic heavyweights such as automaker Mahindra & Mahindra are turning their focus to business on the continent.
Geography makes Africa a logical choice. Western India is separated from Africa by the Arabian Sea. The southern tip of India is about 3,000 km away from Africa's horn on the northeast.
"There are geographic and cost advantages for India as an export base for Africa," said Yasuyuki Murahashi, chief director general of the India office of the Japan External Trade Organization, an organization that has begun supporting joint efforts by Japanese and Indian companies to expand their businesses in Africa.
India also shares cultural, immigrant and historical ties with Africa -- many parts of which were under colonial rule, like India. According to the World Economic Forum, there are more than 3 million people of Indian origin in Africa.
"We will continue to intensify and deepen our engagement with Africa," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a 2018 trip to Uganda, highlighting the importance New Delhi places on it. "We will support our industry to invest in Africa."
India's decision to forgo the RCEP and possibly develop Africa as an export market was likely motivated by the growing impact that Chinese imported goods are having on its economy. China accounts for 14% of the country's imports, the most of any nation. Accordingly, New Delhi seeks to ween itself off of Chinese-made goods as much as possible to build its own, independent economic sphere. Working toward this goal, the government has embarked on several policy initiatives, such as deciding to subsidize companies that make products like mobile phones.
In mid-October, for example, it issued a directive banning the import of air conditioners.
"It has benefited Indian companies, but unless the quality of local products is raised, they won't be able to sell their wares like the products of other Asian countries," said a salesman at an appliance store in New Delhi. The store's shelves are stocked with air conditioners from overseas companies, such as China's Haier.
The government's aim appears to be to eliminate cheap products from China. It is increasingly shutting out whole slews of Chinese products from its home market, ranging from manufactured goods to game apps. The goal is to substitute home products in the marketplace, but price and quality are issues that need to be tackled before getting there.
Africa accounts for less than 10% of India's exports. And the market is plagued by myriad issues such as political instability. The deftness by which India handles the task of developing this market will do much to determine the fate of its domestic industry post-RCEP.
Additional reporting by Wajahat Khan in New York


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Cambodia Young Entrepreneur Award 2018 Gala Event will be held on 30 June 2018 at Sokha Hotel Phnom Penh to announce and award the winners of this year’s competition.
Established in 2015 by the Young Entrepreneur Association in Cambodia (YEAC) and JCI Cambodia with the support from Ministry of Industrial and Handcraft and Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia Young Entrepreneur Award has been supported and recognised by both private and public sector as the biggest Cambodian entrepreneur awards competition.
Cambodia Young Entrepreneur Award was created to promote young entrepreneurs in Cambodia and honor their creative business ideas while seek more business and investment opportunity to Cambodia.
This year, CYEA incorporated five awards categories for the entrepreneurs namely Outstanding Entrepreneur Award, Outstanding Women Entrepreneur Award, Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award, Smart Technology Entrepreneur Award, and Outstanding Startup Entrepreneur Award.
As a leading ISP in Cambodia, EZECOM focuses on the importance of improvement of technology, services and businesses which are core sectors in economic and financial growth of the country.
EZECOM has always been supportive of young entrepreneurs and startup businesses because we believe that these potential individual will play a significant role in broadening Cambodia’s business community and promote market’s competitiveness in the region and the globe.


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Editor's note: This is Austin Business Journal's 2015 list of the fastest growing companies in Austin. Make sure to check out our 2016 list for more companies experiencing rapid growth and to learn about the decisions behind their success.
The 50 fastest-growing companies in Austin are in an elite class of business all their own. Now you can learn a little about them after the 2015 ABJ Fast 50 awards were handed out Thursday evening at the Hyatt Regency, with more than 600 attendees. We've known who the 2015 class of the Austin Business Journal's Fast 50 awards are for a little while now, but now we can reveal precisely how fast some of these Austin companies are growing.
We rank the 2015 Fast 50 companies in the slideshow accompanying this article, in two categories: companies with revenue over $10 million, and companies with revenue under $10 million. The Oct. 23 weekly print and digital edition of ABJ has an even deeper dive on these companies.
This annual contest, which ranks companies based solely on revenue growth during the past three years, yields one of the best sources of business intelligence around, especially for job seekers and service providers.


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Zynga announced a partnership with Save The Children to support relief efforts in Japan following last week's earthquake and tsunami disasters, raising money through virtual good sales.
As part of the fundraising initiative, Zynga has made available newly created virtual items, such as Kobe cows and Japanese-style furniture/architecture, in seven social games, including massively popular Facebook titles like CityVille, FarmVille, FrontierVille,
and Zynga Poker
The social game developer will donate 100 percent of the purchase price from those virtual items to Save The Children's Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children Emergency Fund. Facebook says it will donate all of its Facebook credits generated through these purchases, too.
The developer intends to roll out limited edition items to more games in the coming days. Save the Children has also set up a page
on its site where players of Zynga games can directly donate however much they would like to the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children Emergency Fund.
Zynga has run several fundraising campaigns through virtual goods sales in recent years, raising over $6.8 million for international groups like the United Nation's World Food Programme, Water.org, and various organizations providing relief to those affected by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
"It's inspiring to see the Zynga teams spontaneously take action to partner with our game players worldwide to help Japan," says Zynga CEO Mark Pincus. "We hope that the millions of people who connect through our games every day will also take action to connect with Japan as we saw them do with our Haiti relief efforts."


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MILAN — Safilo Group Spa on Thursday reported a decline in second-quarter profits and revenues from the year-ago period, following a series of one-off effects that impacted the bottom line and the impact of the Armani license termination, which — coupled with a strengthening of the euro — weighed on the top line.
Excluding the sales from Armani brands not renewed at the end of 2012, the company reported a 6 percent increase in organic sales growth in the core sunglasses and prescription frames segments for the period, on the back of “good performances recorded in a number of countries in continental Europe, in key accounts and the travel retail business,” Safilo said after the close of trading in Milan.
In the three months ending June 30, net profits were 6.7 million euros, or $8.7 million, down 30.1 percent on the year-ago period. However, adjusted net profits, which strip out one-off factors like the chief executive officer succession plan unveiled by the group on June 19 as well as some restructuring costs in the European market, came in at 12.2 million euros, or $15.9 million, up 27.3 percent on the second quarter of 2012.
Net sales in the period at the group — which produces eyewear under license for brands including Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Bottega Veneta as well as house brands including Safilo, Polaroid and Carrera — dropped 7.2 percent on the year-ago period to 301.4 million euros, or $391.8 million.
Thanks to “efficiency improvements” and other measures, the company’s gross profit margin increased in the period to 63.8 percent from 58.9 percent in the three months to end-June 2012.
Dollar amounts have been converted at average exchange for the periods to which they refer.
In the first six months of the year, Safilo’s net profit was 20.1 million euros, or $26.3 million, down 6.7 percent on the year-earlier period, while net sales decreased by 2.4 percent to 598.4 million euros, or $783.9 million. However, again stripping out one-off factors, net profit in the period climbed 18.9 percent to 25.6 million euros, or $33.5 million.
Outgoing Safilo ceo Roberto Vedovotto said he was “very proud of Safilo’s performance during one of the most challenging semesters in the company’s history in light of the full impact of the Armani licenses termination.”
Vedovotto pointed to 8 percent growth in the company’s “go-forward brands,” to the “continuous success of all our main licensed brands” and to the “expansion of the Safilo brands, including the development of the Polaroid brand in the American and Asian markets.”
Safilo’s net debt in the first semester dropped by 13.1 percent to 200.8 million euros, or $263 million, “with the further decline in financial leverage reaching a record level in Safilo’s most recent history,” Vedovotto said.
In geographic terms, Safilo said that its “turnover continued to perform best in Europe, thanks to the strong performance of its organic business” in its core continental markets, especially France and Germany, as well as in the U.K. and Russia.
Crisis-hit Spain and Portugal showed “signs of recovery,” Safilo said, although sales through independent opticians in the company’s home market of Italy “further declined.”
Organic sales growth slowed in the quarter in the Americas, following a “slowdown in the U.S. and certain Latin American markets during the month of June,” Safilo said. In particular, retail sales slowed in the region, while Brazil was affected by in part by civil unrest that broke out toward the end of the quarter.
However, Safilo said, the period was “positively influenced” by the launch of the Polaroid brand, with the new Polaroid Plus collections and by “general growth in the prescription frames segment.”
In terms of sales channels, travel retail and key account channels “continued to drive the growth of Safilo products in stores.”
In terms of brands, the company reported “highly satisfactory progression” by the portfolio of principal licensed brands, like Dior, Boss and Céline in the high-end segment and Boss Orange and Marc by Marc Jacobs in the fashion segment.
In honor the @CFDA’s announcement of @iamnaomicampbell receiving the Fashion Icon Award at the 2018 #CFDAAwards, which will take place on June 4, here’s a #tbt of the supermodel on @michaelkors’ runway in 1991. #wwdfashion #wwdarchive (📷: George Chinsee)
“I was making the guacamole when my scout saw me,” says model @stuckinteenage on being discovered just six months ago while working at @chipotlemexicangrill. Since then Williams has signed with @dnamodels, walked in her first show at @calvinklein and landed on the cover of @vogueitalia – a high point of any model’s career. To read @lisajlockwood’s full interview with the model on her experiences thus far, head to WWD.com – link in bio. (📷: George Chinsee)
“I love the idea of dialogue, period. It’s where I’ve always gotten my inspiration from: hearing other women speak, their journeys and their paths,” said @hereisgina, who delivered the keynote speech during @sxsw for @createcultivate in partnership with @fossil. For her two panels, Rodriguez chose female empowering, female-led and female entrepreneurs to focus on. Head to WWD.com to read more about her thoughts on Time’s Up, growing up in a family of women and why we “need a girls’ club.” #wwdeye #sxsw (📷: @jgreenery)
Leading luxury brand are shaking things up to keep up with streetwear. Case in point: the arrival of @mrkimjones as artistic director of @diorhomme. Jones, who succeeds @Kris_Van_Assche, is seen as one of the handful of designers who can actually straddle the luxury and streetwear worlds — which could lead to even more changes at established brands. What could this mean for the rest of the menswear landscape? Head to WWD.com to find out what experts predict #wwdfashion (📷: @franckmura)
“It’s like buying groceries. You’re going to buy the best mango, the best mozzarella, the best things. You have to, or others are going to take it all,” said @gabrielahearst on why she uses only the finest fabrics. Last week, Hearst received her first @cfda nomination for Womenswear Designer of the Year, and earlier this month she opened a permanent showroom in Paris. To read @jessiredale’s interview with the designer and find out why this is shaping up to be a big year for her, head to WWD.com. #wwdfashion (📷: @francoisgoize)
“It’s an interesting thing, playing a younger version of your mother. It’s an interesting concept. I adore my mom and love her in every capacity, but it was just something that had never crossed my mind,” says @anniemstarke on playing a young Joan Castleman in “The Wife.” The same role will be played by her mother Glenn Close. Read more about her growing up in the film industry as the daughter of producer John H. Starke and Close and what she has planned for the future #wwdeye (📷: @nataliamantini)
@asics is launching a new streetwear sneaker inspired by its latest ambassador, @steveaoki. The Hyper-Kenzen x Aoki, which will launch at @footlocker stores exclusively tomorrow, is a slip-on style that incorporates the brand’s proprietary Gel technology through beads integrated into the midsole for comfort and endurance. Read the full story on WWD.com.


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Digital competitors are ready to take bite out of Apple. “That is the message to Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs from almost every other company in the digital music space vying for consumer attention after several years of domination by the iPod and iTunes,” The Arab Times reports. “Apple’s successful combination of sexy design and elegant usability has propelled the iPod to the top of the digital music market as the undisputed king.”
“Every move Apple makes these days results in victory. As the rest of the flash-player market floundered, Apple took over the category in a day with the release of the iPod Shuffle. It turned podcasting from a cool-sounding technology that nobody used to a legitimate format by adding it to the new version of iTunes — and generating 2 million subscriptions in less than a week,” The Arab Times reports. “Today, Apple commands 80 percent of the MP3 player market and 75 percent of online music sales. But even as analysts predict another massive holiday sales season for the company this year, many believe Apple’s reign will last only another 12-18 months before the playing field levels out. ‘It’s inevitable that over time their market share declines,’ Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster says. ‘It’s safe to say that nobody can sustain an 80 percent market share in a consumer electronics business for more than two or three years. It’s pretty much impossible.'”
“Privately, record company executives say they can’t wait. Not because they want to see Apple stumble, but because a less dominant Apple means a more robust market for digital music. The company by itself cannot bring digital music to account for 25 percent of all music sales, as labels hope it will by 2009,” The Arab Times reports. “Label sources say Apple stubbornly disregards their suggestions for drawing in new digital music customers. They say they would like more flexibility on track pricing and promotions. But more than anything, labels want to see the iPod become interoperable with music services other than iTunes. ‘It’s a monologue with them,’ one label executive who asked not to be identified says. ‘They pretty much say, ‘This is what we want to do,’ and if you disagree with them you’re an idiot. It’s like dealing with a cult.'”
Full article here.
The “monologue” and “cult” comments come directly from the standard anti-Apple talking points memo that’s been circulating for years. That’s about as creative as music label executives can get, which should tell you that they ought to listen to Apple’s “monologue” for as long as they can. Apple showed them the way, yet inexplicably, some of these music executives can’t wait to bend over and grab their ankles for Microsoft. Why?
Most likely, the music label execs are trying to knock Apple down a peg or two or three and split the online market up between multiple successful distribution points. After all, if Apple ends up owning the online market with iTunes Music Store, who would need the labels? Apple could buy The Beatles’ pesky Apple Corps to remove that issue and artists could eventually go straight to Apple and eliminate the middlemen. This is why the middlemen are biting Apple these days.


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It's something I rarely do, but in this case....
"Facebook app sends customized smartphone alerts; Data on screen is tailored to user’s interests" by Gerry Smith Bloomberg News November 12, 2015
NEW YORK — Facebook Inc. has introduced a mobile app that sends customized alerts to smartphone users, further deepening the ties between media companies and the social media giant.
Who wants this slop coming up on their phone?
Facebook’s “Notify” app sends alerts to a smartphone’s lock screen on topics based on a user’s interests, such as sports, news, music, or movies. For instance, the app could issue an alert about a movie release, then include a link to Fandango’s mobile site to buy tickets. Or it could send an alert linking to a Washington Post article about travel gridlock in the D.C. area.
“Notifications are becoming one of the primary ways people first learn about things wherever they are,” Facebook product manager Julian Gutman wrote in a blog post Wednesday about the new app.
More than 70 media partners are participating in the Notify app, including The New York Times, Time Warner Inc.’s CNN, Vice Media, BuzzFeed, Fandango, and Bloomberg Business. Many of those same companies have already teamed up with Facebook for Instant Articles, a new program designed to speed up the time it takes to load stories on smartphones.
In other words, it will be the same old slop they have been trolling out for years. Nothing new here.
Facebook’s approach with Notify differs from Instant Articles in an important way: While Instant Articles hosts stories directly on Facebook’s platform, Notify sends people back to other companies’ sites, allowing them to boost their Web traffic.
Facebook has been working with publishers to ensure its feed presents news and live events, in addition to posts from friends. The Notify app, available Wednesday for Apple mobile devices in the United States, gives Facebook a way to alert its 1.5 billion users about what’s going on more broadly on the social network and takes advantage of a valuable piece of real estate: the smartphone lock screen.
Just hang up.


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For Walmart, the coronavirus outbreak has taken a helpful flip, because the demand for some classes of products and the variety of deliveries have notably elevated. This week, Walmart (WMT) inventory cleared the 125.48 purchase level.
Whereas the entire market is within the crimson due to coronavirus, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) inventory maintains its place. Furthermore, it has managed to leap and attain a brand new excessive.
On Wednesday, Walmart (WMT) inventory acquired a second improve this week and cleared the 125.48 purchase level. It closed at $122.58, having gained 2.78%. At this time, it was $124.70 throughout the pre-market sale. In the meanwhile of writing, the retail company’s shares are buying and selling at
In the meantime, the opposite shares are dropping. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) inventory is 16.03% down, which resulted from the order of Bay Space’s native sheriffs’ division to shut the manufacturing unit in Fremont. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) inventory is 2.45% down, even after the corporate launched a brand new MacBook Air and iPad Professional. Fb Inc (NASDAQ: FB) inventory has barely plunged by 1.65%. Shares of transport firms are additionally struggling losses. For example, Uber Applied sciences Inc (NYSE: UBER) inventory was as a lot as 14% down yesterday.
For Walmart, the coronavirus outbreak has taken a helpful flip, albeit short-term. Because the demand for some classes of products and the variety of deliveries have notably elevated, Walmart and different retailing chains profit from shopper stock-up actions.
Analysts at Credit score Suisse mentioned:
“We see this unlucky interval accelerating structural modifications in shopper procuring, presumably by five-plus years, as they’re launched to new retailers and new procuring strategies together with on-line grocery and supply, and additional consolidate purchases at multi-category, multi-channel retailers.”
Walmart US CEO John Furner mentioned:
“We’ve acquired quite a lot of classes which have seen extraordinary development ranges previously few weeks. This began in over-the-counter prescribed drugs, then meals and consumables, and now it’s shifting into our meals companies.”
Final week, Walmart determined to alter working hours in its shops. Now they’re from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Some Walmart shops are open 24 hours.
Is Walmart (WMT) Inventory Value Shopping for?
Some consider that Walmart shares are fairly dangerous to purchase now, as this development impact is short-term. Originally of 2020, earlier than coronavirus enthralled the world, they confirmed not an excellent efficiency. Walmart’s earnings for the 2019 fourth quarter dissatisfied the market and fell in need of expectations. However the belief within the firm appeared to rebound after it introduced engaged on a brand new service Walmart+ that will surpass Amazon Prime.
Strategic Wealth Companions chief Mark Tepper believes that Walmart inventory is value shopping for. In line with Tepper, Walmart is part of the so-called DAWN technique provided by the analyst. Different firms to put money into are Domino’s Pizza Inc (NYSE: DPZ), Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI), and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX).
Notably, Walmart is without doubt one of the best-performing Dow shares this month. It’s as much as you to resolve whether or not to purchase its inventory or not. Within the short-run, it’s positively a great funding.
Daria is an economic student interested in the development of modern technologies. She is eager to know as much as possible about cryptos as she believes they can change our view on finance and the world in general.