text:
The latest Watcom shopping index results, which measures foot traffic in Russia’s biggest malls in real time using 3D camera technology, shows that foot traffic in Moscow has picked up dramatically in the last week.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin imposed some of the toughest stay-at-home restrictions in Europe on March 30 after finally admitting the infections from the virus were running unchecked in the capital – the epicentre of Russia’s epidemic.
Residents were confined to their apartments and only allowed out to buy food (from a store within 100m of their residences), walk the dog or take out the rubbish. A system of QR codes was introduced to police the measures and transgressors faced heavy fines.
However, the infection rate in Moscow has passed peak and Sobyanin relaxed the regime at the start of last week. Foot traffic in the malls immediately picked up.
While foot traffic in malls plummeted after March 30, down some 70%-80% in the first week of the lockdown, it improved about four weeks ago after new rules were introduced to allow people to go for walks on a timed rotation depending on region. That increased the foot traffic to a c.60% fall year on year in Moscow (top chart).
A similar pattern has been seen in Russia’s “other” capital, St Petersburg, the second-largest city in the country, although its residents have been much more cautious and remained at home (bottom chart). Foot traffic there remained down c.70% for most of the lockdown period and only recovered slightly into the 60s three weeks ago.
However, in the last week the foot traffic increased to the point where it was down by 30%-35% in Moscow, measuring 30.5% on Monday, June 15. On the same day the foot traffic decrease in St Petersburg broke below 60 for the first time to reach a 58.2% decline y/y.
Retail is main victim of the coronacrisis
The Russian consumer has been the biggest victim of the pandemic as seen in the most recent statistical data that shows large contractions in retail sales, services and residential construction.
Rosstat reported that retail sales were down a massive 23.4% y/y in April, the latest data available. The fall in retail was worse than the 17.7% consensus expectation by analysts. The drop comprised a 9.3% y/y decline in food retail and a 36.7% y/y collapse in durable goods.
Turnover fell from RUB2.9 trillion ($41.3bn) in March to RUB2.3 trillion ($32.1bn) in April and is anticipated to slide much further in May.
Although foot traffic is now recovering, the overall retail trade turnover is likely to take months, or longer, to recover to pre-crisis levels. In addition to restrictions on going out, the spending power of the Russian consumer has been hurt.
A pickup in inflation that was accompanied by ruble devaluation and a rise in unemployment has been the prime driver behind the drop in real income. Unemployment almost doubled in May to 5.8%, from 4.7 in March. At the same time, real incomes have fallen and returned to those during the the six years of stagnation the country has been suffering from. BCS GM forecast real disposable income to decrease by 4% y/y this year and retail sales to drop by 5.4% y/y in 2020.
Russian maybe going back to the shops and parks, but some have questioned the wisdom of easing the lockdown. Sobyanin himself was reluctant to lift the restrictions, which he wanted to extend into July. However, his hand was forced after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin last weekend, as the Kremlin is worried about the impact on the wider economy and also is preparing for a key referendum that will remove the term limits from Putin’s presidency so he can stay in office until 2036.
The infection rate in Moscow has passed peak, but it continues to climb in the rest of Russia, as the chart below shows. (Red: new cases Moscow, Blue: new cases in the regions, Yellow: new cases for all Russia.)
Russia confirmed 8,248 new coronavirus (COVID-19) infections on June 16, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 545,458.
Over the past 24 hours 193 people have died, bringing the total death toll to 7,284 – a rate considerably lower than that in many other countries hit hard by the pandemic.
A total of 9,767 people have recovered over the last 24 hours, bringing the overall number of recoveries to 294,306.
The mood in the rest of the country is mixed. The annual Victory Day parade was postponed from May 9 to June 24 because of the epidemic; however, so far 13 regions from a total of 85 have decided not to participate because of public health concerns.


text:
Chinavasion has a proven record of providing customers with a reliable, trusted, service for a fantastic price
Shenzhen, Guangdong (PRWEB) March 21, 2008
Drop shipping is taking over the world distribution for eBay traders, online store owners and other small to medium-sized ecommerce operators according to Chinavasion.com.
There are literally thousands of dropshipping services on the internet with a Google search of dropship companies receiving 210,000 results at the time of writing.
The community of people using their service is just as large; a Google search for 'dropship forum' showed 121,000 hits at the time of writing.
Chinavasion reported their daily dropship shipments, thanks to eBay Powersellers, are now up 300% compared to the same time last year.
Drop shipping is a supply chain technique where the retailer, or eBay trader, transfers their customers' shipment details to the wholesaler, who then ships the goods to their clients' customers.
The retailer then makes a profit on the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price. According to Rose Li, PR Manger for Chinavasion, dropshipping and wholesale dropship companies have quickly gained popularity with online retailers because they allow them to operate a positive cashflow business while freeing up storage space.
"A big part of technology and the global economy is reducing the amount of time a product is processed between the manufacturer and end-user." she said.
"With dropshipping a retailer can outsource distribution and focus on other parts of their business, like marketing."
Rose Li says most drop ship distributors guarantee that their clients' customers by not including any company logos in shipments, or by only using labels provided by their client.
But not all drop ship companies are created equal and Rose Li says it is best to stick to well-established drop shipping firms that have a proven track record and a good level of recognition within the industry.
"Chinavasion has a proven record of providing customers with a reliable, trusted, service for a fantastic price," she said.
Rose Li added that Chinavasion customers were made to feel more secure with the addition of awards and certificates from such trusted firms as Global Sources, PayPal, eBay, ValidatedSite, and SGC.
"Chinavasion clients know that by using our service they will have access to one of the best support networks on the internet and be able to guarantee their customers that their products will get to them on time and in good condition."
Chinavasion.com is the leading online drop ship wholesaler for MP4 players and other consumer electronics.Accredited by PayPal, Verified Site, and ScanAlert, and listed in all the leading B2B directories, Chinavasion is the market leading China supplier for EBay dropship sellers and electronics worldwide. For more details visit: http://www.chinavasion.com/

domain: news


text:
Fresno Pacific University hosts a business event Friday in Downtown Fresno. Photo by David Castellon
Written by Frank Lopez
Overseas and across the US, people are taking precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19. Italy has shut down all commercial activity except food stores and pharmacies, the SXSW annual music festival in Texas has been cancelled, and even locally, Fresno saw its annual FresYes festival postponed until the fall.
While national companies including Starbucks, Hilton, Best Western Hotels and Resorts and others are sending out mass emails to their customers to inform them of safety precautions for customers, local businesses and business organizations are doing the same.
Leaving one in the chamber
The Fresno Chamber of Commerce has been in contact with the Fresno County Department of Public Health (FCDPH) and is aware of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recommendation to cancel community events larger than 250 people.
The FCDPH is not currently recommending cancellation of smaller community events.
“The Chamber will continue to utilize our website and social media channels to distribute official information and recommendations from local, state, and federal health authorities as appropriate as well as act as a resource to share information on how business and employees can react to the virus and its effects,” said President and CEO of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce Nathan Ahle.
The Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce (FMBCC) has increased its measures of precaution against the virus.
The FMBCC has moved all of its educational classes and cohorts “to their online equivalents,” and has cancelled all staff business travel. The chamber also recommends its team avoid non-urgent personal travel as well, requiring any employees that board an aircraft to work from home for a 14-day precautionary period before returning to the office.
“We anticipate no impact to our core services and believe in our ability to keep things running with no interruption,” said Tara Lynn Gray, CEO of the FMBCC. “We have ensured that our team members have whatever they need to work remotely, if needed, and to continue doing their jobs securely.”
The Visalia Chamber of Commerce board of directors and other local business and organizations began discussing contingency plans for public events, as well as ways to support local businesses and ensure that the economy remains strong through the current health crisis.
Tulare County organizations have already postponed several events including the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, Irish Fest 2020, Cinco Fest 2020 and a Sequoia Symphony Orchestra performance.
“There is a real fear among local businesses that local residents will hunker down. The reality is that we need to continue to support our local businesses — who employ our neighbors — and to support these organizations going forward,” said Gail Zurek, president and CEO of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce.
Along with the announcement of travel restrictions from Europe, President Donald Trump said the administration seeks Congressional approval to provide a $50 billion relief package to small business owners affected by the outbreak of COVID-19.
Trump is directing the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide liquidity to states and small business owners through low-interest loans. Trump said he will be asking Congress to increase the SBA lending program to $50 billion, more than double the amount of loans the SBA’s flagship lending program made in 2019’s fiscal year, according to SBA website.
Trump also said that “certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted” will be able to defer paying their federal income taxes, normally due on April 15, for three months without incurring any penalties.
“Small businesses are vital economic engines in every community and state, and they have helped make our economy the strongest in the world,” said Jovita Carranza, 26th Administrator of the SBA. “ The SBA will continue to provide every small business with the most effective and customer-focused response during these times of uncertainty.”


text:
Search Results for 'help with debt'
Chris Kissell on November 10, 2020
A group of unlikely Americans holds more student debt than anyone else.
Miranda Marquit on May 8, 2020
How many of these federal actions were you aware of?
CreditCards.com on April 10, 2020
Most often, credit card concierges are trained to assist with travel bookings, hard-to-find restaurant reservations, gift ideas and sports and theater tickets. But they can also help you find hot items you may need while you’re hunkering down at home.
CreditCards.com on March 31, 2020
Millions of Americans have suddenly found themselves out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some steps you can take if you’ve lost your job and you have credit card debt.
Money Talks News on March 26, 2020
Breathe a little easier by transferring your high-interest credit card debt to this cards while you pay down the balance.
Stacy Johnson on January 6, 2020
You’ve probably heard you should pay off your debts before investing, but what about your mortgage?
Donna Freedman on December 23, 2019
Skip regret and become debt-free in the new year. It takes a little fortitude, but it’s as simple as 1-2-3.
Stacy Johnson on December 2, 2019
Sometimes credit scores aren’t logical. This is one of those times.
Stacy Johnson on August 12, 2019
Not all debt is a downer. In fact, some debt can make you rich. Here’s how to tell good debt from bad.
Stacy Johnson on July 1, 2019
It seems logical: Credit card companies will reward you with a higher score if you carry a balance. But is it true?
41 - 60 of 1,401


text:
Expensify’s 2019 Super Bowl advertisement – Expensify Th!$ – featuring Adam Scott and rap star 2Chainz – was not the first time a fintech leveraged the shine from pop culture to illuminate itself.
But as Snoop Dogg celebrates his first anniversary as a high-profile Klarna shareholder and RDC announces that it has hired a network of social media influencers to help promote its new digital banking app, it’s clear that firms are all-in when it comes to using celebrity to showcase everything fintech – from expense management to pay-later ecommerce solutions. Alec Baldwin, who has become one of pop culture’s more potent pitchmen, was recently enlisted by eToro to help boost its CopyTrader marketing campaign.
The financial world has been as much a fan of celebrity as a customer engagement tool as any other industry with brands to build. Today, Mastercard announced that it was working with Swedish singer Nadine Randle to produce a song that “integrates the payment giant’s ‘sonic brand.” The company’s ‘sonic brand’ identity itself is the fruit of a partnership between Linkin Park co-founder Mike Shinoda, who developed the score last year.
And from the local sports hero to the homecoming veteran, credit unions and community banks have long leveraged the willingness of regional-minded stars and celebrities to “give back” to the communities and neighborhoods they grew up in.
But as fintechs increasingly partner with and compete with these and other financial institutions – and take advantage of new forms of celebrity such as social media influencers – they are increasingly taking a page from the FI marketing playbooks when it comes to using star power to shine a light on the work they do.
Expensify CEO and founder David Barrett highlighted the way his company’s technology would make it easier for talents like 2Chainz to “make the most epic music video ever” in his Expensify Th!$ ad. But he also told Fast Company at the time that even though Expensify had the “strongest brand” in the expense management game, and was the fastest-growing such firm with the biggest customer base, “virtually nobody in the world knows who we are.”
The celebrity approach to marketing is not without its detractors. In a post at Medium.com last year, Millennium Management COO Ajay Nagpal noted data from the 2018 Sprout Social Index that suggested that consumers are more likely to buy a product or service recommended by a friend than a celebrity. Moreover, Nagpal raised an interesting question as to whether or not the star endorsement of a brand in fashion, for example, would have the same impact as the same star’s endorsement of a brand in wealth management or tax planning.
Perhaps it depends on the star. Last fall, Finovate audiences were treated to a surprise appearance from noted Canadian investor and star of the reality show Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary, who provided an on-stage, end-of-demo endorsement of Bambu’s Beanstox investing solution. And it’s a good bet that “Mr. Wonderful” is likely to be a more powerful advocate for white- label, B2B robo advisory technology than he might be for, say, leggings …
Additionally, as Director of Brand Strategy at Weber Marketing Group John Mathes wrote for The Financial Brand, even the best celebrity branding works better over time rather than as a one-off. Calling the practice “borrowed interest,” Mathes warned that while carefully targeted star power can produce positive results “brand building is usually a slow process. It takes time. It’s not a single campaign or gimmick.”
The impact of celebrity and influencers on the visibility of and engagement with fintech remains to be seen. But maybe more to the point, the fact that a growing number of fintechs are adopting the same approach to brand-boosting as their peers and rivals in the rest of the financial world may be a positive sign for the fintech industry in and of itself.


text:
The first week sales totales are in for Eminem’s latest album, and unsurprisingly it sold a shit load of copies: 741,000 to be exact, or just under the 784,000 AC/DC sold in October 2008, the last time album sales got that high. It’s also the biggest selling rap album since Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III.
In all, it was a good week for hip-hop Drake’s Thank Me Later, last week’s top seller, slipped to number two with 156,000 copies, breaking Drake over the 500,000 sold plateau. The Roots also hit the top ten, selling enough copies of How I Got Over to hit number six. [HITS]


text:
Bubble tea is the latest phenomenon to sweep Europe. Originating from Taiwan in the 1980’s, this bubbly beverage concept is crazy popular in South Asia – where the average person drinks about four cups of bubble tea every month. Bubble tea has also fruitfully made its way across to North America and Australia thanks to their large Asian populations. Now, due to its popularity on social media, the alternative drink concept is now fashioning queues across the European continent and in the UK.
As the name suggests, Bubble tea is a tea-based drink which is mixed together with milk style products or juices, creating a unique blend of exciting flavours. A range of bubble toppings are then famously added to the drink; including, chewy tapioca pears and flavoured jellies. When assembled, the drink is shaken, sealed and served with a big (eco-friendly) straw.
Crazy Bubble was born in Poland in 2012, after witnessing first-hand just how popular the concept was in Asia. Crazy Bubble is the only brand in Poland serving the unique style of Taiwanese drinks. The company imports only the best quality ingredients from Taiwan for a truly authentic experience.
Jakub Woźniczka, Franchise Manager of Crazy Bubble, says while the youth is their main target market, due to the wide range of flavours and products there really is something for everyone to enjoy. With a recent rise in popularity the franchise has exploded to keep up with demand. The company now has 103 stores across Poland, Lithuania and Romania. The bubble tea market has been predicted to grow by up to $1 billion over the next few years. Now, that’s a lot of bubbles!
Mr Woźniczka, told Franchsing.eu that Crazy Bubble are currently looking for franchisees all over Europe. “We are strongly focused on expansion into foreign markets,” he said. Remarking for example, they’re actively exploring business options for Spain.
“Anyone can be a franchisee with us,” says Jakub. “As long as they have a willingness to work, a positive attitude and some free cash to invest. The bubble tea industry is very profitable these days, so I believe it’s a great place to invest your capital,” he said.
The company’s stores are best suited for places such as shopping centres and malls, amusement parks, large university campuses, parks and swimming pools, etc. Crazy Bubble also caters for special events throughout Poland, which could be incorporated all over. Going into business with Crazy Bubble you will receive the company’s full proven support -from finding a location, operations, marketing and training. But the real question is, “What flavours are you going to choose?”
Crazy Bubble has 103 stores in operation:
- Poland currently has 88 stores
- Lithuania currently has 8 stores
- Romania currently has 7 stores
SUPPORT FOR THE FRANCHISE
- Proven business model
- Individual approach and dedicated support
- Know-how of the brand's operation and running your own point
- Free training for the franchisee and employees
- Marketing activities (network and individual)
- Highest quality goods imported directly from Taiwan
BASIC NETWORK REQUIREMENTS
- The site must have water inflow and outflow, plus three-phase power.
Crazy Bubble has two options for cooperation:
1. Partner option - addressed to people who already run some gastronomic activity (For example: ice cream parlour, confectionery) and would like to extend this activity with the product we offer - Bubble Tea.
The cost of the investment is from PLN 5,000 net (Approx. EUR 1,000), with no monthly fees.
2. Franchise option - addressed to people who would like to open a fully proven and operating business.
The cost of the investment is approximately PLN 65,000 net (Approx. EUR 14,000). In this case, there is a franchise fee of PLN 700 net per month (Approx. EUR 150).
From a hole-in-the-wall to a US icon: the Original Glaze story of Krispy Kreme.
The KFC spin off expands in the UK.
Domino's trial new technology in response to the post-pandemic labour-shortage.
The new master franchise deal will see the development of 200 new state-of-the-art stores.
- Our restaurants will stand out from the competition due to our original way of serving sushi - says Dawid Kościółek, co-owner of the Pink Sushi restaurant.
If you are thinking about purchasing a franchise or franchising your own company, these books are a great place to start.
Master franchising is used to accelerate business growth in a whole new region with minimum resource commitments.
Having been in business for 50 years, franchisees have a lot to be proud of.
A franchise package, otherwise known as a franchise license is at the heart of every franchise system. It contains the franchisors complete business concept from A to Z.
Thinking of franchising in the European Union? Find out exactly who regulates franchising in the world’s biggest single market.


text:
If you believe cars are smog-belching tools of destruction and their makers are soulless profiteers who take pride in destroying the planet, that notion couldn't be further from the truth.
Read This Article
Toyota has released more details on its 2013 Toyota Avalon flagship, which debuted earlier this year at the 2012 New York Auto Show.
According to Toyota, the SE model of its popular Camry is a big hit among consumers, and makes up 40 percent of Camry sales.
What It Is/ Who It's For
The 2012 Toyota Prius c is aimed to satisfy the desire of Gen Y -- or Millenials -- for a highly fuel-efficient, smartphone-connected, stylish vehicle costing less than $20,000.


text:
European digital cinema company Arts Alliance Media has inked a strategic partnership with Broadmedia in Japan.
New February releases "Dante's Inferno" and horror sequel "BioShock 2" couldn't scare up enough sales to help the videogames biz climb out of an ongoing sales rut.
A federal judge rejected claims that Sony's "God of War" videogame infringes on a series of works from two Northern California screenwriters.
France's government-backed Centre National du Cinema film board has established guidelines for converting screens to digital.
Japanese video software sales fell 4.2% year-on to $3.04 billion in 2009, according to a report issued by the Japan Video Software Association (JVA) on Wednesday. This is the fifth straight year of…
As they gear up to roll out the first sets of 3D TVs into stores, electronics makers have turned to Hollywood to help get the hardware into homes.
Giant-screen company Imax will install up to 15 digital Imax theater systems and upgrade four film-based Imax cinemas to digital for Korean loop CJ CGV.
CBS Sports, LG Electronics and Cinedigm have teamed up to beam the Men's NCAA basketball Final Four to up to 100 digital 3D equipped theaters.
Much of the impact of "The Cove " comes from underwater footage.
After years of teases, promises and demos, the age of 3D HD television is about to become reality. Several manufacturers will have sets in stores before the end of the month – with more right around…
ABC Family is on a theatrical buying spree, picking up the network TV rights to the Sandra Bullock feature "The Blind Side."


text:
Christie’s Head of Contemporary Art’s Departure to Become a Dealer Demonstrates Art Market Shift
Brett Gorvy and Dominique Lévy. Photo by Chad Batka, courtesy of Lévy Gorvy.
Longtime Christie’s head of contemporary art Brett Gorvy announced on Wednesday that he is leaving the 250-year-old auction house. He will partner with New York- and London-based art dealer Dominique Lévy in a venture renamed Lévy Gorvy. Here’s what we know so far and what it indicates for the art market.
Gorvy told the New York Times that he’d made the decision to leave the auction house a year earlier. “At the age of 52, you have one more opportunity,” he explained. Although he considered a range of options—including striking out on his own—he eventually settled on a partnership with Lévy, based on what he described as her “boutique mentality of what a dealer is.” Sweetening the deal, Gorvy added, was the fact that she also represents several of his favorite artists, including Italian Modernist Carol Rama.
Lévy’s eponymous New York gallery, which opened in 2013, currently occupies the top two floors of a historic bank building at Madison Ave and 73rd Street. This summer, however, the dealer announced an upcoming expansion. As of January, the newly-christened Lévy Gorvy will occupy the entire 9,000-square-foot building. It will also operate out of Lévy’s current London location. The inaugural show in the enlarged space will pair works by Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning and Chinese painter Zao Wou-Ki, a reflection of the historically significant artists Lévy represents (including Frank Stella, Gego, and Yves Klein).
Lévy Gorvy will continue to operate as a gallery. But according to a statement from the two founders, it will also boast a “bespoke advisory and collections management service inspired by the vision, profoundly personal engagement, and tireless advocacy of the 20th century connoisseur dealers who are our heroes—Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Pierre Matisse, Leo Castelli, and Peggy Guggenheim.” Lévy Gorvy will also place priority on growing its business in China, a region whose wealth and appetite for art Gorvy successfully used to line Christie’s coffers over recent years.
Gorvy’s announcement comes as the latest in a string of high-profile departures from both Christie’s and Sotheby’s. During the summer alone, Christie’s watched as four executives bid their farewells: global managing director of post-war and contemporary art Lori Hotz, senior vice president and director of trusts, estates & appraisals Paul R. Provost, international head of Old Master paintings and 19th-century art Nicholas Hall, and head of 20th- and 21st-century design Cathy Elkies. Sotheby’s faced similar turnover, including worldwide head of contemporary art Cheyenne Westphal, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe Henry Wyndham, and co-chairman of contemporary art Alex Rotter, who will go on to be chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s Americas.
This news marks the conclusion of Gorvy’s 23-year-long career at Christie’s. He joined the auction house’s staff in 1994, transferring from London to New York in 2000 and eventually becoming deputy chairman of Christie’s Americas in 2007. Together with Amy Cappellazzo, he co-led the post-war and contemporary department and was responsible for many of the auction house’s biggest hauls—among them, the 2004 sale of Pablo Picasso’s Garçon à la pipe (1905) that first broke the $100-million mark and the $179-million Picasso, Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’) (1955), that currently holds the record for most expensive artwork sold at auction.
Gorvy became the solo head of the department in 2011; the following year, it surpassed Impressionism as the house’s most profitable category. He has been dogged in pursuing and cultivating new collectors: He maintained a personal list of those rarified few able to spend more than $50 million on a single artwork, which grew steadily to contain at least 141 names by 2014. And he has developed a reputation for seeking out—and being able to offer the business terms to attain—the highest-quality consignments, allowing Christie’s to trounce its competitors in contemporary sales totals.
For her part, Lévy’s career has long been intertwined with the auction business. Following stints as an independent curator and gallery director in the early ’90s, she was hired by billionaire collector and owner of Christie’s François Pinault in 1999 to pioneer a private sales division for the auction house in New York. In her first year, Lévy brought in a hefty $100 million. She worked at Christie’s for four years, establishing the department as an essential revenue stream.
In 2003, she left to start her own gallery, Dominique Lévy Fine Art, partnering two years later with Robert Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, to form L&M Arts. By 2011, the gallery was ranked as the third most profitable art dealership in America, with revenues of $275 million, behind only Gagosian (at $925 million) and Pace (at $450 million). However, following an amicable split between Mnuchin and Lévy, the partnership dissolved the next year and both set out on their own.
As Lévy’s and Gorvy’s backgrounds attest, the lines dividing the various sectors of the art world—from galleries to auction houses to museums—are increasingly blurred. As the woman who launched Christie’s private sales department, Lévy herself is responsible for some of these changes. The realm of private sales has continued to swell in value and importance to auction houses’ business models; it currently accounts for 16% of business at Christie’s, according to the auction house. And in today’s softened market, this percentage will likely only grow, as collectors increasingly prefer selling privately rather than putting their work up for auction publicly and risking it getting burned. The rising importance of private sales for auction houses increasingly puts them in competition with dealers—and means that there is also increasingly an overlap in the skill sets necessary to work in each sphere.
This fluidity is evidenced by a series of recent professional moves between private sales and auctions. Respected Sotheby’s auctioneer Tobias Meyer stepped down in 2013 to become a private art adviser. Cappellazzo, Gorvy’s former partner, left Christie’s the following year to found her own art advisory firm, Art Agency, Partners. Then, in January 2016, Sotheby’s announced that it would be purchasing that business for $50 million. This phenomenon has also extended to the institutional realm—Eric Shiner, director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, announced this summer that he would be joining Sotheby’s new Cappellazzo-run fine art division as senior vice president, focusing on private sales.
Gorvy’s move does suggest, however, that the divisions between the auction world and that of private dealers have yet to fully disappear—and may, in some areas, be widening. Speaking about the pressure he and his colleagues at Christie’s have faced in recent years to land headline-making, record-breaking consignments, Gorvy told the Times, “It was a crazy world, the market was ugly, it was all deal, deal, deal.” He leaves behind a team very adept at that process by art-world standards—not least of which is Loic Gouzer, who has developed a reputation for unheard-of appetite for risk. Perhaps Gorvy sees a greater opportunity to contribute to artistic discourse, scholarship, and curation as a dealer than he did when focused purely on getting paintings off of one collector’s wall and onto another.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Leaked features, specs
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 ultra has been in buzz for several months now.
Various speculations have surfaced regarding its speculations.
The handset could feature a Snapdragon chipset on the Galaxy S23 series.
The smartphone brand utilizes Exynos chipsets in some markets for its S series handsets.
It was further speculated that the upcoming Samsung S series phone will weigh around 228gm and might have a similar thickness to its predecessor the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra can feature an unannounced 200 MP ISCOCELL HP2 camera sensor.
It is also expected that the new Samsung S series phone will be able to record 8K videos at 60fps.


text:
The move comes after President Joe Biden said the US would impose "further costs" on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protesters
Britain will bring back sales tax free shopping for overseas visitors to boost the country's flagging retail sector, finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Friday.
"Britain welcomes millions of tourists every year, and I want our high streets and airports, our ports and our shopping centres, to feel the economic benefit. So we have decided to introduce VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors," he told parliament during the presentation of a mini-budget.
A previous tax-free shopping was abolished at the end of 2020. Kwarteng said the government would replace the previous paper-based system with a digital one. "And this will be in place as soon as possible."
Linda Ellett, KPMG's UK head of consumer markets, retail and leisure, said the move would increase the UK's competitiveness when it comes to attracting international visitors.
"This is all the more key as we look to find ways to create economic growth, return international tourism to pre-pandemic volumes, and withstand rising inflation on the high street," she said. (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton and Paul Sandle)
Leaders agree to coordinate an immediate and longer-term response together
The government says the law will tackle disinformation in the press and social media while critics say it will intensify crackdown on critical reporting
A shootout near Peshawar kills two soldiers and three militants while another kills four Taliban insurgents in Tank
A total of 14 people have been rescued so far, and are undergoing treatment


text:
Nvidia investors expect the chip designer to forecast quarterly revenue above estimates when it reports results on Wednesday. Their only question is, by how much? The US company that tried to buy British rival Arm and is a favorite among fund managers like Bailie Gifford American and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the recent AI demand market rally, helping to make it one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500. Nvidia shares have nearly tripled in value this year, adding more than $700 billion to the company’s market valuation and making it one of the world’s most valuable publicly-traded technology companies.
The stock’s rise has been driven by a big boom in the popularity of generative artificial intelligence apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing search engine, both powered by Nvidia graphics processors. But the gains have also been fueled by expectations that Nvidia’s new GPU chips can help companies design computers faster and more cost-effectively.
Those hopes aren’t entirely unfounded, but they could be overdone. Nvidia’s earnings report will be a significant test to see whether the tech sector’s current rally is sustainable.
Investors will seek evidence that the surge in AI demand is real when Nvidia releases its second-quarter results on Wednesday. The company’s most popular chips — the Nvidia GeForce GPUs — are used in many data centers, where it has seen sales jump by 11% annually during the first quarter. That boost primarily resulted from cloud service providers upgrading their systems to take advantage of Nvidia’s newest AI-accelerated GPUs, which are designed to help computers process large amounts of information more quickly than previous models.
But Nvidia’s consumer-focused gaming business saw revenue fall by 13% from a year ago, partly due to the Covid pandemic and partly because gamers are spending less on upgrades. The company’s stock has climbed so far this year that it has 49 “buy” recommendations from analysts, more than any other S&P 500-listed company.
But the company’s stock is currently trading at 40 times its expected forward earnings, far higher than rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and even more than Apple (AAPL). As a result, it will be necessary for Nvidia to deliver growth when it reports earnings this week. And while most analysts expect Nvidia to beat consensus EPS estimates, there’s an outside chance it might miss them by a wide margin. If that happens, the stock could fall. That’s why it’s worth looking at Nvidia’s earnings surprise history to get a sense of how much the market might be pricing in a beat or a miss.


text:
Posted on 24/10/2017
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow has successfully completed the summer placements of its 33rd batch of 459 students irrespective of demonetization and GST blues. The business school, IIM Lucknow have witnessed the participation of over 150 domestic and international recruiters from diverse sectors.
Institute saw a 50 percent increase in the finance profiles offered during its summer placement process this year. The top segments based on roles offered were sales & marketing (35 percent), finance (25 percent), consulting (20 percent), e-commerce (10 percent), systems/IT(5 percent), and general management (5 percent).
Institute said in a statement “The strong economic situation supported IIM Lucknow in attracting diverse new roles in the finance domain. Rest of the offers came from domains such as market research, analytics, business development, social media marketing and HR among others”.
Here you got the details about IIM Lucknow Summer Placements 2017. Have any queries or comments, you can discuss via the AfterGraduation Forum.


text:
Ordering in is on the outs.
Grubhub and Seamless food deliveries have dropped in the Big Apple, even though New Yorkers are all staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, Grubhub announced Monday.
In a quarterly earnings report, the online ordering platform told shareholders that it had “experienced a swift change in customer behavior in the middle of March when the pandemic took hold across the country.”
The Chicago-based company, which also owns Seamless, said the number of orders was now lower than ever before, with food requests “below pre-COVID volumes.”
The mobile takeout giant pinned the decline in delivery on residents fleeing the Big Apple in droves or cooking at home, as well as local eateries being forced to close their doors — although they admitted to “record numbers” of new diners and restaurants popping up on the platform as eateries moved to takeout-only.
Now they’re considering waiving delivery fees to entice more home-bound customers back to their platform, the report said.
The company added that business in New York has been hit harder than other metropolitan areas, as the city remains the epicenter of the deadly disease.


text:
Kyle Wiggers, email@example.com
The next generation of gaming may be nearly upon us.
According to Wall Street Journal report, Sony will unveil the successor to its popular PlayStation 3 console on Feb. 20. The new console will include features such as integrated social networking and cloud-connected gaming. Sony said it hopes to generate substantial interest for the new device ahead of a rumored holiday 2013 launch.
Called either the PlayStation 4 or “Orbis” — a development code name repeatedly referenced by leaked internal documents — the console is expected to sell for about $430, which is substantially cheaper than the debut price of its predecessor.
The announcement is scheduled to begin at 6 pm. Sony will broadcast the event live here.


text:
The new face of the North American plastics industry is emerging as companies that are focused on plastics. One of the first large companies to divest its plastics portfolio was Monsanto back in 1997 when Solutia was created. Monsanto made a decision to focus on agricultural biotechnology. Solutia filed for bankruptcy in 2003 in the midst of a major manufacturing slowdown and emerged from bankruptcy early this year. The company believes it is now stronger and more competitive than at any time in its history, hopefully setting a positive tone for other plastics orphans. Solutia posted a first quarter profit of $1.4 billion, compared to a loss of $8 million for the same quarter in 2007 because of reorganization gains. Revenues were up 40 percent. What’s important from a design engineering perspective is that Solutia, a major nylon producer, is developing new products and expanding capacity. Vydyne GW350 was announced in April and is said to offer superior toughness and elongation. Solutia is also increasing nylon 66 capacity by 140,000 metric tons. Solutia’s plant in Pensacola, FL is the world’s largest integrated nylon manufacturing facility. Solutia operates five nylon-making plants in the U.S., while its sales to Asia are growing rapidly.
Several major companies have divested part or all of their plastics portfolios in recent years, ranging from GE Plastics and Dow to Bayer. When the spin-offs become standalone companies, such as Solutia, they may face trouble raising capital in tough credit markets, such as the one we face in 2008. In fact, Solutia had to file suit against three banks that had balked at providing the company with capital needed to exit bankruptcy. Solutia needed the funds for operations and won the lawsuit.
It’s important for companies like Solutia to survive and thrive, particularly when they are producing products with a limited supply base.
A recent report sponsored by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) focuses on emerging gasification technologies for converting waste into energy and fuel on a large scale and saving it from the landfill. Some of that waste includes non-recycled plastic.
Capping a 30-year quest, GE Aviation has broken ground on the first high-volume factory for producing commercial jet engine components from ceramic matrix composites. The plant will produce high-pressure turbine shrouds for the LEAP Turbofan engine.
Seismic shifts in 3D printing materials include an optimization method that reduces the material needed to print an object by 85 percent, research designed to create new, stronger materials, and a new ASTM standard for their mechanical properties.
A recent study finds that 3D printing is both cheaper and greener than traditional factory-based mass manufacturing and distribution. At least, it's true for making consumer plastic products on open-source, low-cost RepRap printers.
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This discussion will examine what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.


text:
Elastic has been flying off shelves in Border shops with many residents opting to make their own face masks.
The sewing essential has now been stretched to its limit, with stocks running low at retailers such as Albury's Spotlight, Lincraft and even BCF.
Spotlight's department team manager Deb Clancy said shoppers were now looking for elastic alternatives, with stockings and t-shirt fabric both popular options.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"Everybody's getting creative thinking about what else they can use," she said.
Ms Clancy added the sale of fabric had also skyrocketed since face coverings became mandatory in Victoria.
"For 99 per cent of customers at the moment that's all they're buying fabric for," she said.
"It hasn't stopped in the sew department, it's just a constant flow of people coming in."
Lincraft store manager Jody Muir agreed saying one fabric in particular appeared to be the most sought after for face coverings.
"Everyone wants black cotton fabric," she said.


text:
NEW YORK, Sep 12, 2008 / FW/ — At the newly renovated Daniel restaurant in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Zang Toi unveiled his Spring 2009 collection to a very intimate group – fashionistas with a heart who turned their passion for fashion to compassion to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation in its fight against cancer.
Joining the New York elite yesterday at the Zang Toi Spring 2009 show were the reigning Miss USA and Miss Teen USA (Miss USA assisted at the auction and also walked the runway), their presence also adding to the community spirit that made the atmosphere truly upbeat.
It was not just a fashion show they were attending; it was a gathering for a good cause. With ticket sales and the live auction alone, almost $200,000 was raised yesterday. This figure will still go up as the winners of the silent auction that was held earlier before the show, are accounted for. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
This is the second time that Zang Toi had included the unveiling of his latest collection with a fundraising event for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The first time was September 2007, when he unveiled his Spring 2008 collection.
Traditionally showing his collection at the tents in Bryant Park, Zang Toi does not feel that he had abandoned the tent. “I hold two shows a year here in New York – one in Bryant Park and one outside to support a good cause,” Zang Toi said. “I believe it’s a good balance.”
As for the Zang Toi Spring 2009 collection, it was signature Zang Toi – elegant and beautiful, with a generous spirit. Showing 26 looks, Zang Toi opened with an ivory silk shantung sheath dress, thus making him truly within the trends at Bryant Park where shades of beige is a favorite color among designers this season.
Then the pink silk damask ensembles followed. Sweet and sophisticated, a young debutante and her mother can actually wear as matching outfits!
Experimenting with new materials, Zang Toi used thin plexiglass as a trim. With the usual embroidery work and sequins laid out as the New York skyline, Zang added rectangular pieces of very thin plexiglass giving it a very futuristic feel. Believe it or not, the look gelled.
Saving the best for last, Zang Toi sent out a sweeping white silk organza floor length cape with the Gotham skyline in black sequins. Paired with a black evening jumpsuit, it was dramatic, and rightfully gained a round of applause and standing ovation from the audience.
And another note for the background music – Julian Fleicher and his band, who has been described as ‘the human iPod’ provided live music for the show. Julian actually sang his own jazzy rendition of ‘I Will Survive.’ This is the second time I’ve heard this song this week.


text:
5G as a Driver for New Business Services
May 12, 2020
Neil McRae, Managing Director Architecture & Technology Strategy and BT Chief Architect, BT
Folke Anger, Head of packet core solutions, Ericsson
Soumen Chatterjee, Senior Director, Product Management and Solutions, Blue Planet, a division of Ciena
Guy Daniels, Director of Content, TelecomTV
To embed our video on your website copy and paste the code below:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mt3Up1ncoMM?modestbranding=1&rel=0" width="970" height="546" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" allowfullscreen></iframe>
With the first limited commercial 5G consumer services launched in late 2019, the stage is set for the cellular technology to open up new markets and revenues for service providers. So far, we’ve mostly seen 5G NR operating over LTE core networks, with extremely limited coverage and device availability. But the completion of the 5G Core 3GPP specifications and other enhancements should result in more capable 5G networks, which in turn promises to DSPs the necessary capabilities to create a new class of service specifically for businesses and vertical industries.
Filmed using the TelecomTV Smart Studio service, May 2020
Managing Director Architecture & Technology Strategy and BT Chief Architect, BT
Head of packet core solutions, Ericsson
Senior Director, Product Management and Solutions, Blue Planet, a division of Ciena
Director of Content, TelecomTV
Sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos, plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox.


text:
Welcome to edition 464 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying nearly doubled last week with insiders purchasing $109.5 million million of stock compared to $57.84 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $1.26 billion of stock last week compared to $1.17 billion in the week prior. A large part of the increase in insider buying was on account of Elon Musk buying $25 million worth of Tesla (TSLA) stock as seen by the bright green rectangle in the heat map below. However this purchase was as a result of his participating in the company’s latest secondary offering and not an open market purchase. We focus on open market purchases for the list of notable insider purchases each week and hence the Tesla purchase is not on the list this week.
Sell/Buy Ratio: The insider Sell/Buy ratio is calculated by dividing the total insider sales in a given week by total insider purchases that week. The adjusted ratio for last week dropped to 11.51. In other words, insiders sold almost 12 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 20.3.
Note: As mentioned in the first post in this series, certain industries have their preferred metrics such as same store sales for retailers, funds from operations (FFO) for REITs and revenue per available room (RevPAR) for hotels that provide a better basis for comparison than simple valuation metrics. However metrics like Price/Earnings, Price/Sales and Enterprise Value/EBITDA included below should provide a good starting point for analyzing the majority of stocks.
Notable Insider Buys:
1. MGM Resorts International (MGM): $25.63
Director Paul J. Salem acquired 800,000 shares of this casino operator, paying $25.40 per share for a total amount of $20.32 million.
Mr. Salem joined MGM’s board last year and was previous senior managing director at Providence Equity Partners, which along with a consortium including Sony and Comcast took MGM private in 2005. MGM declared bankruptcy in 2010 and Providence Equity was purported to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars of its investment in MGM.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for MGM Resorts International here.
|P/E: 54.53||Forward P/E: 15.08||Industry P/E: 19.94|
|P/S: 1.18||Price/Book: 2.03||EV/EBITDA: 12.64|
|Market Cap: $13.77B||Avg. Daily Volume: 7,112,953||52 Week Range: $21.62 – $32.91|
2. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): $240.59
Chief Executive Officer David S. Wichmann acquired 20,000 shares of this health insurance provider, paying $231.79 per share for a total amount of $4.64 million. Mr. Wichmann increased his stake by 2.26% to 904,367 shares with this purchase.
This is the second week in a row UnitedHealth made our list following a $1.5 million purchase by a director last week. This is the first set of insider purchases we have seen at UnitedHealth in over 5 years.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated here.
|P/E: 18.68||Forward P/E: 14.48||Industry P/E: 18.49|
|P/S: 0.99||Price/Book: 4.43||EV/EBITDA: 12.8|
|Market Cap: $228.64B||Avg. Daily Volume: 5,905,611||52 Week Range: $208.07 – $287.94|
3. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $19.7
Executive Chairman Richard D. Kinder acquired 200,000 shares of this oil & gas pipelines company, paying $19.47 per share for a total amount of $3.89 million. Mr. Kinder increased his stake by 0.08% to 240,401,954 shares with this purchase.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Kinder Morgan, Inc. here.
|P/E: 28.47||Forward P/E: 17.91||Industry P/E: 19.75|
|P/S: 3.15||Price/Book: 1.33||EV/EBITDA: 12.95|
|Market Cap: $44.6B||Avg. Daily Volume: 14,841,935||52 Week Range: $14.62 – $20.44|
4. Community Health Systems, Inc. (CYH): $3.45
Chairman & CEO Wayne T. Smith acquired 1,000,000 shares of this acute care hospitals operator, paying $3.37 per share for a total amount of $3.37 million. Mr. Smith increased his stake by 61.11% to 2,636,482 shares with this purchase.
This is a sizable purchase considering the market cap of the company is just $393 million. The company is however highly leveraged and the enterprise value is over $14 billion. The stock lost more than 90% of its value over the last four years and the company has reported losses in six of the last eight quarters.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Community Health Systems, Inc. here.
|P/E: N/A||Forward P/E: -3.42||Industry P/E: 27.89|
|P/S: 0.03||Price/Book: N/A||EV/EBITDA: 10.52|
|Market Cap: $392.74M||Avg. Daily Volume: 2,261,054||52 Week Range: $2.48 – $5.35|
5. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY): $9.62
Chairman, CEO & President Kevin Keyes acquired 300,000 shares of this mortgage REIT, paying $9.62 per share for a total amount of $2.89 million. Mr. Keyes increased his stake by 30.46% to 1,284,779 shares with this purchase.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Annaly Capital Management, Inc. here.
|P/E: N/A||Forward P/E: 8.51||Industry P/E: 67.2|
|P/S: -12.46||Price/Book: 1||EV/EBITDA: N/A|
|Market Cap: $14.01B||Avg. Daily Volume: 14,322,332||52 Week Range: $9.52 – $10.78|
You can view the full list of purchases from this Insider Buying page.
Notable Insider Sales:
1. Paylocity Holding Corporation (PCTY): $97.46
Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 222,500 shares of this payroll and HCM software company for $95.14, generating $21.17 million from the sale.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Paylocity Holding Corporation here.
|P/E: 127.9||Forward P/E: 59.43||Industry P/E: 32.53|
|P/S: 11.63||Price/Book: 18.03||EV/EBITDA: 83.72|
|Market Cap: $5.16B||Avg. Daily Volume: 306,743||52 Week Range: $52.93 – $99.8|
2. American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG): $103.13
Shares of this insurance company were sold by 2 insiders:
- Co-CEO & Co-President Carl H. Lindner III sold 163,012 shares for $102.96, generating $16.78 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
- Co-CEO & Co-President Craig S. Lindner sold 30,000 shares for $102.75, generating $3.08 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for American Financial Group, Inc. here.
|P/E: 13.09||Forward P/E: 11.64||Industry P/E: 10.48|
|P/S: 1.26||Price/Book: 1.63||EV/EBITDA: 8.64|
|Market Cap: $9.25B||Avg. Daily Volume: 353,541||52 Week Range: $84.18 – $114.8|
3. Apple Inc. (AAPL): $197.18
Shares of Apple were sold by 2 insiders:
- COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 56,411 shares for $210.36, generating $11.87 million from the sale.
- Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 35,000 shares for $210.86, generating $7.38 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Apple Inc. here.
|P/E: 16.59||Forward P/E: 15.38||Industry P/E: 6.68|
|P/S: 3.51||Price/Book: 8.58||EV/EBITDA: 12.15|
|Market Cap: $907.24B||Avg. Daily Volume: 27,675,783||52 Week Range: $142 – $233.47|
4. CarGurus, Inc. (CARG): $39.25
Shares of this online auto shopping provider were sold by 2 insiders:
- CEO and Chairman Langley Steinert sold 234,812 shares for $40.32, generating $9.47 million from the sale. 23,480 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
- Director Anastasios Parafestas sold 127,348 shares for $40.31, generating $5.13 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for CarGurus, Inc. here.
|P/E: 62.3||Forward P/E: 70.09||Industry P/E: 41.83|
|P/S: 8.88||Price/Book: 20.66||EV/EBITDA: 147.38|
|Market Cap: $4.36B||Avg. Daily Volume: 854,433||52 Week Range: $30.29 – $57.25|
5. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC): $300.8
Chairman Wesley G. Bush sold 50,000 shares of this aerospace & defense company for $291.59, generating $14.58 million from the sale.
You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Northrop Grumman Corporation here.
|P/E: 16.04||Forward P/E: 13.49||Industry P/E: 35.54|
|P/S: 1.62||Price/Book: 5.85||EV/EBITDA: 12.97|
|Market Cap: $51.08B||Avg. Daily Volume: 900,788||52 Week Range: $223.63 – $340.14|
You can view the full list of sales from this Insider Sales page.
Disclaimer: I hold a long position in Apple (AAPL). Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any securities mentioned in this article. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the content or data provided in this article.


text:
For the second fiscal quarter of 2016, Apple’s revenues from services (Apple Care, Apple Pay, iTunes, app stores) was up 20% over last year. And the “other products” category -- including the Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, the iPod and accessories -- were up 30% from the second quarter of 2015.
In a call with analysts and the press, CEO Tim Cook said the purchase value of the company’s services tied to the installed user base was a record $9.9 billion dollars in the March quarter. That’ up 27% over last year and an increase from the 24% growth rate in the December quarter.
He added that the reach of Apple Pay also continues to expand following a successful launch in China in the March quarter and last week's rollout in Singapore. Cook says Apple’s mobile payment service is growing at a “tremendous rate with more than five times the transaction volume of a year ago and one million new users per week.”
The CEO says that there are now more than 10 million contactless ready locations in the countries where Apple Pay has launched. That includes over two and half million locations now accepting Apple Pay in the U.S. Cook says that more expansion is coming soon.
Regarding Apple Music, the streaming music service now has over 13 million paying subscribers, according to Cook. The company’s music revenue has hit an inflection point after many quarters of decline, he added.
In a new report — as noted by VentureBeat — Verto Analytics says that Apple has 124.4 million users in the U.S. who accessed at least one of Apple’s online services (web or apps) at least once last March. That means Apple reaches more than half of all adults.
Apple Watch sales met expectations. Cook said Apple expected seasonality to be similar to iPod, which generated 40% of sell-through in holiday quarter.
According to Chief Financial Office Luca Maestri, Apple’s $6 billion in revenue from services is also thanks to the Apple App Store, which saw 35% revenue growth. He says that’s 90% more revenue than Google Play in the March quarter, based on AppAnnie measurements. What’s more, Maestri also said that the average amount spent by customers at the Apple App Store reached an all-time high.


text:
Ann Romney, should she make it to the White House, is already preparing to make a stylish turn. The aspiring first lady turned up in a teal ombre dress by designer Oscar de la Renta for Monday night's final presidential debate.
The feminine dress was a more subdued look for her after she wore a bubblegum pink dress for the Oct. 16 debate and a striking white suit for the Oct. 5 match. Romney accessorized her look on Monday with a matching belt and a clear statement necklace.
On the other side of the campaign, first lady Michelle Obama recycled a look she'd worn earlier in the campaign season, turning up in a gray Thom Browne dress with black lace details. The designer tweeted his excitement about seeing Obama in the frock. "Honored to see First Lady Michelle Obama wearing our Spring 2013 dress at the final presidential debate," he wrote.
So, which of the candidates' wives got it right? Cast your vote on the right.


text:
Rotorua's 203-room Holiday Inn hotel is for sale for the first time in two decades.
Colliers International is marketing the 4.5-star hotel for sale by international expressions of interest closing on March 15.
Colliers International hotels national director Dean Humphries said the hotel was managed on behalf of its current owners by Intercontinental Hotel Group under its popular Holiday Inn brand.
"This substantial 13,000sq m hotel is situated on more than 1ha of prime freehold land adjoining the Whakarewarewa Living Maori Village and geothermal park, which remains one of the region's most popular tourist destinations.
"The hotel offers six generous function and meeting facilities that can host up to 1000 delegates, as well as the popular Chapmans Restaurant and Bar, heated outdoor pool and spa facilities, extensive gym and parking for more than 120 vehicles," he said.
"The hotel has recently undergone an extensive renovation, including a range of new plant and seismic upgrades, and refurbishment of many of the guest rooms and front of house amenities."
Humphries said it was the first major hotel in Rotorua to be offered for sale since 2011 and the first in New Zealand to be publicly offered to the market in more than 18 months.
"New Zealand hotel assets are tightly retained due to the exceptional trading conditions in the marketplace.
"Holiday Inn has flourished since IHG took over management in 2011 and it now boasts an established clientele of international, domestic and corporate guests," Humphries said.
"The hotel is also available with vacant possession which allows for a much broader range of buyers, including owner-operators and investors who could potentially rebrand or reposition the asset."
Rotorua remains one of New Zealand's leading tourism destinations, with hotel occupancy now close to 80 per cent and room rates having increased by nearly 30 per cent in the past four years.
Humphries said with virtually no new hotel inventory likely to be built in the region over the short to medium term, with the exception of the new 130-room Pullman Hotel, the Rotorua hotel sector had one of the highest growth prospects in New Zealand.
"As the lucrative Chinese and American markets quickly move away from the lower-yielding tours and group travel options to more free independent travellers, we expect a significant uplift in room rates to regions like Rotorua.
"This will bring the region more closely in alignment with our other major tourist destination, Queenstown, which currently has average room rates more than $100 higher than those in Rotorua."
Humphries said international tourists were now realising the many attributes and value for money that Rotorua offered, with more than 3.1 million tourists visiting in the past 12 months.


text:
When building a ship in the air, sometimes you have to call in the dream team.
Enter Ryder Richards and Tahnee Eliot —the brother and sister duo who helped several of our Virtual Woodlawn Street Market vendors go from selling things at the traditional market to an online storefront that will take them from COVID-19 response and beyond.
Creating a virtual market space has long been a goal for the Woodlawn Street Market team. When in-person markets were postponed, the team redirected their energy from event prep to building out the virtual market concept.
Elliot and Richards reached out to REV with the idea of wanting to help small businesses bearing the brunt of closure due to the pandemic.
“We’ve just found since COVID-19 hit that a lot of people were put out of business or didn’t have a way of generating income, especially since the markets were shut down,” Eliot said. “We just thought it would be great to use our expertise to help other small businesses start online stores.”
And, as luck would have it, they were directed to five vendors who were at various points of their journey to an online store.
After talking to Woodlawn Street Market co-founder Bekah Fox and REV’s Director of Business Growth and Recruitment, Taylor Clark-Jacobson, they put their heads together —Eliot using her expertise as the owner of a Texas boutique and Richards’ technical experience—to build something affordable for vendors.
Eliot, who’s been in business for 20 years saw this as an opportunity to share some of the things she’s learned on the journey so far.
“I wanted to pay it forward,” she said. “I feel like I’ve got a lot of stuff in my brain and at this point in my life, I’m ready to help other people kind of get a jump start on things, so that they don’t have to go through all of the growing pains that I had to go through.”
SHOP THE VIRTUAL WOODLAWN STREET MARKET
Click the “Shop Now” buttons below to be taken directly to each vendor’s e-commerce site. Each link will open in a new window so it’s easy to browse all of these awesome vendors!
Richards said the amount of need made him lending his tech skills a no-brainer.
“It’s not very difficult for me to work in that field,” he said. “And if that’s all it takes to keep some businesses going, a little time on the side, that feels like of kind of the least we can do. We can make sure the people who are trying and working really hard can get to that next level and keep them going.”
For some shops, such as Sonequa Murray’s of Simply Sonequa Poundcakes, an online store had been a long time coming. She had been offering delivery in the Birmingham area and taking orders via Facebook.
“They have helped me with a website that was needed for as long as I’ve been in business,” she said. “It allows traffic from potential customers who are not on Facebook or Instagram to see what I offer and a place where they can order.”
The new stores allow the vendors to direct traffic from social media to their own web pages. All items are listed on one page and customers can select shipping options. Customers can also see a little more about each business and their owners via an ‘About’ page.
Others say their new online stores will help them as they start to expand their business.
“The improved e-commerce platform has brought about freedom of control- in design and in controlling the inventory,” said Aaliyah Taylor of Exalted in Beauty. “I hope this e-commerce platform will allow me to grow more as just a jewelry designer, but to be able to expand my business from jewelry to jewelry and handmade clothing.”
Both Eliot and Richards say teamwork made the process easier.
The feeling is mutual—Youit Jones of Holy’istic Health & Wellness, who is a first-time vendor, said even though he wasn’t able to vend in person, he still feels like he’s a part of something special.
“The team at 412 was an immense part of my success and achievement, considering many of the issues we encountered along the way were far above my expertise to solve,” he said. “Their dedication and tenacity are some of their biggest assets, and one of the biggest benefits to a burgeoning business owner like myself. Their skillset and acumen are of priceless value, and I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation enough for them. Not only do they engage their clients professionally, but also like a friend, and I feel honored to have been afforded their assistance in this endeavor.”
We’ve talked about sports, but downtown has so much more to offer! Downtown Birmingham has so many experiences in store for you, which can also turn into life-long memories. And lucky for you, we’ve created a tool to make all that exploring so much easier!
Ever host an event where you ordered way too much food and end up with more leftovers than you can even fathom? We’ve been there too – until we learned about Magic City Harvest! Magic City Harvest is an organization working towards ending food waste & hunger in the Magic City. They acquire perishable food from schools, wholesale food distributors, restaurants, caterers, churches, event venues and grocery stores to donate to 30 community partners on the frontlines feeding the city’s hungry neighbors.
We are approaching the finish line for the 20th Street Refresh, which calls for a celebration – and you’re invited! The City Center Business Improvement District (BID), funded by downtown property owners, is partnering with the City of Birmingham and REV Birmingham to celebrate a refreshed Birmingham Green. Come join the party on May 20th from 4 to 8 p.m (with a special celebration happening at 6 p.m.)!


text:
Kate Lewis is very excited. She has just come back from the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards luncheon on the 44th floor of Hearst Tower, where she sat next to a 13-year-old boy, Terrance Li, who won an award for making a smartphone charger that uses cooking heat. “I’m super invested in Popular Mechanics,” she said. “I underline stuff.”
As vp of content operations and editorial director at Hearst Digital, Lewis’ job is heading up editorial for all of Hearst Magazines’ 18 sites, including those for glossy magazines Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Esquire. With 15 site directors and three centralized corporate teams reporting to her, it’s a wonder that she has time to attend an awards luncheon. But hers is a role that requires diplomacy as much as anything. She’s not a 20-something digital native, a social media guru or a coder. But what she is is a 15-plus year veteran of (and big champion for) print magazines — which is, perhaps counterintuitively, why she is the company’s current best bet to boost its digital metabolism.
The pressure is mounting for traditional print publishers like the 126-year-old Hearst, which are seeing new-media companies siphon off visitors and ad pages. Digital advertising in U.S. consumer magazines is projected to grow 11.7 percent to $3.3 billion this year, but it won’t be enough to offset a 4.4 percent decline in print advertising, to $12.8 billion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Hearst got a late start in digital; it didn’t even take control of its own sites until 2006, when it stopped outsourcing them to iVillage. (Town & Country didn’t even get its own website until 2013.) And while it has grown its digital footprint rapidly in that time — Hearst Magazines served 41.3 million monthly uniques across its sites for titles like Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Esquire — it lags behind newer pure-plays including BuzzFeed, with 75.1 million, and Gawker Media, with 53.9 million, according to comScore.
From dusty to digital
Lewis was brought in in January by Troy Young, a blunt-mannered digital executive who was hired last year to jumpstart Hearst’s digital business. Hearst decided it needed to act more like a digital startup than a company rooted in print.
Young, the former president of women’s blog network Say Media, quickly made an impression as president of digital media with his brusque personality. In short order he replaced the top Web editors at two of Hearst’s biggest brands, Cosmo and Elle; went tieless at the starchy company; and made comments like, “I think there are wonderfully talented people in print, but you’ve got to be able to live in the moment.” Young revved up Hearst’s online publishing speed by getting the brands to go from “months to moments,” his signature phrase that has quickly become a ubiquitous saying throughout Hearst Tower.
Still, modern-day publishing means not just mastering speed but efficiency. With its mostly women-aimed portfolio, Hearst could improve that by simply repurposing its own content. Publishing today also requires distributing on the social Web, which means reacting quickly to the news and social conversations. All of this runs counter to the way consumer publications have traditionally operated. As any print publisher knows, translating those lumbering titles to Web speed without undermining the brand is tricky.
“The pure-plays do not have that issue to deal with, so they can be bolder and take greater risks,” said Peter Kreisky, chairman at Kreisky Media Consultancy, an adviser to media companies. “That’s why everyone’s watching very carefully that there’s coordination between the stakeholders.”
Young, not known for his gentle temperament, needed someone with a light touch to get the magazines, many of them natural competitors, to collaborate more. On top of that, their digital teams needed to be freed up to act independently, which traditionally hadn’t been done.
In Lewis he found his velvet glove. Lewis, like Young, is an alum of Say Media, although the two didn’t work there at the same time. As svp and editorial director there, she oversaw its network of niche sites including ReadWrite, XoJane and Remodelista and managed its partner sites. Her former boss, former Say president Kim Kelleher, said Lewis had a knack for bridging the divide between tech and editorial — an ability that was necessary to deliver the growth demanded by the ad side.
“Kate has the uncanny ability to sit at the intersection of technology, content and operations,” Kelleher, now publisher of Condé Nast’s Wired, said. “She is able to intuitively grasp technological things very, very quickly.”
The tribal elder
At Condé Nast before that, Lewis spent nearly 10 years as managing editor of Self magazine. Self was a digital pioneer at Condé, and Lewis’ duties included oversight of the site, which gave her some digital chops. Then, unusual for an editor, she then spent a year and a half in corporate human resources. That experience taught her about sizing up talent, a lesson that has come in handy as she fills out her digital team at Hearst. “I would rather have someone with less germane experience but has passion,” she said.
Lewis, 42, doesn’t fit the mold of the pampered glossy magazine editor. She lives in the working-class Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn with her husband, former longtime Condé Nast editor Jacob Lewis, now at Crown Publishing Group, and kids, aged 8 and 10. She takes a Citi Bike to meetings instead of a cab.
In her 10 months at Hearst, Lewis has won over key editors. Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of flagship brand Cosmopolitan and editorial director of Seventeen, calls her a “tribal elder” who understands how print and Web can work together without undermining the former. “She’s the voice of calm. Troy is hilarious and fantastic, a change agent. Troy is like a hurricane. Kate Lewis is like a gentle breeze.”
David Granger, editor-in-chief of Esquire and editorial director of Popular Mechanics, calls Lewis a “real force for good.”
“In previous administrations, there was nobody in the leadership ranks who actually cared about editorial — not just the quantity but the quality,” he said. “When [editor-in-chief] Ryan D’Agostino’s first issue of Popular Mechanics came out, she wanted to talk about how she took her son across the Tappan Zee Bridge because there was a story in the magazine about it. She’s worked in both worlds. She sees the value in both. She realizes you can’t simply go up against places that just generate traffic, because unless you have unlimited resources, you’re going to lose in that battle.”
Lewis’ sunny disposition and interpersonal skills also serve to balance out her boss, a contrast that isn’t lost on Young himself. “She’s a softer, gentler, nicer version of me,” he said. “Kate wants results. She’s incredibly efficient. She just does it with a style and a charm and a charisma that make people want to do it with her. I just wish I could learn it from Kate.”
Asked in turn about working for Young, Lewis paused. “We have a nice shorthand with each other,” she said, carefully choosing her words. “I’m worried I’ll sound like a super-big kiss-ass, but Troy has been a motivational person to work for. He’s definitely not afraid to address conflict.”
Those diplomatic skills have served her well in getting individual Hearst titles to work faster, more efficiently and collaboratively. Publishing volume has increased 40 percent in the past year, to 300 posts a day across the network. Much of that increase is coming from reacting to online conversations, which is not necessarily part of print’s DNA. But Lewis wants digital catnip like the Justin Bieber-Orlando Bloom fight story to comprise 50-70 percent of Hearst’s Web content. “We need to get in the fray a little more,” Lewis is fond of saying. The directive has taken some getting used to. “It surprised some of the teams. It doesn’t anymore.”
Sharing content is another key part of the strategy. Other publishers aggregate news from elsewhere or open their sites to outside contributors to increase their publishing volume quickly and at low cost. With all of Hearst’s magazines as well as newspapers to draw from, the publisher has a long way to go before it has to look to outside sources for content. Part of Lewis’ mandate, then, has been getting Hearst to surface stories that can work across brands. Ultimately, the goal is to have 20 percent of a given Hearst site’s content coming from another Hearst property.
The example Hearst execs love to talk about is the story that the Houston Chronicle, a Hearst newspaper, published about a woman with a $500,000 custom-built closet. With permission to recycle content, the magazines didn’t have to deprive their readers of such a tantalizing story — or, for that matter, re-report it. Elle Decor, Bazaar and Cosmo all posted versions of the story.
Repurposing can cross gender lines, too. “There was a great story from Elle over the summer of men wearing embarrassingly short shorts,” Esquire’s Granger said. “This Elle writer, a man, wrote a piece about trying on three different kinds of shorts. It was perfect for us.”
Hearst isn’t about to simply recycle digital content under Lewis, though. Soon after arriving, she created a centralized news desk to crank out the stories that can play across multiple sites, to avoid duplication. It was a move that the individual titles could have seen as threatening to their autonomy. But Lewis has promoted the news desk as a benefit to the brands that will free them to do more original, in-depth work. She said the tone shifted when she announced that for the month of September, the news desk was responsible for 4.5 million uniques across Hearst sites. “You know who loves uniques?” she said. “Everybody.”
But speeding up can have unintended consequences. Esquire recently walked back a blog post, “On ESPN and Domestic Violence,” that was critical of the network and its suspension of Bill Simmons. The post accused ESPN of not being tough enough on domestic violence in the wake of football player Ray Rice’s suspension and of not staffing good journalists. The post was left intact, but an apology was appended. Lewis said the site was between editors when the post went up, which meant there was less oversight than usual.
“It’s on me, what happened on the site,” she said. “Esquire has a lot of point of view, and I think it needed to have a more balanced point of view. So I think we needed to apologize for that.” Still, the post didn’t mention that Hearst has an ownership stake in ESPN.
Cosmo, on the other hand, has had some success with this new approach to digital publishing, its traffic having nearly doubled over the past year. Still, Cosmo plays in viral categories like sex and celebrities that are made for social. Applying the months-to-moments mantra to Hearst’s less newsy brands — Veranda and Town & Country, for example — may prove to be more challenging.
Editors also are aware of the possibility of conflict between print and Web where celebrity coverage is concerned. Say a magazine has booked a celebrity to run on its cover and the celeb in question became the subject of a scandal. The question becomes: Can the site join in the conversation online without jeopardizing the print’s interests — and still preserve its own integrity?
Lewis said she’s mindful of the need to advance digital without sacrificing the interests of print. In the case of the cover scenario — which Lewis said has not happened at Hearst before — she said she’d make sure the print team was in the loop about the Web team’s coverage plans. “We don’t want to make it harder for them, but we don’t want to not give readers the information we’re looking for.”
She holds lots of meetings, which she sees as critical to getting the magazines aboard, and frequently uses words like “awesome” and “amazing.” Last week, she began an embed program, where print editors will serve two-week tours on their brand’s digital teams where they can get up to speed on the pace of the Web. While her hires will be digital natives, she also requires that they see working at Hearst as a benefit, with all its history and prestige. (Meaning, no cutoff shorts at work.) She talks about herself as a print person who feels strongly that “we cannot besmirch what the brands stand for.”
But first and foremost, she’s the Hearst guardian for digital. Whereas in the past, editors have posted stories to their brand’s Facebook feed to curry favor with sources, she has clamped down on that, which she admits isn’t always popular. “I make decisions people don’t like because I think they’re good for the sites,” she said. “Facebook is very precious for us because they drive lot of traffic. So that’s where I’m a guard dog. Our Facebook is not a marketing tool.”
Later that day, after the Pop Mechanics awards, Lewis is having a catch-up meeting with Joyann King, the digital director at Harper’s Bazaar, one of the regular pow-wows she has with the site directors. Bazaar represents the epitome of high fashion and is known for its lush, elegant magazine covers. An ongoing theme is translating that to the raucous Web.
Bazaar has tried to apply a high-low mix to the Web. That means posts like “The 25 Best Bond Girls of All Time,” with their chic take on celebrity, do well. King explains that hair reports are another opportunity to boost traffic, because “hair is to Harper’s Bazaar like celebrity tabloids are to the British.”
The meeting lasts no more than 10 minutes. Lewis is pleased. “I feel the site’s really good on social and she’s really internalized what Harper’s Bazaar stands for and talks to the Internet in a Bazaar-y way.”
And for Lewis, that is a good starting point. “I think the culture now feels really ready to change,” she said. “I’m suited for this position because I’m a print person originally.”
More in Media
Adalytics Research asks, ‘Are YouTube advertisers inadvertently harvesting data from millions of children?’
Publishers’ Q2 earnings reveal digital advertising is still in a tight spot, but digital subscriptions are picking up steam.
Experts reflect how the failures of social media and online advertising can help the industry improve the next era of innovation.
Ad position: web_bfu


text:
It has been almost five years since the release of Borderlands 3, and while we got Wonderlands in the interim, fans are itching for the fourth mainline game to be announced and subsequently released, especially now that Gearbox is owned by Embracer and it feels like disaster might strike at any time.
Now, the official Borderlands Twitter account is doing…something interesting. I didn’t quite get this at first, but flashing back to 2019, now I understand what may be going on.
The Borderlands account has published a “the story so far” video about Borderlands 1. This is actually the same video that was first released in April of 2019. It was followed up by a Borderlands 2 “story so far” video with Handsome Jack shortly after. These came before the Borderlands 3 worldwide gameplay reveal in May, but after the announcement of BL3 in March 2019.
The idea here is that Gearbox is running through these again ahead of a new, third video about Borderlands 3, and that will lead into an announcement about Borderlands 4. We already know that Gearbox has been working on it, it’s just a matter of for how long and when their timetable for release will be. My suspicion is that they may try to do a big reveal or even release around when the Borderlands movie comes out this coming August. Synergy, and all that.
For context, with Borderlands 3 announced in March of 2019, the game was actually released that same year, out that September, around six months later. So, fans are hoping this may finally be that year, and this video being shared is not just reusing old content from five years ago just so there’s something to throw up on social. It’s be interpreted as a tease.
While there are some that are misreading the end of the video as a declaration that Handsome Jack is coming back, rather than a lead-in to a BL2 video, I do think it’s possible, if not likely, that Gearbox will bring him back. He’s the series’ most popular villain by far, and really one of its most popular characters by far, and I don’t think they’ll be able to resist the temptation.
Gearbox is in an odd situation where they have been bought by Embracer Group, but will still supposedly publish Borderlands through its old relationship with 2K. Speaking of villains, Embracer has become something of a bane to the industry, buying studios then laying off workers en masse and shutting down projects, mostly recently a new Deus Ex game. There were rumors that the cash-strapped company may end up selling Gearbox to plug a revenue gap after a deal fell through, but that has not yet manifested into anything of significance.
As for Borderlands 4, it enters a market where it may feel the need to go down the “live” route, where it has done content additions and DLC in the past, but not in the traditional seasonal/battle pass way we’ve seen with so many more recent games. But it’s the OG looter shooter, and it seems likely it would still find a big audience for a fourth game in any format. I do wonder how its visuals and humor will continue to age, however, in the modern gaming landscape, as generally speaking, the third game wasn’t quite as well-received as the second. We’ll see if these teases go anywhere.
Follow me on Twitter, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.


text:
The Apple Steve Jobs is turning over to Tim Cook looks nothing like the one he inherited in 1997, the year he returned as CEO. Apple had sales of $7.1 billion that year -- and a loss of more than $1 billion.
Now-iconic products like the iPod, iPhone and most recently the iPad have lifted Apple's sales into the stratosphere. By the end of 2011, Wall Street analysts expect Apple will be the second-largest tech company in the United States by revenue, behind only Hewlett-Packard. In just the first three quarters of this year, Apple has already racked up record sales of almost $80 billion -- and turned a $19.3 billion profit. Analysts expect its full-year sales to easily top $100 billion.
Here's how Steve Jobs made Apple the most valuable technology company in the world.
|Adult dating site hack exposes sexual secrets|
|Gas prices at high point of year, but relief at pump is on the way|
|Smart money is buying energy stocks. Should you?|
|Your clothes are killing us|
|Sarah Krauss launched S'well to rid the world of plastic water bottles|


text:
Airport kiosk alerts customers to counterfeit products
According to the World Customs Organisation, counterfeit goods account for between five and seven percent of world trade. In an effort to counter the counterfeiters, Hong Kong’s government is working to facilitate efficient product authentication. In June, the region’s dominant duty-free retailer Nuance-Watson pilot-launched an authentication kiosk in its Hong Kong Airport Travelcare Express store. The kiosk allows customers to scan a product’s label and follow its supply chain history to verify authenticity. Since fake medicines are of particularly acute concern to regulators, the pilot is focusing on pharmaceutical products.
Spotted another good idea???
Join our network and earn rewards


text:
Game Freak 30th anniversary event live stream
Posted on October 16, 2019 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Switch, Videos
Pokemon developer Game Freak is celebrating its 30th anniversary today with a new live stream. There should be some talk about Pokemon Sword/Shield, the “Gear Project System” including Little Town Hero, and more.
Game Freak’s stream kicks off at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM in the UK / 4 PM in Europe. You can watch the event as it happens below.


text:
Although Diwali is just a week away, the festive spirit is manifestly lacking in textile town as shopping districts remain scantily populated and fire cracker shops almost absent from the cityscape. The despair among shopkeepers and businessmen here is obvious in the fact that most, if not all, firms have either reduced their Diwali Bonus amount or have totally abstained from providing any bonus at all.
“Every year, most middle class families count on the Diwali season to settle pending dues and purchase new clothing and crackers for their families. It is the only time of the year when they have surplus cash at hand. But, this year it seems like we are going to have a dull Diwali, thanks to a plethora of reasons primary among them being long hours of power cuts,” said former mill worker and septuagenarian Elangovan from Flower Market area. He says that he has not seen such a dull Diwali over the last sixty years or so.
On an average, most small scale industries pay one month’s salary as bonus to their employees. “But, this year we have been severely crippled by the power crisis. Every day, I spend atleast Rs. 1000/- for diesel to operate my unit,” says Murugan, a small time industrialist from Vadavalli. “This amount goes from the meager profit that I make. With such being the situation, I have been able to pay only half month’s salary as bonus this year. Even that money has been borrowed at a huge interest rate,” he says.
While state government employees and skilled workers in larger textile mills and firms still hope for a bonus announcement, the small industry owners seem to the worst affect.
President of the Kovai Pump Manufacturer’s Association K. Maniraj said that with twelve hour power cuts having become the order of the day, most small manufacturer’s are even struggling to make ends meet.
“Atleast 60% of our orders have been lost over the last six months due to the power cuts. With barely four pieces getting produced where 10 are possible, most small businessmen prefer to close their units and move to other businesses. Several of our workers in this industry have resorted to painting, construction work that do not depend on power,” Maniraj says. “With such a situation, it is almost impossible to give bonus to existing staff. Even banks are not giving us over draft facilities anymore.”
CITU district secretary S. Arumugam said that bonus talks with industrial heads have been only disappointing this year. “After a lot of struggle, we barely manage to come to an agreement with managements to give a bonus amount that is much lesser than previous years. Managements cite escalated costs as the reason behind delaying the bonus. Some companies have even split the bonus amount and are paying in two instalments,” he says.


text:
By Julianne Fox
The celebration of local craft beer kicked off Friday in the 5th annual Toronto Beer Week.
“There is something for everyone,” said Gabriel Nijmeh in an e-mail interview. “From the most seasoned craft beer drinker to those who are new and curious.”
Nijmeh, who handles partnerships and events and manages the Beer Week website and social media accounts, has been with organization for three years now.
“For us, it’s always about offering that premium experience and connecting and educating old and new craft beer drinkers,” said Holly Postlethwaite of Steam Whistle Brewery in an e-mail interview.
Thirty-five different craft brewers will be showcased over nine days. There are also 70 bars, pubs and restaurants participating in the events.
Beer Week is featuring its first annual Toronto Craft Brew Cruise. While guests coast the waterfront for three hours, they are given a tasting session.
Another first this year is the Sacred Oak: A Night of Barrel Aged Beers. Nijmeh expects it “will be a sellout because of how rare and exclusive these beers are.”
The successful festival gives opportunity for people in the city to create amazing, new experiences. People should embrace and check out all the city has to offer.
“We take great pride when we see new people and bar/restaurants discovering craft beer for the first time,” said Nijmeh.
“It’s through education and celebration that people can discover the great craft beers of Toronto,” said Postlethwaite.
You can check out participating venues here.


text:
GTA 5, Microtransactions, And The Pandemic Lift Take-Two To A Record Quarter
Take-Two, the owner of Rockstar and 2K Games, is doing very well right now as people spend more time and money on games.
Take-Two reported its earnings on Monday, and the Grand Theft Auto company is flying high. Take-Two pulled in $831.3 million for its fiscal first quarter, the highest ever amount of money it's made in a Q1 in the company's 26-year history. The uptick in sales was driven by the pandemic--people are staying at home, playing more games, and spending more money on them.
Take-Two's microtransaction business, which is called "recurrent consumer spending," rose by a whopping 52 percent during the quarter to $482,153,999, led by GTA Online, NBA 2K20, Red Dead Online, and Borderlands 3.
"With more people staying at home, we have experienced, and are continuing to experience, heightened levels of engagement and net bookings growth-to-date," Take-Two said. "The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our business, operations, and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we are not able to predict."
Grand Theft Auto V continues to be a bright spot for Take-Two. It has now sold a breathtaking 135 million copies, which is up from 120 million the last time Take-Two announced numbers in February 2020. In fact, the 15 million copies sold in the past quarter represents the strongest growth for the game on a unit basis since the game released in 2013, according to GI.biz.
GTA Online continues to grow, too, with its microtransaction sales jumping by 155 percent year-over-year, management told GI.biz.
GTA V and GTA Online are primed to grow further still, as Rockstar Games is re-releasing the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X in the second half of 2021. The new editions come with a range of technical and graphical improvements. Additionally, a free standalone version of GTA Online will be exclusive to PS5 for the first three months.
Take-Two also updated its sales figures for a number of key games. Red Dead Redemption 2 has now sold 32 million copies, while NBA 2K20 is up to 14 million copies. Borderlands 3 has now reached 10.5 million units sold, while The Outer Worlds has sold 2.8 million copies.
Take Two sales update— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) August 3, 2020
Grand Theft Auto V - 135 million units
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 32 million units
NBA 2K20 - 14 million units
Borderlands 3 - 10.5 million units
The Outer Worlds - 2.8 million units pic.twitter.com/FQOwgv8kcm
One game that did not perform so well was Disintegration, the new game from Halo veteran Marcus Lehto. Management said it underperformed in the market, but the company did not announce any hard sales data for the title.
Take-Two:— Dom (@DomsPlaying) August 3, 2020
Private Division's Disintegration showed "under-performance" in Q1 2021.
(No sales specifics at all. I can't imagine expectations were high, so this is tough news. Didn't make much noise at launch. Can't imagine it has a large player base.)
Source: Conference Call. pic.twitter.com/4mBtMZnh0s
The uptick in sales for Take-Two amid the pandemic is not exclusive to the company. Xbox recently reported impressive numbers, while Capcom also recently announced that it had its highest-ever revenue and profit in the company's 41-year history. PlayStation company Sony is the next big gaming company to announce earnings--you can expect them on August 4.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.


text:
The UK economy grew unexpectedly in November, helped by a boost from the World Cup, government figures show.
The economy grew by 0.1%, supported by demand for jobs in the technology sector and even as households were squeezed by rising prices.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says pubs and restaurants are also contributing to growth as people go to watch football.
But it remains to be seen whether rising prices will lead to a UK recession.
Although November’s reading of gross domestic product – a measure of everything that businesses, government and UK people do – was much better than we expected, the overall picture still shows that the economy is singing as food and energy costs rise and so do people. reduce.
The increase in November represents a slowdown from a rise of 0.5% in October, which was mainly due to the return of businesses that closed to record the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
Economists say the latest figures show the UK will be in trouble by the end of last year.
A recession is defined as two consecutive three-month periods, or quarters, of recession.
When a country is in trouble, it is a sign that its economy is not doing well. During a downturn, companies often make less money and the unemployment rate rises. Graduates and school leavers also struggle to find their first job.
Between July and September, UK economic output fell by 0.3%.
Economic growth has slowed sharply since October, partly due to the intervention.
Rail workers and Royal Mail workers have hit out at pay and working conditions in November. Darren Morgan, head of economic statistics at the ONS, told the BBC’s Today programme: “We’ve really seen the impact of industry today.
“We saw a significant drop in rail traffic, postal services and warehouses and this sector had a significant impact on the economy in November.”
There was a continuation of industrial action in December, which expanded to include NHS staff and Border Force staff at six UK airports. It could have an impact on next month’s figures, which will reveal whether the technical definition of recession has been met.
Mr Morgan said the economy would need to contract by 0.6% in December for the UK to fall below the threshold.
While there may have been a temporary improvement in November, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) warned that economic concerns were not yet settled.
The FSB’s national chairman, Martin McTague, said: “With money left for small businesses and households, policy makers cannot rest. Inflation must be reduced, there is still great uncertainty over energy prices and consumer confidence remains intact. very low.”